![]() Hotels near American Museum of Natural History.Hotels near The Metropolitan Museum of Art.Hotels near The National 9/11 Memorial & Museum.New York City Hotels with Saltwater Pool.Tapestry Collection by Hilton Hotels in New York City.The Leading Hotels Of The World in New York City.At the end of each day, since I was heavily pregnant and utterly exhausted, we’d flop in front of Law and Order reruns because that’s all the TV in the hotel would play. It was stoops, bedraggled pigeons, grungey alleys and the Flat Iron. It was thick blueberry pancakes at Jackson’s Hole diner on the Upper West Side and flappy pizza slices from a hole-in-the-wall in Greenwich Village. It was the colour assault of Times Square, the mind-boggling richness of The Met and the laughing man who conned us out of a fiver. It was Gospel Choirs in Grand Central Station, soaring, glittering towers, and streets filled with yellow cabs. It was everything I’d hoped for and so much more, a breathtaking collision of history, culture and character. Bizarrely, I grew up with so many American programs on regional TV in Australia, that when I finally made it, New York felt like an old friend. The next brilliant thing about the script was the location, New York City – I’ve always had a fascination for The Big Apple. I wished I could understand Budgie, I was convinced they were telling mind-blowing secrets. At her house, it wasn’t unusual to see a budgie sitting on someone’s shoulder, nibbling a collar, chortling away in an ear, sometimes yoinking out a hair. Nanna also kept an aviary full of parakeets. And since all her loved ones knew she adored these shows, there was always a new VHS, or five, ready to be watched with popcorn, and ice cream. Whilst Nanna would sigh over the diamonds, long slinky gowns, and the drop-dead-gorgeous leading men. I loved the ones with tap-dancing sailors and divas with gi-normous tutti frutti headdresses. She always looked fancy or like she was planning to be fancy, hair in curlers, freshly painted toenails poking out of her slippers.Įvery time I visited Nanna we’d watch old movies together, most of them musicals from the 40s and 50s. Nanna knew how to tie a scarf in so many different ways she could’ve written a book on the subject. The script instantly struck a chord, such a gift when working on a collaborative project.įor me it instantly brought to mind early memories of my glamour-loving Nanna – she had a proper dressing table with a huge cut-glass mirror and an impressive collection of accessories, the kinds that little kids love : a shiny, silver hairbrush, gloves, bags, costume jewelry, and silky scarves. And we see it all through the bright eyes of Louisa, a little green parakeet whose greatest wish is to make it big on Broadway. It showcases two very different worlds, the bustling world of the city and its residents and the dramatic world of the theatre and its stars. It was the kind of layered synchronicity that sends shivers up your spine and has you running to buy a lottery ticket.īroadway Bird is a heartfelt tale of finding the courage to be your best self. Except – the content was a perfect fit in so many ways, it almost felt like I’d been wishing it into my life for years. AND, as if that wasn’t enough, I’d be collaborating with a famous, much loved, multi-Tony-Award-winning, Broadway Director, Alex Timbers, and turning some of the brightest, most acclaimed stars of theatre – into animals…Īll things considered, this project should’ve had me running scared, arms flapping in panic like Kermit on the Muppet show. There’d be theatre marquees and signage to design and letter, and plenty of dramatic theatre lighting to get just right. I mean how often do you get to anthropomorphize an iconic city, particularly the glitziest, busiest most colourful part of it. As soon as I eye-balled the script I knew, the project was going to be larger-than-life, with a huge cast of characters, multiple crowd scenes, and lots of architecture from skyscrapers to wonderful old theatre buildings. Let’s start with the magical and sometimes spooky connection between life and art… So over the next few posts, I thought I’d pull back the curtain and share what goes into the making of a book like BROADWAY BIRD – ‘Cause, frankly, there’s tonnes to chat about. The experience was both super exciting and challenging. ![]() In 2021 I spent a good chunk of the year working on a celebrity picture book for the lovely folk at Feiwel and Friends (Macmillan).
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