Tag Archives: musical

Sunsets and Songs (or Why Season Tickets To The Pantages Was The Best Decision Ever)

Posted on November 26, 2014 | 4 comments

I know I said yesterday that I rarely go out, but of course last weekend was full of fun adventures. I had Rayshell’s party on Saturday and another show at the Pantages on Sunday!

I know it seems like all these shows are back to back. They are bunched up right now (I have my next show in a month), but then there is a few months between the next show and the show after it.

One of the members of the group who goes to these shows couldn’t attend this time (she exchanged her tickets for another date so she would see the show on her own). She is the one who goes with me on the light rail and subway, and I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to go by myself. I’m fine riding them when it’s light out, but it’s a little scary at night.

So I decided to drive and hope that I could find parking near the theater and not too expensive. On my drive, I saw the most amazing sunset. I couldn’t get a great photo since it was behind me, but I did the best I could by shooting a picture in my side mirror.

The show this time was Kinky Boots. It was one of the shows that I was thinking about seeing when I went to NYC this year, but since it was in my series here I decided that I didn’t need to see it in New York and in LA in the same year.

I knew a little bit about the show before seeing it. I knew the basics of the plot and some of the songs since I had seen their performance on the Tonys. But I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I did.

I guessed it would be pretty silly. And there were some really great and silly moments. But some of the serious moments are the ones that stuck with me the most. In a time where there is so much turmoil in the country and the world, the message about just accepting others for who they are means so much.

After the show, I headed back to my car for the drive back and had some time to reflect on all the shows that I’ve gotten to see so far.

When I purchased my season tickets for the Pantages, it was during a time that I was making steady (and decent) money. Right after I purchased them, I was struggling with paying my bills. I knew I couldn’t go back on purchasing the tickets, but I seriously questioned if I had made the right decision to spend my money on them.

This was seriously such a great decision for me to make. I’ve always loved musicals and have wanted to see them at the Pantages. But single tickets are not cheap and I had trouble finding people who wanted to go with me. Now, not only are the tickets about half of what I would have paid to buy them as single tickets, I have new friends who enjoy musicals as much as I do!

I’m not quite half way through the season, but I’m already anticipating the announcement of the next season. If it’s anything like this year, I’m going to find a way to get the money together to buy the season tickets again! Seeing so many musicals in one year (both with my season tickets and with my trip to NYC) has revitalized my love for musicals and made me realize what I’ve been missing in my life for far too long.

4 Comments

Posted in Acting, Fun Stuff

Tagged Los Angeles, musical, Pantages Theater, play, theater

Seeing “Pippin” (or Another Evening At The Pantages)

Posted on November 6, 2014 | 2 comments

This past weekend was the second show for my season tickets at The Pantages. The first 3 shows are pretty close together, so I’m getting my fill of musicals in.

This time, we saw “Pippin”, which I’ve never seen before. My only experience with the show was seeing the performance on the Tony Awards when it was nominated for Best Revival Of A Musical. I knew very little about the show. Pretty much, all I knew was that there were circus acts and acrobatics (I saw that on the Tony Awards).

I took the light rail and subway to get to the show again. And this time, my friend Dani (who is also in the group of us who got season tickets) joined me. We had a bit of confusion when transferring to the subway due to trains sharing tracks, but we made it to the theater with plenty of time to spare.

The show was really great! The performances were amazing and I loved the circus and acrobatic tricks! There were several cast members who had been in the Broadway cast and that was exciting to see.

My only critique of the show was I felt like the second act was a little random and rushed, but that did not affect how much I enjoyed the show too much.

Dani and I got back on to the subway for the ride home and had yet another adventure with the subways sharing tracks. It turns out that due to construction, the trains going both directions had to share a track at the station we were at. It was a little confusing, but we managed (unlike some other people on the train who kept insisting we were wrong and only realized that we were right when the next station was announced).

Even with the confusion, Dani and I made it back to the Culver City station quickly and both got to our cars safely.

My next show is coming up in less than 3 weeks (like I said, the first few shows are back to back). That time, Dani won’t be attending the show with us so I’m debating about if I want to take the subway there. I know that it’s pretty safe, but I always feel safer when I’m with someone else. I’m fine taking the subway and light rail alone in the day time, but when I’m riding at night I’d rather have a buddy.

I’ve still got some time to plan out how I will be getting to the next show. But for now, I’m just so grateful that I get to see so many shows so close to me! I know that my sister-in-law and I are planning another trip to New York for next year, and this is holding me over until then.

