Forgiving this small inconvenience, I love living in a city teeming with people from all over the world.
Their fascination with things I see every day—like Times Square—reminds me to appreciate the awesome spectacle of the place I call home.
But most importantly, if you get the chance to actually know some of the people who visit, you can have the best time ever!
One week ago, I had an event I had planned at the New Victory Theater. The event was built around the current show at the New Vic, Untapped! The show is the latest composition of an Australian tap group called Raw Metal Dance. They are incredible. Combining jazz, funk, and hip-hop into tap routines, the show explodes on stage. Thank G-d for tap back on Broadway. Or, near it anyway.
As it were, my catering needs put me in the dancers' green room space. So I got to meet some of the guys. They were all warming up for the show. Dr. Rhythm (as he is known in Untapped!) was bouncing around and whooping to get the energy going. It reminded me of what it was like to get excited to go on stage.
Anywho, because I was working I didn't really get to talk to the guys. But naturally, I wanted to be their friend since they were awesome Australian tap dancers.
So when I got home, I up and emailed one of the dancers, Reece, who's been keeping a blog of Raw Metal Dance's time in our fair city. Why not? (That's my new philosophy. Why not?) I offered to recommend places to have fun around the city, since I figured Australians might not know where to hang in a foreign country.
Shows what I know. I ended up out with the gang at the Village Underground on Sunday night. Silly of me to think I could introduce them to something cool; they brought me to Ron Grant's Open Mic at VU on W 3rd St. A-mazing! They had informed me before I paid my $15 cover "the band was cooking." Coming from pretty talented guys, I decided to trust their opinion. For $15 on a Sunday night, I had to hope that the show would be really good.
Not only did I attend the sickest open mic night I have ever been to, I wanted to make my $15 truly worthwhile. I signed up for open mic night. That's right. I was number 17 on a looooong list of people who were each way more talented than I.
This girl, Kimberly Nichole, kicked the shit out of Michael Jackson's Dirty Diana. I have never seen anyone work a stage so hard in my life. It didn't hurt that the resident band for Open Mic was jamming HARD. The guys from Untapped!'s band were mind-blown.
Over the past week, I've gotten to know the group of guys that make Untapped! and they are phenomenal people with a huge zest for living life big. True, they had a limited time in New York, but they made the most of it.
Last night was their last night here, so we went out to ThomBar at 60 Thompson for their Cuban night! Start on a Sunday. End on a Sunday. From the delicious cocktails to the swanky couch booth, from the hilarious conversation to the sexy salsa dancing, we had a blast.
I was so upset to see them go: a truly genuine, sweet, fun group of guys who were down to enjoy this city and make friends. While I wish I had met them sooner, I am thankful that I had the last week to get to know them and enjoy their kick-ass show.
When it comes to choosing between worrying about if the people you just met will think you're weird for emailing out of the blue versus extending the hand of friendship, choose the latter. Be bold and friendly and make friends from across the world. The worst that happens is they don't respond to your email, which—if that's the case—means they probably weren't cool enough to be friends with anyway. But the best that happens is you make some friends with whom to be young and crazy and make the most of life.
