More Than A Little Addictive

Last weekend, my amazing hubby took me to Denver for the weekend to celebrate my 28th birthday -- wow, 10 years ago, I became eligible to vote!

The ENTIRE weekend was amazing and reminded me of trips my parents and I used to do to big cities like Chicago and New York.  Although the activities varied, the schedule was the same: in the morning we'd do sight-seeing events, tours, shopping, etc.; we'd return to the hotel in the afternoon for a nap and to freshen up; then we'd get all dressed up for a fancy dinner, theater production or other activity in the evening -- What great times!

Last weekend one of our fancy evening activities was BRING IT ON: The Musical.

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My hubby had given me a couple of options for our Saturday evening plans and I had expressed to him how much I wanted to go see this Broadway Tour.  Now, let me clarify, I did not know any of the music from this musical, nor had I heard from a friend that it was a "must see", and I certainly was not trying to relive memories of Competitive Cheerleading Glory (there are no such memories for me)... rather, it has been years since I've seen a Broadway calibre musical production.

As a child, I had a great love for musicals of all kinds... and once I saw one, I would promptly memorize all the music I had just heard and proceed to sing the songs around the house until my parents took me to a new musical, the songs from which would take the place of the old one.  I could never remember all of the live shows and musicals I saw during the fifteen years of my ages 7-22, but off the top of my head, they include the following:

• Annie
• Annie Warbucks (the sequel to Annie)
• Fiddler On The Roof
• Evita
• Harvey
• South Pacific
• Chess
• Wizard of Oz
• West Side Story
• Cinderella
• Little Shop of Horrors
• Oklahoma
• Annie Get Your Gun
• Anything Goes
• Damn Yankees
• Secret Garden
• Miss Saigon
• Madame Butterfly
• La Traviata
• Fidelio
• Grease
• Hello Dolly!
• Man of La Mancha
• Hair
• Pirates of Penzance
• The Music Man
• Oliver!
• Stomp
• The King and I
• State Fair
• Guys and Dolls
• Once On this Island
• Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat
•  Jesus Christ Superstar  

  The following shows, I have seen on Broadway or performed by Broadway touring groups (AKA, I've seen AMAZING productions of the following shows):  

• Ragtime
• The Sound of Music
• Lion King
• Beauty and the Beast
• Phantom of the Opera
• Annie Get Your Gun
• Spamalot
•  WICKED

Since I left Nashville (which is coming up on three years ago), the live musicals I have seen are limited to community theater and the local high schools.  These productions are great, and I love seeing amateur performers enjoy their hobby on stage and I really appreciate their effort, passion and dedication... but those musicals are NOTHING compared to a Broadway calibre show.

So, I told Chris that I would prefer to see BRING IT ON: The Musical.  He was ANYTHING but thrilled about watching an evening of singing, dancing and, of all things, cheerleading (he had never even seen the original BRING IT ON movie), but he was a great sport and it was my birthday, so he decided to grin and bear it.

Broadway musicals are phenomenal!  Broadway musicals are so phenomenal, in fact, that I have a strong theory that it doesn't matter WHAT a musical is about (with the exception of something offensive or profane), anyone will love any Broadway musical.  The singing, the dancing, the characters, the choreography... the plot is really secondary to the SPECTACLE and TALENT of a Broadway musical.

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All that to say, Chris had an absolute BLAST and he was completely BLOWN AWAY by the production.  He has been recommending it to basically everyone who has asked about our weekend.  Again, a story about Competitive Cheerleading -- not worth recommending... the Broadway Tour of BRING IT ON: The Musical -- TOTALLY WORTH SEEING!

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In the case of BRING IT ON: The Musical, not only was the music, dancing and acrobatics UNBELIEVABLE, but the genre of the show is a musical comedy and it was hysterical!  It was the most modern musical I've ever seen with screens creating digital scene changes instead of old fashioned backdrops, and with jokes about facebook, twitter and youtube.  (It was also awesome that the female star is a University of Michigan student!)

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I've always known I've loved musicals... what I didn't know is that my seeing a Broadway Musical for the first time in six years would be like an addict taking their first hit of something in six years -- I NEED MORE!!!!  I LOVE professional musicals and Denver has quite a few coming through in 2012 including but not limited to:

• I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change 
• Beauty and the Beast 
• WICKED 
• The Adams Family 
• The Book of Mormon 
• Jersey Boys 
• Memphis 
• Ring of Fire: The Music of Johnny Cash

I want to see SOOO MANY!  Of all of them, however, I REALLY want to take Chris to Beauty and the Beast and WICKED -- both of which I've seen, and both of which, I firmly believe, I could never see too many times (especially WICKED!)!

So, what's all the fuss about?
Check out this preview, and then go see for yourself: