Mama's the Word

I recently attended 2 musicals in as many weeks, a first (and probably last!) for me. When I saw A Chorus Line was coming to town, I thought that would be a great opportunity to take the missus out as a birthday treat - after all, this is a musical recommended by my mother as the best ever. I looked forward to it, in fact I booked a weekday matinee, so we could sneak out of work to see it! But I have to say, it was rather disappointing. I decided I just wanted to see the putative dancers dance, not regale me with their life histories and boring star-search stories. Yes, we all want to be stars, so just get in line at the next American Idol audition and stop whining.

Meanwhile, said spouse thought a trip to Mama Mia! was order. As the date approached I got nervous, but this turned out to be a great, great show. It had everything - great dancing, choreography, acting, hamming-it-up, and of course now classic music, all cleverly wrapped in the kind of throw-away plot that yet keeps you enrapt. Sorry, Mama, this was a way better show than ACL! I hear they've made its movie, with Meryl Streep. Hmmm - try to catch the live show!