Some Enchanted Evening

On Wednesday night, The Mister and I got fancied up and headed downtown to watch the traveling Broadway production of South Pacific. This was something I'd been looking forward to since we heard the 2010 theater line-up at the end of last year! I've loved the music of South Pacific since I was a kid--my dad had the soundtrack to the 1958 film version and listened to frequently (after he listened to it as a kid), so I learned all the songs.

When the show was revived on Broadway back in 2007, I knew it was something I had to see, and I was thrilled to find out that I could save on an airplane ticket and see it right in my own city.

Most auspiciously, the run was scheduled right during the week of my dad's and my birthdays. Unfortunately, he couldn't come, so I've got my fingers crossed that the tour goes through Salt Lake City next year so he'll have a chance to see it (the show in NYC closes later this month). I was able to score a pair of excellent seats on Craiglist (8th row, smack in the center) the day before the show for a heck of a deal, which made the whole thing even sweeter!

The show was really, really marvelous. If the tour comes through your area, go see it--you won't be sorry! The singing was fabulous (especially the actor who played Emile--he's an opera singer so his deep baritone is rich) and the orchestra was remarkable as well, as they're using Richard Rodgers' original orchestrations and a full pit, rather than the small pit & a synthesizer that most traveling shows these days use. My only regret is that we didn't get to see this guy:

Mr. Schue as Lt. Cable (swoon!) A shirtless Lt. Cable, to be precise. :)

The entertainment continued on the drive home as well: a sold-out Lady Gaga concert was just down the street and the shows got out at roughly the same time. Add that to major construction and lane restriction on the interstate and we had a massive traffic jam as eight lanes of traffic were funneled down to one. It was bumper to bumper for miles--that's not the exciting part, however. We were sitting in traffic and I noticed a police car in front of us. Then I noticed a police car to the side of us. Then all of a sudden, we were literally surrounded by police cars and in a blink, a dozen cops were out of their cars, weapons drawn and pointing at the car that was directly in front of the police car that was in front of us! My gosh, I thought we were going to have to hit the deck to keep from being shot! Thankfully, the suspects in the car complied and everything was peaceful, but it was still startling and that combined with the traffic turned what is normally a 30-minute trip home into nearly two hours.

My actual birthday was Friday. Since we'd had our big date on Wednesday for the show, I opted to keep things quiet and we went out as a family for sushi. The Mister managed to sneak cupcakes from my favorite shop into the sushi restaurant early, and the waitress brought them out after dinner with lit candles. It was a completely delightful surprise--that Mister is a sneaky one! It was a great day and I'm looking forward to year #32!