Day 187/365 (February 21, 2009)

This was a crazy day! (technically it started with amazing subway luck getting to the Duplex for Mostly Sondheim... the night before) but it didn't start until after midnight so here ya have it!

I got there way earlier than i intended because the subway actually worked super fast at that time of the night but it worked out because there was a bunch of people that hopped in line as soon as i did. I had the cupcakes with me as bribery to get Matthew to come. I saved a table for us (since i knew Sasha, Matthew, and Nick were on their way). Todd was back as a host and i had never seen him at MS before but he is one of my new favorite people! so funny and talented too... At one point during the night we had a Rent sing along that began with Seasons of Love but then it became both parts of La Vie Boheme (we fast forwarded over I Should Tell You) and that was my absolute favorite part of the night! Sasha, Matthew, Nick (the cupcake vacuum), and I had so much fun and we sang every word and threw in some choreography for good measure!!!! we really did come alive during those songs. Another part of the night was filled with some trivia... but Matthew couldn't follow the rules and ruined two questions... silly boy! We also learned what an Ace Hole was and LOL! Which after seeing the reading of "How The Nurse Feels" i just dont understand how he has fans.

Grace finally came towards the end for a little but (i even sang a "cute" but train wrecked version of i'm not that smart and Grace and I have concocted a plan for next week... only if the room ends up being composed of NOT certain people.

When Grace and I got home we stayed up with Krysta until like 6:30 in the morning talking and watching videos... fun but i really shouldnt go to bed when the sun is coming up.

I finally woke up to a phone call from Mark telling me that he thought Story of My life would be closing Sunday since tickets weren't onsale past Sunday. It turns out he was right and i said i would go get us student tickets for the night show. Sadly the BO didnt have student tickets so i went to TKTS for the first time ever! the line was long, but not too bad and it has great security that stopped someone who tried to cut the line! We got ninth row center and that was good times.

The show was quite good in my opinion. I would have loved to have been able to see it a few more times. The set was simple, rather beautiful, and perfect for the show. Until the show began all you saw was a bold black background, a very white podium and a very white desk and chair. i enjoyed its start and contrasting nature. When the show began with an audio recording of two boys the balck background parted ways just a bit to reveal a white background that changed colors depending on the lighting used and Will Chase's character walked out. Eventually the black went away and we saw Malcolm Gets' character chilling on a library book shelf ladder/wheely thing and a massive book case (all white in the back. It was really nifty because it seemed like MG was wearing all white the way the lighting was until he got off the ladder and you saw he was wearing beige. The rest of the stage was awesome because it was slightly curved and they were able to use it to get closer to the book shelves, or at one point run up a jump down. 

Another thing i liked about it was when they made snow angels in the "snow" the lights created what looked like the snow-figures as they stood in place moving their arms and legs (like i used to fake jumping jacks in kick boxing)... That amused me to see. Also the lighting made the desk and chair appear blue at one point, and the books lit up on the shelves. There was a story about a butterfly in the show and when i looked at the playbill after and saw the three books had little butterflies on the bottom of each it made me smile! There was a moment when Will's character threw a bunch of papers up in the air, and as the papers started to fall "snow" began to fall from the top of the stage and it was kind of a breath-taking moment to see the flecks of white dance down towards the ground when the lighting had changed to make the background look very much darker than it was. I truly hope this music does get recorded. Another part i liked (and i dont remember exact quotage) was Malcolm's character had told Will's character that because he wasnt there the moment he had died he will never have answers he can only ever have questions... and isnt that a universal truth?

After the show ended i ran into about a bazillion people i knew which was fun, and mark was all "do you know everybody?" the audience was also surprising bcause they were all really respectful. Not one cell phone, i didnt hear any crinkling wrappers, people didnt talk... it was absolute quiet except for the extremely occasional cough, and the one rude person who sounded as if they were opening a can of soda. I have never seen a performance with such overwhelming quiet of people listening to every word! It was fun to share the night with MArk.

Then we went to the stage door and i was able to finally fangirl Malcolm a little bit which made me so happy. I had seen him years ago in an off broadway show called Polish Joke and have been wanting to see him do something else ever since then and well he was worth the wait! Malcolm and WIll both have such beautiful and powerful voices and they blended so well together and their chemistry onstage was astounding... the show had a sad ending but that made it kind of nice actually.

Afterwards Mark and I headed home because he was sleeping over so he could be closer to the airport for his flight to FL in the morning... we stayed up later than we should talking with Krysta and showing him videos too... but this time it was only 12:30! It was a good day!