My second to last visit proved to be yet another affirmation that perhaps the city wasn't the place for me. After a horrifying cab ride, my family and I lingered around Times Square, trying to comprehend how, in a city that large and bustling, could we possibly be bored. Even more despiriting was the desperate situation we encountered trying to get to the theatre to see the Producers. While my mom and I hobbled (due to hip surgery and foot surgery respectively) we couldn't grab a taxi and the rain was coming down in sheets. Within blocks we were drenched and late for the show. We sat miserably through the show and the blasting air conditioning, fearing that any minute hypothermia or frost bite would set in. Luckily the show was enough of a distraction, and my faith in the theatre was confirmed. Its a rare feat in itself to find a musical that actually entertains my father who, 2 seats over, was wheezing with laughter 10 minutes into the show. Bravo, Mel Brooks.

The real point is that while my love for NYC seemed to have been lost, all I really needed was an outlier, an experience to top all experiences. A day in which nothing could go wrong and every expectation was met and then surpassed.

Yesterday was a day for the books, as they say. I have never had a more exciting NYC experience. Caitlin (a fellow London traveler and Broadway afficianado)and I took the Willowbrook Mall bus into the NYC Port Authority around 9:30am. We had a day of theatre planned. First stop, Shobert Alley for the annual event, "Stars in the Alley". After discovering that the rain had discouraged people from getting there as early as we did, we jumped in line to try to see if there were any History Boys tickets (a rediculously great show we camped out for in London and whose same cast was performing now in NYC.) Despite a sign claiming "This Performance is Sold Out", Cait and I were able to score front-row tickets for a fraction of the price due to our student status. Excitement was already building. We then went back to Stars in the Alley to wait for the performances to begin. Luckily for us, a man wielding Chicago rain ponchos came by and we were able to stay dry through the whole hour and a half of free broadway. We saw performances from Avenue Q, RENT, The Color Purple, Mamma Mia!, Chicago, The Drowsy Chaperone, The Producers, etc. There were appearances by Lucy Arnez (THE offspring of the wonderful Lucille Ball) and most importantly, Cynthia Nixon from Sex and the City.

After a slice of amazing New York pizza, we settled in to our second time seeing the History Boys (and our second time seeing it from first row - which isn't that exciting since you are so close that you can see more of the underside of their school tables than the faces sitting at them) The show, of course was fantastic and we were swept back into our London nostalgia.

At intermission the real excitement began when we realized that James Franco was sitting only 4 rows behind us, In all his James Dean glory. We were beside ourselves trying to figure out how to meet him and possibly score photo proof that we met him. At the end of the show We strategically positioned ourselves in front of him (and his friend - a possibly gay best friend type who had a seemingly bottomless bag of Twizzlers)hoping to then start a conversation. I was caught a bit off guard when, deep in thought with the next move we were going to make, Mr. Franco made the first move. We talked about theatre, our majors, London and Twizzlers and all the while I fulfilled a life-long aspiration of wanting to talk to a celebrity as if I had no idea that they were famous. We ended the conversation out in the busy NYC street and I'll never see James Franco again, but it makes for a hell of a story (with no damn photographic proof aside from a blurry side-shot Caitlin took like a Paparazzi from her purse.)

We waited by the stage door to grab autographs from the History Boys and I waited to finally meet the elusive Andrew Knott (who prefers to be called Andy). In London I missed him twice outside the National Theatre and this time I finally got to meet my childhood crush from Black Beauty and the Secret Garden.

Beaming, overflowing with excitement and hardly able to contain all the greatness of the day, Caitlin and I grabbed the next bus home and sat in silence trying to process our day.

New York City is like a long-time friend. Even when things are looking rocky, and you aren't quite getting along, it does something wonderful to remind you why you love it so much.