A Night at the Opera

OK, so we weren't exactly at the opera, but my friend Christine and I enjoyed a night at the theatre anyway. And yes, I spelled theatre in the hoighty-toighty way because we are just that special.

We cut out of work a bit early so we could get over to Appleton while it was still light out, park near the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, then grab dinner. We got a free meal at Victoria's, an awesome Italian restaurant nearby.

I'm not kidding about the free meal. We happened to run into one of her co-workers from their Appleton office. Didn't think any more of it. Enjoyed a great meal and even ordered dessert to go. Then our waitress came over and said our check was already taken care of. Say what? OK, mysterious benefactor, thank you! Turns out it was her co-worker, so not so much a mystery any more but still very much appreciated!

The show -- Les Miserables -- was another pleasant surprise.

Sitting way up on the 4th level -- front row -- I was not looking down, just concentrating on the stage and hoping for the best. It did not disappoint.

This is the 25th anniversary Broadway tour but my first time seeing Les Miz (as we say in the theatre crowd). It was quite different from anything I'd seen. For one, it was a lot of male voices. Totally the opposite of Wicked, that's for sure. Secondly, there were few if any spoken lines. Every thing was sung. So in that aspect, it sort of was like a night at the opera.

It's a serious story so I didn't expect any moments of levity. But there were a few and they were incredibly entertaining. Some of the time I wasn't sure what they were singing about, but we both got very caught up in the story and were bawling at the end. Good stuff.

And good to know Culture occasionally makes a pit stop in central Wisconsin.