La Traviata

Three years ago, Marina and I saw the opera La Traviata four years ago. Tonight was opening night of another production. I got tickets for us to go with Angie. Marina got all dressed up in a hot pink floor length dress. I added a pink beaded necklace. She looked so grown up!

Traffic was crazy on the way to the theatre and when we arrived at the performing arts complex it was packed. We just managed to park, get through security and buy drinks before the opera started. Angie met us at the seats.

The first time we saw La Traviata, Marina enjoyed it. This time she seemed bored. When the opera ended, she was anxious to go home. She didn’t even want to wait for the elevator at the parking garage. Instead she hurried up five flights of stair! On the way home she fell asleep. It had been a full day!

Dia De Los Muertos Celebration

We’ve been going to the botanic gardens Day of the Dead Celebration for the past few years. Last year Miss Judy came with us and enjoyed it. So we invited her again this year. She, in turn, invited Bethany and Jeremy to join us. It was going to be particularly emotional this year as we would be remembering a family who was killed earlier this year.

The weather was cool and rainy this morning but we decided to go anyway. It seemed to take a long time for everyone to be ready to go, but we were fortunate that right as we arrived we found someone who was leaving the parking garage, so we got a good parking spot.


When we arrived we found the crafts under a large tent. Marina wanted to decorate a sugar skull, so we wall watched her as she made hers. Judy, Bethany and Jeremy went to watch the Aztec dancers while Marina created a flower wreath and she made paper marigolds which she gave to Judy and Bethany.

We all went for warm drinks and once we had them the Lucha Libre wrestling had begun. So we watched that for a while. Our next stop was the community alter. Judy and Bethany got emotional as they added a family members’s name to the display. I helped Marina with a card with her great grandparents’ names on it.

We went into the Japanese garden where Marina showed everyone the koi pond. Then we wandered around the perimeter of the garden. By then Bethany and Judy were tired, so we decided to leave. On the way home, we stopped to have tacos for lunch.

Van Helsing's Daughters

Marina and I had been interested in seeing a play called Van Helsing’s Daughters. The only performance we could fit into our schedule was tonight – Halloween. I asked Marina if she wanted to go instead of trick or treating and she said yes. The website encouraged dressing in costume, so Marina picked out a Gothic looking costume to wear with her elf ears.

The show was at an inn, which is supposed to be haunted. When we arrived, we had a conversation with a man there. He was the owner of the inn and told us a story about the ghosts there. The show was on the third floor of the building. It was a beautiful room. We didn’t order dinner but I did buy a dessert for Marina. Marina chose a seat at a table where a couple was seated. The young woman was dressed in a mermaid costume, I’m sure that is why she chose to sit there.

Marina enjoyed her dessert when it was brought to her. All the people seated at our table were fun. Marina also spent time with the actress playing the Siren and the owner of the inn.

When the show began, Marina was very entertained by it. It was staged as a presentation of supernatural creatures by the immortal daughters of Abraham Van Helsing. The creature were brought out into the audience so we could get a closer look. At intermission we were invited to the garden where we were to meet “special guests.” We went outside and a few minutes later sever giant monsters came out. Marina was impressed.


After the performance ended, we took a few photos with the cast. Marina enjoyed herself and said it was worth missing trick or treating to go.

Love Never Dies

Marina loves the musical The Phantom of the Opera. It has a lesser known sequel called Love Never Dies which is not performed often. So when a touring production stopped near us I decided we would have to check it out. At first Marina wasn’t too interested. But as it got closer, she got more excited about it.

The show takes place mostly at an amusement park on New York’s Coney Island. Marina loved the circus inspired themes throughout. The sets and the costumes were amazing to see although the music wasn’t as memorable as the original. Marina really liked the young actor playing Gustav. The ending was tragic and when Gustav started to cry, so did she.

After the performance ended, the cast announced a fundraiser which meant cast members would be collecting donations in the lobby. One of them was the actor playing Gustav, so we got a picture with him as well as a few of the circus performers.

