Anastasia

One of my goals before the baby comes was to see a Broadway play. So, back in June Kevin and I decided to buy tickets to Anastasia. We decided to go July 8th since July 1st I was already planning to go to New York for the Mormon Arts Center Festival. (And, as you've read, that didn't end up working out. So it's good I didn't have any more back pain that week because I just don't think pretending to be on Broadway by watching the movie would have cut it. Nor would we have gotten a refund.)

When the day came, we dropped our kids off with some friends in the ward and then we were off to New York City! The last time we drove to New York was in the morning back in April, and this drive was a little bit crazier -- accidents from the get go, different freeways with bigger tolls since we were going to a different part of Manhattan, more pedestrians, etc. But we made it to our parking garage in one piece!

From there we walked to The Melt Shoppe, a fun little restaurant with gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. I got a fried chicken sandwich and Kevin got a chicken club, and they were both delicious. (In retrospect, I would have not bothered with the cheese covered tater tots.)

Because nothing is more appetizing than a picture of a half-eaten sandwich. I took the picture, so I have to share it. It's one of the unwritten laws of food pictures.

We needed to make room for the tacos we also wanted to try, so we walked around Times Square a bit. To be honest, this part of New York City reminded me of what I didn't like about Paris -- trash on the ground, cigarette smoke, smells coming up from the ground. And it didn't have the absolutely beautiful buildings that redeemed Paris. But it was still cool and a bit exhilarating to be there.

The walls of M&Ms looked really cool, but at the end of the day they are all going to taste the same on the inside.

And M&Ms really aren't that good.

After we had our fill of Times Square, we walked to a taco place and got a few small tacos which were also delicious. From there we went to a cookie shop. They were all awesome!

I'm assuming people usually take pictures before they eat half the food. At least the teeth marks aren't visible, right? By the way, these really were really really really good.

We then patronized a McDonalds, or at least its bathroom (McDonalds shouldn't be surprised by that, right?) and much of the city had the same idea as us so that by the time we finally made it through the line it was time to get in line for Anastasia.

38 weeks pregnant. It's not the biggest bump in the universe, but it's still getting to be a bit to lug around every day.

Growing up, our copy of Anastasia was a self-important VHS with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to show that it belonged somewhere better than a normal TV. (We weren't used to widescreen.) It also started with a long interview with the producers and directors that was harder to skip than it would have been on a DVD. Each time we watched that special feature, I learned more and more about how this truly was the most important movie of the 20th century.

Most importantly, there was this line:

"Obviously, in the world of animation, you basically can do whatever your imagination tells you to. So obviously having Russian ghosts, hundreds of them, coming out of portraits in this wild dance while we hear this orchestra, obviously not see that in a stage show."

The gauntlet was thrown. Would we see that in a stage show? I had to find out.

We found our seats and soon found ourselves surrounded on all sides by giddy teenage girls taking selfies and giggling. And singing "Tomorrow." (Maybe they thought the show was called Annie-stasia.)

I think every single one of those seats behind us was filled with a young woman under the age of 20.

Waiting for it to start!

And then . . . it began!

Overall, it was really well done. The singing was amazing, the story was good, and the set was incredible.

And what of the ghost dancing scene? Well, they had screens throughout the theater where they projected images of the ghosts dancing in addition to dancers on the stage. So I guess they weren't technically coming out of portraits, but it was close enough. It was awesome.

There were a few things I preferred about the movie. I thought the banter between Anya and Dmitri was better in the movie, and I liked the scene where the grandma and Anastasia reunite better in the movie than the play. There were a few things that they alluded to rather than showed (such as Dmitri refusing the money) that weren't as impactful. But maybe they would have interrupted the flow if they had been shown outright. Hard to say . . . telling a story is hard! I was fine without decomposing Rasputin, and I think the villain that replaced him was almost compelling enough. Again, I'm not sure what would have made him more compelling. Or Anastasia more compelling, for that matter. Or the new songs more compelling. What makes a play compelling? What is it about Les Mis and Fiddler on the Roof that make them Kevin's favorites? What is it about Hamilton music that is so compelling even with Lin Manuel Miranda singing it? Can that translate over to a completely historically inaccurate story? (They did add more historical context to this, which I appreciated.)

Anyway, despite my later quibbles, it was still incredible to watch. When it was done we walked through Times Square which had only gotten weirder and more crowded as it approached midnight. For that matter, driving in New York around midnight was not any better, even on the freeways. Thankfully, we crossed into Connecticut and enjoyed a peaceful ride home there on out.

So, now the baby can come any time now, right?