#16: See a musical.

Ok so, technically I'd already done this, because we saw Phantom of the Opera with my elementary school, and my parents took us to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when Donny Osmond was in it but he was sick that day and we were saddled with the understudy, who was quite good but no Donny, and I'm pretty sure I saw Rent once.  But all of those were in childhood and so somehow don't count, so maybe this should have been 'See a musical as an adult.'

H'anyvays, last Wednesday was our anniversary so Joel took me down to the Belfry Theater to see The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  I love both musicals and spelling bees, so there was no way this was going to go wrong.

It went insanely right.  Because somehow while I was in the bathroom, Joel signed us both up to be in the musical as volunteer extras.  We and two other folks were given our instructions (go to the microphone, ask for a definition/for the word to be used in a sentence, spell the word) with the assurance that when it was our time to be cleared from the stage, we'd be given a word we'd have no way of spelling.

FRIENDS!  They have UNDER-ESTIMATED MY SUPERIOR SPELLING CAPABILITIES!  Because when my role was done and they threw me my stage-clearing word, I got it right.  The word was 'smoogligan' which is not actually a word, but which is also basically 'hooligan' with some consonantal variety.  There was silence behind me on the stage and I do not lie, I was smug.

I sat my smugness down and they called me right back up to the mike and everyone larfed because the girl!  She spells!  They gave me 'pheochromocytomata' which took me down by two letters (ironically, Joel, who was slewn by 'spelunk' can spell 'pheochromocytomata' with his eyes closed) and the 'comfort counselor' came to sing me off stage and the song went on for ages and all told I was onstage for the entire first act and it was a HOOT, but I was delighted to get my consolatory juice box and return to my seat.

Notes for next musical: definitely be participant, wherever possible.  Run onstage, if need be.  Also, do not thrust hand so aggressively into trench pocket, for pictures.