Step in Time

I am a bit late on this, but the excitement level is still there.

Last Wednesday, the 25th, I had the priviledge of attending opening night of the national tour of Mary Poppins!

Now, if you know me, you know I love musicals, Julie Andrews and musicals! And that Mary is one of my favorites. I was thankful that I had listened to the London cast recording many times before going (most of the melodies are the same, the new songs blend, but I did not like Super the first time I heard it). And, I had heard of some of the technical stage things that were done on Broadway and London from my reading and talking to people who saw it. But this was the tour, they could not do all that...could they??

First off...I had the original Broadway Mary (Ashley Brown) and the original London and Broadway Bert (Gavin Lee). OMG! Both of them were Practically Perfect! Jane and Michael were perfect and Mr. Banks ... fabulous. Mrs. Banks was a little off, but not enough to be a huge distraction and the rest of the supporting cast was on point.

The house is not the same as it has been on Broadway, but that is probably due more to the challenges of getting it in and out of theatres, but what they came up with worked so perfectly. You got an idea of height when the nursery came down.

I was sitting so that I could see the Stage Right wings, and I loved watching people as they prepped for their entrances. I was watching the stage, but catching that out of the corner of my eye. Watching Ashley get prepped (and raised) for her Act 2 entrance was really cool, especially as she calmly hung there until it was time to grab the kite. Watching the techs get Gavin ready for his dance AROUND the proscenium was cool, and I wanted to take that walk. I still don't know how the cop pulled off his quick change in "Jolly" but it was impressive!! And I watched Mary at the end until I could not see her anymore when she exited the stage at the end of Act 2.

The story is closer to the books than to the movie, which actually works very well. The movie felt like a series of incidents, while the play felt like there was more of a story. The entire family was flawed and needed Mary's fixing. And I loved how Bert flirted with Mary and was hopeful. Mary was a bit of a bitch, but she IS practically perfect.

And the dance numbers...oh, the production numbers! I LOVE the fact that they had a HUGE tap number to "Step in Time." Sometimes it feels like tap numbers are going by the wayside....I wish I could tap. And the lyrics to "Anything is Possible" were fantastic! OMG, I had heard the song before, but seeing it on stage and with some of what is going on in my life made it just more poignant. The line that sticks...
"If you reach for the stars, all you get is the stars,
but we found a whole new spin.
If you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in."

Perfect, just like the show was.

Catching Up

Hi. How are you doing? How has life been? Are you comfy? Do you have a beverage handy? Is everything treating you well? I know it has been a while since last we talked. I cannot even really tell you why that is. I know I had been busy for a while with work and then working out, and then the working out slowed down because of injuries, but why haven't I returned to you?

Let's see...what is new? I injured my non-repaired leg. After going in to have it looked at, they think it is just pre-patella bursitis. I'm on anti-inflammatories and no lower body exercise for 2 weeks. No fun, since that is the type of exercise that I love. Upper body tends to bore me. So, I have to figure out what to do as I have a goal to lose 10 pounds in the next 2 months. Oh--I also go to see a Celiac Specialist who recommended some further tests and recommended a dietician who actually knows something!! YEA!

The only other major news I can think of is that this summer will not be so "Wonder"ful after all. No reason given, so I get to play with Karaoke all summer. OYE! Hopefully I do not embarrass myself TOO much! =)

Other than that, I cannot think of anything else that I want to share here. I also do not know how much personal detail I realy want to put on here anymore, so we will see where the content goes from here....