The year I DID see Book of Mormon

Yesterday, the stars aligned, and I was finally able to see the much ballyhooed Book of Mormon. I credit the victory to logical statistics over time and also the fact that it was 19 degrees yesterday. Although I was actually surprised that the lottery enterers numbers hadn't really dwindled and that there were already a large number of people standing in the standing room line (people usually wait there for something like 8 hours for the privilege of paying $20 to stand for the duration of the show). However luck prevailed, and they called my name for the second to last pair of tickets that were front row center.

I'm not really posting this as a review of the show because the show certainly doesn't need any more publicity to keep selling tickets. But just in case my readers are more swayed by my commentary than the New York Times, it was the funniest musical I've seen (followed closely by Avenue Q, fittingly as both shows share a composer). I will say that I'm kind of surprised that the show is as mainstream as it is because it definitely has some humor that toes the line of bad taste. Then again, it's probably not any worse than South Park in terms of offensiveness, and that show has also never really suffered for viewers.

We would have had a better camera, but frankly we didn't really think we would win tickets. Note how frozen I look.

In addition to being hilarious, the cast was all excellent. I can see why both Andrew Rannells and Josh Gad were nominated for Tonys. Josh Gad is particularly funny and apparently a correspondant on the Daily Show. I haven't been watching the Daily Show much ever since I discovered Law & Order was streaming on Netflix, but I recognized him from the episode of Party Down where they cater the College Young Republicans meeting. He's the treasurer who gets a war torn flag as a gift for Arnold Shwarteneger. Which is really neither here nor there except that Party Down is also really great, and I hear they're making a movie.

The lotto dude always opens the lotto by saying "Hasa diga, everybody!" and then reminding people that the lucky winners will find out what that means (I've been to the lottery enough times to know every one of his jokes). Having seen the show, I now know as promised and can only say: well played, lotto dude.

I'm posting the photo below because it seemed to oddly tie into the theme of this post as this group looks very much the costuming of the dancing Mormons.

Practicing MJ's dance moves in the small side chamber of St. Marks Church

This was from a strange performance I did with the rest of the Thriller dancers (from the Halloween parade) at a church for a memorial service. If that sounds odd, that someone would want zombies dancing at a memorial, I thought so initially too. However, after hearing from her loved ones' remembrances and seeing a video of her learning the dance for her birthday a few years ago, it actually seemed really fitting. We're sorry she never got the chance to dance in the parade with us. It was nice to see everyone out of their flesh wounds though--we cleaned up very nice to look like a proper choir (we were in the program as the "Joyful Sounds Choir" because we were intended to be a surprise flash mob). All told it was a very surreal and moving experience (the latter not frequently associated with MJ), and I was glad to be a part of it.

Hope everyone is having a good Martin Luther King Day! I'm spending mine warm and indoors while Dinah sits vigil by her empty food bowl and occasionally sends me death stares. I don't think she realizes that keeping her at a healthy weight is actually harder on me than it is on her. I will say I feel a little guilty enjoying this yogurt in front of her.