an evening in Vegas...sort of

I went out to a dinner theatre for the very first time in my life last night. And yes, it was even cornier and cheesier than one might expect. And I'd expected a lot of corn and cheese. Enough for several burritos. So it was even better than I had ever dared to hope!

We were celebrating my parents' 40th wedding anniversary so it was them, plus both sisters and their spouses, myself...and an empty seat beside me. Which is the story of my life, really. The Big Sis has been married for something close to forever and the Lil Sis usually has some spouse or other. And I have my trusty empty seat beside me. Plenty of elbow room for the TeDiouS one on these family outings.

Sigh.

Honestly, though, it didn't much bother me anymore. I had gotten used to it over the years.

But.

But now...I know there's someone who could and should be sitting there with me. And his absence beside me in that empty seat is a palpable presence to me. Which sounds oxymoronic, I know. But I can feel his absence, as though it were a physical thing.

Still, there was a lot of fun to be had. The theme for the evening was "Luck be a Lady", and the show was all about old Vegas, the rat pack, Frank Sinatra and the songs from that era. The waiters and waitresses are as much a part of the show as what's going on onstage. Our waitress....uh...waiter?....was a girl in drag playing a cheeseball lothario. And you have not lived until a gender-confused waitperson with a glued-on soul patch and badly disguised breasts has been suggestively hitting on your mom for an entire evening.

The show was funny and entertaining, the atmosphere fun in a "yeah, we all know this is corny as hell, isn't it great?" sort of way, the music really well done with quite good voices among the cast, and the food was...edible. Mostly.

My overall thoughts on dinner theatre after this first experience?

Go for the corn. Go for the cheese. Don't go for the food.