I brought my niece to town for a visit to the woods and the mountains last week. I’ll be writing more about that trip on the hiking blog. This one is about what happened on her last night in town.
We got checked into a hotel for the night (my studio apartment being too small for guests), and had taken the elevator several times before reading the little events newsletter in it. Now, my niece had been schooling me in musicals on this trip. She shared Hamilton, 36 Questions and Heathers with me while I drove us to campsites and back. And she had also mentioned the musical Dear Evan Hansen a time or two (or ten).
So when I saw that the Morrison Center’s Broadway in Boise was performing Dear Evan Hansen, and that the last date was that very day, I pointed it out to her.
Immediately she wanted to go, and I was a little less enthusiastic. I was hungry and a bit cranky, to be honest. But then she found a pair of tickets for $6 a piece online. So we walked down to Freak Alley, because she’s into art and I wanted her to see it. Then, while we got dinner, I figured out how to get the $6 tickets. It was less than $20 after fees for both tickets, a great deal.
What an incredible coincidence that this musical, which she hadn’t had a chance to see when it was in Chicago, just happened to be playing on her last night in town. And we were able to get tickets to see it same day, at a rate that shocked her Chicago sensibilities. I might just be the best aunt ever.
But she’s also a candidate for best niece. I never would have gone to see that musical without her, and I ended up enjoying it very much. It was very emotionally moving, and I’m not ashamed to say I cried a lot. I’d read that the movie version wasn’t very good, and, going in I let that color my perceptions. But once it started, I just let myself enjoy the production. The cast was excellent; almost as good as the company.
A shot of the stage before the performance began. |