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Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged Broadway, Los Angeles, musical, Pantages Theater, play, subway

Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)

Posted on October 16, 2014 | 2 comments

After my shopping adventure in Orange County, I headed back to LA to get changed for my evening activity.

A little backstory.

In the beginning of the year, I was asked by a friend of a friend if I would like to join their group for the next season at the Pantages Theater. They had 3 people for the past season (which was still going on at the time), but one member of their group was moving away. And since they found out that I love musicals, they wanted to see if I’d be interested in buying season tickets.

I had only been to the Pantages once before. That was my first week in LA and I saw The Lion King there. I kept wanting to go back, but I either didn’t have the time, the money, or someone to go with.

At that time, I had much steadier money coming in so I didn’t really hesitate to say yes! Also, the season tickets made it come out to about $40 a show when individual show tickets were 2 or 3 times that!

Fast forward to this past weekend and it was finally time for our first show!

I took the light rail and the subway to Hollywood and Vine and as soon as I got up the final escalator I saw the theater.

I crossed the street and waited for the rest of the group to get there. It was a nice evening and watching the sun go down behind the theater was very pretty.

The rest of the group got there shortly after me and we headed inside to our seats.

I was not in charge of ordering the tickets, so I had no idea what our seats would be like. But once we sat down we realized that for the price we paid, we got some amazing seats!

We were off to the side, but the view wasn’t that obstructed. And we were pretty close!

The first show of the season was Jersey Boys. I had never seen the show before (of the 7 shows in our season, I’ve only seen 1 before), but I did see the movie.

And while the show was amazing, I will say that the movie almost ruined it for me. The movie was a very faithful adaptation of the musical. So many of the lines and jokes were the exact same. So I knew exactly what was coming up.

Even with knowing the movie, I still had a great time!

I’m so excited that I have 6 more shows coming up at the Pantages! I’m looking forward to them all and my next one is only a few weeks away! And I’m so glad that I’m finally enjoying one of the great theaters in LA again after not going for over 13 years.

2 Comments

Posted in Fun Stuff

Tagged Los Angeles, musical, Pantages Theater, subway, theater

Frozen Hot Chocolate and Heathers (or The Last Full Day In NYC)

Posted on March 27, 2014 | 5 comments

Our last full day in New York was this past Saturday. We started by taking the subway to our brunch location. We had reservations, but we got there before the restaurant opened! So to kill some time, we went to a little coffee house so Krystle could get a coffee.

While walking across the street to get coffee, a familiar logo was in front of me.

I found a NYC SoulCycle! SoulCycle started in New York and they have a bunch of studios there, but we didn’t see one until the last day. We went inside to see what clothing they sold there (if they had a NY SoulCycle shirt I probably would have bought it) and because all SoulCycles use the same brand of candles, it really smelled like being home (who would have thought a workout place would be considered home to me). I gave my brother and Krystle gift cards to SoulCycle for Hanukkah this past year, and they haven’t had a chance to go yet. But hopefully since Krystle saw what one looks like inside, they’ll be more motivated to go soon!

After the SoulCycle and coffee detour, it was finally time for brunch. Krystle and I both got mimosas to celebrate our last breakfast on the trip.

It was sad to think our trip was coming to an end, but we still had a full day to do. After brunch, we got onto the subway and checked out Central Park.

We didn’t really get to walk around (next trip we will) because we had a mission to go to Bergdorf Goodman. Krystle is a buyer for the department store Gumps, and Bergdorf is the east coast equivalent to Gumps. So we went inside to see what they had for sale.

After looking at lots of expensive things, we continued our “out of our price range” shopping on Fifth Ave. and a stop at one of the biggest jewelry stores I’ve ever been to.

This particular Tiffany is 6 floors! We only explored 2 floors before we headed back out to the next part of our day.

We were meeting one of Krystle’s college friends at Serendipity, which is famous for their frozen hot chocolate. They don’t take reservations unless you are getting lunch or dinner, so we had a little over an hour wait outside waiting for our name to be called.

But at least Saturday was a much warmer day so it wasn’t too bad waiting outside. And the wait was totally worth it!

I got the peanut butter frozen hot chocolate, Krystle got the salted caramel frozen hot chocolate, and her friend got the original frozen hot chocolate. They were so delicious and I figured all the walking around and stairs going in and out of the subway would work off the calories of the treat (side note, even with all the crazy eating on this trip, I managed to lose a pound).

