Lost in "The Music of the Night"

I think any theater lover has a bucket list, the "must see" shows and Phantom of the Opera has always ranked high on my list.  I was extremely blessed to have the opportunity to see this amazing show on Friday, courtesy of my friends at the Straz Center and the Tampa Bay Bloggers!  This proved to be a wonderful date night for me and the Hubs, who is not a theater lover like myself but who always says he wants to see it again.

I'm slightly embarrassed to actually say this out loud but I didn't really know the plot prior to seeing the show.  I knew it was about this man, the Phantom, who was in love with a performer but that was it.  I was unaware how much suspense and danger filled the theater and never realized I'd be on the edge of my seat the entire performance (literally on the edge of my seat...I never sat back against the seat for one second).

Waiting for the show to start

When we walked in, I was surprised to see the curtain was lifted and you could see the stage/scenery right away, as well as the covered chandelier (which was absolutely stunning!!!  None of my pictures do it justice).  We were instantly able to appreciate the hard work of the creative team.   From the extravagant costumes to the use of shadow figures to tell the story of the Phantom's past,the Creative Team nailed it! I was floored by the effects used to create the boat scene.  Every aspect of the lighting design, set design, and costume design made it that much easier for the audience to find themselves feeling like they're in the Paris Opera House with the rest of the cast.  It was truly amazing! Kudos to the Creative Team for transporting me from my seat and into the story!!!!
   
If the atmosphere wasn't enough, the cast of US Tour of Phantom of the Opera brought it home for me! The caliber of their voices were like nothing I've ever heard before. The beauty that Katie Travis brings to Christine Daae is unbelievable. Storm Lineberger brings such a depth and soul to Raoul in his first experience touring with a show.  The Phantom is brought to life by the amazing Chris Mann. I loved him as a finalist on The Voice and I was so excited when I looked at the cast and saw his name in the lead role! He brought such a darkness to the Phantom that I wasn't prepared for.  I just can't say enough about the entire company!!! They brought to life the songs I've grown up loving.

Katie Travis and Chris Mann
Courtesy of the Straz Center

Masquerade
Courtesy of the Straz Center

These performers are also so grateful. I might have been obsessing over the show on social media (before, at intermission, at the end, and pretty much every minute since) and I instantly saw how much these performers love what they do and how much they love their Phans.  So many of them have liked an Instagram picture or favorited/retweeted a tweet that I've posted.  You don't see that too often and it really is a nice feeling to know that what you're saying about a performance is being seen and appreciated by the cast.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to the stage door :(

From the moment the orchestra started warming up and the organ played those famous notes to the final curtain call, I found myself in love. In love with the story. In love with the characters. In love with the music. In love with it all.  I was left speechless and wanting to experience it all over again. This truly was the most amazing theater experience I've ever had and I'm so grateful to the cast and to the Straz Center for that.

Phantom of the Opera will be at the Straz Center through January 4th.  Believe me when I say that you do not want to miss this show.  It is life changing.  For tickets,visit the Straz Center's website.

For more information about the North American Tour of The Phantom of the Opera, visit their website, follow them on Twitter, like them on Facebook, and on Instagram.

Disclaimer: I was provided tickets to this amazing show, thanks to the Tampa Bay Bloggers and the Straz Center, in exchange for this post.  All opinions are 100% mine (and I could gush all day about this show)

Ghost The Musical

I am a theater girl.  There's no denying how much I love going to the theater.  I think it started when I was little.  My mom and dad always had music on around the house.  We grew up with country, classic rock, "elevator music" as I called it, movie soundtracks, and Broadway tunes. I've had Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat memorized for as long as I can remember.  Telling a story through music is a beautiful thing.  I can remember the first musical I ever went to.  It was Damn Yankees, featuring Jerry Lewis, at what's now called the Straz Center when I was in middle school.  I can still remember what I wore (it was the early 90s so it was ridiculous) but it was the night I truly fell in love with musical theater.

I was so excited to go to the Straz Center last night for Opening Night of Ghost the Musical.  The Hubs doesn't share the same love for the theater as I do so I asked my mom to be my date for the night.  She loves the movie Ghost plus loves going to the theater so she made the most perfect date!  We made great time over the bridge to downtown Tampa, which is completely unheard of at 6pm. We picked up our tickets and headed in.  We got there early, thanks to no traffic, but it gave us a chance to catch up.  With so much going on in our lives, it was nice to just sit and talk, even if I do talk to her every day.

The gorgeous Straz Center
(photo by Rob Harris)

When the time came, we headed to our entrance and were escorted to our seats by one of the lovely volunteers.  I was quite pleased with the view from our seats!  I didn't know what to expect because I've never seen the movie Ghost besides the famous pottery scene.  So I had nothing to compare the show to, which I think was a good thing.  When the show started, I was instantly blown away by the set design.  The use of video images and video screens in the overall set design was something I had never seen before!  The visual effects they were able to achieve were hands down, the best I've seen.  There is a scene where the cast is standing in the rain.  It looked so real! And all that was used was a screen and video images of rain. Unbelievable!!!

