A Fine and Wicked Evening
A few months ago, I bought tickets for Darwin and me to see WICKED at the Detroit Opera House. It turned into A Thing. In a good way.
After some back-and-forth about dinner (before or after the show? where?), we--and by this I mean "I"--settled on the Whitney for supper. The Whitney is a little on the expensive side, but always worth it. It was originally the mansion of David Whitney, the wealthiest man in Michigan and one of the wealthiest men in the country in the late 1800s. The house didn't stay in the Whitney family long, though, and ended up in the hands of various medical societies in Detroit, until it was made into a restaurant in the 1980s.
And you have to dress up to go there.
Curtain was 7:30, so Darwin made reservations for 5:15. We figured this would make arrival tricky--we'd be heading through Detroit during rush hour--so we planned to leave at 4:15. I usually get home from work at 3:30, so I had to zip home in order to have time to shower and dress. We chose our dress clothes, and I decided the unseasonably warm weather didn't require a coat on top of my jacket, but I did grab a white scarf on our way our the door for a jaunty bit of fashionable warmth.
Looking fine, we headed over to the restaurant. Traffic wasn't a problem at all, and we arrived ten minutes early. (!) While the valets whisked our car away, Darwin gave the maître d' his name and added, "I should have used the name Whitney-McClary, since David Whitney was my cousin." (This is true.) The maître d' laughed and said, "Well, then--can I show you to your table early?" This was actually a joke--the restaurant was largely empty at that hour.
The food was wonderful. I started with their lobster bisque--so creamy!-- and moved on to their famous Beef Wellington--so tender!-- while Darwin opted for beef filet. We lingered, partly because we were enjoying the restaurant and each other's company, and partly because we had plenty of time.
We finally left the restaurant about an hour before curtain, which turned out to be perfect timing. The Opera House has its own parking structure, but it does take time to negotiate it when you have several thousand audience members all heading in at the same time! We actually got into the theater half an hour before curtain, which gave us plenty of time to find out seats, just the way we like it.
I've never seen WICKED, but I know the music and story already. Darwin knew nothing about it, and wanted to be surprised, so I only gave him the premise: it's THE WIZARD OF OZ from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West.
"Is this going to try to make me like the witch?" he asked. "Because I don't want to!"
And the show began.
It was marvelous fun and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The actors were a delight, and the audience was enthusiastic, which always makes for a grand show.
When it ended, I turned to Darwin. "Do you like the witch now?"
"Dammit, I do," he said.
Getting out of the parking structure didn't take nearly as long as we feared it might. And we got home without incident.
It was a fine evening together!
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After some back-and-forth about dinner (before or after the show? where?), we--and by this I mean "I"--settled on the Whitney for supper. The Whitney is a little on the expensive side, but always worth it. It was originally the mansion of David Whitney, the wealthiest man in Michigan and one of the wealthiest men in the country in the late 1800s. The house didn't stay in the Whitney family long, though, and ended up in the hands of various medical societies in Detroit, until it was made into a restaurant in the 1980s.
And you have to dress up to go there.
Curtain was 7:30, so Darwin made reservations for 5:15. We figured this would make arrival tricky--we'd be heading through Detroit during rush hour--so we planned to leave at 4:15. I usually get home from work at 3:30, so I had to zip home in order to have time to shower and dress. We chose our dress clothes, and I decided the unseasonably warm weather didn't require a coat on top of my jacket, but I did grab a white scarf on our way our the door for a jaunty bit of fashionable warmth.
Looking fine, we headed over to the restaurant. Traffic wasn't a problem at all, and we arrived ten minutes early. (!) While the valets whisked our car away, Darwin gave the maître d' his name and added, "I should have used the name Whitney-McClary, since David Whitney was my cousin." (This is true.) The maître d' laughed and said, "Well, then--can I show you to your table early?" This was actually a joke--the restaurant was largely empty at that hour.
The food was wonderful. I started with their lobster bisque--so creamy!-- and moved on to their famous Beef Wellington--so tender!-- while Darwin opted for beef filet. We lingered, partly because we were enjoying the restaurant and each other's company, and partly because we had plenty of time.
We finally left the restaurant about an hour before curtain, which turned out to be perfect timing. The Opera House has its own parking structure, but it does take time to negotiate it when you have several thousand audience members all heading in at the same time! We actually got into the theater half an hour before curtain, which gave us plenty of time to find out seats, just the way we like it.
I've never seen WICKED, but I know the music and story already. Darwin knew nothing about it, and wanted to be surprised, so I only gave him the premise: it's THE WIZARD OF OZ from the point of view of the Wicked Witch of the West.
"Is this going to try to make me like the witch?" he asked. "Because I don't want to!"
And the show began.
It was marvelous fun and we enjoyed it thoroughly. The actors were a delight, and the audience was enthusiastic, which always makes for a grand show.
When it ended, I turned to Darwin. "Do you like the witch now?"
"Dammit, I do," he said.
Getting out of the parking structure didn't take nearly as long as we feared it might. And we got home without incident.
It was a fine evening together!
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