2009 In Review

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness; it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity; it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness; it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair; we had everything before us, we had nothing before us; we were all going directly to Heaven, we were all going the other way.”

I don’t believe there is another quote in the world of literature that could come closer than this to summarizing this past year for me. These immortal words from by opening of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, pretty much hit the nail on the head. 2009 was a year that contained my highest highs and my lowest lows. My happiest and my saddest; in many ways 2009 was the best year of my life, it was equally the worst and I am glad that it is almost over.

2009 dawned a very promising year; a great fun year of going and doing. Early on I spent a week in London for a friend’s birthday.

It was the year of musicals and few people like a good Broadway show better than I. This year I saw:

The Adventures of Priscilla (in London)

Wicked (in London)

The Lion King (OKC)

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (OKC)

The Drowsy Chaperone (OKC)

Wicked (Tulsa) – Head and shoulders above the London production

The Producers (OKC) – possibly the best Lyric Theater production I’ve ever seen

Little Shop of Horrors (OKC)

Margaret Cho (OKC)

Sweeny Todd (OKC)

In 2009 something happened that I never believed would happen and for a time, I was the happiest person in the world.

The worst thing of the year was losing a good friend. Not just any friend, but my best friend of 7 years. The best friend I’ve ever had and may ever have. We took a trip to Tulsa this past summer and saw the Oklahoma Aquarium, but the highlight of the trip was going to see Wicked. We then went out of the town and had such a good time; we stayed an extra day, checked out the Philbrook Museum of Art and did it all over again.

There is a duet in the musical Wicked sang by Glinda and Elphaba called “For Good.” I have included a link to Kristen Chenoweth sining it. I would like to dedicate it to my friend.

I don’t know for sure what the future holds, I can only say 2009 did a number on me and I am not the same person that started the year.

Usually I stay home on New Year’s Eve as I consider it amateur night, but maybe not this year. The last day of this year is both a full moon and a blue moon. Perhaps I’ll venture out to say goodbye and good riddance to 2009. Then again, maybe I won’t….