Following in her footsteps
When theater is in your blood
My mom was about my age when she took me to see my first play at the Fifth Avenue Theater. It was my second year of the community theater summer stock program and the Fifth Avenue Theater invited us kids and parents to one of their shows. I’ll never forget seeing Annie for the first time with my friends. My mom even let me borrow her glasses because from where I was sitting, I couldn’t see a thing!
When I was in high school, after my dad passed away, my mom bought season tickets to both the Fifth Avenue and the Paramount Theater. We saw multiple shows per year and she popped for really good 1st mezzanine seats. We had really great memories, going to dinner, dressing up and we even celebrated her 75th birthday by seeing Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat. One of her favorites! That night, I gifted her the blue sapphire and opal ring that came back to me when she died. It was something we really enjoyed sharing together.
Coronavirus cut the current season short, but I’m excited to say I signed up for my second season yesterday! I think about her when things like this happen, and I’m fortunate to be able to share this with my girls, and my husband who enjoys a good play now and then. (And since he’s a “dad of theater girls” he’s well versed on the struggle and hard work of being in the theater.) I also popped for good aisle seats, but this time on the main floor to accommodate my disabled daughter (and my diminished eye sight). I can’t wait to see Evita, Shrek - The Musical, Godspell and Les Miserable over the next 12 months.
Keeping traditions alive is the least I can do to keep her memory alive. She’d be proud of my contribution to the arts in Seattle and passing these memories onto my girls.