After intently studying the subway map in the lobby (and then just using the Google Maps app on my phone anyways), I set off for the nearest subway station, which was on Houston between 1st and 2nd Avenues. I had to look for the stairs for a little bit (that Maps app isn't always the most accurate thing in the world), but eventually I found them and made my way to the automated MetroCard machines. I had looked at the prices online before I went, and decided against a 7-day unlimited card, which was $20, because I didn't think I would use a full $20 of fares. So I bought a $10 card, swiped my way through the turnstile, and went to find the platform for the F train.
A few minutes go by, with me wondering how I'll know it's the F train, and if I'm actually going to get on going the right way. Then there's a rumbling under my feet, accompanied by a roaring sound, and a light coming down the tunnel, and I look up just in time to see a bright red letter “F” on the front of the train. Oooh, I guess that's how you know. I make sure the sign on the side gives the same destination Google Maps told me to look for, and then I hop on. There aren't any seats, so I hold onto one of the poles in the center aisle and look around a bit. The train is newer than I expected, with a digital display of all of the upcoming stops that changes as they go by. The ride is a little rougher than movies and TV shows had led me to believe, but even the people who look like seasoned veterans stumble a little when the train comes to a stop, so I don't feel too bad. A couple of stops later, I get off to transfer to the A train that will be heading up into the Theatre District. I start following signs for the A, and end up traversing several stairways before I find the right platform. I realize I've been walking behind the same guy for awhile, since we got off the F at the same time, so I notice that he jumps the last few steps on our current set of stairs and slips right through the closing doors of the train on our left. The trains starts to roll, and about three cars go by before I realize that was the one I was supposed to take next. Oh well. So I find a seat on a bench and wait.
This is where I realize that I would have a problem dressing for the weather in NYC if I was going to be there regularly. It's fairly cold outside at this point (probably about 50 degrees, and a little breezy), at least cold enough that I need a jacket. However, that jacket becomes impossibly warm down in the subway tunnels, which are downright balmy. I have to wonder what the temperature differential is like in the dead of winter. Another A train arrives, and I hop on. This train is much older (the interior screams “70s” to me), and doesn't have any handy dandy digital displays to tell me when my stop's coming up. So I stare intently out the windows at each platform we stop at, making sure they're not the one I'm looking for. But between platforms, I'm free to listen to the group of guys on bongo drums that are currently making everybody's commute a little more fun. I drop a couple bucks into the baseball hat at their feet before I get off at my stop (because it's more fun to listen to them than the roar of the subway).
I follow the signs to the exit, and emerge onto the street. The location for the next day's audition was only a 2 minute walk away, which was made considerably longer by the fact that turned down the wrong street. But I found it fairly easily after I straightened myself out. With my mission accomplished, I decide to walk over towards Times Square and find something to do for the next several hours.
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