The theatre lights dimmed, the orchestra began, applause exploded, the curtain opened, and Rosie O'Donnell appeared. It was surreal. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, one in which only 500 or so people participated, and I was one of those people.

Just two days earlier, I received notice, by email, that I had won two tickets to see ROSIE Live. It was only a matter of hours before my wonderful husband had figured out a way for us all to go, so that we could be together on Thanksgiving (even if it was only to drive home that day!). He found us an inexpensive hotel on the New Jersey side of the Hudson, half-price tickets to take the boys to see Hairspray, and several places along I-95 to get cheap gas.

I had two tickets to see the show, but no one under 18 was admitted (so I couldn't take one boy and leave the other with Rich) and we didn't have anywhere to leave the boys in NYC, so I couldn't take Rich either. I emailed my friend Mike to see if he would like to go with me. When he didn't get back to me, I Im'ed my friend Kelly, a RoBlogger, but she was heading out of town to spend Thanksgiving with her family. Kelly told me about another RoBlogger, Deb whom she thought would LOVE to go to the show. After reading Deb's blog, and seeing that we were like-minded in many ways, I left a comment on her blog to contact me. Then Mike emailed me back. What a quandry! I talked with Kelly, who also hadn't heard from Deb and thought maybe she was out of town. So I emailed Mike back, we exchanged cell phone numbers and made plans to meet at the theatre at 6pm on Wednesday.

The drive to NYC was fairly uneventful. We left around 1am on Wednesday morning and arrived at the hotel just after noon. Rich took the boys to the pool while I rested and then I got ready and headed into the city, while they rested.

I arrived at the theatre around 5pm and the will-call line was already forming. I had a quick bite at Papaya Dog and got in line, followed shortly by fellow blogger Doris and her daughter. It is always fun to talk to other fans at these events and they were no exception. There was a darling young intern Kelly, who was so friendly and helpful. She made everyone feel very welcome.

Eventually, we got our tickets and I headed over to meet Mike at 6pm. After a quick catch up on the year since we met, we headed back to the theatre and after a short wait, were admitted to the lobby.

By about 6:30pm, we were in our seats. All the bloggers were in one section, so we all had a chance to chat. I recognized quite a few from the book signing. I also saw Deb, and found out later that she also won tickets. We did a lot of people-watching as the "important" folks took their seats. We saw Ro's wife Kelli, their children Parker, Chelsea, Blake, Vivi, and nanny Geraldine (as well as several of Geraldine's sisters from Ireland). We also noticed Ro's bff Jackie, columnist Liz Smith, Cynthia McFadden, Georgette Mosbacher, Sharon Gless, producer Janette Barber, and publicist Cyndi Berger. Then Julie Halston (whom we referred to as "Martini Lady" because we could not remember her name and she looked like the kind of woman who would have a martini after work), came out into the audience and spoke with us. She was gathering information for her audience warm-up. She was so charming and ebullient, I knew she would be fun to watch.

On the way back from a quick trip to the bathroom, Joe Dziemainowicz of the New York Daily News interviewed me for about twenty minutes! Sadly, I was not mentioned in his VERY short article.

At last, Julie came out and started talking to the audience. We had to practice applause, and laughter - which in itself, I found to be hilarious. She was very funny and I enjoyed her banter. At one point, I guess I was laughing loudly enough that she recognized it was me and said, "That's South Carolina, I love you, South Carolina!"

Then the show began. It really was phenomenal. Ro came out and did a short monologue (including a bit about spanx being a onesie for plus size 40-somethings!) and then Liza Minnelli appeared. It was overwhelming to see them doing the "big splashy opening number" together.

At the commercial break, a George-Burns-as-god like voice came over the PA system to tell Ro that she was already a little heavy. (This is a term used when a live-show is going over its planned timing.) Ro jokingly responded that she thought they had decided no one was going to discuss such things in a public forum, as if the producer was talking about her weight. They had a short discussion about how they would compensate for the time and then we were back LIVE in five-four-"applause"-three-two...

I won't give a blow-by-blow of the actual performances, since, if you wanted to know about the show, you would have watched it. However, the list of stars who appeared was very long: Alec Baldwin, Conan O'Brien, QTpa2Ts tap-dancing, The Lombard Twins, Jane Krakowski, Clay Aiken, Ne-Yo, Nancy Grace, Kathy Griffin (as Nancy Grace), Harry Connick, Jr., Anti-Gravity, Jennifer Cody (as Little Sally), Alanis Morissette, Gloria Estefan, and Rachael Ray.

