We were in Toronto last weekend to see an excellent production of Nicholas Nickleby (Part 1). Part 2 is in April. As usual, the seniors that are there for the Sunday matinée couldn’t stay awake and didn’t know what to make of it.

I’m telling you, unless there’s lots of singing and dancing, they fall asleep. But then the singing and dancing has to be just right or else it’s too “loud”.

We saw this play on the weekend. Words almost cannot describe how great the acting was. Richard Thomas was spectacular as were the other 11 jurors. The show is one of the best dramatic performances we’ve seen in live theatre.

We went into Toronto 2 weekends ago to see Dirty Dancing.

The male lead ended up being the understudy, so I’m not sure if I would have enjoyed the regular actor better, but I actually enjoyed the movie more. The background ensemble did some decent dancing which I enjoyed more than the dancing from the leads. The male’s balletic background clashed with the mambo that he tried to perform and made him look rigid and lost in the music.

If chemistry and good mamboing are what you want, watch the movie instead.

When I used to teach I remember thinking to myself how the incoming students seemed to be getting younger and younger each year. That’s before I realized that it was I getting older.

I’m approaching that age when I’ll feel the urge to buy a convertible sports car, have an affair with a young bimbo, and start to invest in high risk portfolios. Getting older has been an adventure that I wouldn’t change for the world.

Watching The Guardian with Kevin Costner (I wasn’t with him, he’s in the movie) last night, those thoughts were driven home by this quote:

Ben Randall: When the heck did we get old?
Maggie McGlone: Hell, I’ve always been old Ben. Ya’ know what though, I don’t mind. I mean if my muscles ache, it’s because I’ve used ‘em. It’s hard for me to walk up them steps now, its ‘cuz I walked up ‘em every night to lay next to a man who loved me. I got a few wrinkles here and there, but I’ve layed under thousands of skies with sunny days. I look and feel this way, well cuz I drank and I smoked. I lived and I loved, danced, sang, sweat and screwed my way thorough a pretty damn good life if you ask me. Getting old ain’t bad Ben. Getting old, that’s earned.

And as The Girl and I both age together, she’ll remain as young in my heart as the day I first laid eyes on her through the rear view mirror of her car.

We went into Toronto to see Sweeney Todd on Sunday. It was the first “horror” play/opera that I’ve been to. Although the performances were good and the production was great, I think the movie version with Johnny Depp that is due out soon will be more horrific.

Here’s The Girl taking an intermission nap: