10.6.12 Leah, Kristin, and I all went to NYC. The plan for Leah and I was to see Rock of Ages matinee, a 6pm Naked Boys Singing, and an 8pm Forbidden Broadway. Kristin was going to do Forbidden Broadway with us. Being a huge fan of Forbidden Broadway for years now, this was the show I was most excited about. It was one of those days where you couldn't catch a Rush break. Leah and I got in line for Rock of Ages(yes, I said line!! Last year, Alaina and I went to Rock of Ages after the Hair matinee...around 5 pm and got rush tickets no problem. This year, because of the damn(suckish) movie, we had a line.) So there are two girls in front of us, who didn't have cash. They told the box office rep they would be back. Leah and I get up there, and he says he has one rush ticket left. I let her have it, as I had seen the show many times before, and I was not willing to spend $69(the next cheapest tier.) Leah later told me those girls who had left had come back...they were two rows ahead of her. They aren't supposed to hold rush tickets, it's first come first served. I shoulda called him on it. So this left me trying to find a show. Went over to Nice Work If You Can Get It(solely because I love Matthew Broderick). Of course, nothing was left. So I am wandering down the streets, going to meet up with Kristin, who is at Newsies(and scored 3rd row center for a pretty decent price!) and I end up on 42nd St. Scrolling through my phone, looking for discounts and shows on my "must-see" list. I end up across the street from an off-broadway show called Cock. I had been intrigued by Cock for awhile, but I had thought it had closed in September. I look at the marquee, and by sheer luck, saw that Cock was actually closing today! I was like well, it doesn't hurt to check it out! So I stayed outside the theatre for a half hour, only to go in to be told I had to wait ANOTHER half hour, til 1230, before I could rush.(So far, I had spent most of my day in line!) So I finally go in, and I scored a matinee ticket for $25. My show didn't start til 230, so I met up with my friends for a quick lunch and then we all went to our respective shows. Cock was about a gay couple. The first scene they were in love, and everything was fine. Next scene they are arguing, and one calls it off, much to the shock of the other. The next scene, the one who calls it off is telling his ex lover that he met someone and they are great but he's not over him, and SHE would very much like him to be, so they could be together. This shocked the partner, and he flips out over this. Then its almost a rewind, and it shows how the partner who ended it, John, met this girl and how their relationship has progressed to the point where she wants to sit down with John and his former partner to discuss the future. So we are brought up to date, and John, his new gf, his ex bf, and his ex bf's father are all discussing matters, and ultimately it ends with John being forced to make a decision. The story was actually hilarious! It was British humour, which I love I laughed through most of it! I don't know why the show is closing, the theatre was filled, it was a tiny theatre, with bleacher style seats made of wood and the stage was a circle. It was 90 minutes, no intermission, and those seats aren't the best! You will notice I only called one character by name. John was the only character who HAD a name. Not sure why. I would love to get a script. All I know is, it was hysterical, and I really enjoyed it! So after Cock, Leah still has about 20 minutes before her show ends, so I head over to Naked Boys Singing. I did get tickets for $21.50. I go and meet Leah, find Kristin, and we all go to Starbucks. Naked Boys was funny, and exactly what it sounds like. I had seen it before, in Provincetown a couple years ago. One of the guys I had seen up there was actually in this performance! I love the songs, they are so entertaining, and you don't really notice the naked after awhile. And of course, the guys are all good looking! Another quick, 90 minute show. So it is FINALLY time to try and get tickets for Forbidden Broadway(It is 730pm now) and we head over to 47th St. We go in, first we are told that they had student rush, then they told us they wouldn't take our ID's because of NO EXPIRATION DATE!!! That was bs. How is it our fault that our schools don't PUT expiration dates on them?! She offered us one seat for $29, and 2 for $70. We passed, I refuse to spend $70 on off-Broadway! What to do?! We didn't have a backup plan. We tried Chicago, they laughed at us(shows were starting in 30 minutes!) so we chose Mamma Mia. We scored standing room tickets for $27. Mamma Mia was excellent, as always. We stood the first half, and then an usher found us seats for the second half, 11 rows from the front! Awesome!! A long but fun day....with unexpected shows. I am glad Rock of Ages turned out the way it did, because I got to see Cock. Still not happy with Forbidden Broadway's treatment of us, and because of that I am MUCH less inclined to see the show now. We will see. To round out the year, we are planning on The Mystery of Edwin Drood Nov 3 matinee($22, we already got them because we belong to a program called Hiptix for people under 35!) and Annie, which we will probably have to buy in advance, as they are not offering rush, just lottery, and lottery is rigged on Broadway(they suck!!!) and I refuse to pay $70+ for Annie. Dec 1 we are also hopefully planning, and that day my MUST see is A Christmas Story. After deliberating, I think I am going to try to get tickets for Newsical. That closes Jan 6, and it sounds hilarious. As always, I have backup plans, but I will buy Christmas Story in advance if I have to....no way am I missing that one! Things can change though. We will see!

10.5.12 Roger Williams Zoo Jack o Lantern Spectacular I go yearly to this event! This year's theme was shows from the Stage and Screen, so naturally I was excited! They did this IMO the best this year...things were more organized with the majority of the really awesome, intricately detailed pumpkins on one side, and the regular carved pumpkins on the other, so it wasn't a mass cluster. I also went the 2nd day after it opened, around 8 pm. There was no lines, and only a little bit of waiting once inside. As always, I was not disappointed! I love this yearly tradition!

