La Cage aux Folles

So again...late update.  But late is better than never, right?

In this edition of Allison's life...three weeks after it happens.....

*swooshy sound effects and a lot of fog*

Allison goes to the theatre!  (I know it sounds strange, I mean after all I never go to the theatre.....)

A couple weeks ago there was a lot of snow in NYC.  So much so that we actually got a snow day!  That's right, TC closed its doors and I had one class canceled.  Unfortunately the class that got canceled only meets every other week so my first class won't even be until two days from now.  But oh well.  That was the day I was planning on going to the orientation for my internship (more on that later) and that, however, was not canceled so I trekked down to Times Square and went to my orientation.

I was supposed to meet my friend for lunch back up on campus, but the orientation ran late so I texted her to see if we could reschedule so I didn't have to make her wait.  Instead, she came down to Times Square and we had lunch there.

As I was wandering down Broadway waiting for her to arrive I found myself looking at the half price ticket booth (or the TKTS booth as it is formally called).  As I looked up at the sign that said it would open in a couple of hours a thought struck me....wouldn't it be awesome to see a show tonight?  Usually I have at least a couple days of advanced warning when I see a show (so I can get cheaper tickets) so I don't usually do these spur of the moment types of things.  When my friend arrived on the scene, I jokingly mentioned how it might be fun and crazy to drop everything and find a show to see that night.  Her automatic response was, "Ok. What show?".  And this is why my friend and I get along so well :)

So we had lunch and mulled the idea over.  Seeing a show would be awesome of course, but did we want to spend the amount that it would be, even at half price?  Finally, after, well not very much debate at all actually, we said, "oh heck with it, let's go see a show!".  We spent the next couple hours wandering around Times Square going to all the box offices of shows we were interested in and asking about their rush or lottery ticket policies.  Note: Wicked does a lottery 2 hrs before the show (tix $26), Spiderman is doing rush tix starting 10am the day of any show (tix $30), Lion King does NOTHING!, Other shows do things too but those were several that we were particularly interested in.  This isn't counting shows that we knew we could find at TKTS.

So after, more debate this time, we decided on a course of action.  At 5:30 (2 1/2 hours before showtime) we would get in line for the Wicked lottery.  Basically you stand in a huge line with a gazillion of your new closest friends, you write your name on a piece of paper, then you wait until 6pm when they shout the names of 6 or 7 lucky individuals (they give away the first row which is 13 seats and each person is allowed to sign up for up to 2 tickets).  Those individuals get to pay $26 for front row seats!  It's pretty cool but I think you have to be really lucky to get your name picked out.

Our names were not, however, pulled...but no worries...we had a back up plan!  We figured we probably wouldn't be lucky enough for Wicked tickets so...on to TKTS we went!  The line (that is always huge right when it opens) had died down enough that it was, well, almost non existent.  But the important thing is they still had tickets left for La Cage aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammar, which is what we wanted to see.

It was an amazing show.  That about sums up that experience.  The actors were incredible, Kelsey Grammar was incredible, Douglas Hodge (playing the other lead role) was incredible, the show itself is incredibly written.  Basically a fun fun night for all involved.

Here is the basic storyline as posted on Broadway.com:

Georges is the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera. Partnered romantically with his high-strung star performer, Albin (who goes by the stage name Zaza), the pair live a charmed life—until Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, turns up engaged to the daughter of a conservative right-wing politician who’s coming to dinner.

Probably one of the most impressive feat were these guys....dressed as girls....doing flips and cartwheels and amazing dancing...all in 6 inch heels!

The story itself is also really sweet and all about love and family.  So basically I had an amazing time and it was totally worth it!