Last night Lisa and I were finally able to get together. Now, it helped alot that we had tickets to the ballet. We were off to see Cinderella, the last ballet for us this season. This season we only purchased tickets to three ballets. The first had me laughing (West Side Story is just silly to begin with but, ballet dancers in a gang fight?); the second was the amazing Rooster (which I've written about previously). We were almost late the first night and just made it to our seats in time. Same with the second. We thought we had lots of time last night, but the fates were against us.
Lisa and I haven't seen each other in over a month. She had a crazy month of work travel. We were really happy to get together for dinner and a chat before the show. I made it to her place in pretty good time after work and so we walked over to an Italian place near where she lives. She'd never been so we thought we would check it out. We were really impressed with the menu as there were a lot of vegetarian options. Neither of us could decide there were so many options. She finally selected the tortellini and I went for the risotto (I always forget how long this takes). We ordered some red wine and were having a great chat.
Lisa kept getting distracted as there was a woman at the table beside us that started breast-feeding her child at the table. She apparently didn't feel the need to cover herself up.
Our food finally came to the table and we were starving. It all looked so good. I picked up one forkful and it was soo good. Then I noticed something odd on the plate. It really looked like bacon and fat. That's odd, I know there wasn't any mention of meat on the menu. I asked Lisa and she agreed that it looked like meat and started to check hers. Meat there as well. So, we called over our server and she was all indignant. Of course there is meat! I was rather upset because I knew I always look for that in the menu. She took both dishes away. She came back with a menu and low and behold - no mention of meat for my dish. There was mention of meat in Lisa's, though. The waitress did feel bad that the menu was incorrect for my dish. They offered us a half litre of wine and some brushetta while we waited. The brushetta was amazing!
Unfortunately, we were now cutting it really close to get to the ballet on time. Finally our food did arrive and it was excellent. Lisa and I both agreed that if we couldn't make it to the ballet that was fine because at least we were getting to visit.
When we were done, it was only 7:38 and the ballet had started at 7:30. We can probably catch the second act! So, we hopped in a cab and off we went. They told us they wouldn't be able to seat us until the first intermission (in about 15 mins), but we could watch on the screens.
The ballet was not that good. I'm sorry, but Cinderella should not be set in the roaring '20s. I didn't like the costumes (and Lisa kept saying that Cinderella looked like a Russian hooker in her coat). The one scene with the men dancing around the world was good (well, it was a weird scene, but the dancing was great). The crazy pumpkin headed men were the highlight. It was something out of 'A Nightmare Before Christmas'. Unfortunately, I missed their big dance.
Next season they are bringing back Romeo and Juliet as well as performing Carmen. I have seen Romeo and Juliet twice (once by the Kirov Ballet) and will definitely be keen to go again. I'm really looking forward to Carmen. I suspect there will be at least one other that we'll pick and therefore we can get the subscription seats (cheaper).
I think I keep hoping that the corps of the ballet will get better and actually keep in step. I went to my first performance by the National Ballet when I was 12, I'm now 36. It hasn't happened yet, but I keep hoping it will :)
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