Good Time - 7/29/07

FRIENDS, SOMETIMES IT'S ABOUT ME

Good Time

Posted on July 29, 2007

Yesterday I went to see a play at by a performing art group in Ringwood, NJ. It was stellar!!!

I met up with my friend Lori at a local diner for dinner.  It was so great to see her. We used to work together and spent a lot of time together before she left for another job. I haven’t seen her in 4 years and it was as if we saw each other yesterday. I was amazed at how easily we fell back into a total, complete comfortable, effortless conversation. We ate, talked, caught up on life and then we headed over to St. Catherines of Bologna to see a bunch of her friends performing the play Oliver.

We had front row seats (Lori volunteered to help with the play since she wasn’t performing this time) and I felt like we were part of the show. The acting was great, the singing unbelievable, the set amazing. I would totally go and see it again. Oliver was one of my favorite musicals as a kid which kind of scares me because I wasn’t a dark child but the story and the music is very dark.

I was amazed by the performance of the characters who play Nancy, Dodger, Mr. Sowerberry (who wasn’t used enough) but especially Fagin. Daniel Cappuccio was amazing. I thought he was better than Ron Moody who played Fagin in the movie back in 1968.  (I just notice that Roman Polanski made an Oliver in 2005 which I haven’t seen. I guess I will check that out of the library this week if they have it).  He made the charatcher extremely likable and you were able to understand why these orphans would do all of his dirty work.  In the movie Fagin was just creepy to me. This guy was like a sleezy Santa Clause and when he said, “my dears” you felt that he actually did care for these orphans. 

The hardest part about being in the front row was to not look the actors in the eyes as I mouthed each song. It was really hard not to sing out loud because I love the music and the lyrics.

After the play, we waited to see everyone that Lori knew. It was great to be introduced to all of these people and have something to say. Usually you get introduced to a stranger by a friend and you can offer up a “hi” before moving on to the next but I felt like I had something more to offer as I mentioned how much I loved their performance or a particular song or moment in the play.

I was really hoping to met Dan/Fagin and tell him how much I liked his performance. He was the last person to come out. I asked Lori to take our picture after telling him that he was better than the Fagin in the movie. The camera was giving her a bit of trouble and I felt bad that I was taking up his time. I said, sorry as we posed for what seemed like an uncomfortable amount of time but he said, this was the best compliment.

Lori and I headed out (to a beautiful, full, yellow moon) and I headed home after a discussion about going out for coffee or something. I am not used to being away from the kids for so long and after such a great time I was good to go.

I am so glad we got together and hope that we can get together again soon. Friends are so important and I hold my friendships close to my heart.

BTW…if you get a chance check out Oliver the Musical at St. Catherine of Bologna in Ringwood. It is worth the trip.