Monday, January 16, 2006

Looking up from the foyer of the Disney Concert Hall.

Sing Out: I'd been wanting to see Chanticleer for years. But I somehow always missed the opportunity. And I almost missed this one. They played in Los Angeles only one evening, Tuesday, Dec. 21. But the tickets had been sold out for days.

The ticket reservations agent suggested that I come back at 6 p.m. that evening, as subscribers who couldn't use their tickets would return or exchange them at the box office.

So as darkness fell, I took my place in line with well-dressed people in black, many of them my parents' age, but also many in their 20's and 30's. I waited for almost two hours, my hopes waning by the minute. I was the sixth person in line, and the first four got tickets (at $55 a piece), and the fifth person decided to bail out with only 15 minutes until curtain call.

With 10 minutes to spare, a kind man in his 40's, who was in line before me, walked up to me, handed me a ticket and said, "Here. Merry Christmas."

Me (incredulous): You're giving me this ticket?!

Man (smiling): Yes.

Me: (still disbelieving) You're GIVING me this ticket?

Man: Yes.

Me (almost hugging him but maintaining composure): Thank you! Oh my God. Holy (expletive)! Oh, excuse me. Thank you - Merry Christmas.

And I ran inside. I sat on a side balcony with a clear and close view of the stage. And I heard a beautiful, candle-lit a cappella concert with three encores, ending with a soul-shivering "Silent Night." I wish I could show you a photo of the inside of the concert hall - but a very stern usher forbade me to snap a picture).

Running Update: I ran only 12 miles on Saturday, instead of my scheduled 15, as I woke up late. Average pace was 9:42/mile, which was about where I wanted it to be. I was already late to meet a friend afterwards, so I didn't stretch. Bad, bad idea.

The next day, I ran 3.2 miles with P., who had returned from running both the Walt Disney World Marathon and Half-Marathon the previous week (and PR'ed in both!). We ran at a 9:15/mile pace. Again, I didn't stretch.

Within a few hours, my right knee was stiff and hurt pretty fiercely. I knew the problem so much wasn't my knee, but my tight right hip. Aaargh. Taking a bikrim yoga class this evening - hope it helps. And a Tylenol. Tomorrow I've got 8-9 miles of intervals. Knees, don't quit on me now .....

4 comments:

  1. I love the architecture of the Disney Concert Hall. Fabulous. I am sure the acoustics were incredible too.
    Your photos are nicely composed too. You must be in the news business :)

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  2. love the architecture, and what a great story...

    frank gehry is canadian, he was asked to re-design the fascia of The Art Gallery of Ontario in Canada, everyone was expecting it to look like Balboa, or this concert hall, all roundish, and it was all flat planes!

    being canadians, everyone was polite to him, and then grumbled their disappointment later!

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  3. How cool is that. There are nice people in this cold hard world.

    That is one gorgeous building. Too bad the name puts me off.

    And that sounds like one incredible concert. Putting it on my list.

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  4. Always stretch. Always stretch. Aaaalllllwwwwwaaaayyyyyssss.

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