42nd Street

One of the things I've always loved about San Miguel is that the city regularly sponsors free concerts and other entertainment in the Jardin. I was reminded this week that it happens here too. Houston has a first-class outdoor theatre and we saw the musical, 42nd Street. It was the full blown Broadway traveling production and it was marvelous.

The show was here for about a week and we decided to go on Monday night because we thought it wouldn't be as crowded. Wrong. It was a full house. Fortunately Ned had gotten us seats in the pavilion. All you have to do is show up at the box office in the middle of the day to get the free seats or you can wait until 10 minutes before the opening and any seats that are not filled can be taken. The seats were definitely full and when I turned and looked back up the hill it was covered by people on blankets and lawn chairs along with their picnic baskets.

I was afraid it would be really hot and muggy but fortunately there was a breeze. They must somehow pour air conditioning on the stage because even with all the energetic dancing the cast wasn't in a sweat.

The play was so nostalgic for me because it reminded me of all the wonderful musical movies I watched in the late '40s and '50s. Tap dancing has gone by the wayside but every little girl wanted to take dancing classes to be a ballerina or a tap dancer back then. The story line had an innocence and simplicity that was just enough to be enchanting and not schmaltzy. The costumes were gorgeous, the sets simple but ingenious. It was a lovely fairy-tale.

There was a little girl sitting next to me with big brown eyes and her dark brown hair was cut in a short dutchboy. Her mother told me that they had been there the night before and her daughter wanted to come see it again. The little girl knew some of the words to the songs and she watched it again with her big brown eyes glued to the stage. Sometimes she waved her little hands along with the dancers. I could just imagine her going home to try out some dance steps.

I wish I could have taken some pictures but no flash, no cameras, no cellphone cameras, no recording, no, no, no.... I didn't want to get thrown out. It was free. It was a great evening and when it was over I wanted to tap dance my way back to the parking lot. I think I still remember a few steps.