Logic and Luck

Intermission for Henry IV, pt 2. I snuck a sneaky picture. And an usher yelled at me... Whoops!

I live in this amazing city. This city that houses some of the premier theaters in the world. With some of the best actors performing on those stages eight shows a week. And I have seen precious few of these productions. Well, that all changed in the last week. With a little luck (getting last-minute standby tickets to Richard II, and winning the ticket lottery for Long Day's Journey into Night), and foresight (impulse buying tickets Sunday night to Pericles and The Crucible), I have now seen six shows in the last seven days!

I have had the pleasure of seeing David Tennant, Antony Sher, Jessica Lange, Gabriel Byrne, Michael Shannon, John Gallagher Jr, Ben Whishaw, Saoirse Ronan, Sophie Okonedo, Ciaran Hinds, and Christian Camargo acting live in front of me. All within a week. Guys, THIS CITY! Between Wednesday and yesterday I saw nearly TEN HOURS of theatre. And from Friday to Sunday, I spent eleven hours at BAM alone. And I've crossed two more Shakespeare shows off my canon list. I am in AWE of the theatrical opportunities present in my city.

I'm not saying everything was life changing or mind blowing (though some of it was), but the sheer volume of plays to see and talent to see IN the plays, astounds me. I mean those shows don't even touch the SURFACE of what is available out to there. It's completely ridiculous! In the best possible way...

Anyway, now that I've started, I have no desire to stop. I'm going to keep seeing amazing theater as much as possible! And not even mind if it breaks the bank (to a certain degree). What I'm earning in culture more than makes up for the monetary cost. I have no regrets about the theatre I've seen in the last week. Even though it wasn't particularly cheap (I mean, it wasn't expensive, either. I've just had to adjust my thought process on what I'm willing to pay for theater. Anything less than $100 is a good deal. And anything less than $30 is a phenomenal deal), it's still completely worth it! I spent less than $150 on the three shows I saw this week. In the Seattle days, that'd be insane, but here, it works somehow. And it's incredible to see these performances that people will be talking about and referencing for years to come. Yes. Winning.