Thursday went much like the prior two days: an easy blog posting since we aren’t doing a bunch and start work around 7:30/8am. I’ve enjoyed working in the mornings where I have a few hours without the interruptions of new emails and chats and have gotten decent work done. It’s a little wonky to manage lunch and shutting down 2-3 hours before everyone else back in Sacramento, but it’s worked out OK. I appreciate being able to get away and see some shows without having to take time off.

As you can see in the above and below photos it was snowing, and for most of the morning. Ash ventured out around 8:30am as he’d promised to do on Sunday and see if he could get rush tickets for The Music Man for that evening. He did. More on that later.

I quit working around 5:30pm. Ash made a chicken pasta dish for dinner. He took Paul out for his last walk while I cleaned up the kitchen and showered.

It was about 35 degrees, getting down to 30 later for our walk back. The question is always: thermal underwear, or no? If it was 15 degrees there’s no question. But in this case, I decided to be maybe uncomfortable for 40 minutes of walking (back and forth) than 3 hours in the theater if I got too warm. That was the right decision.

I had taken this photo Monday night. We were walking along 50th Street on our way back from dinner at Toloache and I snapped this in anticipation of needing it later. And here we are.

When we arrived, we couldn’t get a decent shot of the marquee because of all the people and I’d forgotten I had that photo above this one, so decided this would have to do.

I happened across this again like I had in Company – an empty control booth. Maybe this is my new tradition?

We were in Row K (11th), for $49. This show hasn’t officially opened yet; previews can last 2-5 weeks depending on the show. The preview price for this seat was $249. I checked dates in February after it officially opens, and it runs for $599. So, Ash did good braving the elements that morning!

Winter Garden is on Broadway just above 50th Street. It was built in 1911 and is a decent size, as you can see below, but not huge. We were super happy with our seats.

When Ash first mentioned the idea of maybe seeing The Music Man a few weeks ago, I admit I wasn’t enthused about it. From the little I knew about the show, the word that came to mind was “hokey” and that didn’t excite me, despite the lure of Hugh Jackman. And hokey it was for sure, but so much more.

Hugh Jackman plays “Professor” Harold Hill, aka Greg, a con man descending upon the small fictional town of River City, Iowa, to sell music instruments to the parents of children on the premise of teaching them all how to play and forming a band. The problem being he can’t read a note and skips town with the money before he has to deliver. The music teacher/librarian, Marian, is played by Sutton Foster. I’d never heard of her, but the audience certainly knew who she was based on the applause at her first appearance. She’s done a little work outside Broadway but has won 2 Tony’s so that’s why these folks know her. Marian is at first suspicious of Harold but then later falls in love with him – despite having discovered the truth – because of the positive impact he’s had on her young brother who up to this point had been very shy and withdrawn because of his lisp.

This is set in 1912 so the costumes are everything and very well done. It’s a huge cast and the dance scenes are incredible. As always, it’s the small things that get me and make me wonder about difficult rehearsals, in this case a library scene where Jackman is throwing books across the stage to various people, each of whom catches them perfectly. Maybe it’s just my inability to catch or throw anything but it was one of those simple things that you know is actually difficult to execute and it was perfection.

Overall, the performances were spectacular. The children were amazing as was Sutton, and every move and facial expression of Hugh Jackman was breathtaking. I knew he’d gotten his start in Broadway but honestly could not appreciate how ridiculously talented that man is until now. This is not Wolverine.

At some point during the show, I found myself getting choked up for reasons I can’t quite explain, and by the end I was full on crying. As I said, hokey for sure, but also wholesome, funny, and full of so much love, joy, and talent you couldn’t help but be delighted with it. It’s such a respite from, well, everything going on in the world right now. It was the perfect little escape, and exactly the antidote I needed to wash off the darkness of Rigoletto from the night before.

We are meeting friends for dinner tonight and having them back to the apartment for dessert, so we stopped at Junior’s on our way out to get something for that. And a slice of blueberry cheesecake which we shared and agreed it was the best we’ve had all week.

And that was our Thursday. See you tomorrow!