Godspell

Last night I went to see one of my most favorite plays -- Godspell. It was playing at the Muny. The first time I saw Godspell was when I was a junior in high school. My high school put Godspell on for our spring musical. My drama teacher urged me to try out but I was too scared. After seeing the play, I was so disappointed in myself for not trying. I fell in love with it! Last night, Liz reminded me that her high school also put the play on and we went to see it together. I didn't remember that until she reminded me. Funny. But through the years, my love for this play never waivered. Godspell is also one of Jimmy's favorites. He had the pleasure of being surrounded by the theater growing up. Going to countless shows. Something that I truly love and would love to start as a tradition with my own kids as his parents did with him. So back to Godspell...we have the soundtrack and love to play it. So of course, it's only obvious that Alex would take a liking to it too. We each have our own favorite! I've always wanted to take Alex to see the play and Godspell isn't usually one that comes back year after year. So you can imagine how ecstatic I was to find that it was coming to the Muny this summer. I put my feelers out to everyone I knew regarding tickets. Then one day a few weeks ago, a mass e-mail went out to all the staff in my firm regarding 4 free tickets to the Muny to the first responder. When I checked to see what plays the tickets were for, I about jumped out of my seat. Godspell was listed as was another that I didn't care about. I immediately called the girl who sent the e-mail asking if she still had the Godspell tickets available. Woo Hoo! They were mine to come pick up!! I was so excited. I could not wait to tell Alex. I called Jimmy and he deflated my balloon a little saying he didn't think he was going to get to go because of all the All Star festivities. He figured he would be working and yep -- he worked. So of course, my first thought was Liz. We love to do things like this and I know the kids would enjoy having her come along. She freed up her schedule and was available to go -- woo hoo!!! So after finding out I won, I wrote a status update on my Facebook, shouting out to the world that I had scored tickets to Godspell. Cousin Lori inquired as to which night because she and Cousin Gayle have season tickets on Monday. OMG -- Monday night was the night on MY tickets too!! As the weeks wore on and the date drew closer, Cousin Lori mentioned that her and Angela and Gayle and Gayle's date usually go to dinner before the Muny. Oooh...dinner and the theater so sophisticated -- so fun!!! Lori said Angela was wanting Helen's wings and anyone who knows me knows that Helen's wings are my all time fav!! I can have those anytime, anyplace -- ok well the place to have them is Helen's but you get my drift...I love Helen's wings. I love them so much that my Dad came up with a recipe and will make them for me on special occassions. Love that and him. Ok, got off the subject...so anyway, Lori asked if we wanted to meet for dinner at Helen's before the Muny. You know it...I was so pysched...Helen's wings and Godspell....my life is complete!!! The only wrench thrown in the fire was Alex's allergic reaction. The doctor indicated no outside activities for him. But when I spoke with her on Saturday I indicated we had Muny tickets and could he go. She said "yes". Woo Hoo...bring back the excitement!! On Saturday we shopped for battery-powered fans because Dr. said he had to stay cool and not sweat. Bought two cheap $1.50 fans and wouldn't you know it they both fell apart before the batteries were even inserted. Oh well...he could use the book to fan himself.

So yesterday, I could not contain my excitement. The end of the work day could not get here fast enough...finally....ding, ding, ding, the bell has rung and the day is through. Now there really is no bell but I thought you might like the effect. I rush to pick Olivia up from school. Not a good sign as I drive up and she runs away to hide in a jungle gym. She really does love school and some days is just not ready to go home. After a little coaxing, she is ready. As we walk to the car, I remind her we are going to pick up Auntie and Alex and go see a play. Run home, pick up Alex and change my clothes. We are on a role...almost on time...meeting cousins at 6. Then I find out Cousin Gayle has asked Deb Do to be her date. Yippee! So excited. I pick up Liz and we get to Helen's to find we are in this little private room. So excited. Lori and Angela and Deb Do are there waiting for us. In our room was this huge Clydesdale. Olivia spots it immediately..but seriously you couldn't miss it. So knowing Olivia's love for horses, Deb Do tells her she can get on it. WHAT? Are you kidding me...don't tell her that she will think you are serious! So we waited for Gayle to get there. I couldn't wait to see my favorite Dirty Dancing Partner. It's so funny how that all started and that story is for another blog since this one is ALL about GODSPELL! YAY!! Gayle arrives! So we ordered our food -- got me my wings but my stomach was bothering me so I didn't eat many. Alex ordered the wings too but only ate 1 and a half claiming they were too spicy...woo hoo, more for Mama!!! During this time, Lori brought out her camera. Ugh! Ok, it was fine...well Olivia loves taking pictures so she asked if she could take a picture of the horse. Well that turned into a bunch of other pictures. She just kept going around snapping photos. We successfully returned the camera to its rightful owner and finished dinner. Off to the Muny! Woo Hoo! I followed Lori since she is the Muny expert on where to park, etc. Her parting words to me were "keep up if you can". I thought she meant literally. Seriously we did the speed limit in the slow lane! OK so she said she was setting an example for her daughter...ok, wink, wink, we get ya!! We got to the Muny with a few minutes to spare so Lori took the infamous Muny pics. Then, Olivia got the camera back again somehow and decided to take more pictures. Are you kidding me? Guess that girl knows who she is dealing with -- one who loves to take pictures herself. So off to our seats. My tickets were for Section A-7 -- the section after the boxes. Pretty good seats -- they were to the side but OK. The Cousin's season tickets are in the B section -- so we said our good-byes and parted ways singing "Day by Day", "Day by Day". The show started after a few minutes of arriving in our seats. Of course, once the play started Alex started in with he couldn't see. I guess this boy thinks that all views in a theater are unobstructed. So I picked up Olivia and put her in my lap and he moved to her seat. She loved seeing all the kids on stage and the play really did keep her interest. But she quickly left my lap and headed for Auntie's. I loved seeing Alex get into his favorite songs. How blessed I was to have gotten these tickets for free and be able to share them with him. We really enjoyed the show. I shed a tear or two, Ok, maybe ten or twenty but only during the part that always tears me up. The part where the disciples are telling Jesus their good-bye's and giving him hugs. When I see this, it makes me think of how awesome it would be to have that moment in your life to tell the person you love one last good-bye. How I would have loved to have given my mother-in-law, my Grandma's, my Grandpa's just one last, conscious, tight, tight hug or Eeeennnnaaa! before saying good-bye forever! (Yes, I believe you should do these things daily but to have that last moment before never seeing them again is what I am refering to.) OK, , so that was my crying moment as it is every time I see that play. So yeah, loved this play! Olivia even got the premise when they were putting "Jesus on the cross". She told Auntie Jesus was going to die. So glad to know that this Catholic education I am paying for is doing good! So needless to say, we had a great night. The weather was perfect. Alex didn't even need a fan. After the show, we walked to the car and all chatted a minute...of course, we laughed and laughed. That's the one thing I love about the people I spent last night with...they always make me laugh. Something I love to do! Thank you to the attorney in my office who gave up his tickets so I could make some memories with my family! Love that and LOVE GODSPELL!