Went to South Street Seaport and Harlem Art Park, but both pianos were once again inaccessible. So though I didn't meet my play-all-pianos-in-Manhattan goal, I showed up multiple times. Nobody can say I didn't try.
Reprise Piano 1: City Hall Park
From South Street Seaport, I walked up to City Hall Park. I'm quite the expert of walking that route now! A family speaking Italian was sitting on the benches near the piano. The mother encouraged her daughter to play. The familiar first notes of Fur Elise rang through the air but didn't make it much further, but that was typical of "Play Me, I'm Yours." I think I only heard one player finish the entire piece. Then a guy sat down to play one song. After he finished, I took my reprise turn at this piano -- one of my favorites. I made sure to play songs I hadn't played on this piano, so I performed "Nightminds" followed by "You're Still You" (music by Ennio Morricone for the film Malena, lyrics by Linda Thompson, recorded by Josh Groban), and finally "Scarlet."
 |
| Another shot of the colorful piano decorated by artist C.L DeMedeiros |
Made my way to Harlem Art Park via the 4 train and after I saw the park was locked again, I walked all the way down to 110th Street and Fifth Avenue to enter Central Park. When I arrived at the Dana Discovery Center's piano, two kids were playing it, so I sat on the cinder blocks behind the piano and waited for my turn. One knew how to play "Mary Had a Little Lamb." When they left the piano, I played "Where I Stood," "Remember When It Rained" and "Scarlet." The keyboard still plays so smoothly -- I was worried it might have been worse for wear, but for the most part it was fine.
When I finished, a man sitting at one of the benches asked if I could play something "more fun." I laughed and said that unfortunately I didn't have anything fun prepared. I've been meaning to write about this... The songs I play, whether they are showtunes or songs by my favorite solo artists, tend to be ballads and also tend to be a bit sad-sounding. If I could miraculously and marvelously play Maple Leaf Rag, I would, but it's not something I've learned to play. I do want to learn more pieces of music and memorize more songs if I can. Memorization does not come easily to me.
I decided to stick around and rest in Central Park. I struck up a conversation with a man named Tyrone about the pianos. He hadn't heard me play the other three songs. Eventually, the other man who had asked for something "more fun" wanted me to play another song. With their encouragement and when the piano was free again, I broke my "rule" of not playing the same song at the same piano twice and played "Arithmetic." It was for a different audience, so that was my justification. Also, it's not quite a sad-sounding song! Tyrone was very complimentary when I finished and he asked if I had "one more," but I replied, "That's all I've got!" He asked why I wasn't taking a step further, meaning recording and playing professionally. I love doing this for fun. If I had a do-over with my response, I would have cited my favorite quote by an artist -- the only and only Sting: "Music is its own reward." Making it in the music business is HARD WORK plus talent plus luck. Tyrone said that next time I should have "two more" -- meaning, an encore for the encore!
Reprise Piano 3: Bryant Park New York Public Library Terrace
I rode a bus down Fifth Avenue, and thankfully it was making limited stops, which made the ride go faster. Nobody was playing the piano by the lion statue when I arrived. The piano had been through the ringer. Every time I pressed the sustain pedal with my foot, the entire piano moved with it! Not good. The sounds produced were not as good as they were when I played before. I played "Where I Stood" first and when I was switching piano books, a young guy (late teens/early 20s, I'd say) showed up, and without saying a word, we exchanged knowing smiles about playing the piano. It was a fun nonverbal communication. He sat down on a nearby chair while I played "Remember When It Rained." Not my best performance of that song as a crucial key wasn't working, but he clapped when I finished. I got up to let him play -- by now, I know that if someone shows up like that, they're dying to play just as much as I am when I arrive at a piano. He played pieces from memory, including Maple Leaf Rag. I stayed for a couple pieces and then took off for Times Square.
Reprise Piano 4: Times Square - Broadway at 42nd Street
To my surprise, this piano was not that busy. I only had to wait for two players, and then I played "Where I Stood." It was difficult to hear the piano, so I left after that, and nobody immediately took my place. Did the novelty wear off? Was it a case of the Mondays? Not entirely sure. That was the piano that was supposed to have the live link-up with the piano at London's Millennium Bridge, but for whatever reason, plans fell through...
