SCORE! I was FINALLY able to rope my husband into going to a play.

Yes, you can quit rubbing your eyes - you read that right.

As I mentioned in my last post, we recently attended a play.  (Well...really a musical, which you should know is something that usually isn't my cup of tea.  I find that it can be difficult to catch all the words if they are being sung - plus, how many of us actually break into song in the middle of a sentence?)  And, as usual, I found out about it right before the show closed by reading a rave review in the local paper last Thursday.

Considering the paper also lists local events well in advance, you'd think I'd notice these things earlier...but no.  Usually, I read a review that interests me, look up the schedule and discover there are only two or three more performances.

My usual partner in crime for these types of events was out of town.  So I began to look around to see if any of my other friends might be free for the Sunday matinee at the last minute.  And I struck out on every score.  One friend said she would check but knew that her son had an event that she had to attend and wasn't sure of the timing.

I was convinced I wouldn't get to see this one.

So when I got home, I looked at The Husband and declared that he needed to take me on a date.  He looked surprised but agreed.  Apparently, the element of surprise is what it took to swing this around in my favor as he agreed before he even knew what I had up my sleeve.

After securing his agreement, I informed him that we would be going to lunch downtown - this was meet with enthusiasm.  And then informed him that we would be going to the musical - this wasn't taken in with any enthusiasm...but he didn't refuse.

I explained that I had tried to find another date and that I really wanted to see this show and being the gentleman he is - he fell on the sword for me.  My hero.

Then he asked how long the program would be...

After a pause, I quickly spit out the fact that these shows usually run about two hours.  His response?  He gave a sigh and asked if alcohol would be available.  Not knowing if that would be true or not for a matinee, I fudged my answer and said that there usually is a cash bar available.

So when Sunday rolled around, he took it on the chin.  We had a lovely lunch at a local Irish pub.  Afterwards we strolled around downtown and checked out a quaint, quirky independent bookstore - where I was able to pick up a great book by a local author.

As a side note, it is great fun to be reading a book that highlights local towns and places that you know...since you live there.

Then it was time to head to the theater - because this particular theater is an intimate space, we were unable to choose our seats when we bought the tickets - we determined that in order for The Husband to get an aisle seat (his only real demand) we needed to get there as soon as the box office opened.  This strategy paid off AND there was a cash bar available, in The Husband's eyes things were beginning to look up...until he began to get fidgety while we waited for the show to start.

Eventually, the show started and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  When asked The Husband said that it wasn't bad.  Granted, he never laughed out loud, I did catch him grinning a few times throughout, so I know he was paying attention.  All in all, I would say we had a successful date - albeit one that he was not an enthusiastic about - which is what marriage is all about - sometimes you do something you really don't want to do just to make your partner happy.  And he made me very happy.

So, I suppose after all that I should tell you what we saw...

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  One of the fun aspects of this Tony-award winning play is that four members of the audience are invited on stage to participate in the spelling bee.  During our show, the majority of the four were given fairly easy words at first gradually getting a little harder as the play went on until three were eliminated.  The fourth one was pretty good with spelling and they kept calling her back until they came up with some wild word that stumped her.

Our cast consisted of people ranging in age from 13-21 - for such a young cast, they were stellar.  Truly.  Even The Husband was impressed with their ability.

Should this program show up at your community theater, I would recommend that you attend...even if you have to coerce your other half to attend.