Location, Location, Location.
When I was 4 my mom took me to see the Denver Ballet perform The Nutcracker. My family didn't have a lot of money, but my mom splurged and got good seats because she wanted me to be able to see the dancers. When we got to the ballet we walked in and started towards our seats and when we got to our awesome, close seats, there was a harp in front of us and I couldn't see the stage anyway.
I don't remember any of this. I remember riding home from the ballet in my mom's friend's car and listening to them talk about this. And my mom has told me the whole story from her perspective. It has a bit of family lore to it.
I take my children's performing arts education seriously and I spend money to make sure they get a variety of live experiences. We go to Jazz on the Green, Shakespeare, plays, musicals, opera, etc. I try to find ways to get the best seats possible. So for Shakespeare, for example, I go on my alumni picnic day so that we get reserved seats right in front of the stage. I took them to see the Mozart opera "The Marriage of Figaro" a few years ago and we sat on the Main Floor (which was a first for me) because I bought the tickets on Mozart's birthday when they were running a special. My trick for the Lied, which is where we see touring Broadway shows, is to wait until opening night and pick up what are called "house seat" tickets. These are tickets that were reserved but are not being used. This is not for the faint of heart. You are taking a risk. Sometimes you you don't get a ticket at all, but sometimes you end up with 4th row center seats for a sold out "Avenue Q" and sometimes you're 6th row center for "Spamalot" and sometimes you're in the balcony for "Mama Mia."
I checked with the box office several times that day and yes, it was not going to get better than Right Balcony. "They're good tickets," the kid at the box office assured me. I tried to assure my kids of that, by by this point they have expectations for seating that I could not meet last night.
"The balcony?!" my daughter said incredulously.
"All the way up there?!" my son said.
So we made our way to our seats with the Riff Raff (and learned that the coat check in the balcony is Self Serve and no one expects a tip). Live theater is amazing, even from the balcony. We laughed and sang along (my son knows ALL the words to all the Abba songs). The kids got t-shirts and I got a Mama Mia mug.
There was a line to even get on the elevator at the parking garage much less get out. We were parked on the top level, so we went out for frozen yogurt and then afterwards we had no waiting for the elevator or parking garage exit. The top level was empty and the sky opened above us and the City of Lincoln was lit up below us.
"We don't wait in line for an elevator so we can wait in line in our car," Mary said with a goofy-haughty voice.
"You are a Dancing Queen..." sang Frank as he did some dance moves while his sister joined him.
I had the best seats in the house.
I don't remember any of this. I remember riding home from the ballet in my mom's friend's car and listening to them talk about this. And my mom has told me the whole story from her perspective. It has a bit of family lore to it.
I take my children's performing arts education seriously and I spend money to make sure they get a variety of live experiences. We go to Jazz on the Green, Shakespeare, plays, musicals, opera, etc. I try to find ways to get the best seats possible. So for Shakespeare, for example, I go on my alumni picnic day so that we get reserved seats right in front of the stage. I took them to see the Mozart opera "The Marriage of Figaro" a few years ago and we sat on the Main Floor (which was a first for me) because I bought the tickets on Mozart's birthday when they were running a special. My trick for the Lied, which is where we see touring Broadway shows, is to wait until opening night and pick up what are called "house seat" tickets. These are tickets that were reserved but are not being used. This is not for the faint of heart. You are taking a risk. Sometimes you you don't get a ticket at all, but sometimes you end up with 4th row center seats for a sold out "Avenue Q" and sometimes you're 6th row center for "Spamalot" and sometimes you're in the balcony for "Mama Mia."
I checked with the box office several times that day and yes, it was not going to get better than Right Balcony. "They're good tickets," the kid at the box office assured me. I tried to assure my kids of that, by by this point they have expectations for seating that I could not meet last night.
"The balcony?!" my daughter said incredulously.
"All the way up there?!" my son said.
So we made our way to our seats with the Riff Raff (and learned that the coat check in the balcony is Self Serve and no one expects a tip). Live theater is amazing, even from the balcony. We laughed and sang along (my son knows ALL the words to all the Abba songs). The kids got t-shirts and I got a Mama Mia mug.
There was a line to even get on the elevator at the parking garage much less get out. We were parked on the top level, so we went out for frozen yogurt and then afterwards we had no waiting for the elevator or parking garage exit. The top level was empty and the sky opened above us and the City of Lincoln was lit up below us.
"We don't wait in line for an elevator so we can wait in line in our car," Mary said with a goofy-haughty voice.
"You are a Dancing Queen..." sang Frank as he did some dance moves while his sister joined him.
I had the best seats in the house.
posted by Lea at 6:11 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home