Should I feel exhausted?

[fancycwabs]

I'm friendslocking posts for a while, until my creepy horticulturist neighbor either identifies himself or decides that the state of my lawn is none of his concern, and is likely to get some really interesting seeds in his yard.

Yesterday I worked half a day and then headed to Nashville to catch The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, which isn't coming to Memphis. All Shook Up, a dismal failure on Broadway as I recall, ran this week. The three-hour drive took four and a half hours, largely because other persons on the road couldn't manage to avoid hitting one another or flipping their flatbed trucks loaded with cotton bales into a ditch, but we still had plenty of time to make it to Music City (huh?) and grab a bite to drink before the show.

Not being ones to take offered advice on things like not signing up to participate your first time seeing the show, both Mrs. Cwabs and I volunteered, but weren't selected, which is probably just as well.

Some of the jokes were locallized for a Nashville audience and I missed them, but it's nice to see a touring company put forth the effort to have some fun at their destination's expense.

The music's not really that great, outside of a few numbers, and there's nothing that stands alone without the support of the play to back it up. For those who've seen it, I guess this is old news. For us, it's exciting to see how well they work together, with music highlighting the inner monologues of the characters. The show itself IS great.and I recommend it highly for anyone who's looking for something that you haven't already seen as a movie. Funny and poignant by turns, and really entertaining.

Maybe next time we'll be selected. And there definitely will be a next time, as it's a show with enough room for improvisation to be different every time and enough quality that it wouldn't matter if it was.

Afterwards we went out and had some beverages with some other friend from Memphis who'd also made the trip (we didn't find out they were coming until Friday), and drove back to the seedy hotel to crash for one fewer hour than we'd normally get. Drove back to Memphis this morning, and I'm back at work right now.

Sigh. I need a vacation.

Also, Yazoo ESB is a really complex, delicious beer. Pity you can't find it in Memphis.

Comments

[piemancer]

What happened to your yard? Or is this more China code?

[fancycwabs.livejournal.com]

If you check the comments to my most recent car trouble post, you'll find that an anonymous neighbor used that venue to criticize my lawn-tending skills. Repeatedly.

[piemancer]

*boggle*
That's.... Yes, wingnutty and creepy!

[mschilepepper.livejournal.com]

What ... the fucking fuck? Did you take a peek at the other entries in that journal? Wowzers ...

[mosesandcompany.livejournal.com]

You didn't like the music? Man, I loved "Pandemonium" and "Magic Foot", but maybe that's just me. The vice principal's "use it in a sentence" examples were the best part, IMHO.

[fancycwabs.livejournal.com]

Oh, the music's okay. Pretty good, even. But in most musicals there's a moment when the whole thing gives me chills, or something hummable and immediately recognizable (even musicals I actively dislike have a hook or two in 'em). Most of the songs here shifted styles too often to fall into that category. "Magic Foot" and "Pandemonium" were exceptions to that, musically, but still don't stand too well outside that particular musical.

Compare to selections from Avenue Q, which were so catchy that I'd heard 'em ad nauseum prior to ever getting to see the show.

[bigbrownhound.livejournal.com]

I can send you some kudzu seeds. Your neighborhood NEEDS some kudzu.