On Broadway

PianoLady and I are counting the days until we meet at the Marriott Marquis in Manhattan for our annual Broadway Weekend. We have now been friends and piano duet partners since 1969. That's 41 years of having a friend you could say anything to and receive unconditional acceptance in return, and one who could play a mean Primo to your Secondo. Pretty darned good.

For your humming pleasure, here's the list of shows we've attended and (mostly) loved:

(1999)

"Ragtime"

(2000)

"The Music Man"; "Kiss Me, Kate"

(2001)

"42nd Street" (We had tickets before 9/11, and PianoLady took two of her daughter's friends along in my stead.)

(2005)

"29th Annual Putnam Co. Spelling Bee";"Light in the Piazza"

(2006)

"Wicked"; "Spamalot"

(2007)

"Grease"; "The Drowsy Chaperone"

(2008)

"South Pacific"

(2009)

"Burn the Floor"; "Next to Normal"

(2010)

"Promises, Promises"; "West Side Story"

In looking back, I absolutely loved "Ragtime", "The Music Man", Spelling Bee, "Light in the Piazza", "Wicked", and "Next to Normal". I would see any of those again, except maybe "Next to Normal", which was rather intense. I have the soundtracks to Piazza and "Wicked" on my iPod and listen to them frequently. My grandchildren know all the words to all the songs in "Wicked"—I can't wait to take them for that experience!

We did not enjoy "Spamalot", and when I told that to Tyler, he said, "I could have told you you wouldn't like it." We've taken to asking him ahead of time whether we should see certain plays. We skipped "Spring Awakenings" based on his recommendation.

"Burn the Floor" was good, but I didn't love it. I want to be able to go home at the end of the weekend and brag to my friends, "You won't believe the fabulous show I saw this weekend."

"The Drowsy Chaperone" was a surprise enjoyment. We couldn't figure out what else to see, and wanted to fit in a second show, so went to that and laughed uproariously.

I've already downloaded the soundtrack to "Promises, Promises" and can't wait to see Kristin Chenoweth on stage.

Oh, the number of days? Nine!