Pupils Visit New York’s Broadway!
18th April 24
On Tuesday 9th April, 26 students and four staff flew to New York for Dunottar’s first Broadway based school trip! After a long flight, we arrived in the States at around 2pm and after a very long time in airport security (a 3-hour queue caught us off guard), we made our way to our hotel in the middle of Times Square. We spent some time unpacking and getting settled in our rooms before heading out onto the streets of New York. Although we were very tired due to the time difference, we made our way to the famous Ellen’s Stardust Diner where we were entertained by the waiters who are all resting Broadway actors. Highlights included Grease, Hamilton and We Will Rock You. We even got involved in a little sing-along!
The next morning, we made our way to Bubba Gump’s for our breakfast. We were all a little tired from the long day before but we were excited for the activities that we had planned! We started with a trip to Pearl Studios (where lots of Broadway auditions and rehearsals take place) for a stage combat workshop. We really enjoyed pretending to beat each other up – it was so much fun! Then, we went to the Drama Bookshop, where Lin Manuel Miranda wrote his first musical In the Heights. It was an amazing place, full of the joys of drama and musical theatre. We followed this with a trip to Grand Central Station to live out our Gossip Girl dreams and grab a spot of lunch. In the afternoon, we visited the amazing shops in Times Square to spend some of our dollars and to soak up the atmosphere. Our evening meal was at the world-famous Hard Rock Cafe before heading out for an evening at the Empire State Building. The views were breath-taking, especially at night time and it was incredible to see New York from that perspective.
On day three, we had another Broadway workshop, working with Broadway musical legend, Michael Dansicker and assistant dance captain of Hadestown, Yaya Reich. We learned so much from this workshop and had the opportunity to learn a song and choreography from the show. Following this, we walked The Highline – a disused railway line converted to a garden walkway above the city. It was wonderful to experience New York from a place of quiet, away from the busy streets below us. In the afternoon, we went to One Vanderbilt to visit the Summit – New York’s highest viewing platform. The building is amazing and the concept of the architecture innovative. This was a fantastic place to take photographs and to get a view of the city during the day. We then had time for more shopping, before watching the fabulous Hadestown on Broadway.
On our final day, we visited the famous Radio City Music Hall, which we were blown away by. What an amazing space! Our tour was informative and interesting and we all agreed that we’d love to see a show there, or even perform one of our own shows! After this, we grabbed a spot of lunch before heading to the equally famous Macy’s, the world’s largest department store, before sadly leaving for the airport.
We had a truly unforgettable time in New York, from the bustling streets of Times Square to the incredible views from the Summit and the Empire State Building. This trip was the experience of a lifetime.
