Girls’ Night Out

We got home so late last night that I couldn’t even look at the computer. And poor Ane was so beat that she could barely stand up to brush her teeth.

But it was worth it.

Last night, Ane and I were joined by Aimee and Lina for an evening out. After dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory (known as the “Food Factory” in our house), we drove up to Everett to see the Village Theatre‘s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast musical.

We continually had to remind the girls that this was a live performance, not a movie theater. When the curtain went up, they paid rapt attention. Lina reacted more visibly to the scarier parts – the wolves in the forest, for example – and Ane later admitted that she didn’t like the scary parts. But the girls enjoyed the big musical numbers – “Be Our Guest” was particularly fun, right down to the confetti that got dropped on the first several rows – and when the scene shifted during the title song to the ballroom dance, Ane’s jaw dropped and I could hear her audibly gasp, “Oh, how beautiful!”

I asked her this morning what her favorite parts of the musical were, and she said, “When Belle reads to the Beast, and the dancing when Belle is in her yellow dress.”

There was plenty of fun for the adults, too, and Aimee and I might have enjoyed it even more than the girls, simply because we’re older and we caught more of the jokes than they did.

The performance started at 8 pm, and with a 15 minute intermission, we left the theater at 10:45. Ane and I walked through the front door at about 11:20 pm, after dropping Aimee and Lina off at their house. We had planned well, though – today is a teacher inservice day for both girls, so they didn’t have to wake up for school. Originally, we had planned for a weekend matinee show, but they were all sold out. So, this ended up being our next best option, and I think it worked out well.

It’s hard to believe that Ane is getting old enough to go to the theater (albeit to see a show based off a movie she dearly loves) and sit through it with only slight fidgeting. She didn’t even ask many questions during the show – she was too enraptured by the whole spectacle. Although she did tug on my sleeve early on and when I leaned down, she whispered, “I love you, Mommy. Thank you for bringing me here.”

It was my pleasure, sweetheart.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 10:51 am and is filed under Children, Media.
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