NewYork… and it’s Magic!

Hi folks ! Twinny returns!!

Still in newyork… More precisely..Manhattan ….which incidentally means’ place of general inebriation’….
Let’s go straight to MADISON SQUARE GARDEN…. This is the hugest multipurpose indoor arena in the world!!

Evolving continuously , reinventing itself since the 1880’s…

It’s the convention centre where PM Modi famously gave his speech last year…

It’s the sports arena where Mohammad Ali and Joe Frazier had their first boxing fight…

Where world class ice hockey and basketball matches are played, where international dog shows held…

..where the worlds biggest concerts staged… Madonna has performed here a record 31 times !!!

Then there is RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL… Part of Rockefeller centre …this huge entertainment centre opened in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression…made in elegant Art Deco style with a grand stage resembling the setting sun… This hall has the best acoustics and the best audience …..according to Elton John who played here for the 60 th time on his 60 th birthday …

It houses the giant Wurlitzer organ … .. It’s the Biggest in the whole world!

Just like we consider going to Hardwar for a holy dip in the Ganga a must do …

So also every newyorkers dream is to witness a concert once in their lifetime at Radio City MusicHall !

Julie Andrews sang recently on her 70 th birthday… Right here on this stage …! Here is the gracious lady herself…

And the parodied lyrics of the song ‘My

Favourite Things’…..Enjoy!!!

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,

Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings, Bundles of magazines tied up in string,

These are a few of my favourite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses, Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses, Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,

These are a few of my favourite things.
When the pipes leak, When the bones creak, When the knees go bad, I simply remember my favourite things, And then I don’t feel so bad.
Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions, No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions, Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,

These are a few of my favourite things.
Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin’, Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin’, And we won’t mention our short shrunken frames, When we remember our favorite things.
When the joints ache, when the hips break, When the eyes grow dim, Then I remember the great life I’ve had, And then I don’t feel so bad.

Next is the razzle dazzle of the New York Theatre district .. For BROAdWAY and off -Broadway shows…where the lights shimmer bright , where glittering marquees open to glitzy productions , vaudevilles , musicals , what have you !!
Where the first talking movie was shown ( in 1927) …” The jazz singer !”

In India we not too far behind…. ”Alam Ara” 1931….. Was the first Indian talkie!!

Strangely enough Asians omnipresent in all spheres of New York life ….other than in the theatre world… Just an observation …!

What I definitely learnt is that New York … The land of ”immigrants”definitely allows you to display your talents and earn from doing so… HOUDINI did it in the 1930’s as an ‘escape artist’

Escaping from all sorts of locks and chains , from water torture cells ,freeing himself even from strait jackets suspended upside down in front of crowds numbering thousands … On Coney Island … Performing the same act ….Sometimes 20 times a day!!!

What nerves of steel and physical prowess!!

What drive ! What ambition…! What amazing sleight of hand!!! Simply amazing ….

Was mesmerised completely by an illusionist… Didn’t see him perform Live but his feats amazing … DAVID COPPERFIELD—-The most commercially successful magician and illusionist ever!!! He became a lecturer in magic at the American School of Magic at age 16! That’s tantamount to legendary !!

Magician of the millennium and winner of some 21 Emmy awards , owner of 11 islands of the Bahamas ! Started ‘project magic ‘for rehabilitation of physically handicapped !