Ok...blog post #3 has taken me a little longer than I wanted to get posted, but here goes!
Our first actual Broadway show ON BROADWAY!!!!
First of all, Kim is totally rad. I'm sure I've said similar things before. But, I am the theatre geek in the family. She's the one that fell asleep at the Book of Mormon. Although, to give her credit, that was 2 years ago and it has only happened once or twice since then. Still, it was her decision to pull the trigger.
You see, shows on actual Broadway are FREAKIN' EXPENSIVE!!! Our season tickets to the Paramount in Seattle average about $100 per ticket. Some shows are more (Hamilton, Wicked, Book of Mormon) some are less (Dirty Dancing, American in Paris). We decided to see Aladdin in NYC. Our seats were pretty good, in my opinion, but not the highest price point. They were $250 a piece.
Aladdin is coming to Seattle. We have season tickets. I suspect the Aladdin portion will be $125 or so. We didn't know Aladdin was coming when we bought our tickets. If we had, we might have seen something else.
Ok, with all that said, here's my review!
AMAZEBALLS! A fantastic show. The sets were rad, the dancing was rad, the genie was genius (see what I did there?), it was a great night!
The Genie is the original. It's the first time I have seen a Tony Award winner in a role they won the award for. And let me tell you...he deserved it! I mean, the man was moving all over the stage singing and dancing and barely braking a sweat! Ok...that last part is a lie. He was totally sweating. In fact, part of his makeup was head glitter which I am sure was put there to hide the sweat. I have to wonder if they pad his costume because I don't know how someone can move like that every single night and not be made of pure muscle. He's not fat, by any means. But, he also doesn't look like Derek Hough, which is what you would expect with that much cardio.
I am trying to remember the last time I saw a show with that much choreography. Practically every song had a dance number. I do love me some dance numbers!!!
Also, the guy that plays Jafar is the dude that did the original voice in the movie. That was pretty neat! Hearing him say "Prince Aboo-Boo" was straight out of the movie.
I only have one complaint...and I have this with The Little Mermaid, too. For some reasons, the writers feel the need to add unnecessary backstory. In the case of the Little Mermaid, they made Ursula (The Sea Witch) King Triton's rejected sister. In Aladdin, they decided to give Aladdin some parent issues. Apparently his mom recently died and he's trying to make her and his dad proud. This manifests itself in a song called "Proud of Your Boy" and a couple reprises. The song is mushy and the backstory is unneeded. The character worked fine in the movie. If they needed to add time to the show, I would have preferred they add it to the end as the whole Jafar becomes Sultan becomes Genie gets trapped in the lamp thing moved really quickly. A little too quickly for me. If they just felt like he needed backstory, well...whatever. I disagree.
Anyway, I have been asking myself, was it worth the money. I say Yes...to see a show on Broadway, it was worth it. Will I do it again, I am unsure. It might depend on the show. Or the cast. For example, I am going back to NYC for work in a couple weeks. Bette Midler is starring in Hello Dolly. I might pay to see her. But, if it was just Hello Dolly and I knew Hello Dolly would be traveling through Seattle at some point, probably not.
But, this first time...totally worth it! Thanks Kimmy for taking me for your birthday!
Just got back yesterday from my very first trip EVAH to New York City. Took Kim with me. Primarily, I brought Kim along because it was her 40th birthday and I thought it would be rude of me to leave her behind while I was enjoying myself in the Big Apple.
You are going to get 3 posts out of this trip. The first is this one! A basic run down of our trip. The 2nd is my review of Aladdin, our first official Broadway show! Finally, a ranting piece on how annoying it is when people bring their babies into first class.
Ok, part 1: GO!
So...Kim turned 40. Months ago (I swear, it wasn't 2 days before her birthday) I started thinking about what to do. 40 is kind of a milestone. I mean, I know people say 50 is really the new 40 and that you don't really hit middle age until 50. But, I think that's BS. I know darn well that I ain't gonna live to see much past 80, even if I make it that far. So, let's stick with 40 being "Over the hill."
