The Name of the (Blog) Game

A few years ago, my husband Chad and I took a "vacation" to New York City. We've both been to NYC plenty of times, but usually it's just a quick train ride in to see a show, have dinner, maybe spend the night and then head home. This time we decided to go and "live" in the city for a whole week.

We didn't want to do the touristy things. We didn't want to eat at the popular restaurants. We just wanted to spend some time there and enjoy the city as if we lived there (which I would love to do). We saw a few shows, had dinner at little restaurants, and just enjoyed being there without having to rush back home. We had a great time, and that week in New York still ranks up there with a Mediterranean cruise as one of my all-time favorite vacations.

When we returned, our son Alec (who was three at the time) immediately started asking when he could go to New York City. I don't think he had a clue what New York City was, but he knew that Mom and Dad had just gone there and had a great time, so he wanted to go too. We told him that when he turned five we would take him.

As the months went by, he didn't forget about this. Every time he heard any mention of NYC, he would light up and ask about going. As his fifth birthday started getting closer, Chad and I decided that we would give him his trip to NYC for his birthday.

So the planning started. Where would we stay? What would we do? I was used to planning trips around adults, not a 5-year-old boy!

We knew that we wanted to take him to a show, so the obvious choice for a 5-year-old boy was The Lion King. He'd seen the movie; he likes the music; and he's been to local theatres before, so I had no worries about him sitting still during the show. After the tickets were purchased, the rest of our activities fell right into place: a train ride, some street cart food, the show, some dinner and ice cream, a night in a hotel (a big deal for little boy!), and stops at F.A.O. Schwarz, the M&M store, Rockefeller Center, and the Ferris wheel at Toys R Us.

I was so excited! I was counting down the days until his birthday so that I could tell him all about our big plans. I had to keep reminding myself that this trip was for Alec, not me! Finally the day came. He was very excited to hear about his special birthday trip! He was especially excited to know that this was just for him and that his little brother wasn't going to be coming with us.

Alec trying to figure out why we gave him a piece of paper for his birthday

 We just had to wait a few more weekends until it was time to go (his birthday is in January, but our tickets were for February). Finally we were just days away from the trip. Everyone was excited. We were all talking about all the fun things we would be doing in just a few short days.

And then it came. Nemo. No, not Nemo like "Finding Nemo." Nemo as in the big winter storm that shut down the entire northeast for a weekend. Our weekend.

Trains were stopped. NYC was a big snowy mess. We were snowed in in PA with somewhere to go and no way to get there. Alec was so disappointed that we couldn't get there, and honestly I was pretty heart-broken myself (more so because Alec was disappointed, but I had really been looking forward to our weekend too).

Mother Nature was NOT my friend this weekend

Fortunately we were able to trade in our show tickets for a different date. We also were able to switch our train tickets and our hotel room. But the different date was three months away in May. See, I could have gotten tickets for a closer date, but I had fallen in love with the seats that we were supposed to have in February. I wanted to get those same seats, and the next time those seats were available wasn't until May. (The seats were about 10 rows back, on the left side, right on the aisle so that Alec would have a great view and no one's head right in front of him. Plus, since I'd seen the show before, I knew it was right where the giraffe walked by, so I knew that would be a really cool experience for him.)

So the waiting began again. The weeks went by, and finally May came. Again we were a few days away from the big trip. Again everyone was excited. Again we were talking about all the fun things we would be doing in just a few short days.

And then it came. Dumbo. No, not Dumbo as in the elephant with big ears. Dumbo as in the nasty virus that Alec decided to come down with. (Hey, if we're naming winter storms here, I figured I could name childhood illnesses too.) So we could either take our sick little boy and make him trudge around the city with no energy and not enjoying himself at all. Or we could reschedule everything. Again. We chose the second option.

My sick little boy would not have had a good time in NYC like this

Again we were very lucky that we could exchange everything. But again I wanted those same seats, and again it was a few more months until I could get them again. So again the waiting began. Third time has to be a charm, right?

Finally the weekend was almost here. The big trip was a few days away. And then it... Ok, just kidding. This time everything went perfectly.

Right off the subway, seeing Times Square for the first time

Getting ready to see his first Broadway musical!

Even though it was five months later than we had planned, we made it to New York, and Alec couldn't have had a better time. He loved everything about the weekend, right down to the big "ice hunt" he went on with Chad in the hotel. To this day he still talks about everything he got to do, and he loves to look through the photo book that I made him of our adventures in NYC.

This Friday, that little 5-year-old turns six! While we didn't plan another big trip for him, I know this year will be filled with lots of fun things for him with some theatre thrown in there for sure.