After our treat, we said goodbye to Krystle’s friend and headed back into the subway to go back to the hotel to get ready for dinner and the show that evening.

I was beyond excited for the show that night. It was our only off-Broadway show, but it was perfect because my friend AJ was in it! We saw “Heathers”. Technically it was still in previews, but that’s ok. AJ lived in LA until recently. He moved to NYC to be in the show (he was also in the LA version of the show).

As soon as we got to the theater, I was so giddy to see a dear friend doing what he loves to do.

And seeing a familiar face in my Playbill was one of the coolest things of the entire trip!

“Heathers” was incredible! I think it was the best show that we saw this entire trip! The set and costumes weren’t as grand as the Broadway shows that we saw, but the music and story was so much better. I think that if this show moves to Broadway (which it totally should), it will be a serious contender for the Tonys!

After the show, we met up with AJ near the stage door, where he was busy signing autographs.

While we were waiting for AJ to finish up with his fans, my phone rang. I saw that it was my friend Alex, who we saw the night before. When I answered the phone, nobody was there, so Krystle and I figured it must have been a butt dial. But just then, Alex came around the corner! She was walking past the theater and figured that we would probably be there. It was so cool to get to see her again really quickly, and to introduce her to AJ. It was one of those really cool moments that made the trip so perfect.

After AJ was done with autographs, we went around to the other side of the theater to get a picture together in front of the poster for the show.

And no, AJ doesn’t have a giant hand. I didn’t notice that particular optical illusion in the photo until someone else pointed it out to me.

After the photo, a group of us which included AJ’s girlfriend and a listener of the podcast I work for (and AJ co-hosts) headed a few blocks away for a drink at a bar.

There was nothing super special about the bar. It was just a good hangout with friends. It was so normal (and not touristy) and the perfect way to end the evening.

Before we knew it, it was midnight and Krystle and I had to get up around 5am the next morning to catch our flights. It sucked to say goodbye to AJ, because if “Heathers” is as successful as I think it will be, it could be a long time before I get to see him again. But it gives me motivation to visit New York again (and to see Alex again as well).

As Krystle and I headed back to the hotel in a cab, she and I both said how this evening really was the perfect ending to the trip. It sucked that it ended so quickly, but I don’t think we could have asked for a better NYC adventure.

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Posted in Acting, Celebrations, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged Broadway, brunch, musical, New York

Blowouts, The Book Of Mormon, and Buddakan (or The End Of Day 2)

Posted on March 25, 2014 | 1 comment

FTC Disclosure: I was giving a complimentary blowout in exchange for my review. All opinions are of my own and were not influenced by the free service.

After checking out the Empire State Building, Krystle and I got back on our hop on hop off bus. Our plan was to take the rest of the loop back to our hotel, then take the subway one stop so we could get to Drybar for our 5pm blowout appointments. I had mentioned to Drybar before the trip that I was going to be in NYC with my sister-in-law and they offered to treat me to a blowout while I was there. Of course I also booked an appointment for Krystle so we could have a fun beauty adventure.

It seemed like the perfect plan. Until it the bus seemed to be taking forever to make the loop. We finally ended getting off the bus with only 15 minutes to make it across town. We weren’t near a subway so we tried to hail a cab. Only we didn’t realize that it is very difficult to catch a cab between 3-5pm because that is when the shift change happens. We got turned down by several cabs and I started to panic that we were going to miss our appointments. I called Drybar to let them know that we were running late, and finally we caught a cab.

We made it to the Parker Meridien hotel about 10 minutes late. Before the appointment, I was a little worried about how my sister-in-law would like going to Drybar. My first experience with them (on my birthday) wasn’t the best. But I was trying to go into this with an open mind.

As soon as we walked in, we were both very happy. The place was gorgeous and as soon as we walked in, we were offered our choice of coffee, tea, water, or champagne (we both chose champagne).

I was very happy to be offered a drink as soon as we walked in. That wasn’t not what happened at my last experience at the Drybar in Marina Del Rey (I was actually never offered a drink that time).

Krystle and I took a quick before picture. Our hair was totally windblown after being on top of the Empire State Building.

We were taking back to have our hair washed. The warm water was so nice after being so cold on the bus. And the scalp massage was heaven. We got to sit in chairs next to each other, but we didn’t chat too much during the blowout because it was a bit loud with all the blowdryers.

