Teenage Boys and Musicals

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I grew up with adults always asking me to sing for them.  This was great for my self-confidence, but not so much for my cool factor.  My husband and I went out, briefly, in 9th grade.  I was really excited about this because he was popular and thought it could help me out.  I invited him over one day after school while my parents were gone.  Like any normal teenage boy, he thought this could be a promising moment to fool around.  Like any focused, future artist, I thought it would be a great moment to sing for him.  He sat down in my tv room and I put on my Andrew Lloyd Webber cd and sang ALONG with Sarah Brightman to “Phantom of the Opera.”  I thought it went pretty well.  We broke up a couple weeks after that.  After we reconnected 10 years later, he told me it was one of the most uncomfortable moments of his life.  Apparently my son shares his view point because he started crying when I sang the high note of “I Had Myself a True Love” recently.  What do they know?

My favorite entertainment in life is musical theater.  It brings people closer.  One of my dearest friends became so after we bonded over our love for “Rent.”  It is not only a little luxury, but a necessity in my life.  Here are “musts” for any newbies to the art form.  I’m only listing shows that are on dvd, but support live art over a recording when possible.  There is always a deal to be found for the ticket.   Most of you reading this have children.   Little kids love musical theater.  Skip the weird new kid shows and pop one of these in.  You can even consider it educational and feel good about your parenting.

Adult Fairy Tales: “Into the Woods” (my very favorite)

Feel Good and an upgrade from Grease: “Bye Bye Birdie”.   Ann Margaret is to die for in the movie.

Swagger: “Guys and Dolls”.  Come on, Frank Sinatra is in this.

True American Nostalgia: “Oklahoma”.  I met Shirley Jones through my husband’s uncle and it was one of the best moments of my life and I had nothing remarkable to say.  I’ve seen her again and in true fan form, I avoid her but stare intensely from afar.

This is the New York I know: “Rent”.  The movie version is a far cry from the stage, but the music is still inspiring.

Probably the Most Beautiful Musical Score: “Camelot”.

Always a Winner with Kids: “The Sound of Music” and “Oliver”.  Oliver was the first musical I ever saw (at Scottsbluff High School) and it was so moving that I begged my mom for days to adopt an orphan.  I was 4.

Sexy and a Motivational Tool to Start Working Out: “Chicago”.

Great Dance and My Dad’s Favorite:  ”Westside Story”

Dollywood

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Years ago I auditioned for Dollywood.  I sang “Cain’t Say No” from “Oklahoma” and nailed it, big time.  I was the first person called back for the dance auditions.  I discovered at the dance audition that being the first person called back also meant that I was the first person to dance.  We had to form a “jam” circle.  When will an actor ever perform a jam circle in a show???  Now, had they played Jay Z or any Big Band, I would have been fine.  They played techno.  To this day I do not understand techno.  I decided that to really stand out, I would tumble into the jam circle.  Note, I was older than 21.  This worked out ok, but then I started to dance.  I remember thinking to myself, “What on God’s green earth are you doing with your legs?  Get out!”  I couldn’t get out of the jam circle.  I kept trying to make it better.  I did not get the job and this is on video somewhere in their archives.

I reference this because the memory still drives me to drink.  If I am not choosing to calm the fear with a pinot, a friend taught me a fun trick to make water taste better.  I don’t enjoy drinking water but I know that it is good for you for about a million different reasons.  I kind of believe people who say they love to drink water are lying.  I do enjoy mineral water and really love it this way.  If you add a splash of Kern’s Nectar to sparkling water, it makes it infinitely so much better!  I drink this all day long out of a stemless wine glass to make it extra girly and fun.  I have seriously upped my water intake this way and look forward to it.  Small steps….I should have remembered this in the bloody jam circle.

Glitz and Glamour

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Staying home with T meant going from 2 incomes to 1.  We refer to that talk as our “come to Jesus” meeting.  In heartfelt conversation, Patrick told me I was going to have to drop my Sephora habit.  There is no lip gloss that excites me as much as my child, so this was no problem.  I took stopping impulse purchases as a sort of personal challenge.  Recently, I did need a new eye liner and I have been reading about the fabulousness of liquid liners.  I fail with liquid liners.  It is as awkward a moment for me as the time I told the owner of my company that I had an addiction to zappos and then spent the next few hours worrying that she took that statement at face value instead of the humor I had intended.  I digress….I found this amazing liquid liner that I can do really easily for $5.50.  It’s “Glam Liner Aqua Luxe” by NYX, and it’s brown with gold flecks.  The tip is really thin, so it seems error-proof to me, and it lasts all day without smudging.  I like to use brown pencil liner from underneath my lashes and then use this above my lashes for a stand out eye.  The sparkle in it is girly enough without too much in an “am I too old for this” kind of way.  I am so excited with this fabulous bargain.  It is a fraction of any other eye liner I have ever had and it is the BEST!  I got it at Ulta, but they also have a website, www.nyxcosmetics.com.

nyx glam liner

Live Entertainment on a Dime

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I promised myself that if I stayed home with T that I would absolutely get dressed every day.  Laugh if you wish, but this had to be stated.  It was a personal, non New Year’s resolution.  The phrase “all dressed up with nowhere to go” usually does apply to my day.  To break out of this catch phrase, I attend UCLA gymnastics home meets.  I consider myself a Bruin now.  I do the 8 clap and the wave if it is started.  I one time had a woman ask me what year I was on the team due to my out of control cheering.  I almost lied—almost.

We have season tickets in the reserved section.  I chose my aisle seats near the vault.  This sounds fancy, but it is actually one of the best deals around.  Each season ticket is only $50 and you get to see 5 home meets!  That is cheaper than a movie ticket these days and each meet is a real life action packed thriller.  UCLA started the pre-season ranked #1 and is consistently one of the top 3 teams each season.  They last won the NCAA championships in 2010 and have 2008’s silver Olympic medalist Samantha Peszek on the team, along with several former national team members.  Good news for fellow gymnastics creepers, 2012 Fierce Five member Jordyn Wieber will be on the team as an assistant coach.  She lost her NCAA eligibility when she went pro, but it will still be a huge boost to have her on the team in any capacity.  Take that Florida!  The meets are thrilling and a fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

If you live near the following universities, check out their tickets too.  All are ranked in the top 25 nationally, but none quite as good as UCLA.

Teams: Nebraska, Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Utah, LSU, Michigan, Florida, Stanford, Denver, and Arkansas.

For ranking info, http://www.troester.com/gym

Update, I got retweeted by one of the gymnasts today after the meet.  First. Time. Ever.  As far as I’m concerned, it’s as exciting as Beyonce.