You'll Never Let Anyone Steal Your Rock and Roll

I am so beyond excited.  Tonight, I am going to see the national touring company of the 2010 Tony Award winner for Best Musical, the critically acclaimed Memphis.  Though I hadn't really heard of the show prior to the 2010 Tony Awards, I really enjoyed the company's performance and was really intrigued by the show when it ended up winning the most coveted award of the evening.  I have wanted to see the show ever since that night.

The Poster!!

When I was in high school, our chorus program took trips to New York City every year to see a Broadway show.  My freshman year, they saw A Chorus Line (I didn't go).  My sophomore year, we were going to see Les Miserables (I am so psyched for the movie release!), but due to the infamous stagehand strike, we saw instead the Radio City Music Hall Holiday Spectacular, featuring the Rockettes.  That was fine, but since I had never seen a Broadway show and Les Mis was to be my first, I was pretty disappointed.  The year after, I was recovering from a horrible bout with pneumonia and couldn't see The Phantom of the Opera with the rest of the department (though, funnily enough, everyone came back telling me that the girl who played Meg Giry could have been my twin).  My senior year, we saw the amazing bilingual revival of West Side Story, which I really enjoyed.  I know if I had seen the other shows, I would have really enjoyed them as well.

A bunch of "classic" shows... with a few newer ones too :)

But do you see the trend?  We only saw "old" shows during my time in high school.  Sure, they are all fantastic classics... but I still wish we were given the opportunity to see the new-cutting edge shows popping up all over Broadway.  For instance, my senior year, I was dying to see the rock-opera Next to Normal.  I graduated from high school in 2010, and of course, the following year, the chorus department goes to see none other but Memphis, which not only was new, but the Tony winning show of the year.  I'll admit I was a little bitter and a lot jealous of my younger peers.  (That jealousy grew slightly this past year, when the department, which now includes my sister, got to see Sister Act). That January, my boyfriend and I went to New York for a day and got student rush tickets to see American Idiot on Broadway with Billy Joe Armstrong!  As exciting as that was, I remember staring wistfully at the adjacent theater where Memphis was playing, wishing that I could get a chance to see it, for the line for tickets stretched around the corner and the theater's marquee glittered with the show's acclaim.

When I went to New York to try out for Season 2 of The Glee Project this year, I, of course, asked my mom if she would mind taking me to see it, but to no avail.  However, all of that is now in the past because tonight is the night!  I am so excited to see the show and re-watching and re-listening to the Broadway company's Tony performance is getting me super pumped.

I'll let you know how the show goes... I'm sure it will be incredible!! :)

Love, Leaza