One of the first theatrical productions I ever saw was ‘The King
and I’ at Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera. I must have been about four
when my Grandma took me to see it. I enjoyed it very much. I still remember
being very moved, especially at the end. As we left the theater, I turned
to my Grandma and said, “Grandma, when I grow up I want to be ‘I’.” My
Grandma interpreted this to mean that I wanted to be a teacher, but I think
I just wanted to wear hoop skirts and dance around the stage with the King.
Another play I saw with Grandma was ‘My Fair Lady.’ I’ve seen the play
and the movie several times since then, and it remains one of my favorite
musicals. My big memory of this play was having to go to the bathroom during
the horse race scene, just in time to miss Liza’s line ‘Move your bloomin’
‘orse!’ Grandma wasn’t very happy about that, as I remember.
I was a little older when Grandma took me to ‘Mame,’ so I remember
it better. Even though I’ve never seen it since, I can remember the plot,
and even some of the jokes. Like at the end when the grown up Patrick sees
the girl he went to school with (at an innovative place where they didn’t
wear clothes) and he says, “I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you with your
clothes on.”
