Off-season excitement

It's that time of year when theaters announce their 2008-2009 seasons, so it's an exciting time. If you like theater. Anyway, the Kennedy Center had a big ad in the Post, and I'm psyched because they're putting on a production of Ragtime, which is probably my second favorite show (after Les Mis). It's such a great show; it's a bit more mature than a lot of musicals, and has way too many songs that make me tear up just listening to them (e.g., "New Music," "Back to Before"). Plus, it's what first introduced me to Brian Stokes Mitchell. Love!

But there's more than Ragtime. They're also putting on Giant, in collaboration with the Signature Theatre, a pairing that intrigues me. Maybe I should check out the movie. Also coming to the Kennedy Center is Spring Awakening. I admit that their Tony performance didn't really make me want to see the show, but it's pretty edgy, which isn't necessarily the first word that comes to mind when I think of the Kennedy Center. And Frost/Nixon. Sadly without Michael Sheen, who I developed a crush on after seeing The Queen.

Amusingly, they're also doing Playboy of the Western World, which I saw in Helena, Montana, on a field trip with National Honor Society in 12th grade. I remember hating it, and then getting a pizza with ham and pineapple. It'd be interesting to see it again; I know that my tastes have developed since then. Or maybe I should just try reading it.

In the meantime, I'm keeping an eye out for discount tickets to History Boys at the Studio Theatre. I know I should be more motivated, but it's hard knowing that there's a movie of it out there. With the original cast. (Including the guy playing Willoughby in the new Sense & Sensibility. Weird!)