now for the piece de resistance, the original torch. wow! ..to hidden treasures... somebody has to preserve a record of what we have. it's worth it. ..lasting legacies... i think it was what we needed to do to create a real movement, to create real equality. ..and a record—breaking show. you're standing in the wings and the orchestra starts, . something just takes over. # phantom of the opera... i guess it's theatre magic. new york is, without a doubt, one of the most dynamic, diverse, and creative cities in the world, and one that i've loved going back to time and time again. over the years here on the travel show, we've brought you a ton of great stories from the big apple. and in this week's show, we'll be looking back at some of them. the city has always been at the forefront of activism. so let's kick off by remembering how the events that happened here on one balmy night way back injune 1969 inspired change. in the us, the 1960s was an era of activism and protests. it was the end of the counterculture, 19605. women were fighting for their rights. blacks were fighting for their rights. latinos were fighting for their rights. and we just said, "what about us? "why not us, why not me?" onjune 28th, 1969, the riots at the stonewall inn on christopher street would mark the birth of the modern gay rights movement. so this is where it's at. yes _ where it all happened. mark segal was 18 at the time and had arrived in the cityjust a few weeks earlier. ..seeing all the rainbow flags on it. what is it like to be back here? it's sort of emotional. i think of the people who helped educate me or what we needed to do to create a real movement, to create real equality. what was it like that night? just like any other normal night. we were inside, we were having a great time. i was standing in the back near the dance floor. the lights flickered on, then they came on full force. i looked over at someone and said, "what's happening?" and they said, "oh," very casually, "it's a raid." i'd never been in a raid before, so i was a little nervous. police barged in and just started pushing people around. and anybody looked like they were successful, they went up to them and said, "take out your wallet." and they took the money. it was, you know, out—and—out graft right in front of everybody's face and they didn't care because that's the way you got to treat gay men and lesbian women in those days. you treated them like trash. so they cornered me. i went out and i stood about right over there. 0ut here, somewhere between 50 and 100. police tried to disperse us. we wouldn't disperse. it was the first time that gay people said to police, "no, "this is our neighbourhood. "you're not going to tell us to get off our street." we picked up stones, we picked up cans and threw them. and that was the first riot. the protests raged for several nights and led to the first pride march in 1970. the stonewall inn has since become a historic landmark and attracts visitors from across the globe keen to learn about the struggles. it was illegal to serve gay people alcohol. l and it was also... i mean, it wasn't easy. many of us went to jail, many of us were beaten. it's been a long 50 years. but guess what? we're further along than i would have ever expected. i can't really imagine what it must have been like to be there on that day when the stonewall riots were kicking off. but i loved what he said about the fact that for them it was just a protest. they were just sticking up for their rights and doing what they felt they needed to do. and it's only now that we realise what a big impact they all made. chanting many cultural institutions have embraced the opportunity to delve deeper into lgbt history and culture, highlighting the bravery of some of the less well—known figures. some of the most important people are transgender people, _ and particularly sylvia rivera and marsha pjohnson. - a lot of people thinkl of them just in terms | of their participation in stonewall, | but they were really major activists |at the time and were on the front| lines of all of the demonstrations. so the whole community came together, then? yeah, both this new generation of activists and also the older l generation of activists and lesbian activists, gay activists _ and transgender activists. oh, yes — "lesbians unite," yeah. and so here you see thousands- of people who were willing to come out of the closet and be part of this political movement. i it's hoped that exhibitions like this will help keep the memory of what happened alive and inspire future generations. i'm 27 — this is the first time i'm seeing many of these pieces. why should people my age, my generation, care about this exhibition? in this internet age of people - liking things on facebook and a kind of internet activism, _ i think it's very hard for people ito realise the real oppression thati people faced in the 19605 and '705, and also that they were able to make a difference. - and the way they changed our society was by getting personally— involved in politics, - injoining organi5ation5, creating new5letter5 - and putting their bodies on the line in demonstrations. i think we need to appreciate today and also be inspired by today- to know that we can make a difference again. - and back at stonewall, a chance encounter with a group