I bounced around a couple ideas. Either, throw a big party in Seattle. Maybe rent out a dinner cruise or a winery or something. Or, maybe a fun trip somewhere. Hawaii, again? Europe?
Then, I had to remember that there was a good chance Kim would be pregnant. Surprise! That turned out to be true. So, let's not do anything involving drinking (winery out) or anything that would be too difficult to do pregnant (long trip to Europe or even sitting around pregnant in the sun in Hawaii out).
Hey, neither of us have ever been to NYC. Let's do that! We can rely on cabs so we don't have to walk any more than she can handle. And, everything is pretty darn close. So, NYC it is.
Fast forward 6 months. Her tri-cities besties decided to join us. One of them currently lives in NYC so we also had a rad tour guide. Here are some pics.
We flew into Newark, NJ. Immediately on decent, I could tell that New York is just a little bit bigger than Seattle.
Since there were 5 of us that needed transportation, I figured I would just rent us a car. That car became a limo. After a bit, the driver pulled over so we could hit up the liquer store and the 4 non pregnant people could put back a couple bottles of bubbly on the way to the city.
Our first full day, we began by visiting the 9/11 memorial. Now, I could not get a good shot of this to save my life. For such a powerful monument, my little phone simply could not do it justice. Here is one photo, but this scene was so so much more amazing than this crumby picture portrays.
We were discussing the significance of the memorial. If you haven't seen it, I'll try to describe. There are two fountains. One in each of the footprints of the Twin Towers. There are two layers. The top layer, waterfalls splash down into the second layer. From there, there is a square hole. Water falls over the edge into the hole.
Someone suggested it symbolized the waste of life. Someone suggested the emptiness left from the attacks. I suspect it's both of these. As well as the silence of death. You couldn't hear the noises from the city in this place. I admit...I teared up. I don't believe I have ever teared up at a memorial. Granted, this is the first tragedy of my lifetime that I have reflected upon at it's memorial. But, it was very very powerful.
Then, there is the Freedom Tower! The new World Trade Center. Wow, what a building.
After the World Trade Center, we headed over to 30 Rock to see Jimmy Fallon rehearse his monologue for that night. Pictures are strictly forbidden! And, given that it was Kim's dream to make out with Jimmy Fallon, I didn't want to jeopardize their meeting, so I didn't take pictures. The experience was fun. Was it worth the hour and a half of standing in line to watch a 15 minute rehearsal...mmmmm, I'm not sure. Maybe for Kim. If we had been able to get into the show taping, it would have been worth it. It was pretty cool to see Fallon. He seems like he really loves his job. He gave us a quick history of the Tonight Show and of the studio where it's filmed then went into his jokes. Most were hilarious. Some were so so...the best part was watching him strike a line through the ones that didn't get the biggest laughs.
That night, we had dinner at Buddakan. Apparently, it was on Sex in the City. Michelle (NYC friend) made us reservations. I admit, going in, I was a little, "I'm probably going to spend a ton of money and leave hungry." But, boy was I wrong. I mean, it wasn't cheap, but it could have been worse. And I was definitely NOT hungry after. This place was Bomb! Highly recommend it if you're in the neighborhood.
Ok, moving on. Saturday morning, we took a 3 hour tour (just sit right back and you'll hear a tale) of the Hudson River and New York Harbor. Here are some pics:
NYC Skyline
Unfortunately, Kim couldn't see anything because her hair was in her eyes.
Not sure which lady is prettier, here.
Empire State Building
UN Building
I know, I know...I'm 12. But, I couldn't resit. #YuckTheFankees
We also saw Ellis Island, tons of bridges, the Bronx, Harlem, Brooklyn, and more stuff. All while enjoying a 4 course meal and booze!
Hung out in Central Park for a bit after. And, I managed to only take 1 stupid picture:
Why did I post this? I'm not really sure.
But, one of the girls got this one on her phone from the fancy pants overpriced bar at the park:
The final noteworthy event...Aladdin at the New Amsterdam Theatre. Our very first "Broadway" show actually performed ON BROADWAY!!!
