I went to see Cinderella at the Wang Theater this afternoon. It rained cats and dogs. The T stop nearby was closed because of construction, so shuttle buses were running between stops and it took ages to get to the theater. I was soaked, utterly soaked, by the time I got to the show and I missed the first half. I stood in the lobby, red carpeted stairs ahead of me, and gold painted ceilings above, while I watched the last ten minutes before intermission on a television screen. The ballet looked grainy and staccato; I heard someone at a counter next to me say, "we better open the champagne now." Well then, I thought. Let's have some champagne. So I did. I drank more quickly than I should have while the doors opened for intermission and the crowd flowed out to use the restrooms, make phone calls, get a drink or chocolate or something else to nibble on.....
....when I went into the theater, ----- was sitting, her coat and purse on the seat next to her. "You made it! I thought you got caught up moving into your new office"
"The train took forever. There's all this construction going on.....and the rain. I should have taken a cab," (but I hate cabs and even in this rain I couldn't be bothered to take one).
"That's what she said," turning her head to a woman sitting just the other side of her.
The lead dancers (Cinderella and the Prince, of course) were graceful and elegant, and sadly, slightly boring. The best part of the show were the dancers playing the wicked step sisters. The sets and costumes were jazz-age; the women were dressed as flappers and the step sisters were hilarious. They tripped and stumbled and bumbled in the way only a ballerina could, as if each pratfall were cushioned by a bed of feathers. K----- lent me her opera glasses. Up close, you could see the sweat in a slick layer over Cinderella's back and arms; Prince Charming was sweating under the hot stage lights as well. What else is there to say? Balls and glass slippers and pumpkins and happy endings. Did anyone expect anything different? The dancer who played Prince Charming lacked stage presence, I thought, all that work by the women for such a slight prize. Unfair? Maybe I was just cranky from all the rain. My shoes were wet and I didn't properly dry out until I came home and changed out of my clothes (but of course there are much worse problems than these minor annoyances up here in the Northeast. The rain has been no joke with all the flooding and worse. Thankfully, the rains are supposed to stop soon).
The rest of the day went like this: dinner and then a short walk down the street to have dessert at Finale. ----- tells the best stories, she's lived a life all right. Navy brat, she calls herself, who moved 22 times in the first twelve years of her life. Stories about friends who are actors, and Dixie land jazz, and babies she nannied for who grew up to write books and appear on television. ----- really does tell the best stories.
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