The Couple that Sees Plays Together

 Today is Scotty's and my 18th wedding anniversary. 

Obligatory wedding photo

We celebrated yesterday by seeing Les Miserables at Hale Centre Theatre. It was so wonderful to go to a show. I've been craving a theater experience, and after a pandemic year, it was pretty emotional to sit in my seat before the show and feel the spirit of performance. 

I'd never seen Les Mis on stage. Can you believe that? I've read the unabridged book and the abridged book. I've seen the Liam Neeson movie, the Hugh Jackman movie, and the BBC mini series. I've listened to several different cast recordings from the musical, but until yesterday I'd never seen a stage production of Les Miserables. 

It was a great way to celebrate our anniversary. We followed up with sushi at Tsunami, and then Scotty took the kids to Wendy's for their dinner while I stayed home and ate rocky road ice cream and beat levels 17 & 18 of Dr. Mario. 

(Did I mention that we opted for a 12:30 matinee because we are honorary old people, and we can’t go out with the “late” crowds?)

Going to Hale Theatre made me think of all the plays Scotty and I have seen together. I wouldn't consider us avid theater goers, but we enjoy seeing something theatrical once or twice a year. This morning we talked about which plays we've seen together and tried to compile a list. I'm sure we're missing some, but here are the ones we remembered:

The first play we saw together (we think) was one put on by our stake. We don't remember the name, but it was something "Zion-ish." Another possible first play was one written by a guy I went to high school with. Scotty and I went and saw it to fulfill an assignment for my humanities class. It was about Marco Polo (not the app). Those are our earliest theater experiences.

Then came a doozy… the time Scotty decided to surprise me for Valentine’s Day. He planned the activity - a double date with a mystery couple. Dinner and a play! We went to see the Adventures of Tom Sawyer at Hale Theatre… with Scotty’s mom and step-dad. Scotty learned, very thoroughly, that you don’t “surprise” me with a double date on Valentine’s Day with your parents. 

Those were all while we were dating. After we got married, we saw The Forgotten Carols a couple of times. I’m pretty sure we saw A Christmas Carol at Hale Theatre (Scotty can’t remember). And I think we’ve seen the Martin Harris pageant in Clarkston together.

Our stake did a production of Fiddler on the Roof (we saw that one with no air conditioning). We went to an old sugar factory turned playhouse and saw Scotty’s cousin in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (I was pregnant, and there were no bathrooms in the theater, but they had the cleanest, most spacious porta potties I’ve ever had the chance to use). 

While we were in West Yellowstone pre-kids, we saw The Foreigner at the Playmill Theater. I think the Playmill has since moved to a new location, but when we went there, it was the most claustrophobic theatre I’d ever been in (I swear the ceiling was a mere two inches from my head), and I thought I was going to have a panic attack, but it ended up being a great experience, and we loved the play!

When Nicky was about five, Scotty and I took him to his first play - Mary Poppins - at the Tuachan in Saint George. We’ve seen Aladdin and Frozen at Disney’s California Adventure. I found both of them very impressive, so they definitely “count.”

A few years ago we took Nicky to see Newsies at Hale Theatre. Then one year for Halloween, my in-laws took us to the Addams Family at Hale. We saw the first fifteen minutes, and then the fire alarms went off, and we had to vacate the theater. We got compensatory tickets and returned a few months later and saw Sessical. It was fun, but a little silly for my taste. Great for the kids though (we took Nicky and Daisy). 

Of course, we saw Hamilton when it came to Eccles Theater and then again in San Francisco. We also saw Wicked during its most recent run at Eccles. I loved it, but our seats were terrible. I want a Wicked do-over! And this time, I want Scotty to STAY AWAKE!!

(Seriously, who sleeps during Wicked?)

(Oh, just the man I’ve been married to for 18 years).

That probably sums up the plays we’ve seen together. I’ve seen lots of plays without Scotty. In junior high, my English class was able to attend several Pioneer Theater Company productions, and I’ve been to some plays with my friends for girls’ nights.

As I mentioned, I’d like to see Wicked again with better seats. I’ve never seen Phantom of the Opera on stage (we almost saw it in Vegas several years ago but ended up deciding not to). I’ve seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, but Scotty hasn’t and I think he’d love it. I can take or leave The Music Man, but if someone gave me tickets to see it with Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster, I’d be easily convinced to go and would probably become the greatest Music Man fan on earth. There are a lot more plays I’d love to see, so hopefully we have many opportunities in the future!

Happy 18th Anniversary, Scotty!