Overall...it was a total blast! Kim handed it like a champ, despite being 12 months pregnant. Great food, great sites...LOTS of people. I had to close my eyes in some of the cab/Uber/Lyft rides because I was convinced we were going to crash or kill someone. Would totally go again.
Desmond really wants to go. Very glad he wasn't there on this trip. Not because I don't love to travel with him. But, because I got detached from my adult counterparts at times in the crowd. I would have a panic attack trying not to lose my kid there. I told him maybe when he graduates 8th grade. I still remember doing a tour of Washington DC in 8th grade. Maybe we'll lump the 2 together.
Speaking of Desmond...he's already 60% done with the gift we brought him. The box says 12+. But, that's not stopping him.
And, I shall close with this adorable picture of my lovely wife and me in Times Square. Ain't she adorable!!!
This Friday, I am taking Kim to see Phantom of the Opera.
Now, Kim is not a big theatre goer. If I weren't around, I suspect she wouldn't go at all. The only thing that could get her to the theatre is a steamin' hunk of a man trying to thrust some culture upon her...and, that's pretty much exactly how it first happened!
I am slightly nervous about this particular show. Kim has really enjoyed, ummm, maybe like 1 or 2 shows I've taken her to? Let's see..."A Christmas Story." I think she liked that one. What else??? Uhhhhh.
I won't bring up the time she fell asleep during the "Book of Mormon." I mean, I pick on her for that all the time, so I won't write about it here.
Moving on. This post is not about taking Kim to the Phantom of the Opera. It's about the first time I got to see Phantom of the Opera!!!! *prepare dream sequence*
The year was 199...uhhhh...something. 1994? I was getting my first tastes as a theatre nerd in high school. I had just scored the starring role in the Music Man...a production being put on by a local kids theatre troupe. No no...not Harold Hill. The other starring role! You know! Tommy Djilas! The super sexy kid who was picking up all the ladies with his knowledge of repetative motion and saying "Jeely Kly" (whatever the hell that means) all the time! I mean check this out...how freakin' adorable is this:
Shout out to Jaimie!
I should point out that, at this time, I was also the drum major for the high school marching band. You'll learn the the relevance of this soon.
That fall, I was invited by my buddy Cirese (actually...I think it was her mom. Gail always liked me more than Cirese did, anyway), to go see Phantom of the Opera at Gammage Auditorium at ASU in Phoenix.
Well, jeely kly...I had never been to a real life honest to goodness stage show before! Count me in!
So...we roadtrip! Took the 4 hour drive with Gail at the wheel (because for some reason, Cirese refused to get a drivers license until she was 37), me chilling in the back with my Sega GameGear and Cirese's friend Jennifer (Jennifer?) wondering why she had to sit in the back with the Junior (they were both Seniors, you see).
Finally, we arrive at Gammage. We quickly discover that our seats are in the very last row at the super tippy top of the auditorium. Like, row ZZ or something. Gail wasn't sitting with us for some reason. So, I was stuck with the 2 girls who wanted nothing to do with me because they were too busy talking about how hot that Jack Weldon guy was or something.
Me, however...I am totally stoked to be attending my first professional show! I'm practically skipping up the steps! All the way up to the super tippy top.
We sit down. Cirese and Jennifer are still gossiping with each other and completely ignoring me. It's about then that I notice something. They are both holding programs. I am not.
"Hey, Cirese," I say.
"WHAT?" she snaps! Clearly, I just interrupted something juicy.
"I didn't get a program." I inform her.
She looks at me like I am the biggest idiot in the world. "So go get one." she says rolling her eyes.
Oh...yeah that seems rather easy now that she mentions it.
So, I giddily skip on down the stairs, all 500 or so of them, anxiously waiting to read all about the guy playing the Phantom this evening.
