DESIGN FOR LIVING
                                                             MAY 13, 2001


Sniffle.  DFL is over.  Sigh.  I was really upset this weekend, esp. since after seeing it after 5 weeks on Thursday, I realized just how much I really respect and enjoy the play itself.  Granted, there are still some weak parts, but that’s totally overlooked when you have such an enthused revival.  I couldn’t get tix for Saturday night.  This sucked because Danielle agreed to go with me, and I reaaaaally wanted her to see and meet Alan with me.  Well, you can’t win them all.  Instead, my mom and grandmother watched Titus with me, and then Danielle and I went out that night to see Josie and the Pussycats (my second, her first).  Ah, I love that movie so much.  We were taking pix of the screen at the end, lol.  I have to give a big hearty thanks to her and Dawn.  Dawn saw Get Carter and Danielle saw Company Man, both in the theater.  You all know how I feel about Alan, but those movies were just 2 extremely torturous experiences!!!! (except when he was on, of course  :-)  )

As I futilely called the theater for the third time on Saturday (I disguised my voice the second), I reserved a ticket for myself on Sunday night.  They gave me Row O, seat 105, which is dead center in the theater, last row on the bottom.  Yay!  I started out with Row O the first time too, so I began and ended in style, baby!  I also really wanted to see the stage all at once; I was a bit tired of missing a chunk of the action at times.  Problem was, my car started smoking and smelling like burning oil on Friday night.  I had to borrow Dawn’s mom’s car to take my grandmother home on Sunday early afternoon (she was only over b/c of Mother’s Day), and then come back and take Dawn’s car to Trenton.  Sigh.  I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I was so upset though on Sunday.  My grandmother decided to take her good old time, meaning I was literally flying back to PA.  I got Dawn’s car, and definitely juiced that baby up, as I flew towards Trenton.  I had wanted to take a 3:15 train, but now I was going to be lucky if I made it to the 4:15!!  Oh the stress…I got to the parking lot, the dude took his sweet old time getting my ticket and change, I parked, locked, and started running.  Then I hear, Miss, Miss!  I turned around, and my wallet had fallen out of my bag.  Thank goodness for that foreign couple who picked it up and handed it to me.  I ran like I never ran before to track 2, and slid on the packed train with 5 minutes to spare.  Ugh, was I lucky.  And thirsty, but I couldn’t do anything about that!  So, squeezed between 2 older men, I read my Geri Halliwell book all the way there. 

Got off, got some M&M’s, Sprite, and cigs.  I was so stressed that day that I just reaaaaally needed a cigarette…or many.  I chain smoked before the show, all the way to the theater to pick up my ticket, and all the way down Broadway, looking for IFC Rant (which I still can’t find), and all the way back, while I stood against the Cabaret poster and just took in NY.  I’m going to miss it SO much.  I actually know what the hell I’m doing and feel pretty comfortable.  My Adidas sandals officially broke around 46th St, thank goodness I had my Birks in my bag.     

So, I go inside the theater and wander up to the lounge.  Of course, I feel very out of place (times like that I HATE being by myself) and start wandering out.  Then I hear my name being called.  Jamie, Kaitlin, her mom, and their friend Kelly were on the other side.  Finally, I meet them.  They started seating and I decided to stay over in mine (they had a lower box seat).  I just take in the atmosphere, knowing that it’ll be the last time I’m there.  I was kinda starting to get that comfortable feel from it too, 5 times will do that to you.  Naturally, I was looking around, checking out to see if any celebrities were there (I’m such a kid) and I looked behind me, nearly falling out of my seat and doing a mini double take.  Alan’s boyfriend was leaning against the wall behind me, talking to people.  I’m trying to get their attention across the theater.  Then when he sat down in the chair a few over behind me, my ears were burning.  Of course, I couldn’t hear barely anything, and I didn’t want to stare.  That was sooooo funny though, to be right by his man and watch him schmooze. 

The show started at 7:30, and I cannot even begin to describe how incredible it was.  *Everyone* was in top form tonight, naturally.  Alan, our little scene stealer, freakin chewed up the scenery.  He was HILARIOUS.  In the part where he has to get whiskey from the table, he sprayed himself in the face again by mistake.  He was thrown off, and said “Just in the nick of time,” waited a beat while Jennifer almost cracked, smirked and dramatically wiped his face, bringing the house down.  He’s had problems with that before!  Ah, he was just *so* dramatic and giddy tonight.  Can I just say that the kiss between he and Dominic gets longer every time I’ve seen it?  And that when he mooned us tonight, it was very evident he clenched, LOL.  When he and Dominic were getting drunk, they improvised even more than usual, and it was obvious they were really laughing.  In fact, all 3 main characters had some kind of little improv going throughout the show, which was so great.  I was also really excited to see a song list in the Stagebill.  See, I’m in love with the song excerpt after Act I scene 1, and I’ve been dying to know what it is!  For the record, “Mad Dogs and Englishmen.”  Even my mom confirmed that when I sang part of it.  In the middle of the show, I had to quietly open my M&M’s, since I thought I was going to pass out.  If I can’t focus on the show, we have a problem.  Ooh, what shocked me was Alan’s head.  He shaved the shaved!  Hehe, is that ritual with all his last shows or something?  When the show ended, the whole cast did their bows like usual, and then Alan ran to open the “elevator” door, where the behind the scenes people came out, which was really nice.  We did a standing O, and the curtain fell.  Sigh…never again…*sniffle*.


                                                               
CONTINUE
                                                                     
DFL
                                                                 
STORIES
                                              
Return to My Homage to Alan Cumming