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Last night, my parents treated my sisters and me to a Broadway show. The three of us went to see Hairspray - and we had Orchestra seats. For the first time in my life, I was not all the way up in the rear mezzanine.
We were six rows back, close enough to see the sweat dripping from one of the actors, and close enough to appreciate everything from costumes to facial expressions.
Granted, the seats would have been better if I weren't sitting behind someone who was head and shoulders above everyone else - and blocked my view of center stage, with the angle of the seats. But other than that...
The show was amazing. Every actor played their part wonderfully, from the overweight idealist daughter to the geeky sidekick - she was amazing - to the young black girl to the mother, Edna Turnblat, played by Bruce Vilanche - who was the reason we went in the first place. (He is an old friend of my father.) For those who do not know the show, he plays an obese hosewife who irons for a living, and who is the lead's mother. He wears a 30 pound fat suit - and apparently a 40 pound dress in the final scene. And there is one scene where it is just Edna and her husband dancing and singing together onstage, and there is a moment reserved for ad-libbing. As Edna is being fondled by her husband, the following lines emerged:
"This is better than Harry Potter."
"Watch out, I'm a desperate housewife."
"Pretty soon, Brittney Spears will look just like me"
But it was great to see Bruce as an actor - he uses the silences even better than his lines. The expressions on his face... wow.
And, as I said, all the others were great as well. And the costumes were so colorful and went together so well, and the scenery - the color, the style, the way all of it was lit...
Not to mention the script itself - great music for dancing to - which is what they kept doing - and great words - humorous lines, and also a wonderful message.
That's how my father describes the show: "It has such a great message." Can you tell he thinks like an educator? But he's right. And he says it is even more powerful for people like him who grew up (were teenagers) in the 60's. For that matter, Bruce Vilanche himself was growing up in the 60's, seeing as he's around my father's age - maybe a few years older.
I feel like there were some very specific parts I wanted to share with people - but the whole thing was so good that I can't recall which ones they are.
In other news, I got new sneakers yesterday - before my old ones were completely worn out...
And I looked online this morning and found out that I was right - there is a way to recycle old sneakers. Nike collects them and makes them into playground and sports turf. And small quantities of shoes can be dropped off at Niketown here in the city - I think it is in the 50's. So now I can recycle all of my old sneakers instead of just throwing them away. If only I could do the same with my dress shoes.
I also discovered that New Balance makes shoes other than sneakers - they have this other brand they make - was it Dunham? - and while it seems from the catalogue to be focused more on work boots, this company also makes more casual shoes - that have some of the same features as the sneakers in terms of comfort and support. Alas, the shoe I liked on the shelf (a lace-up that looked like it would be great for teaching in) has been discontinued.
Another interesting feature of the catalogue, though: if you ever need a pair of steel-toed sneakers... who knew such things existed? (Steel-toed boots, those I have heard of - and seen in certain people's closets. But sneakers? Yes, I know they serve a purpose. I just never thought about it.)
We were six rows back, close enough to see the sweat dripping from one of the actors, and close enough to appreciate everything from costumes to facial expressions.
Granted, the seats would have been better if I weren't sitting behind someone who was head and shoulders above everyone else - and blocked my view of center stage, with the angle of the seats. But other than that...
The show was amazing. Every actor played their part wonderfully, from the overweight idealist daughter to the geeky sidekick - she was amazing - to the young black girl to the mother, Edna Turnblat, played by Bruce Vilanche - who was the reason we went in the first place. (He is an old friend of my father.) For those who do not know the show, he plays an obese hosewife who irons for a living, and who is the lead's mother. He wears a 30 pound fat suit - and apparently a 40 pound dress in the final scene. And there is one scene where it is just Edna and her husband dancing and singing together onstage, and there is a moment reserved for ad-libbing. As Edna is being fondled by her husband, the following lines emerged:
"This is better than Harry Potter."
"Watch out, I'm a desperate housewife."
"Pretty soon, Brittney Spears will look just like me"
But it was great to see Bruce as an actor - he uses the silences even better than his lines. The expressions on his face... wow.
And, as I said, all the others were great as well. And the costumes were so colorful and went together so well, and the scenery - the color, the style, the way all of it was lit...
Not to mention the script itself - great music for dancing to - which is what they kept doing - and great words - humorous lines, and also a wonderful message.
That's how my father describes the show: "It has such a great message." Can you tell he thinks like an educator? But he's right. And he says it is even more powerful for people like him who grew up (were teenagers) in the 60's. For that matter, Bruce Vilanche himself was growing up in the 60's, seeing as he's around my father's age - maybe a few years older.
I feel like there were some very specific parts I wanted to share with people - but the whole thing was so good that I can't recall which ones they are.
In other news, I got new sneakers yesterday - before my old ones were completely worn out...
And I looked online this morning and found out that I was right - there is a way to recycle old sneakers. Nike collects them and makes them into playground and sports turf. And small quantities of shoes can be dropped off at Niketown here in the city - I think it is in the 50's. So now I can recycle all of my old sneakers instead of just throwing them away. If only I could do the same with my dress shoes.
I also discovered that New Balance makes shoes other than sneakers - they have this other brand they make - was it Dunham? - and while it seems from the catalogue to be focused more on work boots, this company also makes more casual shoes - that have some of the same features as the sneakers in terms of comfort and support. Alas, the shoe I liked on the shelf (a lace-up that looked like it would be great for teaching in) has been discontinued.
Another interesting feature of the catalogue, though: if you ever need a pair of steel-toed sneakers... who knew such things existed? (Steel-toed boots, those I have heard of - and seen in certain people's closets. But sneakers? Yes, I know they serve a purpose. I just never thought about it.)
