TCC, Day 22: Let's talk theater

I heard on the news this morning that the peak of the virus should be this week in places like New York. Then I got a local news alert tonight saying that we can expect our peak here in the next two to six weeks. That's not great.

Stats go like this today: Locally we're up to 94 cases and (I think) seven deaths.

People all over the world are reaching out and trying to find ways to spread positive news and joy amid this scary time. My new favorite is John Krasinski's Some Good News. Episode two has been released, and I have to say it made my day! It includes the original cast of Hamilton, and it is nothing short of fantastic.

I love Hamilton probably a little more than a person should. I listen to the whole soundtrack about once a week, especially when I need to be motivated. It goes in the rotation with my other "Get Crap Done" playlist which is mostly The Killers, Panic! at the Disco, Florence and the Machine, and such.

I think I love it so much because my whole family saw it together while on vacation in Chicago. The boys LOVED it. They thought they were just following along with one of their mom's crazy activities, but then they were hooked by the first number. The picture in my mind of their faces during the show is a memory I will always treasure.

Theater is one of those things I've loved for a long time. I went to school in my hometown until eighth grade, but it was so small that I had to go to high school about 30 miles away in another town. If my memory is correct, I signed up to take theater as a freshman, but freshman weren't allowed to take it. Because I was a "new" student, I slipped through the cracks and got put in the class anyway. By the time anyone realized, it was too late to move me out. Fortuitous, I think. Or maybe just a made up story deep in my memory because high school was a long time ago. Who can really tell?

Anyway.

Theater was the place I felt most myself in high school. (Yes, I felt most myself pretending to be other people - there's probably some psychological analysis involved here, but I digress.) I still have stacks of scripts from our shows: Steel Magnolias - my first real show. The History of Tom Jones where I learned about farce. Dark of the Moon where I truly felt I was part of something scary. Frontier Santa where I sang and pushed my ability to do so. A Woman Without a Name which explored sadness and darkness. I loved every minute of work on every show - even the really hard ones.

I had two directors (Mrs. Smith freshman year and Mrs. Dodds the rest of my high school career) who I thought never cut me any slack but who probably cut me a lot of slack. They were huge influences on who I am today!

I didn't grow up going to the theater as a spectator, so there are many, many shows that I feel like I need to see. I saw some classics as incredibly high-quality high school performances at the schools here in town - Fiddler on the Roof and Oklahoma to name a couple. Trey and I saw Phantom of the Opera last year on our anniversary, and we also had season tickets to MSC OPAS this year. I was very excited to see Beautiful last month, but it was corona-cancelled.

So, readers who love theater and musicals and such, what are your favorites?  What are the must-see things to add to my post-quarantine list? I also feel like I've read there are some Broadway shows being released to stream at home. While the experience won't be the same, it still sounds cool. Is that really a thing?  Please provide directions if you know.

The current top of my list is Come from Away. My parents saw it and I'm jealous.

What's the best show you've ever seen?

The end.