After Jane Krakowski's performance, I said to Mike that I couldn't wait to get home to watch it on TiVo because I was too busy looking at the screen (at all our fabulous prizes) to really watch her number. She is an amazing talent. During the commercial break after that, Ro jokingly asked 13-year-old son Parker if he enjoyed her "little striptease" much. Then the George-Burns-as-god like voice said that the show was now a full two-minutes heavy. Ro replied, "Didn't I TELL you that this would happen?" To the audience, she said, "We were three minutes light at dress, and everyone was freaking out. I told them we didn't have an audience, and that the applause would kill that three minutes PLUS some." They discussed which intros and exits to cut, which jokes to cut and other ways to trim the show accordingly.

Watching it back on tv late Thursday night, (after our VERY long day traveling home - the return trip took fourteen hours!) I understand why there were some critical reviews. The dark theatre and intimate performances really didn't translate to television. The complaints that the show didn't flow were likely because of the segues and intros that were hastily cut. Sadly, the ratings weren't great, and Ro has already announced on her blog that there will be no more. That's really too bad, because the variety show genre deserves a true fan to be the one to resurrect it. I am sure the ratings weren't great because it was the day before Thanksgiving. Plus, the TV Guide grid had the show slated at 9pm. I wonder how many Rosie fans tuned in to see the Live show, only to be treated to a "turkey day" version of Deal or No Deal?

After the show was over, we got to do a lot more people watching because we had to remain in our seats to complete paperwork to accept (and pay taxes for) our prizes, and then go out, in groups of twenty, to collect them. Our group was one of the last to leave the theatre about 10:30pm.

The entire experience was truly wonderful. I feel so lucky and honored to have been among the few who experienced it live. I am so thankful to everyone involved. I am also grateful that I have the show on TiVo so that I can revisit the experience whenever I want to! Now if I can only figure out how to TiVo my memories!

Rights / Equality

Prop 8 (a proposition in California which would ban gay marriage) seems to have passed. I find this so disheartening not only because I believe that all people should receive equal treatment; not only because I have gay friends whom I believe should have the same rights that I do; not only because it is wrong to discriminate; but also because in a country which was created on the idea of freedom, Prop 8 TOOK AWAY the freedoms of a group of people. To me, that is wrong.

I have some thoughts on a way to really equalize the marriage laws and allow the neo-conservatives, fundamentalists and religious zealots to get what they want. It seems that those who are against gay marriage are most protective of the WORD marriage. They want to (constitutionally) DEFINE the word marriage. I doubt they will ever back down, so we need to remove the power that word has.

Perhaps the government should recognize ONLY "civil unions" (or whatever they want to call them). In the eyes of the government, any person, who has signed the documents to legally bind him or herself to another, would be consider legally bound to that person until said document is legally revoked.

All pairs bound by this document receive the same legal rights and tax benefits. Doing this would allow us to refrain from constitutionally changing the definition of marriage because in the eyes of the government, there would be no such thing. Doing this would give the same rights to any legal paired couple, gay or straight.

Therefore the word "marriage" would mean nothing legally to anyone. People who want to be "married" simply find the person of their choice to perform a ceremony... in a church, in a backyard, on a beach, skydiving, etc. People can be as protective as they wish about the word "marriage" because it holds no legal meaning.

I want to keep god out of government and government out of the bedroom. I think perhaps this might solve both.

EDIT: I found this clip of Keith Olbermann with a special comment on the passing of Prop 8. It doesn't particularly futher my point, but I found it compelling.



EDIT: I can't have a Prop 8 post without including this hilarious web-movie I just found, starring (among others) Jack Black, Kathy Najimy, Alison Janney, Margaret Cho, Neil Patrick Harris, Rashida Jones, Maya Rudolph, Jenifer Lewis, Sarah Chalke, Andy Richter and John C. Reilley. It was staged Marc Shaiman (also at the piano) and directed by Adam Shankman. The two previously collaborated on the "Hairspray" movie musical. Enjoy!

