"Come From Away" at La Jolla Playhouse

Last night I had a real treat, I was invited to attend the final dress rehearsal of "Come From Away" at the La Jolla Playhouse, home of San Diego's bench team for Broadway. The World Premiere is tonight.

I asked my friend/niece-in-law (ugh that's a mouthful I'll just stick to "friend") Christy to come with me.  Yesterday morning when I mentioned it was a musical, her face fell. I asked if she liked musicals and she said with her customary honesty (one of the reasons I love her) "Not really".   I guess at that point we both were apprehensive about how enjoyable this might be for her.

I'm not going to make you read the whole thing before I tell you Christy loved it, as did I.

The story is one so rich in characters and emotions that I am surprised no one has done anything with it up to now. It tells of the day when planes flying from around the world were grounded in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and 38 of them ended up landing in Gander Newfoundland.  Some seven thousand people of all ages, walks of life and speaking an assortment of languages were on those planes.The story of how the town of Gander, population just under 10,000, took them in for the few days no planes were flying is heartwarming, funny and ultimately inspiring.

I've never written a theater review, so forgive me if I don't cover what the standard review does. What I want to write about is how wonderfully clever the staging was, using only a scattering of wooden chairs and a couple of tables to stand in for everything from a 747 in the air to an elementary school to a locals' bar in the "gayest town in Newfoundland!" (you'll have to see the show to get it)

Even more clever, and wonderfully talented, was the group of 12 actors who portrayed multiple characters with multiple accents while singing the great score-- the lyrics are funny and poignant in turn. Oh and whilst dancing, and moving the stage furniture around as well. A wonderful ensemble, and impossible to pick any one as a favorite.

The characters move back and forth between talking to the audience and talking to each other. It sounds like it might be awkward but it isn't and the singing fits into the scenes pretty naturally. Again, not your standard Broadway blockbuster.

And I will remind you to bring a hankie, because as uproariously funny as some scenes are, the scenes where the various characters learn what has happened are emotional. Maybe part of that is relating to their feelings-- we all know where and how we heard the dreadful news.

The show has its world premiere tonight, and I predict it will be a big hit here, and across the country. If you have a chance, and even if you don't like musicals, go see "Come From Away".  I'll bet you'll be glad you experienced this wonderful show.

they say he is a bad boss: dave roberts is in trouble

San Diego County Supervisor Dave Roberts in a 
pensive mood...or maybe plotting against employees?

so enjoying reading the county version of l'affair filner. several scenes cross my mind as i read...

i imagine dave roberts' husband reading everyday about how this harold meza fellow does nothing but drive dave around, that they have shared hotel rooms on trips...on and on it drips out, detail by ever-worsening detail.

he has choices to make, first to decide his approach to the time-honored role of wronged spouse of a politician. stay off the radar, say nothing, maybe a "long-planned visit to family across the country"? have a press conference to defend your man and show everyone you are together? how about a joint interview on some news program?

the private choices must be tough. at the level of a couple in a relationship, we all have our boundaries and each relationship has its own set of policies and procedures. outside of the two of them, we have no way of knowing how roberts' office behavior is seen by his husband. i can tell you how i would receive news of the sort we have been reading were it my politician husband, but that's irrelevant.

as for meza, i imagine the guy has more admirers than before, as if being the special favorite of an idiotic countysupervisor had endowed him with hitherto unnoticed charm and erudition. in fact the supervisor's lawyer even said something about how meza helped roberts get ready for speeches while driving him, so he must be, as the kids say, hella smart.  bet he ends up with a good job on the basis of that.

the greek chorus of former employees is just warming up i think, and i expect to continue following this story as it lumbers to its denouement. if i had to guess, id say there will be money paid and one less roberts on the county board of supervisors.

stay tuned.

live a little

i can't remember if it was corned beef or pastrami i ordered. i know it was one of them because when i think of this i see the meat is an unnatural pink.

i had never been to new york city before and i had never heard of the carnegie deli either. i didn't know they were famous for monumental sandwiches; i was just hungry, it was late and the place was open.

i also can't remember what i said about the size of the sandwich the guy was making for me. maybe i just made a noise, or maybe i said "whoa!". i do remember a thrill of fear when he slapped down the big knife he used to cut the tower of meat and bread in half. i had made him angry i thought.

he turned, and with a whole-body gesture i'd seen in movies with "new york guy" characters-- shoulders up in an exaggerated shrug, palms flopped over facing the ceiling, chin thrust up-- implored me to "live a little!"

wow. yes. "live a little" indeed.

say yes more often. take a risk sometimes. be in the moment, don't think about whether you should or not, give yourself a treat, bite off more than you can chew.

thanks deli man, i hear you.

(for CR, whose story i borrowed)