The Real Point of This Post...

I've seen Wicked way too many times. That didn't stop me from trekking downtown yesterday at 4:00 pm, in a blizzard, to try to get lottery tickets to see it again. I was unlucky. Although, they did call a Laura Burham and I held my breath for a second because, see, I'd waited in the freezing cold so when I wrote my name down on the card, my hand was numb and I thought, "Maybe I accidentally wrote something that looked like Laura Burham." But then the real Laura Burham started screaming and hooting and hollering so I was pretty confident that she was the actual winner. After the lottery, they offered discounted tickets.

Now, being a bit of a theatre connoisseur, I knew that if I wanted to buy tickets at full price right now (I don't) they'd be a pretty penny. I also knew that the good evil people of Salt Lake City are selling their tickets online for three times what they paid for them. So when they offered discounted tickets, I jumped on that deal. And that is how I ended up seeing Wicked again. Three days after I'd just seen it. It's kind of like going to see a movie more than once. If movies cost a whole hefty bunch more than they do, that is.

One of my biggest life laments is the cost of shows. Or maybe the lament is that I'm not wealthy. If I had more money, the cost of shows would be completely inconsequential. Well, that's neither here nor there. Shows are expensive and my wallet is slim. The end.

I just really felt that if Laura Burham got to see the show last night, I should too. And I'd driven through a crazy snowstorm to get there. So my friend and I graced the theatre (this particular one which happens to spell itself "theater" and I shudder whenever I see it) and I viewed the musical yet again.

On my way there, though, I thought about turning back several times. I prayed even, as I saw cars stuck in snow banks on the side of the road, "God, should I turn back?" In the absence of a clear answer, I just kept driving. I called Troy, "Husband, should I turn back?" He told me he thought it would be smooth sailing once I made it to the freeway. And he was right. But I said, "Okay, well, if I happen to die on my way there, I love you."

"At least if you die, it'll be doing something you love," he replied.

Except that I'm not sure that driving through the snow to try to win theatre lottery tickets is actually what I love. Now, if I'd been in the show and a lighting fixture had fallen on my head, then maybe we could say that I died doing something I love.

It was at 3:15 pm that I said to my husband something along the lines of, "I think I'll set out in this blizzard and try to get Wicked tickets for tonight. I'll be gone until 11:30 tonight and I'm leaving you with a sick toddler, mmmkay?"

And he was like, "Be safe. Turn around if you don't feel comfortable. Call me if you need help getting out of a snow bank. Have fun."

It was at 5:30 that I texted him and basically said, "I didn't win because I am not one bit lucky when it comes to winning theatre lottery tickets but they're offering discounted tickets which are way more than lottery tickets but also way less than actual tickets so is it okay if I go ahead and do it?"

And he was like, "Sure. Yes."

Ladies, find yourself a man like this. My husband isn't perfect and sure there are things I would change. Just like I'm sure that he wouldn't mind one bit if I didn't sing show tunes all the time. But he is always willing to support me even if he doesn't quite get it. I'm sure that driving downtown in the snow to see a show I saw three days ago seemed insane to him. But he never said no. He never cautioned me against it. He basically said, "Be safe. Have fun."

I told him he was great last night. It doesn't hurt to say it again, more publicly.

But the real point of this post is that there's someone living in my city with the name Laura Burham and she likes theatre. I don't know if Salt Lake is big enough for the two of us.