Another year of marital bliss passed this week and to celebrate, the husband took me out for a night on the town.  Friday night we ventured out to see the Queen musical, We Will Rock You.  Before the show, the husband took me out for dinner at The Brownstone Bistro, which happens to be the very first restaurant we ate at when we moved to Toronto over two years ago.  Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe it was because we lack an imagination, maybe it was because it was within two blocks of the Panasonic Theatre -- the reason for this choice really doesn't matter, supper was delicious.  Afterward, we joined the very mixed theatre-going crowd (parents with their kids, old guys who have never heard of Queen, old rocker moms -- seriously -- the crowd was interesting) and sat back and enjoyed the show. 

The plot of the show is nothing we haven't seen before; the story takes place in the future where society has been brainwashed to forget a time when there were "artists" that played "instruments" and wrote "lyrics".  The new normal is a society wherein a corporation controls what people listen to and tells them what to download. 

Wait, this is the future?? haha!  The story goes so far as to explain that it was Simon Cowell & boy-bands that destroyed music... hmm, I'd laugh but I shamelessly love AI.

There is hope, however --  there are a group of rebels or "Bohemians" who are searching for the truth, searching for these long lost instruments, trying desperately to "break free" and to think and create for themselves.  Yeah... we've seen this before: Gattaca, 1984, Brave New World, The Giver... do I really need to go on.  What made the show worthwhile was the music.  The cast is very good and the performances were excellent.  Despite the weak storyline, We Will Rock You, has been a constant on the Toronto theatre scene since December 2006 so take my word for it, the music is what makes it awesome.

I searched for a clip from the show and found this promo... it's not the greatest... but it gives you an idea of what we saw.

I'm not sure why I was surprised, but Medieval Times was so incredibly lame.  From the minute we walked into the 'castle',  we all knew we were in for a long night.  It consisted of a medieval feast  (you had to eat with your hands -- no cutlery) and a medieval tournament (jousting, sword-play, etc) -- add to that a super lame storyline whereby you had a knight to cheer for (ours was the blue knight).  The knights were vying for the affection of Princess Esmeralda.  Yea, lame!

Highlights include: the cheesy blue crowns we were forced to wear and Neil's super-sarcastic cheering.  I felt ripped off as I didn't receive a flower from the blue knight (a kissed flower, no less) -- not!!  Our knight  ended up winning the hand of the princess!  Again, I am struggling to find something positive to write here....

I thought the jousting and sword-fighting would be a lot better.  In the end, we were at the medieval version of the WWE -- where the acting was barely passable.

Overall, the food was good, the entertainment was bad and the cost astronomical!! We will never again speak of this lapse in judgment made when deciding to partake in a Medieval Times tournament.

Last night I went to my second viewing of the always fantastic, Evil Dead: The Musical.  Tim and I went last year and had a bloody good time (har har).  This time N and my little brother Joey came along for the some bloody good fun!!   If you are ever somewhere where this is playing, you should check it out.  I HIGHLY recommend it!  Splurge for the splatter zone.  This time we were 4th row centre but alas, not close enough to get splattered.  There will likely be a third viewing in my future as I feel I must at least once sit in the splatter zone!!  You can check out the soundtrack to the show at their myspace page.

Here we are last night outside of the Diesel Playhouse:

Are you all watching, How do you Solve a Problem like Maria???????   Well, you should be!!! Andrew Lloyd Webber is bringing his version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's, The Sound of Music,  to Toronto, courtesy of Mirvish Entertainment, and I could not be more excited!! I am the biggest nerd and have always loved The Sound of Music.  I agonized when a certain G. Stefani messed with the goat herder - utter blasphemy!! I even tormented N while on vacation in Austria and forced him to accompany me on a bus tour of the sites of SOM while in Salzburg!!

Just outside Hellbrun Palace... in front of the famous gazebo... "I am 16 going on 17".... 

N has been PVRing, How do you Solve a Problem Like Maria,  for me and I've just started watching (first 2 episodes) and there is no way I am not going to the show here in TO.  It will be awesome!  I know he'll think so too ;)

Make sure you vote!

Last night, NewMindSpace was hosting a free event, a Jedi Lightsabre Battle in front of the ROM. It sounded kind of fun... and well, being as the old man and I are well... old, we figured we could venture down to a pub in that general area, grab supper and a few brews and then head out to watch the spectacle unfold. I had big hopes that it would be awesome.

In its defense, the turnout was awesome. The spectacle itself, not so much. There were too many people for a true battle to take place and the black lights they had set up were not enough to make many of the lightsabres in that crowd glow. Here's some footage:

Needless to say -- we had to get our jedi fix after this disappointment so we pulled out the GameCube.

We kicked some evil Storm Trooper ass! Yes, we are this lame.