The Follies - Waiting for the Encore

The treat bowl after both girls had filled their purses.

The notebook contains notes to help me ask questions
about the songs and the performers.

We had done everything to get ready for the Follies.

I had done the trip to Dollarama to pick up the treats (white chocolate and plenty of lollipops for Rhiannon).

Mary had purchased flavoured popcorn at work – a fund-raiser, but now it was doing double duty and was on its way with us to the show. 

Mary had popped some kernels at home as well, “I hate that Cineplex popcorn.”  Good to make everyone happy.

I studied the reviews of the show, making up question for the girls to answer: $1 for every correct answer (or any try) up to $10.

When they came home from school, I told the girls the questions and the answers, telling them that when they saw an example of what we had talked about, they should poke their mother and that would be enough to answer the question. For example, if you see the crumbling brick walls of the set, or the castaway props, or the faded red velvet chairs, or even if you know the names of the characters in the show, then you are on your way to making money.

We arrived just in time to get settled in our seats. The theatre was already full so our seats were in the second row from the front. I pulled out the clip in my hair for I had to slip way down in the chair, lean my head against the back of it and then find a place in my progressive tri-focals where I could get a clear image of the screen.

So far, so good.

I settled in to hear an interview with the artistic director of the show, then another with Stephen Sondheim, and then the show began. Having watched a 1987 production on youtube, I found myself comparing that production with this new one – up to the point when we lost the video on the screen, only to get it back without the audio.  This was the beginning of the slippery slope.

By the time we left the show, there were only a handful of people in the theatre still listening to at least the musical score. For us it just wasn’t working without the vocals. Now we have to go back for the Encore, January 20th, 2018.

Still, I was happy walking out of the theatre and down the steps to the car.  I noticed that I was humming and singing clips, like "Hey, up there".  The music so Sondheim.  Probably the interview with him before the show started was worth the price of the ticket, which in the end was refunded to me.

In the meantime, on the way home, we still answered questions about the show so that the girls could earn their money.

And we began to prepare for the Bolshoi Taming of the Shrew ballet which is on Sunday.

As well, we made a small stop at the Golden Arches.

All’s well that ends well.

The view of the kitchen floor as we walked in from the theatre.

The worst part of the evening was walking back in the door and seeing that the dog had spent the night getting into the garbage and licking every last piece of tin foil, plastic wrap and foam carton in there.

 “No, Arta, you can’t help clean it up. It is my dog,” said Mary.

It was me who left the garbage open, but at this time of night, who is going to argue.

Arta