On Sunday, my mom and I had the opportunity to see
Rapture, Blister, Burn at Playwrights Horizons, while Ari got to go back to one of his favorite places,
Playtime!*
Ari was so excited to go to
Playtime, he couldn't wait to get off the elevator at the theater.
Once we got out of the elevator, he bolted for the Playtime desk to check in!
After Ari got his VIP badge to enter Playtime, my mom and I headed to see Rapture, Blister, Burn. We entered the theater and we were very excited because we had orchestra seats! That was pretty awesome!
This was our view of the stage, I felt like I could smell the actors!
As soon as we sat down, I noticed a woman and her husband sitting together. We got to talking, and it turned out that this woman was none other than
Digital Latina! She told me her daughter was also hanging out in Playtime with Ari.
Ms. Digital Latina has a good eye, too. She spotted Broadway legend, Tyne Daly in the audience with us!
Now about the show. Watching Rapture, Blister Burn was one of those theatrical experiences I've had where I literally didn't think about anything else but what was going on right then. I found myself trying to predict what the characters would do next.
The story is about a group of women who lead diverse lives. Two of the women went to graduate school together. One woman went off to become a very successful career woman. At the time she was in graduate school she was dating a man who she left back home to study abroad. During her study abroad, her roommate stole her then boyfriend, married him and had children with him.
There are also two other women involved in the story, the career woman's mother, who is elderly and who recently suffered a heart attack, and a young free-spirited pre-med student.
The play chronicles the two women (once roommates and friends) meeting up in their 40s. The career woman begins to teach a course on feminism which the boyfriend stealing housewife and the pre-med student (who used to be the housewife's babysitter) both attend. The career woman's mother joins in on the feminist dialogues while mixing martinis for the group.
During the course, the two former friends realize that they envy one another, and they would like to switch lives.
I'm not going to tell you what happens after that, you'll have to see the play and find out!
I will tell you this, as a woman, I identified with each of the different female characters in the play. I can understand the feeling of wanting a career, yet having that urge to settle down and have a family. I also felt connected with the pre-med student, and her cluelessness about men.
And I particularly related to the relationship between the career woman and her mother. The career woman said multiple times during the play that her mother was the only person in the world who truly deeply cared about her. That really resonated with me.
While we were enjoying the play, Ari had a blast at Playtime. Here are some pictures that Candace from Playtime forwarded me:
After the show was over, we collected Ari from Playtime. He was ready to tell me all about it and show me what he made!
As soon as we stepped out of the theater, we got another pleasant surprise, Lee Tergesen, who plays the male lead in Rapture, Blister, Burn, (that coveted stolen boyfriend) was standing outside of Playwrights Horizons! I told him I was writing a blog post about the show and asked if we could take a picture together. He said, with a dead pan expression,
"well what are you going to say?"
Being a great actor, he totally caught me off guard. I replied:
"I don't know."
"I'm just kidding! It's my thing!" He shot back.
We both cracked up.
Well Lee, it turns out I had a lot to say! It was great to meet you, by the way!
So what are you waiting for? Go see
Rapture, Blister, Burn! It's awesome!
*Tickets to the show were provided by the super amazing ladies at
MamaDrama, courtesy of
Playtime.
