Last night, my daughter and I attended something very exclusive. Picture this, if you will: dozens of glamorous celebrities arriving on a long red carpet. Flashbulbs are going off as the paparazzi try to capture an elusive front page scoop. Everyone is dressed to the nines and thrilled to be attending the world-premiere, sneak peek, VIP preview of ... wait for it, wait for it ...
GLEE, THE 3D CONCERT MOVIE!
(And, the crowd goes wild.)
All right, I'm stretching things just a little here.
The celebrities were actually tween girls from the surrounding area. Most wore jeans or shorts and tee shirts, but they all sported Glee hats, backpacks, lanyards with all-access VIP passes, and souvenir 3D glasses. The aforementioned red carpet was really the lobby of the multiplex's wall-to-wall (technically, it was red though). Let's face it. The Showcase Cinemas in Revere, MA is a far cry (a far, far cry) from Hollywood Boulevard. Yet I have to tell you that the excitement there last night was worthy of the most starstruck evening in Tinseltown.
My daughter and I are self-professed "Gleeks." We love the show. We listen to the music (my husband would say that we do so ad nauseam). We buy the DVDs. We've seen the cast live in concert twice. When I learned that there were sneak preview tickets available for the insanely popular franchise's new movie, I didn't hesitate. The showing would take place just a few days after my daughter's return from camp and I thought it would be a wonderful surprise. A great way for us to reconnect after three weeks apart.
Uh ... wrong!
Of course, the tickets (which had been delivered in the backpacks I talked about earlier along with a host of Glee-branded promotional items) were quite well-received. The movie had been buzzed about at camp and my daughter now had a very cool reason to jump onto Facebook and update all her BFFs. So, my assumption that she would want to go was well-founded. My assumption that she would want to go with me? Not so much.
The absolutely positively very first thing she said was, "I want to invite S_____."
We adore S______. She has been one of my daughter's closest comrades since they were just two years old and attended Sundance Preschool together. Not only is she a delightful young woman, but she genuinely appreciates music and dance. She lives in the next town, and ironically that may be why the girls have stayed so close. Had they attended the same school, clashing class schedules and diverging interests might have sent them separate ways. Instead, we have to make a bit more of an effort for them to connect but it's always worth it.
After a mere three seconds of maternal disappointment, I realized that my daughter's suggestion was ... perfection.
So, off we went. If the incessant chatter coming from the backseat was any indication, the girls were just a little excited. I went into the theatre lobby with them but once I was sure they knew where they were going, I exited stage left. (And, yes, I have to admit that the crowd headed into the screening was significantly younger than yours truly.)
For the next ninety minutes, the girls were wowed by live concert footage, intimate backstage drama, intense real-life stories of kids who were inspired to be their best because of Glee. I was wowed by the sandwich selection at the Stop and Shop across the street. (I needed dinner and the nachos at the theatre concession stand just weren't going to cut it — see my earlier post Orange Food.) While they laughed and cried and sang along to the movie, I settled into a surprisingly cushy couch in the lobby and caught up on the latest issue of The New Yorker.
And, then they came tumbling out of the theatre, resembling nothing so much as tipsy long-legged kittens. They came rushing over and recounted (in several cases, singing, dancing and acting out) all of the movie's highlights for me. And, while I might have liked the movie (in case you're wondering, we will almost certainly acquire the DVD when it's released in a few months), it couldn't have compared to the private show I enjoyed.
Now, that was a VIP performance worth the price of admission!
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