a99kitten's Musings

Very excited! I ordered the “Camelot” soundtrack from Amazon this weekend. It’s the original Broadway version so Richard Burton as Arthur, Julie Andrews as Guinevere and Robert Goulet as Lancelot. I had this on cassette (whoa) when I was a kid/teenager and listened to it constantly. If you’ve read my blog, you know of my love for all things Arthurian (and NOT Kennedys’ Camelot – blech!) I recently ordered the DVD of the Broadway version they taped for HBO in the 80s with Richard Harris as Arthur. He really is fantastic in the role. His final speech is amazing. I would have LOVED to see that live. I remember watching the HBO play/movie over and over as a kid after taping (yes, with a VCR!) it. I know the words to all of these songs by heart. And pretty much all of the dialogue from the play. (this is the one:)

I got into a show tunes mood after seeing “Wicked” in SF a couple weeks ago. Loved this show! Great (and very crafty) story! Been listening to the soundtrack this week. My favorite song is definitely “Defying Gravity”. That was such a great part of the show.

I was listening to my “Love” soundtrack this weekend. Not really a play – but quite a production! Saw this in Vegas last year – LOVED it! And I am not really a Cirque de Soleil fan. Have seen 4 different ones. They are OK – but sometimes way too out there for me. But “LOVE” was FANtastic! Of course, I am a huge Beatles fan so was very much into the music.. Sucks you in – very powerful production I thought.

Have also been listening to my “Moulin Rouge” soundtrack. I really, really liked this movie. And some of the songs on the soundtrack are just so good (minus the poppy “Lady Marmalade” Meh.) Nicole’s “One Day I’ll Fly Away” is great. The “Elephant Love Medley” is awesome (with lines from many Beatles songs!) Also really like “Complainte de la Butte” by Rufus Wainwright. And I don’t really like the French or most things French (champagne and cheese are exceptions.) But he makes this sound so very….you know…very swoony… But “Come What May” is my all-time favorite – can listen to it over and over (me=hopeless romantic softie…) Great scene in the movie too…I can say this is definitely when I developed my crush on Ewan and not seeing him as Obi-Wan :)

So now I want to see another play in SF! I always forget how much I thoroughly enjoy going to the theater. Husband is not a huge fan so have missed out on some good ones that came through SF. No more – going without him from now on! I remember going to local plays when friends of mine were in them. I loved those too! Seeing a play is like being invited into the world where it is going on. I always love that feeling. Different than going to the movies for sure.

Need to start paying attention to what is coming to town!

Good day today! A great walk with the buds to start it.  It was a gorgeous day out.  Blue sky with a few light, wispy clouds. Then the sun came up. Was breezy but not windy. The waves were crazy. Tons of sets coming in – great whitecaps and crashing into the rocks. Hard to get a good photo as the waves were much bigger IRL but I tried…

Waves 11.7.09

Then drove into SF and saw Wicked. My girlfriends and I have been trying to pick a date to see this show for months but something always came up.  But we finally just picked a date and did it. Not everyone could come :( but we ended up getting PERFECT seats! I think my friend Helen will never want to volunteer to be in charge of the ticket procuring again but she scored great tickets for this!! Center orchestra seats. Perfect view of everything. Close enough to see all details on every costume but not in the first section so you miss anything on the sides. So perfect. Yay for the flu (the original buyer of these tix had 3 of their 4 get the flu so they had to sell.)

The sick people behind us should have sold their tickets and stayed home as well. At least 3 of the people sitting directly behind us kept coughing. And not even bothering to cover their mouths. Who does this? Really? Were you people raised by savages? They were clearly not too bright as they were surprised by the some of the “reveals” of the play. Again…….Really? Yes…these are the same people that vote. Sigh….

But the show was too good and fun for that to effect the mood!

Seats for Wicked

The actress who played Elphaba (aka The Wicked Witch of the West) was so, so good. Her voice was so awesome. She was actually the Standby too. Amazing. Glinda was great too. Was imagining how Kristin Chenoweth was on Broadway – she must have been great in that role!  The cast really did a great job.  Didn’t like Nessarose (character or actress) much though – but since she was the Wicked Witch of the East, I guess that’s right.

I would see this show again. Thoroughly enjoyable. And it did remind me how much I love seeing plays and  musicals. I *hate* going into the city for any reason whatsoever but I would volunteer for a good show. The last play we saw in the city was Phantom. Front row balcony seats – perfect view. Husband fell asleep (?) So now I will just go with friends :)

Going back to the parking lot, we had to take an elevator from street level. The stairwells were locked to, I assume, keep the homeless out (man, I love the cesspool…I mean city…) Apparently we were riding with people who were raised by the same savages. This guy kept squeezing against me to let more people in. If he would have made one more move – I would have clocked him. As it was as soon as soon the elevator door opened I pushed him forward to “help him out.” My friends were across from me so they saw my face. Glad I provided amusement for them :)

After the show, we went and had dinner at Q. Very, very yummy. I got a spinach salad to add a healthy component to my mac and cheese with tater tots entree :)  But I didn’t eat dinner on Friday night and hadn’t eaten yet today so the calorie intake *must* have balanced out somehow, right? :)

Mac & Cheese with tots at Q

Came home to very happy to see me doggies. So I’m just hanging out with them now.  Why a matinee show and early dinner is great – not home too late so doggie time after!!  A great, fun day and then football tomorrow. YAY!