Reprise Piano 5: Times Square - Broadway between 45th and 46th Street
This piano, too, was not busy. I didn't have to wait. There were a few people sitting in chairs behind the piano, but they seemed to be resting and relaxing. I first played "Mi Mancherai" (music by Luis Bacalov for the film Il Postino, lyrics by Marco Marinangeli, recorded by Josh Groban). Next up was "Scarlet," and while I was playing, a tourist sat down in the chair next to me and asked if we could have our picture taken together while he pretended to play the piano. I said "Sure," so his friend took a picture. I wonder how it turned out... I looked over at the camera a little bit, but then I went back to concentrating on playing and singing. Last but not least, I saved the Broadway showtune for the finale. I hadn't played anything from Les Misérables during this entire project, and I figured this was the piano for it. The Imperial Theatre, where the original Broadway production made its second home (after moving from the Broadway Theatre to make room for Miss Saigon) is just down the block -- between Eighth Avenue and Broadway. I chose to play a song I've played for years. I remember wanting to use the instrumental for an English project in high school, but I couldn't convince my group members to use it. (If you're curious, we instead used a song recorded by Jessica Simpson.) So this has been brewing long before Susan Boyle brought it back to the public's attention, but I'm glad she did. I think I did as much justice as I could -- not 100% perfect as the E-flat key played only every other time I pressed it.
The time was approaching 4 o'clock when I finished up at Times Square, so I walked up Eighth Avenue, made a stop at Central Park: Merchants' Gate (what was originally labeled Columbus Circle on the Street Pianos website) where I played my first piano. Not the most pleasant experience. The player was a bit defensive and mentally unstable. I walked by the piano (not close enough to indicate I wanted to play it), I just wanted to get a sense of what was going on, what was being played, and the man yelled at me when I walked by. I can't remember his exact words, but I got the message loud and clear: Stay away -- the piano was his. He and another woman had a shouting match with lots of profanity, and then I decided it was time to leave. Oh, New York. The interesting thing was that the man was playing interesting sounds. Not quite a song, not quite conventional chords, but he could rhythmically make "music" on the piano.
I walked up to Lincoln Center despite the heat of the day. I felt all right, if you can believe it. I listened to a man wearing a giant sun hat play the piano at Columbus Avenue and 62nd Street. Then I walked through Damrosch Park and noticed the piano was gone but knew that there was going to be the free Sing for Hope concert from 4 to 6 pm. They moved that piano to the area between Avery Fisher Hall, the water/sculpture, the Met, and the Vivian Beaumont Theater. The concert was an eclectic mix of opera singers, original singer-songwriters, Broadway veterans, a cabaret singer, a guitarist, dancers, a YouTube sensation, and of course, pianists. I'm glad I attended the concert. One of the co-founders said an estimated one million New Yorkers played the pianos. I wonder how they came up with that figure. I'd read in an article earlier on in the project that the estimate was 60,000.
 |
| Broadway vets Ali Ewoldt and Ryan Silverman sing "Tonight" from West Side Story. |
When the concert ended, I knew I wasn't done with "Play Me, I'm Yours." I caved in and hailed a taxi to take me to South Street Seaport. Can you blame me? Alas, the piano was still covered in plastic. No more pictures this time. I stayed for a little bit in the mall to cool down and have dinner. It turns out there was free WiFi in the food court, so I tried looking up the location of McCarren Park in Brooklyn. I remember my cousin Alexa saying that she was going to try and play there. Well, the Google maps portion of the website was not cooperating completely on my iPod touch... every time I tried to zoom in, it took me to Westchester. Frustrated, I just decided to leave South Street Seaport, and I texted Alexa to see if she could help me out with the location while I made my way up to Union Square (also by taxi, I was getting desperate, but man it was pretty nice to take one. If only it were "Cash Cab"). In our exchange, we were about to make plans to go there together, but Alexa alerted me that the L train wasn't in service and that the alternative was to take the E train to Queens and transfer to the G train to get to Brooklyn. *bleepity bleep bleep* Insert expletives here. As much as I wanted to play #40, I couldn't see myself doing all that traveling. So instead I took the A train to Columbus Circle. Had one last listen at the piano at Merchants' Gate. Another man was playing, and then he let a woman play after him. Both seemed to want to stay at the piano, and I had a feeling that my full-circle moment near Columbus Circle was not meant to be, so I took this picture and then moved on...
