"Oliver!"

Today we were up and dressed up to take my oldest granddaughter to see the show "Oliver!". It was at the Historic Fulton Opera House in town...http://www.fultontheatre.org/.

This wonderful old theatre had been remodeled a few years back and this was the first time I'd been in it since the remodeling. Though not as big as some theatres, this one had all very good seats and it was easy to see the actors in all their glory and makeup. All the beautiful woodwork was gold gilded and restored to it's original beauty. There were also some very beautiful artworks that were hidden for years and surprised everyone with their near pristine beauty once uncovered. All the chandeliers are original but refitted for electricity and the bulbs that were used were hand made with a handcrafted element. The walls are decorated with all kinds of show advertisements from the history of the theatre. Still with all the restoration, there was a sense of oldness about it; a grandness; a maturity, or time lapse and elegance that's not seen in newer buildings. Kind of like Grandma's house; very old and very grand. The seats and railings were covered with red velvet. It's a beautiful theatre.

The show "Oliver!" was simply wonderful! It was 3½ hours of wonderful entertainment and my granddaughter Abigail loved it as much as we did. To me, there is simply nothing like the theatre. The cast got a standing ovation for their performance. I love plays and musical entertainment and prefer it much, much more than to a movie theater.

Husband never visited the theatre before he met me. The first time I took him to the Hershey Theatre to see the play "Cats". He still talks about that play. He was so impressed with the way they introduced the play and the characters danced down the aisles to the stage, one actually stopping to shake his hand! He loved that play and you would have thought it was the next thing to heaven. Before the show, we stopped at the Hershey Hotel for dinner in their 4* restaurant. The second time we saw a play was to visit a local dinner-theater to see "Guys and Dolls". For this one, dinner was first and then the show which was just as enjoyable as "Cats".

After the show today, we took Abby to a nearby deli that is known for their wonderful sandwiches, all named after birds. The waitress gave her a child's menu and her dinner looked at least as good if not better than my own. Her menu also had puzzles and coloring areas and came equipped with crayons which she took advantage of.

We talked about our next trip to the Fulton Theatre to see the play "Thoroughly Modern Millie" which is one I want to see. And we also talked about a train trip to Philadelphia with both Abigail and Hanna to the Museum of Natural History. I think both children will get a kick out of that!

On the way home we talked about our 25th wedding anniversary that is coming up January 4th. Husband said he didn't know what we would do for it and I told me that we had just done it. This was all I wanted...a trip to the theatre to see an excellent production. I don't need anything else except maybe a trip to New York to see the Broadway show, "Phantom of the Opera".