Alaska 9.9-916.12

So we went on a cruise to Alaska! We started the trip in Seattle, WA. We went to the Boeing Factory, where we learned such things that it takes 3 million parts to make a Boeing plane, and half of those are nuts, bolts, screws, etc. We got see planes-in-the-making, for the new Dreamliner series. We werent allowed to take pics in the factory. It was a nice, sunny day. I wish I could have seen more in Seattle, but I will def be back!

We left on Sunday for Vancouver, Canada, where we picked up our boat, Holland America's Statendam. The water was very rocky that first day, and almost everyone wasn't feeling well. By about 4 pm on Monday, the water had calmed down. We had quality entertainment on board, and the first night was Tiffany and the HALcats, and they were great, they did a bunch of cover songs. Tiffany was amazing! Ollie, a guitarist who sang back up vocals on some songs, was awesome. I loved watching him play, he was hot, and he was into his music which was fantastic to watch! On Monday night it was formal night, and the entertainment was Showroom at Sea. They consisted of Nathan Holland, Jordan Miller, Joseph Alhomora(sp?), Carenza Laguerre(sp?), Robyn Gayle, and Sean Samura. They were amazing! All of them! Wonderful voices and talent...Broadway should snap them all up(or put them back on, in Nathan's case!) ON Tuesday, we were in Ketchikan, AK. It was raining, so we pretty much went shopping and saw The Great Alaskan Lumberjack Show. It was funny, kinda hokey. Not my usual idea of a good time, but the audience seemed to love it! Back on the boat we saw a comedian named Mike Robinson. He was a ventriloquist, and very good and funny!

On Wednesday we were in Juneau. STILL raining lol but we went on a Musher's Summer Sled, got to pet the husky dogs and the puppies, and learned about the Yukon and Iditarod races. Very interesting experience! After that we went to Mendenhall Glacier(such a pretty area, even in the rain!) we saw the Glacier and a rainbow trout and a salmon and a porcupine. No bears though! Then we took Mount Roberts tramway 2500 feet up a mountain. We saw a movie about the Tlinglit people, and a family of string performers who were excellent. We also saw an eagle, she was in captivity because she lost her eye and some of her beak. Her name was Lady Baltimore. Back on the boat we saw Showroom at Sea performers as "Four Corners", a show pretty much based on The Four Seasons. A shorter Jersey Boys type show. It was very good! Such talent!

On Thursday, we were in Skagway, AK. Raining AGAIN(and this rain all week was not nice light rain mind you. It was cold, torrential rain.)I loved Skagway. It was a cute town! We saw a show, Days of '98, about the gold rush and Soapy Smith. We went on a Ghosts and Goodtime Girls tour, about the prostitutes and red light district during the gold rush. The interesting thing during that tour, we went to an area where there were three ghost stories told to us. I started snapping pics all over that area, hoping to snag some orbs. When I looked at my pics after, not ONE of that area even showed up on the role! So freaky! We also went to a museum that had a lot of scrimshaw pieces. It was free, and nice. Our ship entertainment that night was another comedian, he did impersonations and he was funny!

Friday we were supposed to go thru Glacier Bay. However, the weather was going to be hurricane force winds with 28 foot swells, so our captain decided to skip Glacier Bay(much to my dismay) and get us docked safely at Seward. So Saturday, they scrounged to get us some shore excursions. We went to the Sea Life Center and climbed Exit Glacier in the freezing cold torrential rains. They had given us an option to either wade through rivers to touch the glacier or climb 200 feet up to get the best shot of the glacier. We opted for the second option, thinking we would stay dryer. NOPE! From the waste down we were soaked! And freezing! But it was an accomplishment to get to the top! When we got back, the boat had a blackout. I was in the shower when that happened. I managed to finish my shower and get dressed in the dark. It was pitch black, and they had nothing but egg salad sandwiches for us to eat.(Gross!) The entertainment on Friday was Carenza and Jordan performing different songs. Both had operatic voices and it was delightful to hear them! Saturday was like a cabaret, had a little bit of talent from Tiffany and the HALcats, Showroom at sea, and the comedian. An excellent show!

Sunday we took a shuttle to the Anchorage airport. We stopped at an overlook and at the Wildlife Center. Arriving at the airport, it was sunny. Go figure. We dropped off our luggage and went to the Anchorage Museum and the mall. Anchorage had apparently had a power outage for two days. United had cancelled a flight and bumped passengers to Delta. We didnt get on our flights. While waiting for ma to get us rescheduled, I noticed a girl had my name on her boarding pass. I questioned her about it, (there is a possibility she has my name after all) and it turns out she did not have my name. NO IDEA how TSA let her in when her id wouldnt match her boarding pass! Long story short, we ended up living in the airport for a couple days. Delta had jacked their flights up to $4400!! We took Alaska Air for $771. Well worth it to come home! My luggage had arrived before we did, and luckily none of my snowglobes broke! It was an interesting trip, I was excited I managed to leave during the day and not at night like I was supposed to. I got awesome shots of glaciers and mountains, not to mention a gorgeous Seattle sunset and amazing Boston sunrise as we left and arrived!