I'm so happy that I decide I am just going to skip the last couple steps at the end. I'm just going to do a nice little hop over the last steps. *Hop*
*CRUNCH*
See, the thing about hopping is that you need to land on your feet. It's a bad idea to land on your ankle. Which is what I did. Somehow, I landed wrong, my foot rolled and my entire 120 pound body (Gawd I miss those days) landed onto my ankle causing a very gross crunching noise.
Now...a few feet away, handing out programs was a young lady. She was rather attractive. I assume she was an ASU coed volunteering her time at the theatre. She had obviously just seen me fall. She rushes over to me! "Oh my god, are you ok?"
About now, I wish that I had fallen in a pool or something so I could pretend I wasn't breathing. But, alas...I had tripped on the stairs and looked like a complete dufus in the process. So, I quickly jump back up, brush myself off and say, "Of course! May I please have a program?"
She hands me a program, I grab the banister and painfully hobble myself back up the stairs.
When I get to the top, I say to Cirese, "Cirese...I think I just broke my ankle."
"That's nice," she responds.
And then the show starts.
Fast forward. Nobody is sitting in front of me, so I plop my foot up on the seat in row YY and enjoy act 1 immensely! This show is amazing! After a while, the chandelier falls and it's time for intermission.
I get up, stretch and take my first step toward the doors.
*Plop* I fall down. My ankle will not hold any weight.
This is when the girls finally notice me. They help me to my feet and down the stairs. Apparently, the hot usher coed had been watching me. Because, by the time we got down all 500 or so steps, the theatre manager was waiting for me.
He takes me out to the lobby and makes me sit while he fetches the first aid kit. In the mean time...I take off my shoe and sock.
Holy Mary Mother of God! Not only is my ankle black and blue from my toes to half way up my calf, it has ballooned to the size of a softball!
The manager returns. From the first aid kit he pulls out the ice pack. It's one of those that you have to pop and mix up all the science on the inside before putting on the booboo. This guy can't figure it out. Me...I've been working in the Parks and Rec after school program for the past 2 years. I am well versed in this technology. So, I snag the ice pack from him, pop it, put it on my ankle and say, "See...I'm fine. Can I go back in, now? The intermission is almost over."
"No." say the manager.
"Wait...what?"
"I can't let you go back in until we know for sure you are ok. I've called the paramedics."
I sprained my ankle and the dude called the paramedics. See what happens when we all get sue happy?
Inside, I hear the music begin. Shortly after, the very familiar chorus of "Masquerade."
Ok...now I am getting pissed.
"Let me go back in," I say.
"We can't until the paramedics clear you." He responds.
"I paid money for these tickets. I want to see the show!"
"We'll give you new tickets to another date."
"I live 4 HOURS AWAY!" I can't just come to a different show."
"Can't let you in."
UGH!!!
Finally the paramedics show up. They look at my ankle, declare it a very bad sprain and ask me if I want to go to the ER.
"Heck NO! I want to see the show!!!"
FINALLY...they let me back in. The get me a folding chair and let me sit in the aisle by the doors. I caught the very end of the play.
Before we left the theatre, the manager gave us a huge bag of ice. I sat in the backset of Gail's car for the 4 hour drive home with my ankle sitting on the bag, which was quickly become a bag of water...Arizona, don't forget.
We arrive back in Lake Havasu where, before dropping me off at home, Cirese and Jennifer made fun of me a couple more times. I got out of the car, hopped in my mom's car and took a trip to the emergency room. It was about 2 AM.
A splint, some pain meds and a bruised ego later, I prepared to start my week back at school where my first class was...Marching Band.
Needless to say, Mr. Beal wasn't very happy with me.
That's all...end of story. With a lot of tape and some Vicodin you can march on anything. I was even able to pull off my award worthy performance in the Music Man. Although, apparently someone did later ask the director why that one kid had a brace on his ankle. Oh well...glad they noticed that and not the fact that my fly was down...which it was.
I have since seen Phantom all the way through. This show will be my 3rd viewing, I believe. I'm super excited. I hope Kim likes it!
