"Something Rotten" is a Wonderful Something

Yesterday we had a delightful outing:  a group of 4 friends, my spouse, and I went to a Saturday matinee of Something Rotten.  It was absolutely marvelous.

We first moved here when Broadway shows rarely toured to smaller venues, like the ones in South Carolina.  One of the aspects of South Florida that appealed to me was that possibility of seeing shows shortly after they premiered.

You can guess what has happened.  I rarely go to these shows.  They're ghastly expensive.  Yesterday, our two tickets cost $75 a piece--that's $150 for us both.  And since it's live theatre, one can't be sure of the production values.  We've been to shows where the sound was very muddy.  And thus, we're out of the habit of going to see a Broadway show.  And because of the harshness of the recession, a lot of the smaller theatres we used to frequent have closed.

Yesterday reminded me of the value of live theatre.  The play was witty, the set was fabulous, the costumes were wonderful, and the acting superb.

It was also the perfect show for me, with its tributes to the Renaissance and musical theatre--full of inside jokes.  Would people who weren't in on the jokes enjoy it as much?  I suspect that they would, because I'm sure that a lot of the references zoomed right on by me, and while I wondered what I was missing, I was too busy laughing at what I did get to worry about what I missed.

In fact, it was the kind of fast-paced delivery that would reward subsequent viewings.  Alas, that won't happen:  the cost and the timing will prevent me from going again this time.  It took a lot of organizing to get ourselves to the theatre this time.

Yesterday was the kind of day I assumed would be a regular part of grown up life, back when I was 14 and dreaming of a grown up life that would be in a more cosmopolitan city.  Little did I know how much of grown up life would be made up of going to work and getting the chores done in the little bits of spare time that I have.

That's another reason why yesterday was so restorative--it wasn't just the time with friends, or the wonderful lunch we enjoyed before the show, although that's always a treat too.  It was the claiming of time to do something that's more than just the life sustaining stuff.  It was the claiming of the time and money to do the kinds of things that make me glad to be an adult, glad to be here in this place.