Independence Day, Hamilton and other Broadway Musicals

Today is Independence Day. We were supposed to go to Marta's house, but with the COVID numbers rising in Florida we decided it was better to just stay home. We barbecued, swam and watched Back to the Future II (we watched the first one a week or so ago). It was fun to see their vision of 2015. Also, how on earth does the "future" take place in 2015?!?!? I am getting old! I also made our traditional poke hole cake. I make it pretty much every Memorial and Independence Day. I learned the recipe from one of college roommates, although I can't recall which one. It is very simple, just a white cake mix with a few changes. But, it is delicious and I have been making it for years. Well, decades now (feeling old again!). It is a white cake mix with bananas in place of eggs and applesauce instead of oil. Then, after it cooks, you poke holes and pour strawberry jello in the holes (mixed with just the hot water so it is not too diluted). Cool, preferably overnight, and then "frost" with cool whip and decorate with berries. Everyone in my family loves it.

This is actually from Memorial Day, I didn't take a picture today, but the berries were in a flag design. :)

I am grateful to be an American. I am not sure it is politically correct to feel that way right now, but I do. I love our country. There is a lot that is making me sad and I absolutely hate how divided we are, but overall, I know how fortunate I am to live here. I don't want to erase our history and vilify the Founding Fathers. But, I also think we should examine the past with a critical eye. Otherwise, how can we improve? I believe in the Black Lives Matter movement and recognize that racism is a problem in our country that we need to fix. I still support the police, but believe they should be help accountable. There is a lot more I could say, but frankly I am afraid of saying the wrong thing and being vilified myself. So, I will stick with my basic truths.

It was another quiet week. We had a problem with our pool and it began to turn green. It took a few days to get it back in order, which was sad to everyone. We frequently talk about how much more difficult the quarantine would be without the pool and maybe we jinxed ourselves. It was a long three days; Florida is hot!

In wildlife news, Kara rescued a small snake from our pool. I looked it up and it was a harmless ring neck. And, Thomas saved a big turtle. He was really big and heavy and Thomas got him out of the street and walked him toward the pond.

Thomas estimated he weighed 20-25 pounds.

Yesterday, the Hamilton movie came out on Disney+. We had been counting down the days. Kim and her family were going to come and watch it with us, but I canceled. We are bringing ourselves back to COVID Phase I for now. Maybe that is being overly cautious, but it's what we are comfortable with. Anyway, we had been looking forward to Hamilton since they announced the release. Thomas and I saw it in New York and then we took Jack and saw it again in DC. Kara loves the soundtrack and has been wanting to see it. Anna isn't really interested in anything we like right now, so she didn't watch. And, of course, Luke is too young. But, the rest of us loved it. We watched it all the way through and have watched some of our favorite numbers a couple more times. It got me thinking about all the shows I've seen. So, I made a list of the ones I could remember and then ranked everything as 1, 2, or 3.

The 1s:
-Hamilton: brilliant writing, choreography, historical value and truly innovative. It is the whole package!
-Les Mis: my first Broadway show. I saw it when I was in high school when my band went to NYC to march in the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. I will never forget how I felt when the cast sang the first full harmonizing note. I've seen it several times.
-Jersey Boys: this one is just fun. The music was the soundtrack I jogged to back when I was a runner. We have seen it multiple times.

The 2s: (no particular order) All phenomenal, but didn't have the impact on me that the 1s did.
-Anastasia: loved it.
-Wicked: loved it.
-Avenue Q: loved it.
-Rent: loved it.

The 3s: (in order)
-The Temptations, Ain't to Proud to Beg: The second half was amazing, the first half was a little bogged down. It was almost a "2".
-Phantom of the Opera: this was also close to being a "2".  I liked it a lot, just not as much as the others.
-Chicago: not bad, but I didn't love it.
-Sound of Music: it was okay, but after seeing the movie so many times, the play was actually a bit boring.
-South Pacific: boring
-Waitress: my least favorite. I didn't like it at all.

Local Theater Shows:
-Kinky Boots (loved it!)
-Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (I don't recall much, would like to see again)
-Rock of Ages (cruise ship show, it was okay).

I would like to see many more shows. I was hoping we would get season tickets to the Broadway touring shows when we moved to Orlando. I put us on the waitlist, but I think everything is on pause with COVID. Also, the local theater here (at least based on Kinky Boots) is really good and WAY cheaper, so maybe we will just get tickets to the local theater. Either way, there are still many shows I want to see. I wish we still lived close enough to just drive up to NYC.