Git Yer Culture On

Last night, the MuppetLover and I saw Lion King on Broadway. We did not take a photograph of ourselves under the marquee because we are not tourists. Here is a photo from the production; I did not take this photo, because that is prohbited. So instead I cribbed it from the Disney Website.

The tickets were a very unexpected Christmas present from LittleBrother. Now, if I had to pick one show to see on Broadway, it would not have been the Lion King, although I did have an interest in seeing it. So I guess in that way it was a perfect gift, because I wouldn't have sprung for the tickets myself. This was the most toursity thing I'd done in a long time and MuppetLover and I were thronged by tourists, giving me a mild anxiety attack. There were bridge and tunnel tourists, greater American tourists and international tourists. "Do you hear that?" I asked MuppetLover before the curtain went up.

"What?"

"The people behind us are speaking German." MuppetLover gave me the 'gosh, isn't that swell' look. I did not start a conversation with these people, because I have a modicum of dignity but everytime I see a German tourist it takes a lot of restraint to keep from walking up and saying, "Hi, welcome to America. My name is Nancy. Can I help you find anything? Is there anything you find confusing? I can help. Because I speak German. Yes, an American who speaks German, you're shocked. Now, marvel at me!".

Anyway, the show is very visually stimulating and truly like nothing I'd ever seen before. I would prefer if it had been performed as a ballet because at this point, I really don't need the plot of the Lion King spelled out for me and I was much more interested in the costumes, puppetry and dance. The child actors in the company were really amazing as well. Great dancers and not so cutesy. I felt a little uncomfortable watching the Disnification of African culture and sad that for most people, this would be as close as they ever came to watching an African dance or musical concert. But then MuppetLover pointed out how many black families were in the audience and said that if this is something people wanted to celebrate and share with their children, then it was probably a positive thing.

In other news, my friend Bessie is performing in a dance piece this weekend. It is called Scenes From a Wedding and is being performed at some place called The Chocolate Factory, which is probably not a working chocolate factory, otherwise I would have been there the first weekend I moved to town. The rub is that this performance is taking place in Queens. Long Island City to be exact. However, I hear it's only one stop from Grand Central on the 7 Train. The what? Yes, apparently there is a train called the 7 Train. Perhaps now I shall point out that I have never actually been to Queens, well, that one time when I was moving to New York and I was driving a rented minivan with all of my earthly possesions and LittleBrother was riding shotgun. We were supposed to be on the Upper West Side. I first noticed something was wrong when we passed Shea Stadium. LittleBrother was not amused. Anywho, the point is, who wants to come see this dance thing with me? I can go Friday or Saturday night, but Friday might be better, since I'll already be about 10 minutes from Grand Central. It will be great. Please don't make me go to Queens alone.