What has given you the most (non-sexual & non-criminal) pleasure in the last year? Many things come to mind. A great family reunion, some of the work I have been doing that is very challenging and rewarding with very little pay… However, three other things come to mind and all of them involve the performing arts. So I will share those.
One was seeing Wicked for the third time. No, I am not joking. A friend of mine who is having a really hard time desperately wanted to see the show. She is not a theatre person, but for some reason this show was something she wanted to see. I had already seen it twice and could have gone forever with out seeing it again. But my friend had just gotten out of the hospital and I thought it might cheer her up so we decided to try the lottery. We won and her reaction was the sweetest thing. She could not believe that we were actually going to sit front row center to see this show. She was like a little girl. Seeing the power that one performance and evening had on her brought me such joy I didn’t care that she jumped up and down, laughed a little loudly or clapped at every little thing. During For Good she reached over and squeezed my arm and it was just one of those bonding moments that brought tears to both of us.
So I will never be a Wicked basher.
The next thing that came to my mind is similar. I surprised my boyfriend with front row seats to the Roches concert at Steppenwolf. It was something that was very difficult to pull off, but was worth every bit of effort it took. He had no idea they were even coming to town and did not know what we were doing at the theatre until I had gone to will call and showed him the tickets. He had been having a terrible day and we were dealing with a lot of stuff in our lives, and again that night was just so special.
My third special moment involved sitting on a barstool for about 4 hours with a friend getting to know one another better and watching the Tonys on a tiny TV with crappy sound in the small back room of a large gay bar in Boystown. That was a very special night for me, too.
PEACE.
