Phantom-astic.

I have NOT been a fan of Phantom of the Opera.
I saw it for the first time in Los Angeles in 1993 with a boy I really really liked. He ended up throwing my uncle's chiuaua across the room the next morning (I slept on the couch. He slept on the floor. The chiuaua....am I spelling that right?...was very yippy. He deserved to be thrown.) Yep, he ended up a chiuaua thrower and I ended up going on a mission (so much more to the story that will find its way to this blog eventually).

But anyway...
I saw "Phantom" and I just wasn't impressed.
Sure, we had such bad seats we completely missed the "Masquerade" scene.
And the chandelier ended up getting stuck half-way during its fall.
And my 1985 chev cavalier died in the middle of the desert on the way home...but that's another story entirely.

Where was I?
Oh, yeah.
Phantom.

I'm sorry to say anything so sacreligious, but I am NOT a fan of Phantom of the Opera.
Correction.
Andrew Lloyd Weber's version.
There are all sorts of reasons for this but one of them would totally ruin things for my naive dad who loves the show.

Where was I?
Oh, yeah...
I didn't THINK I was a fan of "Phantom".
And so I didn't think I wanted to see it again.
BUT...
the version by Arthur Kopit & Maury Yeston?
Currently playing at Hale Center Theatre in Salt Lake City, UT?

Yeah, that?
AMAZING.
PHANTOM-AZING.

I saw it with a date tonight.
(Yes, I'm totally counting it as a date. I did not pay and he picked me up and dropped me off. That is TOTALLY a date, right?).
It was Phantom-credible.
It was Phantom-rrific.
It was Phantom-arvelous.
(yes, I said these puns the whole way home and I thought I was so funny).

But, this isn't about the incredible show or the really great guy who took me to see it.

This is about making time for things that matter.(which happily, I'm finally figuring out).
This is about recognizing how many truly perfect moments there are in life. (and there really are more when you recognize them.)
This is about being moved by really great music and deeply talented performances. (I'm such a sucker for live productions that will never happen the same way again.)
This is about feeling the power of true love and "you are the reason I was born". (or some other great line like that...from the show...not the date...grin).

I just can't even tell you how good it was for me to experience that show tonight....how much my little spirit adores great live entertainment when it teaches good truth. And how much I need to make more time for it.

I dare say I've come dangerously close to two pretty-darn-close-to-perfect days in a row.

And THAT is Phantom-astic.
(I know...I'm on a roll.)

(btw, the show is playing until April 18. Really, truly, go see it if you can.