And the Fringe is underway

Last night I went to see Suburban Love Songs. Just tremendous.

I went to Old City and met up with Alli. Jon and Diane had made other plans to see a movie, and Pete was under the weather, so it was just the two of us. We wandered around for a bit and went over to eat at Cosi. Chatted for awhile there and then headed over to the Painted Bride.

Alli had stopped at the box office beforehand and picked us up tickets along with one for Rick. He was incubating and would be along shortly. Since we had tickets, we hung outside for awhile. Nice evening out and we sat on a bench for awhile and talked more. Filled each other in on all kinds of stuff. She has a second callback for Bobbi's group, and isn't entirely sure it's the best thing. We'll see. Alli is just the biggest sweetheart you'd ever want to meet... nice, funny, smart, driven and stunning. She'll make someone very happy. If she ever read this blog she'd tell me to shut the hell up. Ha!

So we try to go inside, only to find that the tremendous line is actually for people who have tickets... whoops. So we wait for quite awhile and finally get inside. We were able to find three seats off to the side, so that if Mr. Rick ever came, he'd be covered. I thought he was going to be late and they wouldn't let him in. But as it turned out, he came just in time for curtain. Like he sat down and the music came on. Well done, Senior Rick, well done.

As I said, Suburban Love Songs was... amazing. Everything I hoped it would be. Here is the description, but it hardly does it justice:

Hidden desires and secret passions are unearthed over martinis, a treasure hunt, a game of Twister, and a grapefruit. The year is 1968. Just beyond the doors of a Westchester, New York home, the world is on fire. But inside a group of suburbanites, buffered from the social upheaval by upper-middle-class mores and polyester dreams, are undergoing an overwhelming transformation of their own. This playful piece brings out the nostalgic memories and the lighter side of the chaotic 1960s. Devoid of the spoken word, and featuring comic actors rather than professional dancers, the performance takes on a delightfully human inelegance.

It really made me long for stage productions again. I've gotten so heavily into improvisation, but have lost touch with that part of me. I think that I may start doing some auditions at some point again for a play. We'll see. I just love the smell of a theatre... the rustling of a packed house... the way that a proscenium arch so perfectly frames a moment scripted in time... okay, enough of that.

We stayed around after for the Q & A and then headed out. We met up with Kristen and Sarah outside and chatted for awhile. We eventually saw Karen and Kelly and congratulated them on an amazing show. Rick headed off to karaoke somewhere in the northeast. That's something I'd like to see... but I was tired. So Alli and I wandered back to her car which was on my way to the train. I parted ways with her and then grabbed the Blue Line. That was a fun night.