& Noa

Back in January, Owen had a random Wednesday off that we used to do a day trip up to New York to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway before it closed. Nora wasn't particularly interested in seeing Phantom, but when they heard we ran into their friend Anais at the train station also going to New York to see a show – we knew we'd need to go back. When Nora's spring break rolled around and Owen had school – we decided to hop on the train and go see & Juliet on Broadway – the same show Anais saw back in January. Noa and I caught a ride to Union Station with Elaine on Owen's way to school, and got into Penn Station in time to grab paninis in Bryant Park. After lunch we walked by the Hadestown and Moulin Rouge theaters to scope out a couple options for a summer trip to New York with Dave & Kara, and swung by the Lego Store just to be sure we didn't miss out on any cool things Owen did.

Our seats for & Juliet were in the front row – because I want it that way, i.e. a view that makes the cast really feel Larger than Life. We could feel the Roar of the crowd and the show really was F****in Perfect.

(click here for all the pictures)

Blues Alley

Owen's Duke friend and Jazz piano phenom Jose Andre played a great show at Blues Alley for his 17th birthday. Mom Mom and Grandpa Don came down and we all met up at The Sovereign for dinner then walked over to Blues Alley for the show and were all blown away again by Jose's talent on the keys!

Back Into the Woods

 

When one of our favorite musicals has an acclaimed revival that turns into a stint on Broadway and a tour with its first stop at the Kennedy Center, we can't help but go back Into the Woods!

High Fidelity

While Owen has been to a ton of concerts (vocal, instrumental, hootenannies, musicals, bluegrass festivals, the odd opera, and some things that defy labels), at 16 he still hadn't attended a "rock" concert (unless you count the Justin Roberts kindie-rock concert we took him to when he was five).  We're not sure that at this point in his career, Elvis Costello is still technically considered "rock," but Owen has been a fan since he inherited my ipod in elementary school which included all the hits, so when we heard he was coming to town with the Imposters, we made sure to get tickets.

Nora wasn't interested in attending, so it was just the three of us that headed to the Warner Theater after a leisurely dinner (maybe a little too leisurely as we arrived at 8:10 thinking the doors opened at 8:00 pm with an opening band when in fact that was when Elvis started playing). He played a number of hits – "Alison," "Radio Radio," "Watching the Detective," "Everyday I Write the Book," "Pump it Up," and the crowd favorite, "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding" – and a lot of slower numbers that I didn't really recognize (including an LBJ protest song). At 68, Elvis Costello's voice isn't what is was even 20 years ago (when I last saw him in-person), but he's still an incredible musician who played for 2 1/2 hours straight without a break and clearly had a lot of fun doing so. Not bad for a first rock show.

Skiier's Thumb

Funny story: That last day in Whistler, when Owen came in too fast at 7th Heaven and banged his hand on a lift pole and Allen had him wiggle his fingers and then ski several more runs? It turns out Owen's hand wasn't necessarily ok, a fact which became clear to Allen on the first leg of their much delayed flight from Vancouver to Toronto when Owen's hand swelled up horribly (though according to Uncle L, the cabin pressure exacerbates injuries which is why you should always travel with compression sock). Allen, however, decided to withhold that piece of information from me until they landed in DC 24 hours later and I was picking them up from the airport, at which point he mentioned, "You might want to take Owen to Urgent Care."

Two hours and an x-ray later, we were informed that Owen had not broken anything (which meant that  Allen, at least in the strictest sense, had adhered to my parting directive to not "break my baby"). They put Owen in a brace, told him to take some Motrin, and scheduled an appointment for him on Tuesday with orthopedics so they could make sure that his thumb was ok. We did as ordered and he spent Monday trying to play the cello with a brace.

By Tuesday, the swelling had gone down and Owen was feeling fine so we really thought they would just take a quick look and send us on our way. Only they didn't. When they examined Owen's hand, they noticed that they could bend Owens right thumb back further than his left. While Owen attributed this to the Fawcett's hyper-mobility, the orthopedist attributed it to "skiier's thumb" – which means either a torn or sprained thumb ligament – and promptly order a cast for Owen for the next six weeks.

This is a problem. While Owen could play cello, albeit not to his usual standards, with a brace, the cast pretty much immobilizes his wrist which is an issue given has a school recital in March. We furiously scheduled an MRI (the earliest appointment we could get was for a week later in Gaithersburg at 9:30 pm) to see if we can get verification that the ligament isn't torn and then try to negotiate an early release from the cast so that Owen can perform Prelude as scheduled (and maybe also get back to rock-climbing and Zelda).

At least he can still cross his fingers ;-)