i love toy trains...

I swear, if Heidi hadn't shown me this clip, I would not have believed it (woman! where DO you find these things?)... The man loves his trains, okay? And I am sure he even has some on his lawn, as part of his holiday tableau, right next to the traditional holiday elephant...

the addams family

I went to the theater last night brimming with anticipation - really, people, do you know how long I have WAITED to see Nathan Lane in a musical in Chicago? A very very very very long time, ever since no one wanted to go to The Producers with me back in whenever that little show made its pre-Broadway run here (2001? 2000?). Yeah, you know how it goes. A little show comes out to Chicago, hoping to go to Broadway, and then it dies here and no one hears from it again. Oh, wait, I'm sorry - The Producers went on to win something like 13 Tony's. And no.one.wanted.to.see.it.with.me. Then when they finally DID want to see it with me it was TOO LATE because you could not get tickets for love nor money. And THEN I got over it and went to New York on my own, and I still never saw it with the original cast because the tickets were so expensive. And I'm still bitter (have you noticed??) - but we will leave that tale of woe for another time and just say that I've been wanting to see Mr. Lane live for a very long time. With Bebe Neuwirth, no less. Tickets on my birthday? Oh yes, please. A little gift (aw, such good taste! you know me so well) - from me to me.

Anyway. Back to the show. It opens with our titular gruesome family in the graveyard, saying goodbye to daughter Wednesday (Krysta Rodriguez). No, she hasn't died, she's simply grown up, and has to embrace the family values by making several promises to the assembled clan - dad Gomez (Mr. Lane), mommy Morticia (Ms. Neuwirth), Uncle Fester (Kevin Chamberlin), brother Pugsley (Adam Riegler), Grandma Somebody (whose, we're not quite sure, but the old girl DOES smoke a lot of pot in the attic - played by Jackie Hoffman), and Lurch (the splendidly large-voiced Zachary James). But Wednesday has a secret - she's in love with a wonderful guy, who makes her think of sunshine and rainbows and makes her want to wear yellow. Mom makes her invite the boy and his family, from the exotic land of Ohio, over to the house for dinner. Wednesday pleads with her parents to be normal, so the Beinekes will like them so she can continue to see her boyfriend, Lucas.

Well, I am sure you can guess that mayhem ensues as the family attempts to be "normal" and during the course of the meal, "The Game" is played - it's full disclosure time. A drink from the family chalice and then you spill a secret. Without giving anything away here, a prank by Pugsley meant for his sister goes wrong, the Beinekes make for the door, but a hurricane pops up (!) requiring the guests to stay in chez Addams for the night. It's all about love and family, about growing old (the never ending cycle of life, death and dried fruit - pefect for this old prune on her birthday!), about finding yourself, and all that other great stuff. What big splashy musical dreams are made of, and all that. The entire cast was magnificent - they sing! they dance! they collect instruments of torture! I knew I'd love Nathan and Bebe, and they were wonderful (what STAR POWER!) but the entire cast was solid.

The show was everything I wanted it to be and more - complete with monsters under the bed, unexpected sword fighting, humor and charm in spades, sexy tangos (I am channeling Bruno Tonioli here and saying, with a raised paddle and pump of the fist "TEN! You are the GODDESS of the TANGO! Spectacular! Spectacular!) and, well, a giant squid.

I'm going again. Who's coming with me?

fabulous friday!

It's Friday! It's not even 8:30 and I am already in need of a stiff drink! Work is crazy, I found gray hairs on my head last week and, oh yeah, I'm turning the big 3-1 on Tuesday. It's enough to make a girl/old lady crawl back into bed with a bottle of something strong and not emerge for a very very long time. Had made plans to celebrate early with a trip to Ann Arbor to see Ms. Patti today, but decided to nix it. With age comes responsibility and the dreaded logic. Ugh. So many people wanting me to have serious thoughts these days. What a bore.

But anyway. Will celebrate in style on Tuesday with dinner at Petterino's and...

