I AM a completist.
I complete things.
I read books from cover to cover.
I endure even bad movies once I’ve started them.
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I can’t afford to miss my column schedule, even if I’m not in the mood to write.
In fact, I often write articles in advance so that I come out regularly in the paper on my Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule.
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So, just because I am an Audrey Hepburn fan, I had to watch “My Fair Lady” on stage.
My Fair Lady is a Lerner and Loewe musical from the 1950s.
It was Tony’s Best Musical in 1957.
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Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza Doolittle, the eponymous “fair lady.”
But it was Audrey who played Eliza on the big screen in 1964.
So for my sanity, I just have to see a grand American production of My Fair Lady.
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I think some people did My Fair Lady in Iloilo a few decades back, but who remembers?
I think Farida Kabayao played Eliza.
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My Fair Lady is my first indoors grand stage musical since the Covid-19 pandemic began.
And it was awesome.
And it was at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood!
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I really miss the theatre.
I’m triple vaccinated—Pfizer.
Two shots and a booster.
So I’m really good to go.
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I mean, it’s not 100%, but I feel I could relax a little bit knowing/trusting that the vaccine will somehow help me not to need the ICU if and when I get Covid-19.
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I booked My Fair Lady via a phone app.
I mean, that’s how most things are transacted nowadays.
So, right after Eliza at the Dolby, I was sent invitations for Alexander at the Pantages.
Yes, as in Alexander Hamilton in the hit musical “Hamilton.”
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In the early years of Hamilton, of course, I refused to pay $400 and some for seats!
And then the pandemic, and other stuff, prevented me from watching it live.
So, I watched it on TV.
Like streaming on a Disney Channel, or something.
***
I have pretty much written off watching Hamilton live on stage.
And then, this offer.
For a good seat at the orchestra center section for something like $50.
Maybe, it’s $63 total including processing fees.
But hey, I’m not too poor as to worry about that.
***
The completist in me booked a show for November 3.
Again, it’s just for bragging rights.
I have studied the libretto of Hamilton for a while now.
I have seen the filmed version.
But to say that I have seen it live at the Pantages, that’s another level.
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I know that several of my friends have already seen it, maybe even on the year it debuted.
But this is Hamilton for cheap tickets.
And cheap is good for me.
I don’t need to brag about great seats.
I always enjoy the theatre wherever I’m seated!
***
Also, I just got back from a three-day cruise to Ensenada in Mexico.
Carnival Miracle was the ship.
I enjoyed the trip.
I didn’t spend much this time, not even on alcohol.
But I felt that I really did a lot.
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Every night, I watched the shows at the Panthom Theatre, and the standup comedy at the Mad Hatter’s Hat.
At three shows for three nights, that’s plenty.
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First, there were the musical shows.
First Night: the Welcome Aboard Show, which previewed the contents of the succeeding shows.
Second Night: 88 Keys, a 30-minute plus musical revue of rock and roll music played on a piano.
Third Night: 80s Pops to the Max, a smorgasbord of pop music from my happy decade.
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The other two nightly treats are the “adult only” comedy of Lenny Schmidt, and Jason Love.
Because they hardly reuse their materials in their three-night gigs, the comics are a joy to watch.
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I hooked up with a few people on the cruise.
This cruise had a lot of gay couples.
Would I be interested in a threesome?
***
But my heart goes to the Filipino boys in the Aquatics department.
They manage the waterworks, and act like life guards.
So I scared myself silly with the Green Thunder, a waterslide with a 30-feet sudden drop.
I did it three times because, well, I didn’t want those 20-something attendants to think that a 52-year old me is too scared of life!/PN
