This year my mom and I were having trouble figuring out a weekend to get together for our annual dinner and a show, so we worked out a way to make it happen during the week. Her schedule finally had two days in a row off, so she drove down on a Monday and left on the Wednesday morning. I worked from home on Monday and Tuesday and it worked out pretty good. Especially since I wanted to see West Side Story and it happened to be in town from June 11 – 16, which was when my mom would be in town.
West Side Story first came out in 1957, so it’s been a part of American culture for a long time. I knew generally what the story was about, but never looked into the details too much. I also recognized some of the songs that were a part of the musical. I had a good time FINALLY filling in all the blanks and finally getting to know what all the fuss about West Side Story was.
Before the show we had dinner at Park Grill, which is a nice restaurant inside Millennium Park. We each had seafood: My mom had salmon and I had walleye. Both were light and summery and very good.
After dinner and before the show we had a few minutes to spare, so we walked around the park a bit. We went to take a look at Cloud Gate (“the bean”) and the Jun Kaneko exhibit of creepy sculptures. Actually, I think they’re kind of cute. But other people have told me they think they’re creepy.
A good couple days overall. It was nice to spend some time with mom! Here are all of the dinner-and-a-show days we’ve done over the years:
2012: Buona Terra & Showboat at the Lyric Opera
2011: Gosu & Beauty and the Beast
2010: El Nandu & Hubbard Street Dance
2009: Rhapsody & Jersey Boys
2008: Landmark & Dead Man’s Cell Phone at the Steppenwolf Theater
2007: Costello’s & Blue Man Group
2005/6: Hillary’s Urban Eatery (HUE) & Wicked
2004: Petterino’s & Mamma Mia
Ze Olde Days (1999?): Riverdance in Milwaukee
Ancient Times (1997?): Lorie Line
