Pattipalooza - The Weekend that Was

Would anybody believe I've been rendered speechless? Certainly not the people I work with - thanks to several very public (ahem!) announcements about my weekend plans - everyone in the office knew what I was doing. Because of this high-level office teasing, they've all been asking me what it was like to see Gypsy (all those times) and about The Patti. What am I going to do, not tell them? (Although one of my colleagues didn't know Evita. She said "You mean that thing with Madonna?" NO! NO! NO!) Especially not my colleague Karen, who has had to put up with all manner of diva gushing at lunch time (first Renee and now Patti... I really should buy that woman some chocolate). And absolutely not my immediate family and friends, whom I dragged out with me Monday night (because I couldn't bear to be alone!) and get the blow-by-blow of the weekends events. In great detail. I bet they were WISHING I'd been rendered speechless...

But when the time came to put pen to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as it were) I found myself unable to articulate the way I was feeling. My thoughts are still unorganized, the music swirls in my head, all sung in that unmistakeable voice. I've been living in a happy, Patti filled bubble these past few days. My head and heart are full and content. I don't know what else I can say that has not already been said, or how I could say it any better. But I am gonna try.

What, I wondered, will I do with my evenings now that I don't have to think about getting into the car, driving up to Ravinia, finding a good place to park, plan a picnic dinner, find my "peeps" and get ready to enjoy the show? What will I blog, if I don't have to think of a quote to stick up, along with a weather watch?? Well, I will tell you what I've been doing with my evenings - watching rubbish on television, that's what. Yesterday I found myself staring, oddly hypnotized by "So You Think You Can Dance" Clearly, it's time to burst the bubble.

Some impressions of the weekend:

FRIDAY
Let the games begin. I just remember feeling anxious excitement. The kind of excitement I had as a kid when I was waiting for Christmas. The blog countdown reminded me of eagerly opening advent calendar windows --- oooh, new idea for next year's show! An advent-style chocolate countdown calendar! LOVE IT! (or LOVETT....) Is it horribly inappropriate to celebrate the coming of The Patti in the same way as one celebrates the coming of Baby Jesus?? Historians will argue...So that was the excitement. The anxiety comes because I take my divas very seriously and I was anxious for the performance. I wanted all to go well, and for our Diva to do well, too. At any rate, I was bouncing off the walls before I had my coffee, and to just make it more lively, I had my coffee too! So I was lots of fun. Not very productive, mind you, but lots of fun, at the office that day.

Pleased to report - gorgeous weather, good parking spot in the Ravinia lot, safe arrival of Noah and Sarah, beautiful picnic.

Performance details - seats were row R left side. I was next to an older gentleman, on his own, who was friendly and chatty and not in a creepy way (he told a funny story about being on an elevator and having somebody whip out their cell phone and announce to their loved one that they'd just passed the 7th floor and would be home soon.)

Let me first say. Seeing Patti, like seeing Renee, is enough in and of itself to make me excited. They don't even have to sing, I would be happy just having either of them stand there. Sing the phone book. Recite poetry. Do a dance. Whatever. I am just pleased to be in their presence. The second Patti made her first entrance - marching down the left aisle, saying "Sing out, Louise!" I knew I was gonna be happy. However comma, Friday night was not her best night of the three. The singing was hesitant and she was just not "on" - and I have seen her BE "on" and I was waiting for her to unleash that ferocity. I think it got stronger - the second act saw her on more solid footing, IMO, and I thought she owned "Rose's Turn." We left the park that night feeling a little underwhelmed (can you ever just be 'whelmed?' I think you can in Europe...) but optimistic. tomorrow was another day....

SATURDAY
After a little bit of ticket adventure and an early morning jaunt to the Ravinia box office to do an exchange and an upgrade (ROW D!) I was off downtown to do a little riverside sightseeing with the gang. Then we had a cheese pizza Heidi would have been proud of (The thick Giordano's crust was definitely not much more than a vehicle for about 10 pounds of cheese) before heading back to Ravinia for night 2. Being me I stressed because of the traffic, but I needn't have worried. I got there, parked, and found Beth. The stage was set for another great evening.
The seats were FABULOUS. To think I'd almost let those jokers talk me into taking a Row Q seat. Hello?? Row D on the left. PERFECT. Thought I'd died and gone to heaven. I love being able to SEE stuff. Especially when it's The Patti on the stage. Luckily for all of us, they sent the Patti imposter who'd shown up the night before home packing. The REAL Patti LuPone was in da house Saturday night, and the second she started singing "Some People" I knew she was back in business. (YESS!) More highligts - for me, the sound of her voice singing "Goodbyyyeee to Blueberry Piiiiieeee!" her stage mothering during one of the acts (gosh, she's funny), her "everything's coming up roses" there were so many moments during it i keep replaying in my mind. AND I could swear she looked right at me at one point during Rose's Turn when she was on our side of the stage... Chills. This is probably because she'd blown the roof off - kicked it's butt all the way to the lake and stood on the shore and laughed manaically as it hollered "help." We went, post show, down to the stage gate to see what we could see. On duty was the Cranky Security Guy who had shown no mercy the previous weekend at Renee's concert. He really is like a bouncer, that must be why he got the job, maybe. Eventually Patti came and talked to the adoring mass. She stood inside the gate and talked a little bit (Sarah's got a great little clip on her blog. You know what I am like with the linking. Go to the link on the side and listen to it. Some fool asks her if she saw Wicked. Um... No, honey.) And then she was gone again. It was with happiness (for all) and a little bit of soreness (for my poor friend Beth) that we left the park again.

Sunday - The Grand Finale - Coming Soon...