Most exciting was you could have a photo with the Phantom. Marina and I were both excited to do that! We had to wait in a line for the Phantom photo. While I was paying, the actor immediately started talking with Marina. He started by asking her name. I took photos of her with him and then we had someone else take one of all of us.

Once our photos were over, we went to the car. We’d enjoyed the evening but Marina has school tomorrow, so she needed to get to bed.

Heathers

I had plans to see the musical Heathers with Angie last weekend. Due to the content, I wasn’t sure it Marina would like it. We were supposed to go last weekend, but the weather was bad last weekend when we were supposed to go so I rescheduled for today and bought an extra ticket so Marina could come. At first she didn’t seem very excited about it but then she found the songs “Candy Store” and “Dead Girl Walking” on YouTube and really liked them. So she was looking forward to it today.

This theatre was a long drive from home, so right after church we had a quick lunch with Angie and then got on the road. Marina listened to music for most for the trip. It took us just under two hours to get to the theater. We were all pretty happy to be moving around when were got out of the car.

The theater is technically a dinner theater although a meal is not included with the ticket price. Since we ate before we left, we decided to have dessert. Marina ordered an ice cream sundae with chocolate sauce.

Once the show began Marina was completely engrossed. Some of it was on the raunchy side, but she was laughing through it all. At intermission she said she wished she had worn her plaid skirt so she would look like the Heathers in the show.

After the show was over, Marina wanted to meet the actors. She spent quite a while talking to the actresses who played the Heathers. We took a photo with them and the actor who played JD. She obviously had a good time.

Return to the West Side

One of Marina’s favorite shows is West Side Story. The performance was at a dinner theater we've never been to and it was pretty far from home.

Marina listened to music on her phone for most of the ride. We arrived in Fort Collins a bit early so we checked in a waited in the lobby. Fortunately they opened a bit early.

Our server was playing Riff. Our salads were already on the table when we sat down and our meals came out very quickly. Marina ordered the honey fried chicken which she liked but also was happy eating the mashed potatoes and cauliflower on her plate. We were done with dinner early, so we had a long wait before the show started.

Once the music started, Marina paid close attention. We were both impressed by Riff and the actress playing Anita. “America” was her favorite song in the show.

During the announcements before the show they wished a woman named Marina a happy birthday. We were both amazed by that. So at intermission we made our way to her table to speak with her. She was a very nice lady and was thrilled we had come over to speak with her. When we went back to our table Marina’s pumpkin cheesecake was there. She shared some with me.

The end of the show was intense. It seemed everyone was crying, including Marina. When we got to the lobby we saw the cast lined up. We got a photo with Riff and Anita, the Jets and Maria. Marina spent a few minutes talking with her. She even got a bit teary as we talked about the end of the show.

We went to the car for the long drive home. We were both tired after a long day. Marina dozed off a bit in the car but didn’t actually fall asleep. When we finally arrived at home she went right to bed.

Another Boo at the Zoo

Boo at the Zoo has been a Halloween tradition for us since Marina was a baby. Today was the only day we could go this year, so despite the fact that we were at the zoo last night, we came back again this morning. When we arrived parking was already crazy. I found a spot but it was pretty far away from the zoo so we had a long walk before we got there.

The set up was different this year and the trick or treat stations were smaller and easier to miss. We didn’t see any character meet and greets this year either. When we reached our favorite restaurant Marina was ready to eat lunch. After I ordered we were lucky to find a table in the shade to sit at. We both enjoyed our lunch.

We looked at more animals after lunch. We walked along some of the bird paths we usually don’t follow and went through the Asian animals. All the elephant were outside and the tapir was running around it’s enclosure and making noises. Inside we saw five otters playing and chattering at each other. Marina was thrilled that the fisher cat was inside a log in its exhibit.

We went through the rest of the zoo and stopped at all the treat stations. On our way out we saw two lionesses in Predator Ridge, so we stopped to look at them for a while before making the long journey back to the car.