Shows

 

I’m fortunate to have season tickets to Broadway Series South at DPAC.

Season tickets encourage me to see shows I otherwise might not see.

Some of the shows,

Like “Hadestown,”

Surprise me and make it onto my list of favorites.

Others of the shows,

Like “Oklahoma,”

Disappoint me and make it onto my list of never to see again.

Most of the shows, though,

Like “Six,”

Just entertain or challenge me and make it onto “Shows Seen” spreadsheet.

Most shows are shows that I’m glad that I saw

But that I wouldn’t necessarily seek out to see again.

(Although I’ll go to almost any show if someone asks.)

 

The latest of these shows was “A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical.”

While it was a fun-ish show with lots of recognizable music—

I had no idea how many Neil Diamond songs I knew—

And while I appreciated the normalization of therapy that it presented—

Neil Diamond was a very anxious, somewhat depressed man—

Something about it didn’t click with me…

 

Having season tickets means seeing some of the same people at each show.

But there are also a lot of different people at the shows—

And the demographic of the people changes with each show.

This demographic was Neil Diamond lovers.

And I must say that I am thankful they are not the demographic for most shows…

Because there was a woman sitting behind me

Who talked and sang through the entire performance.

 

At one point, the woman got mad at the person beside me for adjusting herself in her seat.

She said, “I can’t see. The f#*%ing head in front of me.”

At another point, in a particularly poignant moment in the show,

She kept saying, “No! Cancel! No! Don’t go!”

As if her comments were going to change the course of history.

She sang along during the upbeat songs and

She sang along during the slow songs.

One time she sang right through a dramatic fermata.

I about went crazy!

I couldn’t even enjoy the show because

The woman behind me was watching it as if she were at home watching TV.

 

Now, I’ll admit:

Sometimes I make brief comments during shows,

Though I try to whisper them or speak them quietly during the applause,

And sometimes I accidentally sing a note or two of a song as well.

But I hope I don’t make the show miserable for those around me.

Because most live theater is not an active spectator sport

Rather a passive spectator event.

 

What about you?

Have you ever had a bad show experience?

Do you have shows that you hate?

Do you have shows that you love?

Do you have shows to which you are indifferent?

Let’s go for movies, too.

 

And…

Go!

 

I think some fun conversation might be good for us right now.

 

PS. Les Miserables, Ragtime, Rent, Wicked, Annie, Waitress and The Color Purple are on the list that I must always see. And Jekyll and Hyde, The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical, Little Women, Honk!, and Next To Normal are shows that I especially wouldn’t mind paying money to see again. Everything else, except for Oklahoma so far, is on the “I would see it again if someone gave me tickets” list.

It's God

 

One of the things that Heidi the Librarian and I like to do in Charleston is a Secret Food Tour. We meet our group and guide at a designated location and then visit five lesser-known eateries around the town.

 

In 2022, our guide was a guy who had quite a few ear piercings.  

I don’t remember his name, but I remember talking with him about his piercings and trying to decide which piercing I should get next.

I decided on my second lobe piercing.

 

In 2023, our guide was a girl who had just moved South.

She was a musical theatre person, and she had come to the area for a show.

Before that, she was Shug in the Color Purple in Boston.

I don’t remember her name, but I remember talking with her about The Color Purple and tearing up together as we discussed the deep emotion of the show.

I told her how I’d been taken aback when the actress playing Shug in the 2023 NC Theatre version of the show had to stop singing because she was crying during the finale and the curtain call.

I’d never seen an actor or actress that overwhelmed with genuine emotion,

But it moved me and I told my guide that much.

She understood.

She, herself, had been moved by that same emotion.

It’s the same emotion that I felt watching the movie version of The Color Purple.

It’s hope.

And forgiveness.

And redemption.

And love.

 

It’s God.

 

I think sometimes we want God to move in big ways—

Ways that are obvious and cannot be denied.

 

But I think most times, God moves in small, quiet ways—

Ways that are commonplace and can be reduced to good luck or coincidence if we let them.

 

In the Old Testament, God didn’t speak to Elijah in the storms,

Rather God spoke to Elijah in a whisper.

 

In the New Testament, God didn’t come to earth with fanfare,

Rather God came as a helpless baby.

 

Our food tours in Charleston were just passing tours.

I will never see those guides again.

Yet I will remember them,

Especially the 2023 guide,

Because of the ways they shed light into my life.

 

Dear God: May we see you in the people around us and may we be you to all whom we meet—whether be in passing or whether it be for a lifetime. May we use our voices to whisper love and may we use our resources as hope. Help us to see you in the small things—to rejoice in the goodness that you are, even when life is hard and circumstances far from easy. Open our eyes that we may see and connect our tears as they fall. Amen.