Happy Early Birthday to Me!!
Last week, my beloved salmon_man sidled up to me and said, "What are you doing next Wednesday night? Because I'm taking you out. Early birthday pressie. Very early." And I went, oooh!, and she offered to tell me what we'd be doing, and I said I'd wait to find out. And then I was VERY, VERY GOOD and refrained from checking the local arts listings to guess at what it could be.
It was bound to be arts-based, because that's what we mostly do for evenings out, and relatively staid (because her Mum was coming with us, and 80-something and very ladylike, so). Which does actually still give a ton of options on any given day, because Birmingham is a lot more cosmopolitan and culturally-minded than the rest of Britain gives us credit for - and because me and salmon_man have pretty much run the gamut of arty stuff in the ~15 years we've been friends. Gigs by the dozen. Poetry readings and spoken word. Every major art exhibition going, with a few guided museum tours for good measure. Ballet. Yarn-bombing installations. Musical theatre. You name it...
So I met her and her Mum at the train station, and they finally let me in on the secret.
MATTHEW BOURNE'S SLEEPING BEAUTY.
I WAS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN, CLAPPING AND SQUEALING WITH JOY IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW STREET FUCKING STATION. JUST EXCUSE ME FOR A MINUTE WHILE I BOUNCE SOME MORE.
I couldn't believe it. If she'd taken me to a matinee, I'd have guessed at ballet right away, but I'd completely discounted it as an evening option because SO GODDAMN EXPENSIVE since the recession put paid to arts grants. I fucking love the ballet, and I so rarely get to go any more. Also, MATTHEW FUCKING BOURNE. Dude is a minor deity. While being completely down-to-earth and not the slightest bit of a diva. And the man himself was there to introduce proceedings. *fangirls hugely*
I can't even count the ways I love Matthew Bourne's work. He is just on a wavelength that I get. He does quirky, edgy and innovative shows that hit my tastes right slap in the middle. Sleeping Beauty with a gothed-up vampire dude as the evil fairy, HOW IS THAT NOT AWESOME? And he creates tons of completely awesome parts for male dancers, a concept which pretty much turns trad ballet on its head (HIS TAKE ON DORIAN GRAY. MASTERPIECE. I will never get over the blindingly hot homoerotic photography scene in that one.) ...And it might not hurt that he's G.A.Y. with rainbows and sparkles on top and fills his company with blindingly hot guys who, to a man, ping my gaydar so high they can hear it in Soho. I mean, ballet is pretty gay anyway and always has been, but it's not usually quite so loud and proud. I fucking love it.
I just... I flat-out adored every fricken second of it. I want to go back and do it again. I WAS ALL CHOKED UP AND *THIS* CLOSE TO ACTUALLY SOBBING WHEN THE CURTAIN CAME UP, THAT'S HOW GOOD IT WAS.
salmon_man. Friend of the Year. We may only be five weeks in, but I'm calling it already. Nothing is gonna top this. <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
(NB: This was actually written over a week ago, and LJ ate it when I tried to post it. I could've cried, and it was midnight, and I didn't have the spoons or heart to try and recreate it, so I went to bed. But I just found a draft of it that LJ seems to have saved somehow, so wheeeeeee!!!!)
It was bound to be arts-based, because that's what we mostly do for evenings out, and relatively staid (because her Mum was coming with us, and 80-something and very ladylike, so). Which does actually still give a ton of options on any given day, because Birmingham is a lot more cosmopolitan and culturally-minded than the rest of Britain gives us credit for - and because me and salmon_man have pretty much run the gamut of arty stuff in the ~15 years we've been friends. Gigs by the dozen. Poetry readings and spoken word. Every major art exhibition going, with a few guided museum tours for good measure. Ballet. Yarn-bombing installations. Musical theatre. You name it...
So I met her and her Mum at the train station, and they finally let me in on the secret.
MATTHEW BOURNE'S SLEEPING BEAUTY.
I WAS BOUNCING UP AND DOWN, CLAPPING AND SQUEALING WITH JOY IN THE MIDDLE OF NEW STREET FUCKING STATION. JUST EXCUSE ME FOR A MINUTE WHILE I BOUNCE SOME MORE.
I couldn't believe it. If she'd taken me to a matinee, I'd have guessed at ballet right away, but I'd completely discounted it as an evening option because SO GODDAMN EXPENSIVE since the recession put paid to arts grants. I fucking love the ballet, and I so rarely get to go any more. Also, MATTHEW FUCKING BOURNE. Dude is a minor deity. While being completely down-to-earth and not the slightest bit of a diva. And the man himself was there to introduce proceedings. *fangirls hugely*
I can't even count the ways I love Matthew Bourne's work. He is just on a wavelength that I get. He does quirky, edgy and innovative shows that hit my tastes right slap in the middle. Sleeping Beauty with a gothed-up vampire dude as the evil fairy, HOW IS THAT NOT AWESOME? And he creates tons of completely awesome parts for male dancers, a concept which pretty much turns trad ballet on its head (HIS TAKE ON DORIAN GRAY. MASTERPIECE. I will never get over the blindingly hot homoerotic photography scene in that one.) ...And it might not hurt that he's G.A.Y. with rainbows and sparkles on top and fills his company with blindingly hot guys who, to a man, ping my gaydar so high they can hear it in Soho. I mean, ballet is pretty gay anyway and always has been, but it's not usually quite so loud and proud. I fucking love it.
I just... I flat-out adored every fricken second of it. I want to go back and do it again. I WAS ALL CHOKED UP AND *THIS* CLOSE TO ACTUALLY SOBBING WHEN THE CURTAIN CAME UP, THAT'S HOW GOOD IT WAS.
salmon_man. Friend of the Year. We may only be five weeks in, but I'm calling it already. Nothing is gonna top this. <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3
(NB: This was actually written over a week ago, and LJ ate it when I tried to post it. I could've cried, and it was midnight, and I didn't have the spoons or heart to try and recreate it, so I went to bed. But I just found a draft of it that LJ seems to have saved somehow, so wheeeeeee!!!!)