Weekend Wrap-Up

Haven't done one of these in a long while!

Today the girls start school. Riley will be in a mixed 3rd/4th grade class, but it could have been a lot worse. There are only 4 third graders in her class, so I think it won't be that bad for her (although I feel bad for those third graders) and it could've been worse; I noticed that one of the classes had 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders all in one class!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The girls actually haven't started yet - they got up early and now we have a little time.

On Friday night, the girls and Nancy and I went to see Legally Blonde the Musical at the Pantages. We had a blast!

The tour started off a little disappointing, especially if you've seen the Broadway production or the MTV showing of the Broadway production as we had. The original had an elaborate set for the Delta Nu house, and to say they scaled it back for the tour is putting it mildly! Still, the cast exuded the high energy that a show like this requires. (I think it helped that we saw it on Opening Night. They had a red carpet in front of the theatre for some of the more notable arrivals.)

Becky Gulsvig as Elle was charming, funny, strong, and amazing! I got a tad teary-eyed as she took her curtain call - there's just something about seeing a woman get the final bow in a musical that brings me goosebumps.

The rest of the cast was also excellent, and I loved Natalie Joy Johnson's take on Paulette. The only exception was Professor Callahan: he missed some of the subtle nuances and played the character as a straight villain, which is less interesting. Jeff McLean as Warner, however, balanced his charm more evenly so that Elle's obsession with him made more sense.

As one of the featured sorority sisters, Rhiannon Hansen from MTV's reality competition for the lead role in Legally Blonde surprised me with talent that just had not come across on the TV show. I never really believed her as a possible Elle, but in her touring role, she shines.

The show is a great night out; totally fun, great talent, and with just enough empowering messages to balance out the frivolity.

After the show, we went to the stage door, and Sylvia got all of the cast member's autographs. She helped us all by asking each actor who they played :) and was totally stunned speechless when Gulsvig broke the news that she'd played Elle. It was pretty cute.

On Saturday, the girls went horseback riding with the Club and I got to go grocery shopping, do the laundry and some other stuff around the house in blessed solitude :)
We finished our back to school shopping on Sunday, and the girls were too cute getting their backpacks ready yesterday. I love that they're so excited to start 4th and 7th grades!

And now, I should get them to their classes.