The record snowfall in Baltimore two weekends ago meant that everything I had planned for that weekend got canceled and then most of it rescheduled for this past weekend. Adding all of that on top of what I already had planned for the weekend resulted in a crazy busy Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday afternoon my friend Alison and I went to see Centerstage’s production of “As You Like It”. It’s sort of a modern retelling. The part of the play set at court is almost a futuristic, post-apocalytic seeming setting. The part set in the Forest of Arden is more like 1960s hippie. The cast is composed entirely of women. It mostly works. As is often the case unless it’s being performed by professional Shakespearean actors you wind up with some people who are able to pull it off better than others. This production was no different. It’s neither the best nor worst Shakespeare I have ever seen.

Not too long after we got back from that we headed to our friend Bill’s 40th birthday party. They catered the party from a local Indian restaurant. It was delicious, but I ate way too much. I guess it’s a good thing that we caught a ride home before the birthday pie came out. I’m glad they had such a good turn out despite having to reschedule last minute. Happy birthday Bill!

Sunday afternoon Paul and I went to the rescheduled Garth Brooks concert. I’m going to save that and write more about it in a separate post later this week. We already had tickets to see Phantom of the Opera on Sunday night. Luckily the venues are only a few block apart so we were able to leave the Garth concert, grab a really quick dinner at Panera Bread and then head to the theatre.

I first saw Phantom of the Opera when I was a kid in Boston. I went with some friends for one of our 14th birthdays. It also happens to be the first cast recording I ever owned. Despite all that it’s not one of my favorite shows. I like it well enough, but it’s nothing I’ve ever been inspired to see again. This season however it was part of our season ticket package. I knew that it had undergone a production redesign so I was curious to see it.

I wasn’t really expecting it but I have to admit that I got really giddy as soon as the Overture started. It turns out I still know that show really well from all the time spent listening to the cast recording as a teenager and it got to me. I can’t say I super remember the original production from back when I saw it *cough* 23 *cough* years ago, but at least based on my limited memory it seemed quite different. I think they did a really good job with it, and I thought all the revamped sets were great. I was shocked by how many people in the audience seemed surprised by the chandelier falling at the end of Act I. I thought that was pretty common knowledge about the show, but I guess even after all these years some people don’t know. It’s still not a show I’m very excited by and nothing I’m going to go out of my way to see again, but I’m glad I saw it and got to see what they’ve done with it.