Jessica and I were talking about the West End and I mentioned some of the "big" shows I've already seen (Wicked, Avenue Q, Phantom of the Opera, Chicago, Lion King, Les Miserables), and she intimated that I was only interested in musicals. For some reason, that kind of stung, so I pulled up my 'Google calendar' to see what else I did last year, and I was quite amazed. It only goes back to mid-August, but here's what I did in just over four months:
| Aug 22 | Dave Brubeck @ Hollywood Bowl (concert, with Madeleine Peyroux) |
| Aug 23 | Kronos @ Cal Plaza Watercourt (concert, walked out on this one) |
| Aug 24 | Big Bad Voodoo Daddy @ Hollywood Bowl (concert) |
| Aug 29 | Nancy Wilson @ Hollywood Bowl (concert, with Regina Carter) |
| Sep 12 | Paper Moon @ Egyptian (film) |
| Sep 13 | Downtown Artwalk (art) |
| Sep 15 | Beautiful Morning at Egyptian Arena (play) |
| Sep 21 | Jungle Book @ El Capitan Theater (film) Musical improv @ National Comedy Theater (comedy) |
| Sep 22 | CPR training @ YMCA "Slow motion dancing" exhibit @ Music Center (stupid) |
| Sep 23 | LA Fair It's Just Sex @ Zephyr Theatre (play) |
| Sep 27 | Junk: A Rock Opera @ Lyric Theatre (musical) |
| Sep 28 | Downtown Comedy Club semi-finals (comedy) |
| Sep 30 | Grand Avenue Festival Avenue Q @ Ahmanson Theatre (musical) |
| Oct 5 | Kimberly Akimbo @ Victory Theatre Center (play) |
| Oct 11 | Downtown Artwalk (art) |
| Oct 13 | Genesis @ Hollywood Bowl (concert) |
| Oct 18 | Eagles @ Nokia Theatre (concert) |
| Oct 20 | Weird Al Yankovic @ Greek Theatre (concert) |
| Oct 21 | Third @ Geffen Playhouse (play) |
| Oct 23 | Cartoon dump @ Steve Allen Theater (don't ask) |
| Oct 24 | Limonade Tous les Jours @ Hudson Mainstage (play, walked out on this one) |
| Oct 26 | Gulliver's Travels @ Ivy substation (play) |
| Oct 27 | Corteo (Cirque du Soleil) |
| Oct 28 | Pumpkin party |
| Oct 31 | 'Twas the Nightmare before Christmas in 3D @ El Capitan (film) |
| Nov 3-4 | Sacramento |
| Nov 7 | Blade Runner @ Landmark Theater (film) |
| Nov 8 | Downtown Artwalk (art) |
| Nov 9 | Loudon Wainwright at El Rey Theatre (concert) |
| Nov 11 | Pajama Game @ Carpenter Center (musical) |
| Nov 18 | History Boys @ Ahmanson Theatre (play) |
| Nov 21-25 | Sacramento (Thanksgiving, Mom's surgery) |
| Nov 27 | Cartoon Dump @ Steve Allen Theatre (Loved that program) |
| Nov 30-Dec 2 | Sacramento |
| Dec 2 | Tom Paxton @ McCabe's (concert) |
| Dec 5 | Ask a Ninja Live @ El Rey (don't ask) |
| Dec 7 | Hair @ MET Theatre (musical) |
| Dec 8 | Beethoven Piano Concerto No 4 @ Walt Disney Concert Hall (concert) |
| Dec 14 | Chicago @ Hudson Backstage (musical) |
| Dec 16 | DWP Festival of Lights @ Griffith Park |
| Dec 20 | Ray Charles Live! @ Pasadena Playhouse (musical) |
| Dec 27-29 | Sacramento |
| Dec 30 | Color Purple @ Ahmanson Theatre (musical) |
| Jan 1, 2008 | Rose Parade |
Throw in yoga classes and tennis lessons, and you can see it was quite a busy year, but there were still a ton of things I would have liked to do: McCabe's and the Aero Theater were too far; the Cerritos Center wasn't convenient; the Arclight/Cinerama Dome was too expensive; I only went to the beach a couple of times; Max Vontaine was doing Sinatra every Thursday at Cicada, but I didn't see him until my last week; and I only saw Bob Baker's marionnettes once. I did make the museum circuit -- Museum of Contemporary Art, LA County Museum of Art, Natural History Museum, California Science Museum, Geffen Contemporary, and Norton Simon -- but I didn't get back to Huntington Gardens or Descanso Gardens. I saw the Perseids but not the Geminids or Leonids. I bought tickets for, but couldn't attend, James Galway and Celtic Woman, and I booked a trip to the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta, but had to cancel last-minute. I never went to the Staples Center or Dodger Stadium, and I missed the Star Trek tour and the Star Wars convention, though that was more by choice.
So of 42 events, I saw 7 plays and 7 musicals--I think that's a respectable percentage. It was just the musicals had any name value.
On a completely different note, this made me think about some things I miss in LA: The Cal Plaza Watercourt; the downtown art walk; the Lotus festival and Tofu festival; tacos de papas, chile relleno burritos, and eggplant gyros; the Drunken Goat at Mendocino Farms (it's a sandwich); watching old films at the old cinemas; and seeing “CSI: New York” being filmed outside my apartment. (Plus, of course, the weather and my friends, but that goes without saying.)
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