I am so excited to see this one. There's actually lots of stuff I am excited to see around here these days, all coming up in November/December/January, part of the reason that I decided against going to the Mitten today. But we were talking about the Addams Family. I love Nathan & Bebe and have never seen either of them perform live (have I ever told you my tale of woe vis-a-vis the Producers???) and when I heard this was coming AND there was a performance on my birthday I bought tickets (rather impulsively, without bothering to check everyone's availability which caused some calendric consternation, but as my grandmother might say, hey-who.). Will report in full next week. Whee!

banana split

Had comp tickets last night to the final dress rehearsal of Cirque du Soleil's new Banana Shpeel. Let me back up by saying that I had never seen a Cirque du Soleil show before last June, when I was in Vegas. I remember seeing ads for previous Cirque ventures that had come to Chicago and thinking that it looked too weird, too over the top, too...too. You know? But they do that well in Vegas, you see, and so I decided that in order to make the experience complete, I needed to take the plunge and see a Cirque show. I saw The Beatles Love, and I loved it. Every scene tied those familiar songs (re-mixed so that even they seemed new and exciting) with dance, acrobatics, aerials, roller skates! Each thing was bigger and more impressive than the next and I sat on the edge of my seat the whole time wondering what they would do next. I left the theater amazed, impressed and pledged my troth to the Cirque du Soleil. That's right, I wanted to find an Elvis chapel and marry Love. Je t'aime, je t'adore, c'est magnifique, le sange est sur le branche etc etc etc. Next time a show rolled into town, I vowed my support.

Fast forward to the announcement of Banana Shpeel - singing, dancing and vaudeville, right up my proverbial alley? And actually, next door to my actual alley, at the Chicago Theatre next to the office. Fast forward again to last night, final dress rehearsal and the house was jam packed. BIG SPOILERS BELOW!!!

Let me say right away that the concept of the show - an old fashioned vaudeville type variety show, with a funky Cirque twist in dance, slapstick, etc, is a good one. There were lots of different elements kind of thrown together, an Uncle Jocko style vaudeville impressario by the name of Shmelky and two clown emcees, running an audition for Shmelky's show. A very long running gag of people being "chosen" from the audience - including the World's Oldest Mime with a walker, a gawky skinny dude with big glasses who did modern dance, most often in his underwear, and a guy who reminded me of Jemaine Clement, whose "talent" was imitating regular people with foot problems. This mainly entailed his wandering around the stage going "ow. ow. ow." And so on. These slapstick skits were placed among scenes from the actual show, Shmelky's Banana Shpeel which included singing, lots of dancing, magic, a little crazy Shakespeare (!) and some assorted interesting things - a puppet come to life who juggled bright red hats (impressive!) a girl who spun these little cloth things on her feet while lying on her back. Then she juggled a guitar with her feet, and spun those cloth things on her hands and feet while standing on her head. Question: how do you learn that you have a talent for such a thing? I don't know, but talented she undoubtedly was. There was also a fabulously hot guy who did some dancing/acrobatics with a pole - hard to explain. Was clearly the highlight of the show.

So....It was an okay show. Good but not great. I laughed at the slapstick stuff, but some of it went on WAY too long. I really enjoyed the dancing and the pretty costumes (there is a part where Shmelky breaks up a clown fight by yelling "Shiny object! Shiny object!" and I am TOTALLY the same way.) It felt a little disjointed, and there was some, but not much, effort to put the crazy characters in it and sometimes it seemed like they were in an entirely different show. If I had never seen a Cirque show before, I don't think I would have wanted to see another one based on this. I think they were somewhat limited, also, by the size of the stage. No aerial stuff, which was too bad. I would actually see it again, later in the run, just to see if they made any adjustments/attempts to tighten anything up. It should have been Spectacular, Spectacular, with no words in the vernacular to describe this great event... it was a nice evening out, and fun to see, but I don't think anywhere near the standard of the show I saw in Vegas. This is perhaps unfair, since it is the only point of reference I have to Cirque performances. But it's what I've got, and so take this for what you will.

I am channeling Hedy Weiss now and giving this a "Somewhat recommended."

attack of the 6 foot nutcracker!

He's coming to get you!!! There is a contest on to name him - go here to give it your best shot!

top models, a laugh & an "a-ha" moment

Let's start with the midget models - so called because this is the "shortie" season where only girls under 5'7" were allowed to compete. The girls all whine about how the industry doesn't accept short girls, like they were all dwarves or something. People - I am short. Girls who are 5'7"? Not short! And the top two (the stunning Nicole and the cute as a button, aw-shucks who me? Laura - my 2 faves so yay!) can't be any shorter than 5'7". In fact, the shortest competitor in the house was Sundai who was 5'3". One of Tyra's best most hi-larious comments to her "You photograph short." Well hello. She IS short! Stomp to the death next week!!

The laugh came this morning, courtesy of the CMA awards (via CBS news). I am not a big country fan, but even I became a fan of Taylor Swift after the whole Kanye thing (what a jerk! Let's have Matthew Morrison sing ALL of his songs from now on, ok? I LUURVE his "Golddigger" on the Glee cast recording!). They got him back though, with hosts Carrie Underwood and Brad Paisley singing a very country ditty with lyrics that went like this: "Mommas, don't let yer babies grow up to be... Kanye..." Oh how I laughed. Maybe I CAN be a little bit country... oh, okay maybe not. I look bad in hats, and I'd have to move to Texas or something. Yikes. But anyway, it was funny.

