A good Wednesday- last week

Wednesday night last week was awesome. I love to go to live theatre. Most any kind really, some plays/shows I like, some I don't but I totally dig going nonetheless and am always amazed by the talent of others, no 'editing' or 'retakes' or 'voice dubbing' or 'stunt doubles' or 'H-D', 'Technicolor' or '3-D.' Just the real thing, as it happens, raw. Love it. For the past 3 years, my friend M.E. and I have been trying to go together to all of the shows put on by the Alpine Theatre Project, in Whitefish, MT. We've seen some AWESOME ones, and one or two that left us just saying 'hmm' at the end. But not matter what, it's fun to go. We used to try to make it a couples thing and take our husbands. We'd all have dinner and drinks before the show. But those crazy men could hardly sit through a show when there was a bar to sit at down the street, where they could sit and drink something a little tastier than water, and not have to be quiet and behave.

So now it's just me and M.E. And honestly this last weeks dinner + show was awesome girl time. We ate at this funky Mexican place called Pescado Blanco in Whitefish and then went to see Barrymore. It was another interesting one. It was a one man show taken for a moment in time, in the early 1940s, almost at the end of the life of the late Actor John Barrymore. There were parts that were funny, and people were laughing. But to me the humor was based more on the shocking and crass nature of the things this older (I think supposed to be in his 60's??) man would say. As well as his behavior, as he was supposedly totally drunk while telling of his life. Mostly though, this play left me sad. Though Mr. Barrymore had this fantastic life (fame, career, friends, wild parties, and wealth for a time) and his famous family (though in the start of his life I think he was really raised in quite a abusive and alcoholic family-we hear about this as he drunkenly reminisces). In the end however, he had drank most all of his good fortune away and lost himself. He said some funny things as he recounted this, but really the overall message was sad.

That being said, Mr. David Ackroyd, the man that did this monologue was amazing. And this is what live theatre is all about. I mean this was almost a 2 hour show, during which he recites pieces of at least 3 Shakespearean plays, talks to himself, someone behind the scenes, the audience, and acts believably drunk the entire time.. He did a really good job. Glad I saw it, but don't necessarily need to see it again.


But something cool happened when I got home that night. I had a UPS package waiting on the kitchen counter for me. I couldn't imagine what it was, as I haven't ordered anything in a while. But then I saw it was from Simon & Schuester. Still, I was like "what's this?" So I ripped it open and ...Super Cool, I had won a book. Now, those of you non-readers will be like, "so what?" But to me this was awesome. This book, an author signed copy of Clockwork Angel, is the first in a new series that is a prequel to another series that I have already read and loved. But really the coolest part is that it is 'a 'pre-release' ARC (advanced reader copy) as this book is not released to public until Aug 31, 2010. How did I win it??? I had entered an online giveaway on Entertainment Weekly.com the day the cover was released. I figured it was national giveaway, and I never thought twice about winning. So, Wowers that it just arrive one day with a note saying CONGRATULATIONS! ..........Yeah me!