of students provides an emotional reminder ofjust how far the movement has come. i'm proud of what happened there. it makes you proud to see you all here today because it says the work that we did, it'5 filtering through. i think any of us who were there that night would have never expected we would have come as far as we have. i'm shocked. i never thought i'd be able to be married. able to express that publicly, me saying that i have a husband... sorry, i'm getting emotional. ?something i never thought i could do. applause so, thank you, guys. an emotionaljourney there for ben hunte back in 2019. from an iconic moment to an iconic monument. lady liberty on ellis island was, for a long time, the very first sight of america for millions of immigrants. originally a gift from the people of france, in 2019, a brand—new museum in her honour opened. ijumped on the early ferry to liberty island to be among the first to check it outjust before it opens to the public. wow — i've never seen the statue this close before. definitely worth the ungodly wake—up call. the museum takes people all the way back to the statue�*s creation. it was designed by frederic auguste bartholdi, who built it in his paris workshop. the statue marked 100 years since the declaration of independence, and the historic alliance between america and france. in 1885, it was shipped in 350 individual pieces over to new york, where it was reassembled and unveiled to the american public the next year. so let's have a look at the face. that's a huge face. this full—size replica is made from the same materials as the statue. the important thing is for you to feel the narrowness of the copper. that's the full size of the copper. i was not expecting it to be that thin. i know, no—one does, it's very thin. that's super thin. yeah. now for the piece de resistance — the original torch. the torch. the original torch. wow. stood up there from 1886 to 1984. the original torch had been changed from bartholdi's design to include a glass panel flame that could be lit up at night. in the 1980s, it was removed and replaced during a massive restoration of the statue. talk to me about how difficult it was to get the torch in here. well, i didn't have to do it! but it was it was quite a task. people worked for about two weeks from three in the afternoon till three at night. and they had this carrier that they laid the face on its back, and then put the torch on it. we had not put in all the glass here, so that it could lift quite nicely into its position. yeah. and it all worked quite well — and here it is. martin and his team have been in charge of conserving the torch and cleaning it up. it'5ju5t a simple cotton cloth. just trying to get the heavy things out. just getting rid of that dirt. like with any cleaning job, it's never done. i do feel very honoured... yeah, it's pretty cool. ..to touch it because the public aren't going to be able to touch this, are they? no, they're really not. yeah, not really! just don't leave any real marks, ok? my hands are clean. it's so iconic. and you think about its history, and how it stood for freedom and for liberty to people all over the world. it really is a remarkable piece of work. still to come in this look back at stories from the big apple — how one artist has devoted his life's work to the new york subway. and the end of a truly historical run. there's nothing not to love about it. it's all challenging and it's all wonderful, and i'm just so lucky to be able to work on it. now, we're heading underground to meet an amazing guy who's dedicated his life to sketching every station of the new york subway. he started way back in 1978 — and when we caught up with him in 2018, he was still going with his sketchbook in hand. when i began my study, a voice inside my head said, "why don't you see how conscious people are of the subway "art after all." i'd say, "are you aware of the art in the subway?" well, half of them said, "what art?" nothing, no idea at all. i got some pens here — red, green and blue. here we go. my study of the subway really began years ago when i was about eight years old and my father told me that down in the subway stations in new york, there were pictures on the walls. i thought that was very curious. but what got me going deeper, besides the fact that i realised some stations were boosting their decor so they had to be recorded, and realising this, i got concerned and thought, well, somebody has to preserve a record of what we have now. it became, sort of, a cause for me to record the embellishments of the stations. so it rather snowballed into rather a long project, which is now a0 years in the making and not done yet. well, actually the earliest stations were built 1900, 190a and at that time there was a great movement for the city, beautiful movement, when the mayor and his council decided that they wanted to establish new york as noble and attractive a city as the old european capitals were, are, which the americans and new yorkers have always looked up to. and the mayor decided, well, you know what, we can do that right here in new york also. a good example of the very high design elements in a subway station we found a borough hall, in brooklyn, the first subway station and the first subway line into brooklyn. it's just like one of the dozen