"There were bells on the hill..."

Jim and I went to see ‘The Music Man’ last night at The Company Theatre and had a super- duper time.

This is a show that we both know quite well…..especially since Jim directed me in it back in February of 2007. :-)

If you’re not familiar with the show, let me just tell you, the part of Harold Hill is an amazing part…..but it is EXHAUSTING. I give Michael H. (as well as anyone who’s ever played that role) a ton of credit for making it through the show every night!!
It was one of the best parts I’ve ever had the fortune of playing, but boy….it was a challenge each and every night.

Anyway…..this was such an enjoyable production. Everyone and everything looked and sounded great – especially the HUGE orchestra. There is nothing like hearing an 18-19 piece orchestra playing great music. It made me want to jump up on stage an join them!
We had several friends in the show (some of our fellow ‘Godspell’ cast members were in it) and they all did a fantastic job. I’m not going to go into a huge amount of detail, because I could write all day long about it, but I will say that faithful blog reader and good friend Julie D, was a hoot and a half as Eulailie Mackecknie Shinn, the mayor’s wife. She had quite a few moments that were SO funny that Jim and I completely lost it.
Another faithful blog reader (and The Music Man’s choreographer) Sally, deserves a ‘shout out’ for her work. How she managed to keep 50+ cast members from killing one another on that stage is beyond me….and her ‘Shipoopi’ was one of the show’s highlights. So fun and exciting.
As always, the sets, lights, etc. were top-notch and added so much to the entire experience.
Congrats to everyone on a job well done!!!!

Photo Credit: Zoe Bradford

Of course, it wouldn’t be a complete theatre experience if there wasn’t any drama.

“Right? Of course right!” (Thank you, Yente)
Basically, the ASSHOLES sitting in front of us had tickets for tonight’s (Friday) show, but came last night (Thursday) by mistake.
So, when the 7 people who actually HAD the correct tickets came to sit in those seats, he refused to move.
Seriously? Seriously.
Apparently, he insisted it was the theatre’s fault and refused to move - even though the date and time were CLEARLY printed on each and every ticket in his possession. Had this not taken place literally as the house lights were dimming, I’m sure it would have been a different situation. The house manager had little choice but to quickly find seats for the dis-placed party and try to keep things as under-control as possible. There was no way she was going to physically move an entire group of people or force them to get up and move, so she had to make due.
I couldn’t believe that the IDIOT, upon realizing that he had the wrong night, wouldn’t just get up and move somewhere else!

Now, maybe the usher should have noticed the date was wrong and brought it to the group’s attention before seating them, but in his/her defense I’ve ushered at that same theatre several times and I don’t think I’ve ever looked at the dates on the tickets, and it’s never been an issue. Also, there’s something to be said for getting to the theatre a little bit earlier than 5 minutes before the show starts. At least that way there would have been more time to deal with the issue and the poor house manager wouldn’t have been dealing with this D-BAG as the house lights were dimming.
I just can’t get over the fact that this guy knew that there was a group of 7 people standing behind him holding the correct tickets and he still refused to move. Not to mention the fact that included in his group were three kids who probably would have been just as happy sitting in the back of the theatre on folding chairs (I’ve sat in those seats and actually enjoy them) as opposed to making a group of 7 ‘older folks’ sit in them. Talk about teaching kids the wrong lesson. DICK.
Anyway…it all turned out fine for the dis-placed folks. They seemed to enjoy the show (we were in the last row of the theatre, so they were right behind us in the folding chairs) and as a super-nice gesture, the theatre agreed to refund their money…..but seriously, that guy and his attitude of entitlement PISSED ME OFF.

Aaaaaaand breathe…… :-)

So, it’s Friday and Jim and I have a fun-filled weekend ahead of us! We’re dropping off some stuff tonight at the Salvation Army Thrift Store (we still have some yard sale things that didn’t sell, so we’re donating it all) and then going shopping for my niece’s and nephew’s birthday gifts. Tomorrow we have my family and my brother-in-law’s family coming over for a pool party/BBQ to celebrate all the kid’s August birthdays and then on Sunday night we’re getting together with a couple we met at the ‘Gay Parent’s BBQ’ we went to a few weekends ago. That should be FUN.
I have Monday off (hooray for vacation days!!) so we’re planning something exciting. We may do a whale watch, but I’m not 100% sold on that yet, so we may just spend the day in P-Town instead.
I’ll keep you updated…..

Have a great weekend and HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!

xoxo

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