The "a-ha" moment came last night during Glee... someone I know mentioned to me that Matthew Morrison had been in Light in the Piazza, which I had seen at LCT with Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark. I loved it but did not remember him at all (sorry!!), and I kept meaning to dig out the playbill and take a good look, but I kept forgetting to do it. Until last night. Lo and behold, there he was! I'd seen him after all, as Fabrizio! And I didn't remember it! Well, come on, it was 6 years ago already! It was kind of like when I looked at my Rent cast album and figured out that Jesse L. Martin was on it. I was all like "No way! The Law & Order guy?" (oh, honey. They're ALL Law & Order guys!!) "He SINGS??" etc. The light went on, and I had finally figured it out. Took a long time for me to work that one out, too. Sometimes it ain't pretty.

i dreamed a dream...

So Susan Boyle was on the Dancing with the Stars results show last night (as completely shameless filler), singing her "signature song" (or, like, her ONLY song) "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les Mis. And she was... fine. She has a nice voice, I still don't see what's particularly amazing about it. I am happy for her earning the recognition she has, and all that, but buying a whole album? I think not.

Anyway, I can't actually listen to the song without hearing Patti's voice bellowing in my head "SHUT UUPPPPP! Work it OUT! Stop your WHINING!" This is also a problem when watching Les Mis, since it makes me giggle. "Mate, pull me a pint, I've got a revolution to sit out..." I also can't watch the barricade scene without wondering if one of them is Fantine, pretending to be a smelter...

oh, patti...

Every so often, as the mood strikes, I go over here to see what my favorite Diva (and fellow paesana, although we are not Sicilian) is up to. This week, we struck gold, as she has updated her "Ramblings from the Road."

Read them. Go on. I will give you a minute. She's so random and stream of consciousness, she'll tell you about appliances, her love/hate relationship with the post office/bank/moving company/whoever is irritating her at the moment, good places to eat (which are oftentimes really great - witness, Hole in the Wall in Deerfield), books, whatever happens to come to mind. Much like an email you'd get from a far away friend, chatty, antecdotal... a little bit of happy and a little bit of sad.

The best thing about this last one though, is that she tacks on her trip to Australia and New Zealand - pretty much last. If I went to Australia OR New Zealand, (well, chances are I'd still be there, actually, having found my very own Bret/Jemaine/Hugh Jackman/tanned surfer hunk/weaver/shepard and setting up house there somewhere. Actually, we have a BRILLIANT PLAN to expand our Chicago resort and casino to Sydney. Second to none - too right, babe! Throw another steak on the barbie. No worries!) I'd be talking about that, like, first. You probably wouldn't get me to shut up about it, actually. I'd start all my stories with "Well, you know, when I was in SYDNEY..." or whatever. But not Patti. And that? Is why I aime her so much. (I am sure you NEVER would have guessed how much I enjoy the stream of consciousness, since this post has gone off in so many different directions, it's a little bit nuts...)

Sidebar - I totally thought that the "crocs" she mentions in her quote meant the shoes and not actual crocodiles. I thought that maybe she too had heard the Ayers Rock story that a guide told my friends (who DID go to Australia and are behaving much better about it than I would have. They hardly ever start any conversations with "Well, when I was CLIMBING THE HARBOR BRIDGE IN SYDNEY..." etc. And I totally would work it in as much as possible. We've established this.). Apparently (and correct me here if I am wrong, Heidi, for I know you are reading this!) some guy climbed Ayers Rock in his crocs and they MELTED on his feet! It was just that hot.

But no, Patti did not mention Ayers Rock, nor about climbing it in her crocs which is quite inadvisable in any case. She also leaves us with news of her book, which she says is coming next year. I will be first in line (possibly in my crocs) to read it, even though she wonders if it will be interesting.

Oh, Patti...

why is it everyone now is a pain in the a***???

So last night, I was on the train home. I had a good book, and I settled into my seat for a nice 1/2 hour of reading. The best part about Metra is that mainly suburban businesspeople ride it. It's quiet as they settle down with the WSJ and occasionally their beers (??). There is none of that CTA skeeziness, which I appreciate. And I always get a seat, unlike when I take the purple line "express" home at rush hour... oh, and there is no sexual harassment by creeps on the Metra, either. Everyone keeps to themselves and it's all rather civilized.

