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October 21, 2007

Giving our regards to Broadway - Lori's 46th birthday

Three months ago I happened to Google the musical 'Les Miserables' out of curiosity to see if it was going on tour again because I saw an ad online for it.  Lori and I have seen Les Miserables several times: five times for her and four times for me, if you include the NorthWest High School version we saw last winter at JCC.  You could say it's a family favorite, even our son and daughter love it and sometimes even sing the songs from it. 

When I looked it up I discovered it wasn't on tour, but it was indeed running again on Broadway.  A quick search showed that it was selling out every show, but that some new dates had just been released..... and my goodness, one of them was a matinee show on Sunday afternoon, October 21st, my lovely wife's 46th birthday. 

Thinking this would be really cool as a birthday present I started the process of buying the tickets online and when I got to that step where you have to hit the big button SUBMIT it dawned on my that I had better check on Lori's wishes before committing us.

In years gone by, I was a master at surprising my wife on her birthday.  I was the Michelangelo of misdirection and connivance when it came to having a party for her when she had become totally convinced that I'd been too busy, or had forgotten her birthday.  Sometimes she was actually quite upset with me moments before she went to use the bathroom and I was flagging birthday guests in through the back door to yell "SURPRISE" when she came out.  This time I actually think I set a new standard in surprising her, especially since I hadn't done this in a long time.... too long a time.

I called Lori up at work and asked her if she would like to see Les Miserables for her birthday.  She said that would be great, so I told her to reserve Sunday, October 21st for her birthday present.  I committed on the tickets, getting great seats in the center of the stage and only five rows back.  Then I lined up airline tickets, getting a schedule that got us to New York City in the morning with plenty of time for walking around and getting into the hotel before the 3 PM show.

After everything was set up I wrote her and said, make sure you can get Monday off work too, I've got the airline reservations, the show tickets, and all I need to do is find a hotel close to Broadway and we are set.  That was the part that really made her blink.  Yes Lori, happy birthday, it's Les Miserables on Broadway.

So on Sunday, October 21st, Lori's birthday, we flew to New York City.  We got a great location on a hotel, just a block off Broadway and just two blocks from the theatre, and we walked around Times Square. 

I think this face says it all.  Lori had a great birthday. 

With everything else going on at home, waiting for the results of Logan's biopsy, too many things going on at work for her and for me, whatever, Lori had a great day.  

 

We had lunch at the Hard Rock.  Made reservations for a nice dinner at a sushi restaurant on 48th Street, walked around a lot, then headed to the Paramount Hotel on 46th Street and changed for the show. 

It was the most amazing performance of Les Miserables we had ever seen.  The cast was incredible.  Fantine was played by Lea Salonga who won a Tony award in 1991 for her lead in Miss Saigon. She was amazing. It was also her last performance of the part, and she really went all out to end her stint with the Broadway cast of Les Miserables with a grand finale.

Jean Valjean, played by Alexander Gemignani, was superb.  He portrayed the part with such emotion and masterful vocals that I was brought to tears by the beauty and sadness of his life.  Eponine, played by Celia Keenan-Bolger (a Tony nominee), was no less masterful in her performance.  It was the definitive performance of this awesome and uplifting story.  

   Our sushi was great, we even had some excellent sake.  We walked around Times Square in the evening and finally collapsed into bed utterly exhausted from the long day.

The next morning we walked over a couple blocks to get coffee, and then we walked all over the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  We got bagels at H&H Bagel, walked through Central Park and had a hot dog, and then we rode the subway to Queens and walked a couple miles up Steinway to Astoria where we caught a cab back to La Guardia.  The weather was perfect.  It was a great birthday for my wonderful wife, and I felt privileged to be able to make it possible for her.  One old guy we met that morning told me, "You know, you make the rest of us guys look bad."  Well guys, I guess it's your turn then.  Do something special for her and raise the bar a bit.  It's a win win kind of competition you know.