one of my favorite things

When we were kids, my mom would watch West Side Story on Saturday mornings while she cleaned the house.  I hated musicals.  They seemed silly to me.  Why would 2 gangs who hated each other dance and sing while they fought?

When I was 16, I saw Rent & Ragtime on Broadway in New York over spring break.  I was interested.  My senior Engligh class was film as literature.  During the musical genre unit in class, we watched Singing in the Rain.  I was hooked.  Mostly because I had a big crush on Gene Kelly.  Singing in the Rain was my gateway musical.

Since high school, I have seen a number of musicals in Seattle @ the 5th Avenue & Paramount Theatres.   I also have had the privilege of seeing 3 shows on Broadway in New York.  Over the years, I have realized that I love live theatre.  The incredible talent of those singing powerfully and dancing gracefully across the stage-and often @ the same time no less-is mesmerizing.  The powerful singing in Wicked, the incredible costumes in the Lion King and the brilliant dancing in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers have been some highlights for me.  I love going to the theatre!

This Christmas my gift to my mom, sisters and niece was tickets to Rodgers & Hamerstein's Cinderella @ the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle.  We saw the Christmas Eve performance from the 5th row.  I am way more of a quality time/experience vs. gifts/things sort of a girl.  I was more excited to share this experience with the women in my family more than I ever have been to give them any material item wrapped under the tree.  I was particularly excited to share one of my favorite things with my soon-to-be-5-year-old niece.

Cinderella was performed brilliantly and my niece was enthralled.  On our way to the 5th, she was a little unclear about what we were doing and thought we were going to a movie.  Once the show started, she was wide-eyed and interested.  At the intermission I asked Samantha what she thought so far and her response included 2 thumbs up (she's into the thumbs up/thumbs down thing right now) and the word "excellente" (we're always teaching her Spanish).  When we were headed back to the car, Samantha asked me what the next "movie" we could see at the theatre was.  She wants to go back!  I hope there is a kid friendly show next season @ the 5th.

Cinderella was lovely and satisfied my theatre fix, but the looks on my niece's face that I stole during the show were worth every penny spent on those tickets.  My mom, sisters and I had a lot of fun together and particularly watching Samantha enjoy the show.