See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die

Lovin' Pumpkin Time

I love this time of year. The nip of the autumn breeze. The colors of the trees. The bright orange pumpkins and the feeling of fun in that hangs in the air like the smoke from the burning leaves (the smell of which, I could do without!). It probably has something to do with my birthday being this time of year. Some of my earliest memories are of the excitement I would feel as a little girl seeing the pumpkins and feeling the chill and knowing that my birthday was around the corner!

This year, for the first time in recorded history, Simon and Greg LOVED their costumes AND didn't complain once - about being itchy, feeling scratchy, being too hot or too cold or too tired. They didn't fight about what their costumes would be. Simon wanted to be Captain Hook and Greg chose Peter Pan. All the work that went into making their costumes was worth it! I just hope that I can get a few more "good years" out of them before they deem themselves too cool for Trick-or-Treating!

: ) P

Back to the Sanctuary

I've said it before, and I will say it again, I LOVE NEW YORK!

Don't get me wrong, I love the west coast, too! Sunshine, surf, sand, all good. I've got California in my blood, but I think I have New York in my soul!

We took the boys there to celebrate Greg's eighth birthday (08/08/08) in Chinatown, since in Asia, eight is considered the luckiest number, especially in multiples. Going to China wasn't in the budget, so Chinatown it was. We ate Dim Sum lunch at the Triple 8 Palace (also called 88 Palace) on 88 E. Broadway. The only way we could have been luckier would have been if we had eight people in our group!

The most wonderful thing for me, though, was taking the boys to their first Broadway show. We went to the Saturday matinee of Wicked and from the first notes of the orchestra, the boys were completely engaged, not even moving for the first hour! At one point, Greg leaned over and said, "Mom, I got GOOSEBUMPS!" It was amazing to be in that moment with them both. Afterwards, Simon told me, "On a scale of one to ten, where one is no way, never, and ten was I want to see that again every day... it was about a nine, Mom. That was awesome."

I've said before that musical theatre is a religious experience for me... it moves me in ways I never thought possible. And judging from their choruses of "Popular" and "For Good" and "Loathing," I think my boys are pretty happy about it, too.

Gotta love that.

The Character of America

A few months ago, Nancy Gibbs wrote an essay for Time Magazine which really stuck with me. It was called Our Armies, Ourselves, and subtitled How we treat our veterans says a lot about America's character. These days, it isn't pretty.

The full article can be found here (for a while at least).

The article is still stinging me because it is filled with haunting facts about the war in Iraq. It is no secret to those who know me that I am, and have always been, AGAINST this atrocity, the war in Iraq. As Americans, we were led blindly, I feel, into a rage against a people who did nothing to us, using falsified intelligence, against the United Nations, and without the support of most of the free world, into an ILLEGAL war.

Don't misunderstand me, I support our troops, the brave men and women who signed up to fight for the fabric of America. The freedoms which make America special are worth fighting for and I wholeheartedly support the people who make it their livelihood, and often give up their lives, to do so. I support them so much that I want to bring them home. And I want them properly cared for when they are home.

From Ms. Gibb's essay: "Wars are like icebergs: much of the cost remains hidden, and the near doubling of the defense budget since 2001 does not cover what lies ahead. Better body armor and trauma care mean new life for thousands of soldiers who would have died in any earlier war. But many are broken or burned or buried in pain from what they saw and did. One in five suffers from major depression or posttraumatic stress, says a new Rand Corp. study; more than 300,000 have suffered traumatic brain injury. The cost of treating them is projected to double over the next 25 years. Four hundred thousand veterans are waiting for cases to be processed. The number seeking assistance for homelessness is up 600% in the past year."

DID YOU READ THOSE STATISTICS?

She continued, "In the face of so much need, too often comes denial. At a May 6 hearing, lawmakers lit into officials from Veterans Affairs after an e-mail surfaced from Ira Katz, its chief of mental health, on suicide rates of soldiers in its care. The subject line: "Shhh." The VA had been insisting there were fewer than 800 suicide attempts a year by vets in its care; the real number was closer to 12,000."

For the love of Pete, let's bring those brave souls home and start taking CARE of them properly!

EDIT: An anonymous poster took a position that the war is, in fact, legal. As I said in my reply, legality is a fact, not an opinion. And so, I give references to that fact below:

Kreiger

Other links