Now. Where was I? I had my book, and I was reading. Usually I will also have my ipod on, to drown out any conversation or noise or whatever. But this book I really had to pay attention to. The language is so rich and gorgeously written that I like to focus on it. Also, it's a mystery, and I have the feeling that I could pick up some clues if I really, really pay attention. So. On the train. Book. No ipod. It's getting good. Across the way from me, some chick starts yacking away on her cell phone. Like, loudly. As in, I could hear every word and irritating nuance of the conversation. This, in an otherwise TOTALLY SILENT train car. Whatever, though, right? I sort of put my hand to my ear, and turned to the window as much as I could, and went back to the book. Phone chick hangs up. Well, that's good, right? Wrong. She promptly launches into ANOTHER conversation, at top volume, and it's totally about nothing. In fact, it was about her having the first cup of coffee from her company's new coffeemaker. I don't know the place she works, but she could totally see Union Station from her window. You see? Loud enough so I could hear details.

Yeah, so that's annoying. I've moved to the giving her nasty looks across the aisle and muttering huffily into my book, heard only by its pages. Blah blah blah blah blah. Loud loud, "Like, Ohmigod" blah blah blah.

Then, the guy in front of me puts his paper down with a snap, turns to the side and says, loudly and pointedly "Do you REALLY think we all want to hear your phone conversation?" Oh boy. Stunned (but grateful) silence on behalf of the other passengers. Phone chick lowers her voice, finishes her conversation, hangs up and is mercifully silent for the rest of the ride. My new hero businessman shook out his newspaper and muttered "UNbelieveable" before resuming his careful perusing of the business section.

Funnily enough though, HIS phone went off about 2 seconds later. He had a brief, terse conversation in low tones and then hung up as if to say "THAT's how it's done, bitches."

Anyway. The rest of the ride passed without incident. I wish more people were mindful of gabbing on their phones in public places without having to be told off. I admit to being guilty of this myself, although I try and keep train conversations brief and to the point without moaning loudly on. As I've said, usually people on the train keep to themselves, and I've never seen one passenger tell off someone else before.

springtime in november...

This weekend was absolutely gorgeous! I was outside without a coat. In Chicago. In November. See? Gorgeous. Is it global warming or the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine?) well, whatever, I will take a few extra 60 degree days.

Saturday - ran around w/Heidi & Jane. Fun times were had by all (except possibly when I got my allergy shots. Those are never fun). Went shoe shopping which you know I totally hate doing and am opposed to at all times. I don't know how on earth she talked me into it. I had my heart broken at Nordstrom's when I found THE cutest pair of shoes ever (I will see if I can find a picture) on SALE, no less, but I fell into that oh so familiar problem - size 8 just a tiny bit too big (in this case, looked like I was playing dress up in my mommy's shoes, that's how big they were) and 7.5 just a tiny bit too snug. After much dithering/deliberating and trying on both pairs of both sizes many many many many times, I bought the 7.5s despite my rule that buying 7.5s is never a good idea ever because they'll invariably be too tight and I'll be miserable. They felt fine though and so I bought them. Fast forward to Sunday, when I wore them around the house to do morning chores etc and literally COULD NOT FEEL MY FEET. Time to return the shoes, sadly. So I did, and it was the right choice, but grrrr. No wonder they were on the sale rack, actually. Probably no one could fit into them. Miz-Moos, you have broken my heart!!

Saturday night we saw Paranormal Activity - and holy crap, it was so scary. I'm still sitting up at night going what was that? Were those footsteps? Answer there - yes, they were footsteps... of my family members getting up in the night. Geez. But just this morning I thought about creepy possessed Katie hovering around at the side of the bed, just staring, and it really really freaked me out. Chills.

And today? It's back to work, still lovely weather so I have got on my boots (earning the affectionate nickname from Heidi of "Bono's Boot Bitch" and a little skirt (emphasis on little - I had no clue how short this thing was before!)

happy monday!

save the date 7/6/2010

You know where I'll be... with my 2 BFFs and the Lads...

OBSESSED

I am IN LOVE with Cheno's voice in this song... and that Matthew Morrison... {swoon!}it's being played over & over & over on my ipod....

file this under "creature of habit"

In our restroom here at work, one of the soap dispensers is not working right. I know this. Put hands under dispenser (it's automatic) nothing happens. Grrr. Move to next sink. Repeat.

Every single time I've been in there today, I've gone straight to that sink. Then I go, "Awww, blerg!" remembering that it's not working and then I move over. Every.single.time today.

You'd think I'd learn. Right?

there's cool...