PHANTOM!!

Okay, it wasn't the original plan.

The original plan many weeks ago was that my mom and dad, along with my sister and her husband, were going to see Phantom of the Opera at Fair Park in Dallas today, and I was going to babysit.

Well, technically, the original plan was that I would be going with them. But the ticket price was a bit too steep for me to swing, and I'd seen Phantom on stage before (although it was a few years back), so I offered to babysit instead.

We didn't know just how sick Pop would be by now. He definitely did not feel able to manage a trip in to downtown Dallas today. It's been a bad week. I won't go into details, but we're just thankful he's not back in the hospital. I'm telling you, it's been rough.

Anyway, there was this ticket to Phantom floating around... so we got Martha and Alice and Isaac and Pop to stay home with Ava, and I went along with them to see Phantom.

It definitely did NOT disappoint. The music, the costumes, THE STORYLINE... all of them just give me cold chills (in a good way). This production was wonderful, even with all the understudies and substitutions. The guy who did the Phantom was a sub, but I thought he was just wonderful. The costumes were over-the-top awesome, especially in the "Masquerade" sequence. My favorite singer, interestingly, was the one who played the part of Madame Giry... she had an unusual richness and was more understandable than anyone else -- even though I know the story and the songs quite well.

"Love me... that's all I ask of you."

So meaningful. Bravo, y'all! I'm sorry Pop didn't feel well, but I'm grateful for the chance to see the show again.