One Short Day in the Emerald City...

Let me start this post by saying this: If you have never seen the musical Wicked, you must go see it. If you are a fan of musicals, or even if you are not, you will love it. Save your money, sell your car, eat beans and rice for a month, but make plans and GO SEE IT.

For the past two years I have been the choir director for a small choir in a charter high school in Fresno. My friend Rebecca is a teacher there, and she is also the accompanist for the choir. Yesterday we were fortunate enough to go on a reward trip with 20 or so of the elective students to San Francisco to see a matinee performance of the musical Wicked. I saw it for the first time in Los Angeles nearly two years ago, so this was my second time seeing it. I loved it just as much, if not more, than the first time around.

At the last minute we had three extra tickets, so Rebecca brought her daughter Olivia and Olivia's friend Ryann. I could have brought Zack, but he was out of town (drat!) so I immediately thought of my voice student Danielle. I've been teaching her for 2 years. She is a great singer, and she LOVES theatre. She was the perfect choice! She was thrilled beyond words to come with me to see the show.

Before the show we spent some time at the infamous Pier 39. This is me and Rebecca with our girls - L to R: Olivia, Ryann and Dani


Dani being goofy in one of the shops on the pier.


Rebecca lookin' HOT!


The boats on the pier. We got lucky - we'd had days of dismal rain before this trip, but the musical theatre Gods decided to give us a perfect day for our trip.


The seals, lounging on the pier. They are SO darn cute.


Dani, checking out Alcatraz. I love this photo!


Olivia, looking out at everything there is to see. Beautiful girl!


Here we are on the bus. Notice the lovely seat covers on the right, that just match the lovely shade of blue in Rebecca's eyes. We totally planned that.


Wicked!! Me (notice my Elphaba-green scarf? Nice. I was way more suble than some folks. I actually saw some ladies with witch hats on.) with my daughter for the day, Dani, outside the theatre before the show.


The kids were super well behaved, and all enjoyed it. It was a great experience for them, and I am happy that I was able to be a part of it!

The Sun'll Come Out....

Tomorrow!!

This past Wednesday night Sue, Rebecca and I each took one of our kiddos to see the Broadway production of Annie at the Saroyan Theatre. What a fun show! Of course, I know the story inside and out, having seen the Carol Burnett version several times on TV as a kid AND as an adult. I wasn't sure if I would fully enjoy it since I knew the story SO well, but I really did love it! The orphan girls and the lady who played Miss Hannigan totally stole the show. The girl who played Annie didn't yell out the songs too much, which has always been a pet peeve of mine about this show, so that was good too. Zack even liked it!

I took a few cute photos of the crew before we left...

Yay! Zack is SOOOOO very excited to see Annie!!

Sue and Brynley

Rebecca and Olivia

Mom and the Z-man. I know I look like death. I have another horrible cold this week and I was severely doped up that night...dig my highly medicated smile (and hair!).

Here are the kids together. This is as close and I could get Zack to stand to the girls...this will ALL change in another year or so!

Cute Brynley Sue

I never had the opportunity to see a professional Broadway show until I was 18 years old...I am glad that these children got the have the exposure at a young age. Long live live theatre!!

Girls Night Out: CATS

Sue and I went to see the musical CATS last night. It's hard to believe that with all the musicals I have seen in my lifetime, I have never seen CATS, the longest running musical in history. Matt and I have season tickets, but he didn't feel like going (he stayed home and hooked up the computer - yay, Matt!) and I thought my friend Sue might like it, so off we went! We enjoyed the show. It was definitely a very strange storyline, but the dancing and musical numbers were fantastic! I kept thinking about 80's beauty pageants though, every time they sang "Memory, all alone in the moonlight..."

Fun night out for Nicole and Sue!

I also spent a lot of the show feeling guilty about Butterscotch (the cat). He ran off the other day after I moved him to the new house and we haven't seen him yet. He took one look around this much-smaller-than-2-acres-backyard and was outta here. Matt says he'll come back. I hope so!

Mamma Mia!

If this musical is playing ANYWHERE near you, you must make plans to go and see it! I was very excited to see this one - I had heard from several people that it was really good. Matt and I went last night. It did not disappoint! We both agree that it is the best touring show we have seen this season. (A good way to gauge a musical...if Matt doesn't doze off even a little, it must be REALLY good!! No dozing at all!) This would be a good musical for those of you whose husbands or significant others aren't big theatre fans - it's very entertaining!

Ever Feel Like Something in Your Life has Come Full Circle?

I felt like that last night.

Last night my friend Rebecca and I took our two oldest kids (Zack and Olivia) to see a musical that Buchanan HS put on. It was opening night. My main reason for going was that two of my voice students were in it, and a few more LDS kids that I know from our stake as well.

What was the musical? Pirates of Penzance.

I was in the musical (well, it's really an operetta) Pirates of Penzance during my Freshman year at Dixie College, playing the part of one of the daughters. I made and deepened friendships throughout the rehearsals and performance of this show. I believe that this show was a very significant part of my life.

Why? When we did Pirates of Penzance, it was FRAUGHT with disaster. Rehearsals were fine and wonderful, the cast was superb...then on opening night, during a sword fight scene, someone made a mistake and the Pirate King (My great friend Jody) was stabbed near his eye. Being the professional that he was and is, he actually FINISHED the scene (bleeding!) before being carted off to the hospital. We muddled through the rest of the show. It turned out that he was unable to finish the run of the show, and we were all devastated. (Especially Jody - he was PERFECT for this part.) Another one of the cast stepped up and took over his part for the rest of the run. BUT that wasn't all! The second to last night of the show, our Mabel (the lead female part) was throwing up backstage between scenes. Lovely. The final night, she was too sick to go on, so another fabulous friend of mine, Lanette, stepped up and took over her role, and made the BEST comedic Mabel I have ever seen or will ever see in my life. Ever heard the old saying, "the show must go on"? This show exemplified that perfectly. Needless to say, of all the shows I have participated in, this one really made an impact. I think it probably shortened Dr. Andersen's life by a few years - the poor man!

Sitting there in the theatre last night, I was amazed at how well I remembered a lot of the songs, 19 years (yes, I said 19 years) later. I was especially pleased with my two students, Cade (he played the Police Sergeant) and Tiffany (she played the part of one of the daughters). It was very gratifying to me as their vocal coach to see them there on the stage, performing in a show that I did so long ago, and that perhaps I had a small part in helping them get there.

Cade and Tiffany were fantastic. Rebecca, Zack, Olivia and I really enjoyed it. My past and present experience with this show is unforgettable.

Long live Pirates of Penzance.

Night at the Theatre

Matt and I went and saw the touring musical Gypsy on Wednesday night at the Saroyan Theatre. It was a great show! I was still feeling pretty poorly, but I doped up on cold and cough medication and tried to save my coughing for during the applause. The poor guy next to me only glanced over at me couple of times - he was very polite! I am sure he went home and sprayed himself head to toe with Lysol.

The show was a fun one - it's a musical based on the memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist during the time of the Great Depression. The actual lead of the show is her mother, Rose - the ultimate "stage mother"! The woman playing her was incredibly talented.

Next shows coming via our season tickets are Mamma Mia, Cats and Annie. I think I am going to take Zack to see Annie. (I don't think Matt will mind missing that one too much.)

Wicked still takes the cake, though!