I’m getting started very slowly today as we didn’t get home until 1 am from the Opening Night of Anastasia. It was a long day – driving there took almost twice as long as usual because of the Memorial Day weekend, I suspect. I almost gave up, thinking we should just head back home. But oh! I am so glad we kept going.
I cannot tell you enough how glorious this musical is. Opening Night was one of the most magical nights I’ve even been a part of, and I’ve been in theater for, ahem, many years. I am sitting here, this morning, in my blogging chair, remembering bits and pieces of the night, snatches of songs, magical moments onstage, the roar of the crowd at the end of certain musical numbers, the cheers and foot stomping and bravos that filled the theater. Don was completely enthralled. He couldn’t stop talking about it and said it’s the best show he’s seen in years.
I love the cast, a group of super talented actor/singer/dancers with big hearts and a wonderful, positive attitude. I love Darko, of course – his brilliance is a given. The music and lyrics, the libretto, the choreography, the music direction, the costumes, the set design, the lighting, the projections – are superb. I grew up acting in musicals. They are my first love. And what I love about the musical theater are the lush, gorgeous songs of the greats: Rodgers & Hammerstein, Rodgers & Hart, Frank Loesser, Leonard Bernstein, Stephen Sondheim, Kander & Ebb, Jule Styne, Jerome Kern, George Gershwin….what I don’t like is the Pop sound in a lot of recent musicals. I avoid them like the plague. Musical Theater should be larger-than-life, it should take you to a different place, a place where the feelings and emotions in a moment are so big, so momentous, that the character just has to sing.
Anastasia does that. Oh, how wonderful it is to witness something like this.
We spent some time at the party afterwards and then, about 11 pm, headed home. Not much sleep, but so worth it. It’s headed to Broadway sometime in 2017.
Before we left for Hartford, I noticed the clematis was blooming!
As is the Lamium.
With these 90 degree temperatures, I suspect a lot of blooms are going to pop open. Staying inside with the A/C on today. Don has a gig tonight, poor guy, so he’s trying to sleep in.
Happy Saturday.
I woke up thinking about opening night and hoping it went well. How I envy you seeing this production. I love musical theater also and would love to see a show on Broadway some time (bucket list). I hope you get some rest but you sound very happy!
hugs,
Linda
Very. It was lovely to be a part of. Enormously satisfying! xo
I am so happy you both enjoyed opening night so well! Sounds like a wonderful musical…I love musicals too! The coloring on your clematis is just like mine….they are beautiful! I love the free form of a clematis…very artsy in my book. Enjoy your day! ;)
Thanks, Donnamae. Last night was incredible! Today? HOT!
Busy busy for you and Don….opening night and a gig. What fun! Will you be going to the gig too? Heading home from a few days get-away. We still have work to do preparing the house for our new felines. We’re so excited!
No, I’m staying home, I think. I’ve heard Don and Dan a lot and I love hearing them. But I’m tired!
You make me wish I could see a real life musical Claudia, but your words made me feel almost like I was there and could feel the emotions. Thank you for that. It’s chilly here this weekend at our camper the lake. The furnace actually turned on this morning! Our daughter and son-in-law were at Arlington National Cemetery this morning for the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. She said it was very emotional and VERY hot and humid. So glad the rain has stopped for all of you.
Blessings,
Betsy
I bet it was very emotional, Betsy.
It is unbelievably hot and humid here, Betsy. It says it feels like 96 degrees out there. YUCK.
They have put an ad right in the middle of your screen that cannot be deleted. It is blocking your text and photos. I don’t think you would b happy about that..
I’m not seeing it, Melanie. What browser are you on? I have Firefox, Safari, and Google and don’t see it on any of them.
I am so glad that your night at the theater was a resounding success and that you and Don both give Anastasia, “Two Thumbs Way Up! ” :D
It was truly wonderful, Elizabeth! Still basking in the glow today!
Sounds like a wonderful evening!! So glad you were able to go. Yes, the traffic everywhere yesterday afternoon was pretty awful, I think.
It is quite humid and warm here, as well. Even the dogs are happy to be inside today!
Have a great day and a quiet and relaxing evening being home alone for a few hours!
It will be nice to have some quiet for a few hours. Not that Don is noisy, but it’s nice to have some alone time!
I TOTALLY know exactly what you mean! ?
xo
How fun to see the production! WOnderful!
I ve never had clematis. Maybe someday when we move. Enjoy your weekend!
I will. You too, Kathy! I think, because it’s unbearably hot and humid, that most of my days will be spent inside!
Congrats to everyone connected with “Anastasia” – I’m sure it was a stellar evening!! It goes without saying that “putting on” a a quality musical is no small task, taking the combined efforts and talents of many different artists and craftspeople. So everyone should feel very proud and very satisfied. Looking forward to hearing a lot more about it in the future, and I will for sure be telling everyone that “my friend Claudia” was the voice and dialect coach on the production. Hope you’re able to stay relatively cool this weekend – and PS, what the heck happened to the rest of our Spring? ??