I chose the Straight Up hairstyle, which is a straight style with body at the ends. I can’t remember what Krystle chose, but it was a style with curls. We looked pretty amazing afterwards.

It was so perfect that we got blowouts that day because we had an exciting evening planned that night. We started by going to “The Book Of Mormon”. We had seats in the very last row in the theater, but we were very centered.

The show was great and Krystle enjoyed it as well. After the show, we got a cab and went down to Chelsea for dinner at Buddakan. My quick review of the restaurant was that the food was amazing, but the service was awful. Even though we had a reservation, we still waited over 25 minutes for our table. But if you go, I highly recommend the appetizer sampler and the mushroom noodles.

I also recommend the Charm cocktail. It was delicious.

By the time we were done with dinner, it was after midnight. We were exhausted.

But this was such a wonderful day of the trip.

Thank you so much to Drybar for providing me with a blowout that day. And now that Krystle has experienced the blowout experience, she’s hooked on it (as am I after seeing how great the experience can be). I know that blowouts are now going to be a regular outing on the trips that Krystle and I take in the future. And I know now that the Drybar experience is not what I experienced on my birthday, I will be going more often in LA, especially when I have special events.

1 Comment

Posted in Beauty, Food, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged Broadway, DryBar, hair, musical, New York

Getting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!)

Posted on February 18, 2014 | 1 comment

Saturday was a day that was pretty much spent at home with my parents. My high school friend, Jackie, came over with her son to see Tucker (and her little son was pretty traumatized by Tucker since Tucker was trying to kiss him every minute). It was a fast visit, but a nice one. Jackie is expecting her 2nd baby in about 2 months and I’m excited for her and her husband (they are waiting until the baby is born to find out if it’s a boy or a girl).

After Jackie and her son left, my brother and sister-in-law came over. They came by to hang out and have a family dinner, but Krystle and I had a lot of planning to do. Our trip to New York is in about a month and besides having our flights and hotel booked, we had nothing else done!

And since Saturday was the only time that she and I would be in the same place at the same time before the trip, we tried to get as much done as possible.

In planning the trip, Krystle decided that I should plan what Broadway shows we should go to and she would plan what restaurants we would go to. We both want to see “Book Of Mormon”, but those tickets are so crazy expensive! We have a date in mind to see the show and we might take a chance on the ticket lottery, but we might just have to suck it up and pay the full price (which is like $150 a ticket!).

But we did get great prices on the 3 other Broadway shows we are going to see. We got tickets for “Cinderella”, “Matilda”, and “Heathers” (which my friend AJ is in!). All of those tickets were under $100 each so I think that was a pretty good deal.

We also did some planning on what we want to do during the day while we are out in New York. We did some investigating on the hop on hop off bus options and managed to find one that has our hotel as a stop. We haven’t gotten tickets for it yet, but I’m sure we will. We also have some plans to do some shopping and see a museum or two.

Exactly a month from today, we leave for the trip (both of us are taking red-eye flights and will be arriving early the next morning). I’m a little nervous about the flight. I don’t sleep too well on planes, and that flight is pretty much going to have to count as my night’s sleep. I don’t like taking medicine to help me sleep, but I might do some research and find something that I can take this one time so I won’t be exhausted on my first day of the trip (which is the day we are going to see a matinée of “Cinderella”).

I’m so beyond excited for this trip and I know that Krystle is too. I just can’t wait for the next month to fly by so I can go on my adventure!

1 Comment

Posted in Family, Fun Stuff, Travel

Tagged Broadway, musical, New York, play, trip

Tag Archives: musical

Sunsets and Songs (or Why Season Tickets To The Pantages Was The Best Decision Ever)

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Seeing “Pippin” (or Another Evening At The Pantages)

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Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)

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Frozen Hot Chocolate and Heathers (or The Last Full Day In NYC)

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Blowouts, The Book Of Mormon, and Buddakan (or The End Of Day 2)

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Getting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!)

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Tag Archives: musical

Sunsets and Songs (or Why Season Tickets To The Pantages Was The Best Decision Ever)

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Seeing “Pippin” (or Another Evening At The Pantages)

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Having A Season Of Musicals (or Finally Enjoying Something I Haven’t Done Since I Moved To LA)

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Frozen Hot Chocolate and Heathers (or The Last Full Day In NYC)

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Blowouts, The Book Of Mormon, and Buddakan (or The End Of Day 2)

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Getting Ready For Next Month (or Broadway Here We Come!)

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