Snow White & Beauty and the Beast

Friday night, Aunt Jess came over to hang out with Brody while Jonathan and I went on a date.  I surprised him with tickets to the Fabulous Fox Theatre here in Atlanta.  Guess what was playing!

I know what you are thinking.  Why would Jonathan want to go and see Beauty and the Beast?  Well, a few months ago we were talking about what a great movie it was and how much we liked it as kids.  I liked it for the obvious girly reasons. Jonathan liked it because he thought it would be cool to be a beast.  :)  So, when I saw that the Fox was hosting this Broadway musical I just had to grab tickets for us.  Sure, any of my girlfriends would have jumped at the chance to go, but I thought this would be a memorable experience for the two of us.  It was memorable.  Just not the kind of memorable I expected. 

That night was actually my very first time out of the house all week since we were snowed/iced in all week.  The snow started last Sunday and turned to freezing ran through the night.  By Monday we had 5-6 inches of snow in our area and a solid layer of ice on the roads to hold us hostage over the next several days.   Brody was sick this past week so I didn't dare take him outside to play in the snow.  But, it wasn't just the snow holding me hostage. 

As we were pulling into our garage after church last Sunday, my car began to smoke.  The radiator had overheated.  We expected it any day, but we put off ordering a radiator because we weren't ready to fork over the money.  But, we realized we couldn't put off ordering it any longer.  Jonathan found one online for a good price and had it scheduled to ship to our house by Thursday.  But due to the winter storm and all the delays it caused, we are still waiting for its arrival.  So, even if I had wanted to be adventurous and explore the icy roads for a quick trip to the store, that was not an option.  To say that I was going stir-crazy would be an understatement. 

So when Friday rolled around, I was anxious to get a shower, fix my hair, and dress in something other than PJ's.  Jess came over early so that we could get a head start on traffic and have plenty of time to eat at a nice restaurant before the show.  Unfortunately, traffic was horrendous due to the few ice patches that remained and the accidents they caused.  But we didn't mind.  We were having fun talking and laughing and just being alone together for the first time in a long time.  We arrived at the Fox two hours later with only 35 minutes to spare so we grabbed Quiznos subs instead of a gourmet meal at the little Italian restaurant near the Fox.  Quite a downgrade, but I enjoyed it just the same.  Maybe because I was so hungry but probably because we had a good time talking and laughing (and waving to a little girl who we thought was waving to us, only to realize she was waving to the little girl behind us. Embarrassing!). 

Unfortunately, the show itself pretty much stunk.  They added tons of songs that weren't from the movie.  The dancing was boring (except in the Guston song which was the best part of the whole play.)  The props were non-impressive and repetitive.  They didn't do any cool illusions like previous plays I have seen (such as Mary Poppins who flew from the stage all the way to the top corner of the theatre).  When I glanced over at Jonathan, I could tell he felt the same way.  He was looking up at the "clouds" on the ceiling for a good portion of the second act.  I realized my surprise for him had turned into 2.5 hours of torture! 

Please excuse the poor picture quality.  This was taken with my old camera by a very young boy sitting next to us :)

Even though the play was two thumbs down, the night was two thumbs up for me.  I got out of the house, with my man, who held me tight from the parking lot to the theatre so that I wouldn't slip on the ice.  We talked. We laughed. We reconnected.  It was totally worth it and I would do it all again.  Well, who am I kidding?!  If I could do it all again I would buy us tickets to next week's Blue Man Group instead.  Oh well. Sorry, Jonathan! Thanks for making the best of it with me.  Blue Man Group is on me next time they are in town. :)