I know! It’s been crazy! Hardly any Spring and then full-on Summer!
Janet, you’re not seeing any big ad that’s blocking my content are you? Someone left a comment about that but I think, since it isn’t happening on any of my browsers, she somehow clicked on a dropdown ad at the top of the blog. Or it’s something on her end.
So glad you had such a fun, inspiring and gratifying night. To think you were a part of all that wonderfulness! You should feel proud. Music surrounds your life, you and Don.
My mother loved music and musical theater. She was a singer and one of the first school productions she got to participate in was ‘Carmen’ (the opera by Bizet; I think it has several acts). If it hadn’t been for The Great Depression and World War II, she could have had a career in something other than banking, back in those times. She had always sung at church, too, from childhood. (So many talented people in the world who never get the ‘big time’ but still love music and play music all their lives. Just like an actor…if you love it and it’s in your soul, you’ll always find a way to act, right?)
Anyway, not one to complain about lost dreams, anytime Mom could catch a musical production on TV or somehow justify the money for a new record album (she was very frugal), our house was filled with the music of “Oklahoma” or “Brigadoon”; “Carousel” and “South Pacific”; “Camelot” and “The King and I”. I can still sing all the words to some of the songs from those productions; stuck in my brain forever since childhood. A highlight of Mom’s life was when she got to see Yul Brynner in “The King and I” when it came to Los Angeles. I was so fortunate to be in high school when the perks of being in The California Scholarship Federation, French Honor Society or a few other ‘clubs’ on campus included a once-or-twice-a-year field trip to the music center in L.A. to see a musical or play. Fun for us teens ‘way out in the burbs. I remember seeing “Zorba” there…was the lead John Raitt?…when it went on tour; these things were usually at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. (I also got the pleasure of seeing Lauren Bacall in “Applause” there…and we’d also see musicals at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles. It was so great when the Broadway hits would go on tour!)
I think I’m repeating from early conversations here about the great musicals but at one time earlier in my life, single and in my 20s, I also splurged and got season tickets to the Ahmanson Theater at the Music Center in L.A. and it was Heaven. I agree with you about a production being bigger than life, so to speak. When you are lucky enough to see these things in person, your senses are in overdrive with color, light, song; emotion. I am so grateful to my mother for fostering in us kids the love of music…some of the greatest music. She played this stuff on the piano, too. I tried, but the music was hard! I still have her sheet music. She’d play the haunting show tune ‘Bali Ha’i’ and it wasn’t an easy piece, but she could play anything. I never got that talent.
Most of my young life as an actor was in musical comedy. I was a singer and an actor and I loved it. I’ve spent tons of time over the years researching the history of American Musical Theater because I love it so much. I saw Yul Brynner in The King and I – on one of the tours he did. I was lucky to meet lots of my Musical Theater idols over the years – sometimes by chance and sometimes backstage. And I got to work with Stephen Sondheim on a play. Not too much director contact but I was thrilled to be in the same room with him.
How wonderful!..I must tell my great niece and her husband in Philly about it…They just managed to get tickets to see Hamilton….in January 2017…lol…I’m sure they will want to see Anastasia too…I have to go out back and check my Clematis also…love those big blooms….We hit 90 today with a real feel of over 100 degrees…
Same here. Ridiculous! I have been staying in, mostly.
Claudia I am so looking forward to seeing Anastasia next weekend. I’ve always loved musicals and my grandmother is at least partially responsible as she would take me to local live theater. One I remember was the Sound of Misic done in the round at the old Oakdale theater. Ive been to a few on Broadway. A Chorus Line and Les Miserabla (sp.) are two. When I met my husband he had not gone and I took him to a traveling version of Rent at the Bushnell in Hartford. I personally did not care for it and it turned him off musicals so I’m really hoping this show will win him over.
Hilarious that I pointed out I did not know if I spelled Les Mis right and killed Music. iPhone keyboard is my excuse☺️
xo
This is very different from Rent, so I bet he’ll like it, Karen.
The show sounds wonderful. I hope to be able to see it in Hartford. Take care.
I hope you can get there, Doris. But it’s selling out quickly, so check about ticket availability as soon as you can.
So glad you got to go to the opening night! I’m sure it was fantastic. I know they profited so much from your help,
Get some rest and enjoy your weekend.
Judy
Staying in mostly, Judy, because the temps are in the nineties and it’s humid – and we have air quality warnings.
We went to see Anastasia Sunday and it was wonderful! Everything about it was fantastic. The house was packed and I believe there were people standing. They are extending it another week. You must feel great to have been involved in such an uplifting production.
I wish I had the soundtrack!!
Me too! I keep saying that to everyone. The songs keep going through my head, but I know I’ll forget them after some time passes and then I’ll have to wait until it hits Broadway! So glad you liked it, Betsy!