Radio City Music Hall | At Home with Tech

July 2, 2023

I Time Traveled to 1979 and into the Film Set of The Crowded Room at Rockefeller Center

I accidentally ended up walking through a scene from “The Crowded Room” on Apple TV+ right before filming began. Here’s what happened.

I walked quickly to work in New York City last summer. The day was July 5th, and I experienced something of a spatial anomaly. Before I knew it, I was suddenly transported in time back to 1979.

I knew the year was really 2022, but reality started to warp around me pretty quickly as I crossed through Rockefeller Center.

I Entered a Time Bubble
To the right, I noticed a film crew and a group of actors hanging out between takes next to the famous ice-skating rink landmark. The extras were all dressed in hideous outfits from the 1970s. I didn’t immediately think much about it. (I grew up in New York.)

I turned my gaze forward and approached a woman in black wearing a headset and clutching a clipboard. She seemed very 2022.

As I passed her and took an immediate left to walk west on 50th street towards Radio City Music Hall, I sensed a small commotion behind me and vaguely heard something about the street now being closed to pedestrians. I kept walking.

I looked ahead and was stunned by what I saw. The entire street had been reversed four decades. It was as if I had walked through a time bubble and popped out in the 1970s.

The cars…the signs…the people. All transformed.
Even Radio City Music Hall had signage promoting an upcoming Frank Sinatra performance.

Had my mind been somehow captured, and I was relocated into another season of “WandaVision?”

I Crashed a Scene from “The Crowded Room”
Not exactly. In fact, I was walking through a scene of “The Crowded Room,” starring Tom Holland on Apple TV+.
I had inadvertently slipped through right before a street scene was to be filmed. All of the extras were in place, and it was as if I were an extra too.

For the next two minutes, I walked through 1979, appreciating all of the design work that had been done to bring this famous street back to another era. And then there were the dozens of extras, all seemingly transported here from the ‘70s. That actually felt really weird and slightly destabilizing.

It’s interesting how easily it is to disrupt your sense of normal, even if you know what’s going on.

Return to Reality
As I approached Sixth Avenue, I saw another crew person in black holding back other versions of me wanting to take the same trip back in time. They were too late.

I popped out of the time bubble and reentered 2022. I heard people yelling behind me to ‘stand by’ and ‘take your places.’

I didn’t look back. I had my moment back in 1979, and I was satisfied.

And no, I didn’t brush past Tom Holland or any other movie stars. (That might have actually ruined my immersion into the past.)

It was just another New York moment:
July 5, 2022 at 8:40am.

You never know what you’ll see on the streets of New York City.

November 14, 2021

Trapped by the Radio City Rockettes

What do you do if the Rockettes magically appear in front of you outside of Radio City Music Hall? Be ready to capture the moment. Here’s what I saw…

I was hoofing it to work in midtown Manhattan when I almost walked into a man wearing a black shirt and headset. (He had that stagehand look.) He put up his hand and politely asked me to cross over to the opposite sidewalk.

I didn’t think twice as there are any number of reasons to temporarily close off a street in New York City. As I crossed, I realized that I was near Radio City Music Hall. Maybe I’d see a movie or TV show being shot.

Of course, I peered up the street to try to figure out what was going on. I spotted several photographers standing about. Suddenly a door swung open, and the Radio City Rockettes began pouring out.

Photo Opportunity in Front of Radio City Music Hall
In a bit of organized confusion, the dancers in full costume were quickly ushered across the street by security. Within seconds, all were congregating on the sidewalk fifty feet in front of me.

What was going on?

I slowed down as my path forward was blocked by the famous dancers. I couldn’t really reverse course as I found myself boxed in by the photographers and what appeared to be a dozen hand-picked members of the public. Perhaps they were contest winners to celebrate the opening of Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular show?

Then, the Rockettes effortlessly morphed into three rows and took the perfect pose. Cameras began to click away. Of course, I inched forward and took out my own camera to join the moment.

Then, the sparkling group broke apart to take multiple selfies with their fans. Finally, the Rockettes began taking their own selfies using the same fan smartphones.

Three minutes later it was all over, and the Rockettes vanished through another door. I put my camera away and continued my trek to work.

As I walked, I tried to process my surreal experience. No, I wasn’t supposed to be a part of that little fantasy. But I had, in fact, been inadvertently directly to that exact spot. And nobody seemed to mind. It was definitely a New York moment.

Don’t Drop the Camera!
So I didn’t take my pictures with my iPhone. Instead, I used my compact Panasonic Lumix LX-10, which I happened to have in my jacket pocket.

Not that I couldn’t have relied on my iPhone. But using my Lumix’s better grip and wrist strap, allowed me to safely stretch my arm high to frame some of my shots. (You don’t want to drop your delicate smartphone onto a New York City sidewalk no matter what kind of case is protecting it!)

Always be Ready for Street Photography
And why did I conveniently have my Lumix in my side pocket? Recently, I’ve been packing it with the plan of walking a tad slower during my commute so I can pay more attention to my surroundings. And if I spotted a picture-worthy moment, I’d be ready.

I love it when a plan comes together.

You never know what you’re going to see on the streets of New York.

December 24, 2017

Do You Have 29 Seconds to Spare?

Whoa!! It’s all gone by fast! Allow me a moment to wish you Happy Holidays!
I think that’s probably all that anyone has time to read right now.

Well, perhaps I could ask for another 29 seconds to watch a little video I edited together that captures a bit of my own experience…

I call it “Holiday Blur.”

Each photo is a moment that contributed to my holiday season’s overall whole.
At the end, it always feels like a blur, right?

In case you’re interested, here are the tools I worked with:
I used my trusty Panasonic Lumix LX10 for most of the photos, tweaked the images with Adobe Lightroom, edited the video with Final Cut Pro on my iMac and used music from freemusicarchive.org.

The locations:
Norwalk, CT and Westport, CT. In New York City: Bryant Park, Grand Central Terminal, Finnegan’s Wake Pub, Radio City Music Hall, Rockefeller Center, and Times Square

Fun.

(To watch more of my videos, check out my Vimeo channel.)

Tag: Radio City Music Hall

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