Kinky Boots are Made for Dancing

Saturday evening I attended a performance of Kinky Boots in Cleveland Playhouse Square Connor Palace theater. I attended with my friends Duane and Tim, their tickets having been Christmas gifts from me.

The show was everything you want from a Broadway musical. Engaging story? Check. Lavish costumes? Check. Choreographed song and dance numbers? Check. Terrific acting? Check.

Kinky Boots is sometimes called "the Cindy Lauper musical" with a book by Broadway legend Harvey Fierstein. The show tells the story of erstwhile, second-generation shoe manufacturer Charlie Price trying to save his freshly inherited factory and by extension, the factory townies it employs. With help from a drag queen named Lola, the factory retools to make specialty boots for men in drag, inspiring gruff factory workers to rethink their homophobic mindsets.

I cannot recommend this musical enough. If you have a chance, see it.

My companions and I were eating dinner at the Subway in Playhouse Square, having been turned away from all the sit-down restaurants for lack of reservation (seriously, this is still a problem?) when all three of us started checking out a new patron who ordered a sandwich and departed. Unbeknownst to us, the patron was a cast member. Yummy.

More than anything else, I relished the opportunity to return to Playhouse Square to experience live theater. It brought me joy.

Injecting Some Positivity

I just re-read my last several blog posts and realize I was on a negative bend there for a bit. This is in stark contrast to Facebook, where I make a concerted effort to only post positive messages. I suppose I justify the negativity here because I know so few people actually read it. This blog feels more "personal."

(This blog is also vastly different from my two Tumblr blogs, which get posted to much more frequently. One has 258 followers and the other has 2,623 followers as of this morning. Guess which one is mostly porn?)

In any event, it is spring, the grass is greening, the trees are budding and there are good things to report. Chief among them:

1. Job Change: I moved from being the Customer Service Manager to being Business Development Manager/Training Specialist as of April 1st. I have already visited customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and Oklahoma. Today I leave for Missouri (St. Louis and Kansas City) for a few days and in two weeks I fly to Texas. This removes me from much of the Management by Fire Drill and exaggerated sense of urgency that was wrecking my attitude before.

2. St. Patrick's Day: Again this year I did some drinking and socializing with two of my favorite humans, my buddies Jeremy and Jim. I dressed in a somewhat toned-down version of my leprechaun outfit, but still garnered some attention.

3. New Tech: My DVD player finally kicked the bucket and my new Samsung is wi-fi enabled, allowing me to watch YouTube on my big screen, HDTV and to stream Netflix.

4. Awesome TV: I picked up Glee again for the final season and was delighted with most of the episodes and was particularly impressed with one of the "new kids," Noah Guthrie's Roderick. He is one talented young man, a singer/composer/musician to watch. The Glee finale was perfect -- everything it needed to be. I spent this weekend binge-watching Netflix' new Daredevil series. Seriously, it is FANTASTIC!!

5. Impending Movies: Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant Man are only weeks away. Squee!!

6. Impending Events: In May, I am going to Monterrey, Mexico for my friend Fernando's wedding. Soon after that, I drive with friends to Chicago for our annual Memorial Day debacle. In August, my friend Jose is visiting from Spain. So. Much. Goodness.

Smiley face emoticon.