designs that lafarge created just for this station alone. but it's worth it. so what i do when i do my project, i have to do it at night or weekends. often you'll find me at the library or in the subway, drawing pictures of what's on the wall and taking notes on how many mosaics are there, what colour are they, the general description of any station. i've been self—publishing my work ever since i began. this year, though, a lot has changed. a university has published a book of my drawings. my drawings and my notebooks, the real thing, the originals, have been on display in grand central terminal. it has made us stop and appreciate... look at 137th street, look at that. we don't do that any more. no, no, we don't, no. we don't have time to look at it, and we don't have the money to produce it. since i've started this study... being, i hope, somewhat of a thorough person, i intend to finish it, which means i really have to visit all the stations in the system. i have quite a long road ahead of me. i've done 110 stations so far and i have many more to go, obviously, 360 more or more, god knows. because i've started, i feel i have to finish it. and just to update you — we've had word that philip is still sketching away on the subway, so let's hope he eventually reaches his goal. well, just before we go, we've got time to go behind the final curtain of the phantom of the opera. after 35 years on broadway, this record—breaking show came to an end in april this year. so before the cast took their final bow, we went behind the scenes to meet some of them. and while it's goodbye from them, we'll see you again next week. i still cry every time i see it. i'm a softie, what can i tell you? it has permeated every aspect of pop culture, and i think there's very few musicals that can do that. it has been a part of my life - for almost half of my adult life. somehow, i thought that the show would be running when i was gone. it's hard to put into words because i love what i do. mm — makes me a bit teary. this is our working warehouse, and we're in new york — i'm not going to tell you exactly where, but we're in new york city — and this is where we keep all the spare costumes that we need to do fittings and stuff. i've been with the show since 1989. we did a count about 11—5 years ago, i think, and at that point we determined there were like 7,000 individual costume pieces here. so there's a lot — a lot, a lot, a lot. and we didn't even count the hats and shoes. this is meant to set the stage for everything that you're about to see for the next two hours and 20 minutes. it's sort of like, this is the level of decor and texture. and here is, of course, the mask. this is like a cage. so i have a lot of steel going around here, but it makes me very upright, which is great. there's definitely something that happens to you as a performer, you know, no matter what happens in the day~ — and once you start that process of getting dressed and putting your make—up on, and then you're standing in the wings and the orchestra starts, something just takes over and it all falls into place. i guess it's theatre magic. i was actuallyjust finishing another show, and i hadn't seen my daughter in a while. and then i got this auditionl from my agents, and i said, "no, i don't want to do that." he stopped and he turned around in his chair and said, "ben, - "if you don't do that audition, you will regret it for- "the rest of your life." and i figured a good way of getting out some emotions was to, like, . tell my daughter how important it | would be if i were to get the job. | and i kind of got the panic attack out of my system —j and literally my phone rang, and it was my agent - telling me i had gotten it. and it's a frustrating thing - because the costs have risen since, you know, the post—pandemic world. so the show closing is very bittersweet. | welcome to the real phantom's lair. it felt like my years of studying and practice had paid off. this is the first show i ever saw on broadway, and it is my broadway debut. so it's a it's a beautiful, beautiful, full—circle moment for me. it meant that, for other people and other young black girls who would come to see me, or would see my face and see me playing this role, it meant that they could have a chance and they could see themselves playing a role like this, too, and kind of affirming their hopes and dreams in a way that i didn't necessarily have growing up. when phantom first came to broadway, it actually revolutionised the business. there was a spectacle that was never seen before. the whole package, i mean, the costumes, the music, everything, it just comes together in a package that, to me, is very hard to duplicate. the phantom happens to be my favourite show of all times, and i've seen this show probably nine times. i plan to see one more time before it closes. instruments tune up that's when i'll be - bawling, on those notes. we've been through a lot with this chandelier over the years. but it's held up. all the circuitry is intact. we've never burned out one piece of wire. i hope she gets a place in the museum. welcome to the phantom — keep moving! i'm working in this theatre for 38 years. i started before the phantom. i feel proud. we go out working, meeting thousands of people every week in this theatre from around the