Sunday, May 25, 2008

New Puppy! Welcome Fiyero


When my husband and I started dating he came with a dog and I came with a bunch of cats. One of his friends once told me that he must really love me to move in with cats. That was seven years ago and while his dog and several cats have passed on, the last four years have been empty with just cats in the house.

After a lot of discussion we decided not to go with another Sheltie. We didn't want Sabrina's awesomeness to color a new dog, and as she had always been more Collie like then Sheltie like, we started looking for Collie breeders. There aren't a lot of them available and while we talked to breeders in Oregon, Washington and Canada it took us two years to find a breeder that we liked, was a responsible breeder and go though the adoption process. If people parents had to think about having a baby as much as we did answering the application questions there would be less bratty kids in the world.

We were ecstatic to pick up a puppy last Friday from Marko's Collies and bring him home. He is such a sweetie and his puppy training is going well. I've been reading a great dog book "Be the Dog" that focusing on being the pack leader for your dog. The author is local and I heard him talk on NPR. I need to find one of his cat books and see if I can't break some of our bad kitty habits.

Fiyero is a show puppy, so the dear husband will be showing him. Mama is a champion and Dad is only a few points away so we have high hopes for puppy. We chose a name from the musical "Wicked" and if we ever get a girl she'll be Elphaba. Yup, we are that cheesy.

High School Musical!

Ok, I have the best husband in the world! Not many men would be happy to accompany their wife to see Disney's High School Musical - the Musical without any children as a scapegoat for attending. And have a fun time too:)

The best part about attending shows that attract kids is their pure enjoyment. Little boys were excited to be there, tween and teen girls were excited to be there and the number of families (mom, DAD and kids) was just great. I love to see a new generation be exposed to the joys of musical theater. I think the best example of this was when Troy is singing "Get Your Head in the Game" and he ponders if he should try out for the musical and this little voice shouts out "Yes!"- it came from the main floor but we heard the excitement up in the balcony.

The set design was just great, they managed to use rotating locker segments to dress the scenes fantastically. The voices and talent of the actors was just great (and I did compare by watching HSM 1 & 2 the next day). Reading the cast list I got a jolt to see that Mr. Bolton (Troy's dad) was played by Ron Bohman who has been Phantom in Phantom on Broadway. Yow-za!

There were some minor changes in the stage version, but a nice summary is on Wikipedia. The most notable change was the kiss at the end! Shocking!

My only disappointment was in the swag, nothing was quite to my taste but I take comfort in knowing that the Disney machine has enough merchandise out there that I should be able to find something. To date my best show swag has been my embroidered Lion King bag. It's awesome and is the best work back I've ever had! Next up on our show schedule - Shrek the Musical.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My Fair Lady

We caught My Fair Lady at the Paramount. Parking was an adventure, we ended up in the same garage twice, which was not cool, but the show itself more than made up for it. The parking debacle really made an impression on how valuable the free parking with our 5th Ave season tickets is!

The sets were amazing as were the actors. We love the movie version (but don't get us started on how Julie Andrews was robbed) and the set and costume designers brought out the best elements of the movie. Including the stunning white dress Eliza wears to the embassy ball.

While our Professor Higgins had an excellent voice, I didn't feel that Rex Harrison talked his way through that much of the movie. We had an extra treat in that the actress playing Eliza also starred in the new Mary Poppins musical in London. I can't wait for that show to make it to town and it was great to have a chance to hear her voice. An interesting bit of staging (and different from the movie) was how Alfie Doolittle's song and dance was transformed in to a giant stomp-like piece. It was intense and very well received by the audience.

We were so glad to be able to see My Fair Lady done by a professional company.

I picked up an awesome souvenir shirt that says "I'm a Good Girl I Am". Which I'm sure all of our friends will agree!

Cabaret was Ooh La La!


On our actual anniversary (when State Patrol caught me speeding 5 miles out of town!) we got an email to upgrade our Cabaret tickets. I called immediately and we were booked for the "Kit Kat Klub" complete with cabaret tables where the orchestra pit normally is AND a bottle of wine to drink during the show!

This was our "surprise" show, neither the DH or myself had seen a movie, knew any plot or had any kind of expectations. We loved it! This actually ended up being one of our favorites of the season.

We got all dolled up and I did a bit of research for 1930s fashions and I even had a dress in my closet that was totally period appropriate. Ice blue, halter neck, dipping in the back and matching vintage fur. Check! The DH was his usually dashing self in his tux.

At the intermission someone asked the DH if we were part of the show! Even better (and the highlight of my night) was after the intermission. The MC character was vamping with those of us in the Kit Kat Klub seats. He started with an older lady and was all "darling, look at you, why it looks like your head is erupting". She did have an odd feather collar. We were in the center, and he chose to vamp with me next!!! He was "darling, look at you, you look fabulous, just like a whore. And look at you (to the DH) you're just happy to be with her." Then he proceeded to call me a whore a few more times. Then he went to the other side and started teasing this gay couple. He made a rhythm joke and I laughed, and the MC looked back at me and said "the whore gets it". It was awesome!!!!! Normally I would object to being called a whore in front of that many people but in this case it was great. Plus I felt extra good because there were a lot of dressed up women in the Kit Kat Klub he could have called a whore instead.

It was amazing being 4 feet away from the stage. We could see every detail, bump and grind. It was quite a saucy show but it was right up our alley. I called the 5th ave and moved our season renewal from the balcony (which we had enjoyed and re-upped for) to the main floor.

The staging was amazing. At the end of act one when they dropped all these Nazi posters I had this conflicted feeling, I wanted to applaud the actors and their performance but I just couldn't bring myself to clap with the propaganda banners hanging. It was such a horrible feeling that trying to imagine living during the 1930s when it was happening must have been just awful. Thankfully, the MC came out and mocked the salute which changed the mood enough to allow the audience to applaud. The other touching moment was the story line between the German landlord and the Jewish fruit shop owner. Their duets and acting were so moving!

We would defiantly see this again!