valet

A Night with Evita (and Mom and Carol)

Last night, Mom, our friend Carol and I got to see a traveling Broadway show, “Evita.” It was one of those nights in Houston that makes me think I could stay here forever. It was a cool 70ish degrees with a nice breeze, result of a front that blew in earlier this week.

After nailing a piece of garbage to my pantry wall (a disgarded piece of metal that I pull out of my neighbors trashcan that morning) (It’s a shelf), I walked to the couple of blocks over to Carol’s converted duplex.

Mom and Carol were on the porch enjoying some wine. In a way that I feel I can never be a natural at, Carol had done the cool hostess thing and laid out a feast of olives, cheeses, sausage and crackers. You might even call it charcuterie.

I pass by Carol’s porch almost nightly, so it was quite the treat to get to swing on the swings that I’ve envied so many evenings. We sat and chatted with Carol until it was time to leave for the show (which, in review, I notice that I did not say that it was at TUTS.)

Of course, true to Macrander woman nature, we ended up running a few minutes late to the show. For time’s sake, we valeted the Matrix for a cool $20, which Mom insisted on paying. I’m sure wherever they parked the Trix, it felt fancy next to all the luxury vehicles.That was, of course, until the Trix saw its neighbor Astro Van, which was also valeted. Props to that owner.

After a short while in the holding space, we were lead to our seats, which offered a pleasant view at the Matinee level. It’s also worth mentioning that those seats were very comfortable, maybe too comfortable.

All three of us were newbies to this musical, which is about the life and rise to fame of Eva Paron, a noted – say reveared – actress and political figure in Argentina. I’d read the synopsis before going into the show, which proved to be helpful as much of the show is singing, singing, singing, with very little dialogue.

The dancing was amazing and left me awed by the physical prowess of the actors. Also, I hope at least one of them is wearing a Fitbit. I’d be very curious to know how many steps is in a show with so much movement.

I wished coming out of the show that I had more knowledge of Argentine history. The show ends with, “and then her body was gone for 17 years.” Mom, Carol and I were left kinda saying…”what??” as we walked out of the theater and into the crowd of people waiting for valeted cars.

We headed home back to the little neighborhood that was already sleeping for the night. I brought Mom up to see my piece of garbage nailed to the wall and to say goodnight to Agdog.

Then I went to bed, humming, “Don’t cry for me Argentina…”