Oh, and what was his seat for his very first Broadway musical? The one that I just wasn't willing to give up? You guessed it... row L seat1! :)

Enjoying the "Big" piano at F.A.O. Schwarz

No, E.T. is not giving us the finger on the Toys R Us Ferris wheel

The ice hunt was a highlight of the trip

These Are A Few Of MY Favorite Things

My sincerest apologies if I just got that song stuck in your head for the rest of the day. I promise to try to make up for it by the end of this post*...

Since we're still getting to know each other, I decided to sit down and think about, well, a few of my favorite things. At least a few of my favorite theatre things.

I'm not sure which was harder for me to pick, my favorite musicals or my favorite songs. They both took some serious considering, but ultimately I was able to pick a few of my favorites of each (with some honorable mentions that I just couldn't leave out).

My Favorite Musicals
I've seen tons of musicals, and I'd say that about 90% of the time when I come out of a theatre after seeing a show for the first time I say it's my new favorite show. Then I get home and a few days later remember all my other "new favorite shows." After taking into consideration lots of factors like music, story, etc., I've almost narrowed it down to my five all-time favorites:

1) Next to Normal
2) Aida
3) Les Misérables
4-6) I said I "almost" narrowed it down to five. I really couldn't choose between Once, Jesus Christ Superstar and The Book of Mormon for my last two picks. I love all three of them, though for very different reasons!

Honorable Mention goes to [title of show]. You've probably never heard of that one, right? It wasn't on Broadway for very long, and I still can't figure out why. It was awesome! I was lucky enough to see a local production of this show a few years ago, which included an incredibly talented cast. I would love to see it performed again sometime... even better if it went back to Broadway!  

My Favorite Show Tunes
Boy I sure had a fun time coming up with these. Why? Because I listened to about 20 of my "favorite" songs so that I could really pick my top five. Any time I'm listening to Broadway music, especially my favorite Broadway music, it's a fun time for me!

* If "My Favorite Things" is still stuck in your head, I've included a sample of each song below to help out with that!

1) "Another Day" (Rent) (The song starts at around 20 seconds, and I should also caution that this might contain some PG-13 material.)

2) "I Am The One" (Next to Normal) (As much as I enjoy the TV show "Graceland," I wish Aaron Tveit would go back to Broadway!)

3) "As Long As Your Mine" (Wicked)

4) "Gold" (Once) (This is their performance of this song at the Tony Awards. The song starts at around 40 seconds, but Josh Groban introduces it so I didn't mind watching those extra 40 seconds.)

5) "The Jellicle Ball" (Cats) (I surprised even myself when I picked a song that featured mostly instrumental music as opposed to singing!)

Honarable Mentions go to "Elaborate Lives" (Aida), "Lily's Eyes" (The Secret Garden), "Could We Start Again Please" (Jesus Christ Superstar) and "If I Can't Love Her" (Beauty and the Beast). I could name at least 10 others that I wanted to include on this list, but I think this is enough for now.

Oh, and while we're talking favorites, even though this is soooo 2013 I'd choose Hit List over Bombshell any day. :)

Now that I've shared some of my favorite things, what are some of your favorites?

These are a few of MY favorite things! What are some of yours?

Overture

Since most musicals start off with some kind of an Overture, that's how I decided to kick off my blog.

First off, if you're reading this, thank you! I'm excited to be starting a new adventure with this blog, and I'm very happy you're here to join me on my new adventure.

If you know me, then you know there are two things in life that I love: my family and live theatre. And not always in that order (ok, I'll always put my family first, but theatre comes in a very close second). You also probably know me to be a bit (ok, a lot) opinionated, especially when it comes to my family and theatre. If you don't know me, then you'll quickly learn these facts to be true.

I love my family...

While I'm new to theatre blogging, I'm no rookie to the blogging world. In my previous blog (Mommy's Always Write) I blogged about being a mom. The good, the bad, the ugly, the embarrassing, you name it. If it was related to parenting, I wrote about it. But even though I devoted a lot of time to Mommy's Always Write (and contributed to a few national and international parenting blogs), I just wasn't feeling satisfied with what I was doing. So I decided it was time for a change. I decided it was time to start writing about my other love in life, theatre.

...and I love live theatre...

So here I am today, kicking off a new blog and a new adventure. I plan to blog about all things theatre, from the latest Broadway hit to my thoughts on theatre attire to shows that I see here in central PA to the crazy things my kids say after experiencing live theatre.

...and when the two are combined it's the best of both worlds!

I love reading comments, and I respond to as many as I can, so if you read something that resonates with you (in either a good way or a bad way), please feel free to comment. I'd also love for you to follow me on Facebook or Twitter for special updates, announcements, and hopefully in the near future prizes.

Thanks again for reading! Let's talk theatre!

Kim