You Probably Won't Believe It ... But You Should ...

...
We know you probably think we should be attending to more important duties, and we probably should, but ... We do spend a good deal of time at the office each day (often 9 or 10 hours). So sometimes we take a break and enjoy our friends here. The senior couples (we call ourselves the "Expatriates") frequently get together on Family Home Evening events, firesides, to watch the 24th of July Tab Choir show, and other fun things. Well ...

On Friday, August 1, Sister Roundy dragged Elder Roundy off to a stage show with the Expatriates. He was kickin' and screamin' all the way, moanin' and groanin'. First we stopped at an "American" steakhouse and had a swell dinner (she salmon, he prime rib -- he liked that). The restaurant is in the Asian Mall (said to be the world's largest) and near the Philippines Cultural Center (see below). After getting lost in the world's largest mall and ending up in the "north" parking lot rather than the "south," we finally caught up with our friends and rode in a van with them down to the Manila ocean front to the Philippines Cultural Center.

This place is a huge complex of theaters and pavilions. (We've been there a several times -- to an opera, to a symphony concert, to The Osmonds.) On Friday we went to a stage production of "Cinderella." We had balcony seats, which we decided suited us just fine because we could sort of look down on the whole stage and see perfectly.

The show was stunning! The staging was superb. The scenery was magnificent! The orchestra was ... slightly out of tune. The sound system was brilliant. The singing was fantastic.

The Fairy Godmother appeared out of a puff of smoke. The little rats (about the size of a pup) pranced and danced, and even sang a couple of songs.

The Ugly Stepsisters and the Wicked Stepmother stole the show. The costumes were topnotch.

The technical scenery was famous. Right before your eyes a pumpkin became this ornate gold coach. No lie ... a pumpkin morphed into a gold coach and Cinderella was driven to the ball by her pet mice (who became prancing steeds) with the rats as the coachman and driver.

The prince fell in love and they all lived happy ever after.

Then we drove home up the EDSA (a virtual parking lot), humming and singing all the way.

This production was excellent. We've seen a couple of Broadway shows and this was ever bit as well done. Elder Roundy is still moanin' and grumblin', but now it's about wondering when the next show will be in town.