Cinderella

For our family Christmas gift exchange, I chose Maren. She is our resident prima ballerina, so I bought two tickets to the local professional ballet company's performance of Cinderella. It was kind of a tough gift to open on Christmas Eve because as everyone else was opening their cool toy or what-not, Maren opened an envelope. She was excited though, and finally, this Saturday, the day arrived for the ballet!

We dressed up in our best "theater" outfits and had lunch downtown at a fancy schmancy restaurant.

Maren is the greatest because she is in awe about every little detail. She was awestruck by the ornate statues in the theater and everything about the place from the red carpet to the pictures and chandeliers. So we took our seats in the balcony (luckily we had binoculars, it was a long way up!), and watched the most different version of Cinderella that I can ever imagine.

It was very good, and the dancing was inspiring. Of coarse, the Prince was all man (if you know what I mean - Lauren, this brings back a mission memory.), and I had to put the binoculars down for that, but otherwise, the dancing and music were absolutely beautiful. What was completely odd about the story, though, was that for one thing, Cinderella's father did not die as in the Disney version and others I've read, but was a depressed drunk! Also, the biggest difference was that instead of a fairy god-mother, graveyard ghosts give her a dress and then come to the ball, put a spell on everyone else, and strip the dress off of her as the clock strikes midnight. Weird! Lastly, Cinderella doesn't fall in love with the Prince, (and he didn't necessarily want to marry a commoner, but the shoe fit...) she falls in love with the Prince's servant. Anyway, Cinderella and the servant end up in love and walk off into the sunset (or it could have been the moonlight -- it was a spotlight, nevertheless) together to pursue their love. Ahhhh...

After the performance, the cast was supposed to be in the greenroom for photos and autographs. So I grabbed Maren's little hand and raced down there as quick as we could. Anyway, there was some sort of 'engagement' going on in the greenroom and the cast was to be out in the main foyer. So we go out there and the only cast members to show up were two of the "carnival parade members". A little disappointing, but we took a picture, even though totally wanted to see Cinderella. Oh well...

It was the perfect date. Maren is at a wonderful age where she is sweet and fun to be with and just loves everything about life. (Although I suspect that Maren's personality will be that way throughout the years.) We had a great time. Merry Christmas, Maren! We'll definitely do this again.