A Memorable Evening at the Theater

In the fall of 2006 I finally saw Mama Mia on Broadway, and what a memorable occassion it would turn out to be. It started out with a plan to fly to New York City by myself on Labor Day weekend. Once in New York, I was going to stay at the apartment of a colleague who was going out of town. Since this was to be my second trip to New York and I hadn't seen a Broadway show the first time, I decided to splurge and buy a ticket (Mimi Singleton, theater ticket for one) to Mama Mia. This would make up for my having never seen it when it came to San Francisco.

I was very excited about the trip and the theater ticket and when I mentioned to my mother that I was going by myself I could tell ... well, that she really wanted to go. Instead of getting all cobbled up over what my friend might think, I simply called her and asked if I could bring my mom with me. She generously said yes, so the next day I called the theater box-office back to change my ticket. I spoke to a big hearted lady who got a kick when I told her my mother hadn't seen or been to New York in 40 years, and I asked her if I could I exchange my prime seat somewhere up front for two. By the end of our conversation, she assured me it was all taken care of and that I still had good seats.

Several weeks later in September my mom and I boarded a plane together and flew to New York. The night of the performance, as I watched her ease back in her red velvet theater seat, my mind pleasantly drifted back to the conversation with the woman at the box-office; And, just when I thought it couldn't get any better, two musicians looked up and waved to us from the orchestra pit. As we sat in the jam packed theater, taking it all in, I squeezed my mom's hand and peered in the dark again at the talented young man we'd been privileged to be seated next to. It was none other than the young Lead Keyboardist/Conductor himself, and at the end of the performance that included a bonus rendition of Happy Birthday to lead actress, Carolee Carmello, my mom leaned over my lap, shook his hand and told him what a fine performance he'd given.