A Happy Halloween

Halloween this year was a great day! It started waaaay too early, with an 8am rehearsal. (We had to rehearse at 8am, because the show playing that day had a 10am call time, but more on that later.) Now, if I hadn't had rehearsal that morning, I would have worn my Sleeping Beauty costume all day. But, I did have rehearsal, so I just wore my thermal shirt with the crowns on it, and the "Miss Amazing 2008" crown that Emily H gave me for my birthday last year. (If I had thought of it in time, I would have worn the "Miss Amazing" sash too. Oh, well. I can bask in the faded glory next year!) At rehearsal, we ran a bunch of scenes, fixed some dances, and I got to try on my costume. My costume is gorgeous, by the way. I love it! Rehearsal was over at 10am, at which point I ate a banana and took a walk downtown.

My darling friends, Dot, Yakko and Wakko had graciously agreed to join me and see the show playing at the Children's Theatre that day. I was worried that something called Ghost Stories might be too scary for Wakko, but he and his older brother assured me they were never too scared. On the contrary, we all laughed hysterically. The play was awesome! I am so, so glad I went and even more glad I took those particular kids, because we had a ton of fun. The kids bought sodas and Swedish fish to share during intermission. After the play was over, I introduced them to my friend and the director of the play, Joanne, and the kids started talking about wanting to do a show there sometime which I think is a marvelous idea.

We swung past the kids' house on the way to lunch, just in case their parents might want to join us. We were a bit early, and Stephanie and Troy were still out, so we made our way to McDonalds where the boys played and we all ate and quoted some of the funnier lines from the play. We decided it was necessary to perform at least two of the stories for their mom as soon as we got home. We did so, and she laughed, though I'm sure our retelling was a little jumbled. Really, it was just funny watching Yakko, Wakko and Dot dance around. Ah... good times.

I would have liked to spend more time with their family. However, I was exhausted and needed a nap, so that's what I did before getting ready for the evening's festivities.

My friends Krista, Nancy, Arwen and I had tickets for the Thriller dance concert at Kingsbury Hall. We took Trax down, chatted with another passenger/theatre person who I run into every once in awhile, were invited to an inappropriate club by a toothless older man, and laughed at the drunk guys who couldn't figure out what our costumes were. (They "guessed" I was a Princess. Really? They weren't sure I was some kind of princess in spite of the crown and huge, puffy dress? And they weren't sure that Nancy was a cat even though she had whiskers, ears and a tail? That would be about the point I'd lay off the beer, but whatever...)

Arwen (a flapper), Krista (a little girl zombie), me (Sleeping Beauty), and Nancy (a kitty)

Before the show, some of the dancers wandered around and terrorized people outside Kingsbury Hall. Nancy wasn't terribly amused when one male zombie chased her around. It did add to the atmosphere, though.

The concert itself was amazing. They did some scary stuff, but turned most of it funny by the end of each dance. There was a dance about mummies, a ballet starring Frankenstein and his bride, a music video with the opening song from Nightmare Before Christmas, a dance about the Salem Witch Trials, a trio of Jasons, a depressed clown, and more. It was at least 2 1/2 hours long, but very entertaining all the way through. A great way to spend Halloween. The dancers even chose me to enter the costume contest at intermission. I didn't win, but was still flattered, and it gave me an excuse to take a walk to the orchestra seats from the upper balcony.

One of the many highlights of the night was meeting a lady dressed as Maleficent, the evil fairy from Sleeping Beauty. Awesome! Since I was dressed as Sleeping Beauty, I asked her for a photo:


Our ride home wasn't as eventful as the ride there, but I practiced my flirting skills and was pleased to have them reciprocated somewhat with plenty of mutual eye contact. I finally arrived home about 11:30pm. Completely exhausted, I nevertheless wasn't ready to go to bed, so I sat around in the costume a little longer and watched the Vampire Diaries and Monk. Maybe it's a little anticlimactic, but it was a nice way to end a great day!