Communing with Rogers and Hammerstein

So, I love Rogers and Hammerstein musicals. In fact, I am singing the music from "South Pacific" right now, you just can't hear me....you can hear me? I am so sorry.

So, I love musicals. Yeah I know I said that before but it bears repeating because I REALLY love musicals. I love Rogers and Hammerstein and we happen to live near an outdoor performing arts center that has summer concerts with the local orchestra. Can you feel the convergence. Yup, Sunday night was "Bravo Broadway! Richard Rogers and Oscar Hammerstein". Oh I was so there for that.

Look, it is Gilligan's SUV! You would think that we (and our friends Mike and Lauren) were going for a week's vacation rather than three hours under the stars! But of course you have to have the blanket to spread out and the tarp to go under the blanket so our little hinies don't get wet from the grass. And then there are the low chairs to sit in comfort and the food and the wine and jackets and extra socks in case my tootsies got cold and....perhaps we should have rented a UHaul.

Ummmm, did I mention that we brought food. This is only a portion of the goodies I am sorry to say. Heaven forbid if you were to actually run out of things to nosh on before, during and after the concert. And trust me, we were light on food compared to some of the other things that I saw people consuming. Everything from Subway sandwiches to sushi.

Look out! It's the "Chairminator"!! The Chairminator you ask, what the heck is the Chairminator. As far as we could tell, this fellow's sole purpose in life was to watch the lawn for the people with the tall lawn chairs, you know, the chairs that block your view when the people come and plunk themselves down right in front of you, squeezing themselves into the small amount of space left on the hill because they couldn't be bothered to get there early enough to get a better spot. This guy circulates through the crowd and makes people move to the top half of the hill if they have the "bad chairs". I think this would be a fun job and I would enjoy it way too much. That must be why they didn't ask me to do it.
"Hey you, yeah you with the honkin' big chair. You have to move up there where you can't block other people's view." Hmmmm, too harsh perhaps?
Give a guy black cargo pants and a walkie talkie and he thinks he has all the power in the world.

Oh yes, smoked cheddar cheese with cranberries nestled lovingly within it's innards. This was yummy stuff.

And did I mention that we had Pico de Gallo? Oh this stuff is ambrosia only with enough jalapeno peppers to clear your nasal passages. Thank you Pioneer Woman for bringing this stuff back into my life.
And then there were these luscious little nuggets of goodness. Lauren has yet to get me the recipe. OK, OK, it has only been a few days since the concert but still, I want to make them....so that I can eat them.
Of course there was wine, silly people. A very good bottle of wine that we had shipped back from California. Of course that was before Ohio enacted the new, draconian law that states I can no longer get wine shipped from out of state. Bye, bye wine club membership at Benziger Winery. Oh the pain of loss. What? Oh, Rogers and Hammerstein. Right.
I am just not sure what to say about this picture. I guess they were just so happy to be accompanying us wives to this excellent out door concert.
And speaking of the concert, here it is. There was the Cleveland Orchestra along with the Blossom Festival Chorus as well as a Christiane Noll (soprano, BOY HOWDY YES!), Aaron Lazar(totally delicious voice) and William Michals (smooth baritone). The vocal performers were a surprise to us but a welcome one. I adore orchestra music but having the chorus and the singers made it the best Blossom night we have ever gone to. It was excellent! People were singing along, some were "directing" the orchestra, others were swaying with the music. I fully expected that we would see people waltzing around when they did "Shall We Dance" from The King and I.

Oh it was a lovely night. Good food, good friends, good music. What more could a girl ask for.