Better Late....

Yesterday Jordan admonished me for not writing about her show and the weekend activities. I actually thought I had done that—but maybe it was David and I guess his blobs don’t count as much as mine. (I guess the “mine is good his is only OK” lessons worked better than I thought.) Better late than never I say. [Editors note: David Burnett, Blobber Adjoint, did, in the Harvard of the East Blob, write about the wonder of that show!]

It’s not like me not to write about everything. So I guess there was just too much going on. For example, the birth of my fabulous grandbaby. I like to call Zachary my Grandbaby rather than Grandson, because it’s very Southern and I feel that since 1976, my roots are partly Southern. Besides, I always love listening to Jane Watkins and Marthena talk about their Grandbabies—it seemed so much more affectionate than grandchild. Of course I also loved when they talked about Peter Pan and pronounced Pan as if it had three syllables—but that’s another blob.

Additionally, I had just moved mom into the assisted living apartment—so I was a bit distracted. And then I had to take a train to Providence where David was meeting me for the weekend. I have never taken a train to Providence so the new experience may have been just too much for me to comprehend. Anyway, all that stuff was probably why I didn’t write about the show—“On The Town” in the Majestic Theater – Jordan was one of the leads.

The show was wonderful and equally wonderful was the support she got from our family and friends who have become family. We were permitted to see only three of the four shows. We skipped the Saturday matinee and I went to Plymouth to see Zachary and that was a treat.

Grandma Salt Lake and Jordan
David’s mom arrived on Thursday at 5. Having traveled across the country, at 89 years of age she was a bit too tired to make the 8:00 show. But we thought a Friday and Saturday show would be enough of a good grandma statement. So off we went to see Jordan open on her first grand stage. The Majestic was a movie theater in the porn district when I went to school, but it’s been reconstructed and restored to it’s glory—I’m not sure when that was – but the theater is magnificent. All gold and turquoise with an enormous stage and great viewing from any angle.

Hildy Takes Her Bow

I love going to Jordan’s shows, not only because it makes me so proud, but because I love seeing all her friends perform as well. In the three years that Jordan has been at Emerson, I have attended not only all of her performances but a number of shows that her friends rather than she were in. It is just a joy to watch these talented young people, the work they do and the excellence they achieve. I mean I think Ben and David are funny and fabulous to watch just walking down the street. And Brittany has a voice that does not stop and is also a very talented comedienne. JP’s adlibbing was so good that when the taxi Jordan was driving fell apart we actually thought it was supposed to do that. [The show was “On the Town” and she played Hildy the sassy cabdriver.] Thursday’s performance was good but not up to Jordan’s usual standard. I have never seen Jordan in a show where she didn’t take over the character, light up the stage and become this enormous presence. It seemed that there was just a beat missing in the tune they were playing, but we had two more shows to see and we felt sure each performance would get better and better. We were not disappointed. Friday night’s show was astounding. Stacey, Andy, and the kids, cousins who had never seen Jordan perform were blown away. Andy, who noticed that the usher looked exactly like Aunt Peppy, thought the family approach to theater was a nice touch—Aunt Peppy seating people and Jordan on the stage. But Jordan was back to being Jordan. A wonderful comedienne with a great voice and a big talent.

The Saturday matinee, according to Tracy and Sheila, who are excellent critics and terrific cousins, was amazing. They both confessed that it was not a show they like but this production was a real surprise and Jordan’s performance blew them away.

Wes,Tracy,Jordan,Sheila & mom
Saturday evening our cousins Beth, Michael. and Sam arrived and there was a ticket screw up so they were seated in the balcony instead of the orchestra, but they agreed that Jordan’s talent reached out and grabbed them even from that distance. We all waited until after the show to give kudos but they knew how good they were. Mom would have no early-to-bed stuff so even though she had to be up for her SFO flight at 6am, we all went out for an after theater burger. Jordan and her friend Wes joined us for a quick bite before they took off for the cast party. It was, all in all a marvelous weekend and we remain the proud parents of our children (Jordan was cast in “A Mid Summer’s Night’s Dream” in the fall, once again in the Majestic), and the proud parent of our parents. We’re just sayin... Iris