"..these are a few of my favorite things..."

("My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music).

Tonight, I'm going to see Avenue Q. I'm going with The BFF, her mom, and her "little" sister to celebrate said sister's 19th birthday. (You probably don't read this, but "Happy Birthday, Puddy!")

I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am to go to the theater...I'm a huge music/musicals buff, and I have been lucky enough to see several in my lifetime. I was in choir from 6th grade through high school, and was in my high school show choir. (If you don't know what that is, it's a mixed choir that performs a 20-minute program of songs and dance. It's very athletic. And challenging. And uber fun.) And, a bonus to that was that they took us to the theater when ever they could.

I'm also lucky enough to have a BFF who loves musicals just as much as I do. Probably half the shows I've seen, have been with her. Thanks, Sammy Sue!

You know how people make those 101 in 1001 lists? I'm pretty sure I'm not patient enough to come up with 101 things I want to accomplish, but I can (and will) rattle off a long list of musicals I am determined to see before I die.

First, what I have been fortunate enough to see:

• Avenue Q (as of tonight)
• Chicago (a long time ago, before the movie, and when BeBe Neuwirth played Velma Kelly. Awesome!)
• Grease (a college performance)
• Jesus Christ Superstar (I took my mommy on a girl date. Sebastian Bach was a very screamy Christ.)
• Les Miserables (amazing!)
• The Lion King (I took The Hubs to see his first musical. He liked it, but I didn't realize that he had never even seen the Disney version of The Lion King...who hasn't seen that?!?!)
• Miss Saigon
• The Most Happy Fella (another college performance)
• My Fair Lady (with The BFF and Puddy)
• Oklahoma (one of my favorites!)
• Show Boat
• South Pacific (with Robert Goulet...oooh! LOL)
• Ragtime

Now, the shows that I should have seen, but somehow got thwarted. It is because of these experiences that I now refuse to buy tickets to a show more than a month in advance:

• Phantom of the Opera - I had 9th row, center tickets, and it just so happened to coincide with the year's biggest snowstorm. It took me over 3 hours to get home that night, and they did not cancel the show.
• Wicked - The BFF and I had tickets, and then I ended up having to have my gallbladder removed two days before the show.

And, the wish list:

• Fiddler on the Roof* - I have never seen it, or the movie, and I'm absolutely dying to!
• 42nd Street*
• Aida
• Annie
• Annie Get Your Gun
• Anything Goes
• Beauty and the Beast*
• Cabaret
• Camelot
• Carousel
• A Chorus Line
• Grey Gardens - sidenote: I have got to find a way to see the Drew Barrymore version that's coming out on HBO!
• Guys and Dolls*
• Hello, Dolly!
• How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
• Into The Woods
• The King and I
• Kiss Me, Kate
• Legally Blonde*
• Mama Mia*
• Mary Poppins
• Les Miserables (again)
• Movin' Out
• The Music Man*
• Oklahoma (again)
• Phantom of the Opera* (Damn you, Mother Nature!)
• Rent
• Seussical the Musical
• Spamalot*
• Sweeney Todd
• West Side Story*
• Wicked* (Damn you, gallbladder!)
• Xanadu

(*shows I have promised myself I will buy tickets to next time they are available)

Anyway, tonight is sure to be a difficult night with the eating/exercising. We're eating at Cadillac Ranch downtown, and they don't have a full menu OR nutritional information on their website. So freaking annoying!!! And, of course, the show starts at 8pm, so who knows what time I'm getting home. There will definitely not be any 5k's tonight, but that's perfectly fine with me. I get to go hang out with some raunchy puppets instead!