I am a proud season ticket holder at the Paramount, a beautiful theater in downtown Seattle where professional Broadway troupes frequently bring their touring shows.
Most recently, Kim and I took Desmond to see Cinderella!
My review: It was great! I love fairy tails and princesses (which is probably the reason why 60% of my college buddies thought I was gay...the other 35% being because I love Madonna and the remaining 5% being something to do with the fact that I wore a belt...because only gay dudes where belts, or something). I was very much looking forward to this show. Now, this wasn't the Disney version. It was Rogers and Hammerstein. This means that there was no Bibbity Bobbity Boo happening.
Still, it was great. Much better than the Disney cartoon, actually. I am curious if the live action movie coming soon from Disney will incorporate some of the things from the musical, which I assume takes from the original story, which I have never read.
For example, the Prince was a full character. Not just a dude that dances with Cinderella and then tracks her down to marry her. We learned about who he was, what kind of king he wanted to be, etc. He had his own songs and dance numbers and he became much more than the guy holding the ball.
Also...the step family. Mom was still, obviously, horrible to Cinderella. But, she and one of the step sisters were actually quite funny! Like, really funny! The other step sister was also played very well, only she wasn't at all wicked. In fact, she was really great to Cinderella, even giving her a dress at one point.
There was a bit of back story around how the kingdom's poor were being oppressed by the dude running the kingdom until the Prince came of age and junk. I didn't really care about all that. It wasn't bad, I just didn't care. I wanted more dancing and fancy dresses and junk.
Easily, my favorite part were the dress changes! Also different from Disney, there are 2 different "Cinderella gets a pretty dress" scenes. There is also an additional one where the fairy godmother transforms from a crazy peasant woman into the fairy godmother. Now, for costume designers like my buddy Joey, perhaps this is actually quite easy to pull off. But, they made it look AMAZING. Here is an example from YouTube. Go to the 2 minute mark:
So, overall quite good! But, this review is turning out too long. What I REALLY want to do is complain!
You see, the Paramount (as my dad can attest to as he does not like the Paramount) does not have the best seating in the world. If you are sitting on the Main Floor, which we were, there is practically no incline to the floor. Meaning, that the seat in front of you is almost on the exact same level as your seat. Mean that there is another head right in front of you.
Now, when you are 6 years old and a little more than 4 feet tall, this kinda sucks.
However, the Paramount does what they can to help with this by offering large, cushioned booster seats. When you are doing a show that appeals so much to children, though, these boosters go very fast. We got there about 20 mins early, and all the boosters were already gone.
Immediately next to Kim was a women with 2 teenage girls. I am assuming she was the mom and she was with her daughters. Her daughters appeared to be about 14. Or, a very tall 13. In fact, one of them was taller than Kim. Not like that's hard. But, it makes the point I am getting to even more potent.
One of the 14 year old girls was sitting on a booster seat. The mom was holding another in her lap. I didn't notice this until Kim pointed it out to me. Desmond is sitting next to me, very low in the seat compared to the much larger people around him. The person in front of him was the shortest option to sit behind, but she was still much taller than Desi (and she had a booster seat). After Kim points out the booster seat in mom's lap, I lean over and politely ask,
"Excuse me...will you be using that booster?"
"We're not sure yet." comes the apathetic response.
"Oh. Ok." I say, because I am obsessively polite and like to avoid conflict.
Once the show starts, mom gives the booster seat to her other 14 year old.
What the Eff, woman! Here, my 6 year old sits well below the site line for your show and you 2 selfish girls and your selfish mom go on as if nothing is wrong with this picture? Maybe you can fill in for the wicked step sisters next time!!!!
Kim and I proceeded to do what we do best when we're annoyed. We made loud, unapologetic passive aggressive comments about how hard it must be for 14 year old girls to attend the theatre when they are only 5'4" tall and how it sucks to be a 6 year old who can't see when there are much taller people around taking up all the booster seating.
Next show is Phantom. Kim has never seen it. I, of course, have a history with Phantom which I will someday share with the 1.5 readers who don't already know it.
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