Wonder Dan Falls in Love With Musical Theater (RE-POST from 2/12/11)

This weekend, I am performing the role of Cinderella in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods. I thought this blog post from 2011 was appropriate. My husband, Dan, and his family are still very supportive of my musical theater endeavors, often driving several hours to watch my productions.

Cast members from Sweeney Todd, October 2014

With Valentine's Day looming around the corner, I decided to dedicate the subject of my February blog postings to Wonder Dan, my fabulous husband. Much of my blog is spent "teasing" (a euphemism, he would say, for "making fun of") Dan and discussing the dynamics of our relationship. In honor of Valentine's Day, I thought it would be extra nice of me to focus on the many positive attributes of my husband. I've even chosen a nickname for him - Wonder Dan the Super Husband.

When Dan and I first started dating, he had no idea that he was also going to be forced into a relationship with musical theater. An Idaho native, raised in a rural town by an avid hunter and fisherman, Dan could not predict that he would be spending most of his married life watching theater productions. We go to an average of about twelve shows a year, and that doesn't include the must-see tours that come to nearby cities; Jesus Christ Superstar and Wicked in Seattle, Spring Awakening and The Lion King in Salt Lake are just a few examples.

Now would Wonder Dan have discovered this "passion" for musical theater without me? Probably not. But I think he secretly loooves it.

Of course, it doesn't hurt that often times I am the one performing in the musicals. He can spend all evening staring at me because - in reality - it's me that he loooves, so much so that he's been willing to develop an appreciation for a pass-time that he would never have otherwise considered.

Wonder Dan first saw me perform in a local production of Oliver! We had only been on a date or two by that time, but he came anyway and sat in the audience all by himself. After the show, he was waiting for me in the parking lot.

"Good job," he mumbled shyly, looking down at the asphalt. Then he waved goodbye and sauntered off to his car.

Since then, he has had to sit through many musicals and operas. If I am one of the performers, he always shows up with a bouquet of roses.

We go to all of the local community theater events together - Boise Little Theater, Boise Music Week, Music Theatre of Idaho, Opera Idaho, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Boise Contemporary Theater. We even go to the Live in HD Metropolitan Opera showings at our local movie theater.

Eventually, I convinced him to buy season tickets to Broadway in Boise a few years ago, and the only production he missed due to a work responsibility was 42nd Street. That's when I realized Wonder Dan was actually started to like this crazy theater stuff.

Last summer in New York, we bought tickets ahead of time to three Broadway shows without any protestations from Wonder Dan.

Our last night in NYC, it was Dan who suggested, “We’ve got one more night here. Maybe we should see another show.”

I think he has discovered that not all musicals are Rogers and Hammerstein.

Musicals like Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Chicago, Sweet Charity, and Promises Promises have elicited responses from him such as, “abstract,” “conceptual,” “postmodern,” and "Kristin Chenoweth sounds really good live.”

Most recently, we saw Sondheim's Company, after which Dan commented on the "cool lyrics."

"Well, duh. It's Sondheim," was my reply.

And remember that avid hunter and fisherman who raised Wonder Dan? Dan’s father, an outdoors enthusiast and a retired Fish and Game Officer, has even been known to drive all the way up from Rigby to watch me perform. I seriously doubt that I would have ever seen him in an audience of Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, Jekyll and Hyde, or The King and I had it not been for my influence on Wonder Dan's family. Pride in loved one's achievements must run in Wonder Dan's genes.

In a recent Fresh Air interview, Ed Helms (who plays Andy on The Office) told Terry Gross, "I think anyone who says they don't like Broadway musicals is lying or trying to be too cool for school or something because they're just unstoppably good songs."

As much as Wonder Dan tries to be "too cool for school," in his heart, I think he truly respects this great art form. And getting to see his wife strut around on stage occasionally (sometimes a little suggestively) is probably a definite plus.

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