The Great Gatsby on Broadway

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby is playing on Broadway in NYC. This week was 2-for-1 week at participating Broadway theaters, and we were able to get our 7th row orchestra, 1/2 price tickets weeks in advance by mail.

Living an hour and half away (or even less time if we catch an express), we usually take the train. It's a pleasant ride. When we arrive in Penn Station in NYC, we still have a 20 minute walk to the theater district.

Our matinee was at 2:00 PM. We arrived in NYC around noon, so we had time for a quick lunch. Directly across the street from our arrival at Penn Station is the newly renovated Moynihan Train Hall that services the New York Long Island trains. Its main entrance is the old post office building which in itself is a spectacular structure. It looks similar to the photo below.

The inside renovation of the massive building is clean, modern, and stunningly beautiful. They have a wonderful large food court which is where we had our lunch. 

We were so hungry and the lines were so long to order food, I forgot to take any photos of the inside of the station and the food court itself.

There is an interesting selection of food stands, and I was able to get a vegan vegetable curry over white rice with gluten-free soy sauce at an Asian stand. 

My husband (who is not vegan nor gluten-free) had a pastrami sandwich from a deli stand, which he said was the best he ever had. Our friends had knishes and pastrami sandwiches. Everyone was happy, and we all ate together at one table in the lovely food court.

After lunch, we walked directly to the theatre.

We enjoyed  seeing The Great Gatsby! Perhaps not the best Broadway Show I've ever seen, but certainly up there with the good ones. The scenery and acting was superb, and the talented singer's voices were over the top! I found their singing voices powerful, beautiful, and mesmerizing. No complaints!

Walked by the home of the famous New York Times Newspaper building on our way
 back to Penn Station 

On the walk back to the train from the theatre, we stopped at Amorino Gelato which is a franchise that is also in Paris, Barcelona, Milan, NY, and San Francisco. 

Photo from the website

The first time we were introduced to this unique gelato shop was on our trip to Paris this past May 2024. Click here to see more of the unusual and interesting shapes of their ice cream cones they create. 

I ordered a medium cup of gelato that I shared with my husband. I was able to choose 3-4 flavors in our medium cup. I choose mint, a special variety of chocolate, and stracciatella. Not every gelato was vegan, but I cheated.  Our friend got one of the specialty designer cones in the shape of a large rose and it was composed on five flavors that he selected!!

All of their gelato is gluten-free, but not the cones or cookies. They also had vegan choices of gelato, but it more like a sorbet.

We arrived home in time for a late dinner. Since I had salads in mason jars and some leftover lentil soup, we were able to eat a fairly healthy meal (after our gelato splurge). 

It was a glorious day in every respect. The weather was sunny, about 79 degrees during the day, and no humidity. The show was great, we enjoyed some good food and dessert, all with the company of good friends. 

Have you been to Broadway show lately? What live theatre shows have you seen lately?