I always stalk the Playbill to see what other productions cast members have been in.  I was pleasantly surprised to see a lot of cast members list RENT in their resume.  I love RENT so anyone that's associated with it wins points in my book. I knew I wasn't going to be disappointed!  Stephen Grant Douglas, who played Sam Wheat, was Roger in a regional production of RENT and his voice fit the bill.  He was fantastic! He did a great job of bringing the character to life (or death I should say). I'm sure it was hard to make it look like he was a ghost but he nailed it in my book!  Molly was played by Katie Postotnik.  She is absolutely gorgeous.  I wasn't too sure about her voice at first and then she sang "With You", a song about how Sam's death affect her.  It was in that moment that I was captivated by her. The tone and depth of her voice was absolutely beautiful.  Katie and Stephen, besides having amazing voices, had great chemistry and their voices sounded perfect together.  Whoever cast these two in these roles did an amazing job!

Steven Grant Douglas and Katie Postotnik, Ghost The Musical Tour. © Joan Marcus, 2013

As for the story, it was just okay in my book.  Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the show but I didn't identify with it as strongly as I have other shows.  My mom had mixed reviews about it because it was quite different from the movie.  She came in thinking it was going to mimic the movie plot and there were only a handful of scenes from the movie.  I did not have anything to compare it to since I have never seen the film. I think that helped me to appreciate the show a little more than she did.

Carla R. Stewart and Steven Grant Douglas, Ghost The Musical Tour. © Joan Marcus, 2013

While the plot might have missed the mark a little, the technology and set design really won the show for me. I sat in complete awe of it.  They were able to create a distinction between Sam and the other ghosts from the living people and were able to do it when side by side with another person (as seen in the above pictures). They were able to create depth on a flat stage. When someone died and became a ghost, it happened in an instant. You were left looking at the person as a ghost and a human at the same time. It was truly magical. I don't think I can say enough about it!

Overall, I enjoyed the show. Is it the best show I've ever seen? No but it wasn't the worst I've ever seen. Would I recommend going to see it?  Absolutely! But for all my Tampa Bay area friends, you better act quickly!  Ghost the Musical will be at the Straz Center through April 27th! If you're not in the Tampa Bay area, you should try to see it when it comes to a theater near you on its first national tour!!!






Thank you to the amazing people at the Straz Center for partnering with the Tampa Bay Bloggers!  I was able to attend this production in exchange for an honest review.  All opinions are 100% my own! This is theater people...I take it very seriously!



   

ElectroDash 5K

I know I'm a day late and a dollar short on everything but I have to share the fun we had at the ElectroDash 5K!  I'm all about finding experiences for my kids that incorporate fun and exercise.  Sometimes it's the only way I can get Noah to get active (he's an indoors kind of kid, like his daddy).  When the opportunity presented itself to participate in ElectroDash, I knew it was the race for us!

The Hubs, the kids, my brother, his girlfriend, and my surrogate brother all met up at the fairgrounds for this race.  We've done a race at the fairgrounds before so we sorta knew what to expect, course wise.  The kids loved being able to wear as many glow sticks as humanly possible.We headed towards the starting line and then we were off.  The Hubs planned on walking the whole thing.  I was hoping the kids would want to run a little bit but nope, that wasn't happening.  Emmy was more focused on picking up glow sticks that people dropped.  That made for a VERY LONG 3 miles.  I didn't think a 5K could take so long!  But she had fun so that's what matters.  My brother and surrogate brother took off running after about a mile and my brother's girlfriend hung back with me and the kids.  She's usually my race partner in crime so I was glad she could do this race with me, even if it was just walking with the kids.

Here's a few pics of the fun we had:

I'm ready!!!

Our obligatory pre-race picture

This is just half of Emmy's glow sticks

Getting ready to start!

This was a pretty cool area.  Planets hanging up in the trees

That's Emmy holding up the planet

Emmy, asleep in the car on the way home, with her collection

Overall, I'm really happy with this experience.  I've never done a glow race before and turns out, they're really cool!  To see a million glowing lights running through a course was a sight to be seen.  Plus my kids had a blast!  I don't care how much I might not like something. If they like it, that's all that matters!  I will say that there wasn't as much black lights as I expected there to be.  There were a few stations that were cool but between them, it was very dark and the ground was very uneven.  It was a little unsafe in my opinion.  That would be my biggest complaint about the whole event.  Other than that, I totally recommend this event! I'm definitely looking forward to next year!!!!

Disclaimer: I received free entries for this event in exchange for my honest review, thanks to the Tampa Bay Bloggers.  All opinions are 100% my own