world. people know me sometimes by name. music: intro to the overture applause cheering coming closer now to these final performances, i feel an enormous amount of... ..gratitude, and i feel honoured. there's nothing not to love about it. it's all challenging, and it's all wonderful, and i'm just so lucky to be able to work on it. i do feel like broadway is losing part of its foundation _ with the show closing. pride is an understatement as to what i would feel. this show is much bigger than... ..the rest of us. and it has been a wonderful, wonderful ride indeed. cheering and applause hello there. it's been a fairly unsettled weekend, i think, all in all. we've seen plenty of heavy, thundery downpours in places, but there's been some sunshine too. pleasantly warm by day, but quite fresh at night. now, for this upcoming week, it looks like we'll hold onto the unsettled theme. sunny spells, scattered showers, even longer spells of rain, particularly towards the end of the week across southern areas. and at times it will feel quite cool, but in any sunny spells, pleasantly warm. now, cast your eyes to this deep area of low pressure, which has been named by the italian met service as storm ria. that's going to cause all sorts of problems to start the new week off with torrential thunderstorms, strong winds and a risk of flooding. but for our shores, we're starting the week off on a fine note. monday, of tuesday, it will turn quite chilly again under clear skies. but things start to change in the north. it turns breezier with showers or longer spells of rain here, as another area of low pressure starts to move into the north of the uk. and you can see that here on the pressure chart for tuesday. closer isobars here indicating the blustery winds, weatherfronts which will also push across england and wales. this one — i don't think a very strong feature. it'll bring a band of cloud, some showers as it works its way southwards and eastwards through the day. the heaviest of the showers or long spells of rain will be across scotland. stronger winds to the north and the west as well. and that will peg temperatures back to the low to mid—teens here, higher teens further south and up to 22 degrees across the south east, given some sunshine ahead of that weather front. that front will clear southward. as we head into wednesday, this area of low pressure is generally pulling away into the north sea, so it'll take the stronger winds and the showers with it. however, another unsettled day to come across eastern scotland, maybe northern and eastern england. the odd heavier shower there further south and west. as high pressure moves in here, it should turn a bit drier with increasing amounts of sunshine. again, those temperatures — 20, 21 degrees in the south, high teens further north. as we move out of wednesday into thursday, we've got a brief bump of high pressure which will bring something more settled before low pressure starts to work its way back in off the atlantic to southern and western areas. so for thursday, i think it turns much wetter for northern ireland, wales, south west england with strong winds and some of the rain could be quite heavy. but further north and east, it should stay dry all day with sunny spells and lighter winds here. and again, those temperatures range from around 16 to 20 or 21 degrees. it could be that friday's unsettled, quite wet across england and wales as this area of low pressure pulls away. but then, friday into the following weekend, there may be a high pressure which will build in for a while to settle things down, especially central and southern areas, before low pressure starts to move into the north once again. but a lot of uncertainty remains in place because of this. out in the atlantic, we have hurricane franklin, which could throw a spanner in the works. the computer models are really having an issue with firming down on the details as we move through this period. at the moment, it looks like it'll be on the more unsettled side, particularly across northern areas. but if that area of high pressure does establish itself for a time, it could be a little bit dry and warmer across southern areas. so stay tuned to the forecast for all the changing details. live from london, this is bbc news. russian investigators say genetic testing confirms wagner leader yevgeny prigozhin was killed in a plane crash on wednesday. zimbabwe's election results have been declared, yet both candidates are claiming victory. the metropolitcan police is investigating a suspected data hack involving the details of potentially thousands of officers. a state of emergency is declared in 33 parts of florida as a tropical storm may transform into a hurricane. hello, i'm tanya beckett. authorities in russia have confirmed that the head of the wagner paramilitary group, yevgenny prigozhin, was killed in a plane that crashed north—west of moscow on wednesday. they say that the identities of the bodies recovered correspond with the flight�*s passenger list, which named mr prigozhin. the mercenary leader had led an aborted mutiny against the russian military injune amid growing tension with commanders over the war in ukraine. he had since relocated to belarus. in a statement released on the telegram channel, the spokeswoman of russia's investigative committee,