Project 52: Week 2014.10

Each day Winston gets more interested in using a fork and in this night in particular he aced it with his fish sticks and 'ronis.  For a kid who absolutely loves hats, Winston does not enjoy the hood on his hooded towel... so this was a rare moment of Little as a shark!  Benjamin and I inhaled three-fourths of this king cake...and never found the baby so I am left to say that it was in the portion that we did not eat.  Mom and I went to the theatre and had a nice time watching The Wizard of Oz!  

Billy Elliot

Our season ticket subscription for the 2010-2011 season at the AT&T Performing Arts Center is now over.  I highly encourage all of you Dallas-ites to either invest in the next season for a series of date nights or at least make plans to see something at the venue in the near future.  It is a fantastic experience. 

The last show in our bundle was Billy Elliot, the musical of a coal miner's son who forgoes his boxing lessons for the ballet.  The story line is a very drab and dreary one dealing with out of work laborers, depression and the challenge of doing what you were made to do in the face of adversity.  The upside was comical relief peppered into the show: quirky characters and an unusual number with oversized dancing dresses and trousers that you will not see in the movie!  The entire cast oozed with talent from the oldest member down to the wee girl who was no taller than two feet and owned every dance move.  The young'un who played Billy on opening night blew me away with his range of emotion and each movement he made.  All in all, a successful night of entertainment!

Next up is Spamalot...

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Rock of Ages

I love music.  I love the 80s.  I love 80s music.

I love music.  I love dancing.  I love dancing to music.

I love music.  I love singing.  I love singing to music.

I love dancing and singing to 80s music.

My husband also loves two out of the three things above.  He loves singing to 80s music.

Together, these are the top reasons that we fell in love with the musical Rock of Ages last week.  I knew this musical was going to be out of the ordinary and straight up awesometown when I was handed a small flashlight that was designed to look like a lighter.  

As the chords of the first song were strummed, my heart jumped a beat!  My toes began to tap and my shoulders started to bounce!  The story that unfolded was one that we are all familiar with: boy trying to make it big as a rocker meets small town girl come to the big city to break into a big acting role.  This story, however, was peppered with classic songs from Starship, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar, Journey, Foreigner and REO Speedwagon.  I unashamedly sang along out loud to We Built This City, Oh Sherrie, The Final Countdown, Cum on Feel the Noize, and I Want To Know What Love Is.

The script is witty, crass, and hilarious!  The characters include our small town lovers, a bar owner, a quirky narrator, strippers and Germans.  The two elderly ladies sitting in front of Benjamin and I must've not have been as amused or entertained as I was because they never returned after intermission...

I love seeing musicals at the AT&T Center for a couple of reasons.  One of them being that it's a small enough venue that the actors engage with the audience.  And this cast did exactly that.  The entire cast had great chemistry and having Constantine Maroulis singing lead enhanced the experience!

Please excuse the fuzziness of the photo.  The AT&T Center does not allow photographs to be taken.  This one was shot on the downlow without a flash.  Of me holding my flashlight lighter.

The entire experience was fantastic!  In fact, if you live in Dallas or near Dallas or in a city where this musical is going to play you need to by tickets right now.  Right now.  Last thing I have to say is... ending number: Don't Stop Believing!  You will leave a little deafer and a little horse from all the singing you will do.  I guarantee it!