Las Vegas (Feb 10-11)

This week Andy attended a conference in Vegas and gave a presentation that is really significant in his career. We decided that since I couldn't be there for moral support, I'd come afterwards for a night to play. We stayed in the Mandalay Bay hotel which was gorgeous and made me wish I were staying longer. After a quick flight and a taxi ride, I met him at the hotel and we went straight for dinner at an amazing Mexican restaurant. We lingered over a long quiet meal and then wandered around the casinos for an hour eating gelato and watching all of the bizarro people that seem to gather there. After returning to the room and getting ready, we then went to see the show playing at the hotel. The Lion King.


Here's our official review:

• The costumes and sets were amazing.
• The young Simba's voice was so nasally and he pronounced everything so slowly and drawn out that it was beyond painful listening to him talk. It was a relief when the oiled up older version took his place.
  
• For some reason the hyenas did a gratuitous half-naked muscle man dance to spice things up. Brilliant idea.
• We have seen the animated version of the show about 10,000 times. Since the script is almost exactly the same, but theater is always different, the pace seemed really off. We had a hard time really getting into it.
• James Earl Jones is by far the best Mufasa voice. Everyone else just seems like a weenie.
  

Overall, it wasn't my favorite play ever, but it was enjoyable and the magic of the costumes made it all worthwhile. Andy and I both agreed that as much as Calvin loves the cartoon, we can't wait until he's old enough to take him to see the live version. He will be mystified.

After the show we went back to our room and sat in the ginormous tub sipping soda from wine glasses and watching The Fugitive on the flat screen tv hanging on the bathroom wall. A life we could get used to.

It was sad to wake up at 6 the next morning in order to catch our plane. We always want to get back to the kids quickly so we book the first flight out. Next time we need to remember that we always regret it. We spend the evening wishing for more time and saying "the kids would have been fine for just a few more hours...."