Phantom

My wife and I have been together since March 28th, 1991. So after many years of suggesting my wife decided to "surprise" me with tickets to the Broadway show "PHANTOM." We decided to observe this date on March 25th, as I have one of my rare tax-season days off on the 26th.

We met at the corner of 44th and Broadway at 6 o'clock. We intended to go to Carmine's for their Italian cuisine for dinner, however the one hour wait didn't leave us much time for dinner and the show that started at 8:00. Instead we went to a place down the block, and across the street from the theater. I think it was McIndie's or something like that. Whatever, as long as the place was nice. Prices were as expected for the Times Square area. Stacey had fish and chips, I had penne with sausage. Both are our weaknesses. Of course I had a couple Bass Ales to wash it all down. This would prove to be the second big mistake of the evening. Second? Well, the penne was laced with large amounts of garlic. I'm allergic to mass quantities of garlic. That wouldn't make itself apparent until 4 o'clock in the morning when I awoke violently ill with the most severe indigestion. A little, okay A LOT of seltzer fixed that up. I'll get to the first in a moment.

Anyway, we finished our meals in good time and headed over to the theater. At 7:20 the line to get in was already down the block on both sides of the entrance. We proceed in and my wife managed to get some really nice seats. We were in the fifth row of the second mezzanine, towards the middle, with a PERFECT view of the stage. Bravo, hun, on your selection.

At 8:10 the show started. The auction scene. From that moment I knew this was going to be delightful. The lighting, choreography, singing, and elaborate sets were all spectacular. About 10 minutes into the show I realized the first big mistake, the beer, and had to run to the bathroom. Luckily the place was well thought out and I missed about a minute of the show only. Thank goodness.

All in all, I'd say wonderful! Amazing! If you're in NY, you must see this show but you must order your tickets well in advance as all the best seats sell quickly.

My wife was so enchanted by this, her first Broadway show, that she's already considering which one she'd like to go to next.

But I already know what show she WILL see next. My gift to her were tickets to see her favorite band GARBAGE when they come to NY next month, four days after the end of tax season. On this anniversary we both got something we will remember forever.