 |
| The building on the right (and in the water's reflection) is the Metropolitan Opera. |
I walked to the piano near Avery Fisher Hall. A woman was playing the piano, but there were only a couple people sitting on the steps. When she finished, we clapped for her, and then I took to the piano to play what would be my final song of "Play Me, I'm Yours." I chose "Mi Mancherai," and once I started I thought to myself, "What have I done?" This is a song that I need to look at the keys for because they are several key changes throughout, and this piano has keys painted all different colors. I was especially confused with the all brown ones! Luckily, I started off with a slow tempo, and of course, I wasn't singing. A young person asked if I would grant permission to have my picture taken, and I said, "Go for it!" Another person, I noticed was taking pictures -- at least, I hope it was pictures and not video, haha. I was most concerned about getting my favorite part just right. I wasn't 100% "in the groove," but it was fine. I may have cheated a bit on a measure or two and just played the melody in the right hand instead of the full chords. *grin* I just didn't want to do a face plant on my last song! I finished strong and was met with a round of applause. When I turned around, several more people had stopped to listen. So nice!
I got up to let someone else play and sat on the steps to listen. After her, a man ran to the piano and played a fantastic Broadway medley that started off with West Side Story! Then he ran off! I wished that he could've stayed.
After that, I moved to my final piano of the evening at Alice Tully Hall and enjoyed all the performances. These random strangers had met each other then and there, only to start singing with each other! And the main pianist was a terrific player who could transpose keys. Seriously amazing. They sang a lot of showtunes, including "I Could Have Danced All Night," "Everything's Coming Up Roses," "Oklahoma," "The Best of Times," "Tonight," "What I Did For Love," "On the Street Where You Live," "Honey Bun," "On This Night of a Thousand Stars," and much, much more. My favorite number was when two strangers performed "Guys and Dolls." They both knew the song, yet they both didn't know the song, so after each chorus, they'd run back to the piano to look at the lyrics for the next verse, and they even threw in a bit of choreography for the big finish. My second favorite number was performed by a woman, who had been dancing with her significant other. She requested to sing "Cabaret" with the seriously talented accompanist, and she belted like there was no tomorrow! AMAZING! Hidden talent is everywhere in New York City! A lot of people sat or stood to listen, and an elderly couple was even collecting signatures for a petition to keep the pianos at Lincoln Center. 10 pm came and went, and the piano performances didn't end. Unfortunately, I couldn't stay until the very end. Had to return home because I had to work the following day, so I left just past 11 o'clock. I don't think I would have wanted to be around for the final lock-up anyway. I walked passed Avery Fisher Hall to see blue tarp -- the piano looked ready for the big move to its next life. Same with the piano at Columbus and 62nd Street. The piano at Merchants' Gate wasn't covered. In fact, it may not even have been locked yet, but it seemed kind of sketchy to check at that time of night, so I gave one final glance at the piano and headed home.
Final Goal Report
1) Played 32 of the 34 Manhattan pianos*.
2) Play at least one piano in each borough (COMPLETE).
*According to the Street Pianos website, the piano in Madison Square Park was removed in the first week due to damage. From reports by a street musician and also by a blog, there was also a piano at Washington Square Park that was removed. There is nothing on the Street Pianos website to confirm or deny that this was the 36th piano, but at least I have a little corroboration.
Total Unique Pianos Played By Borough:
The Bronx: 1 piano
Brooklyn: 3 pianos
Manhattan: 32 pianos
Queens: 2 pianos
Staten Island: 1 piano
Total Pianos Played (Including Reprise Pianos): 45
Acknowledgments
To Mom, Dad, Jason, and Janice who supported my piano lessons when I was younger, put up with my practicing, listened, and played with me...
To Mrs. Botkin, my wonderful and patient piano teacher of many years...
To Katherine, who told me about these pianos last year and introduced me to the music of Missy Higgins and Brooke Fraser...
To Jessica, who told me about the NYC pianos this year and sang with me...
To Meghan and Kerri, who came to see me play...
To Luke Jerram and Sing for Hope...
To all the strangers who listened and talked to me about this project...
To you, dear reader, for taking the time to read, skim, and/or look at the pictures/video...
THANK YOU!
Special shout-out to my sneakers and unlimited Metrocard (which expired exactly on July 5th) for getting me where I needed to go.
2 comments:
'Twas my pleasure to observe and partake! You've had a splendid adventure!! CHJCHJCHJ
Thanks Alli for sharing your experience. It was a pleasure reading your blog.
Grace
Post a Comment