Cabaret

December has just been too much fun.  A and I went to see Cabaret at Studio 54 a couple of weeks ago and I just haven't had time to talk about.  Alan Cumming was awesome as the narrator.  I cannot imagine a more perfect Sally Bowles than Emma Stone.  I can never get enough of the rasp in her voice.  I feel the same about Anna Faris's voice as well as Mariah's speaking voice.  Last time I saw the show it definitely went over my head.  That was back in college before I knew anything about burlesque, had toured Dachau, and had any understanding of adult relationships.  I was really impressed with Maybe This Time, particularly since I'd just seen Kristin Chenowith perform it on her PBS special the previous week.  Chenowith's voice is obviously incomparable, but Emma Stone completely inhabited her role and blew the audience away on that number.  The standing ovation was easily deserved.

Good Humor

My friend C gave me Ali in Wonderland this summer but I just got around to reading it last month.  Alexandra Wentworth is hilarious.  She has the incredible ability to turn traumatic experiences and broken engagements into captivating funny stories.  My favorite parts are when she talks about her relationship with her mother, the ultimate WASP.  She seems to have rebelled against her mother's values through childhood and early adulthood only to almost fully embrace them as an adult.  I am so glad that there are so many funny ladies writing books.  I have Amy Poehler's book waiting for me at the library and I can't wait to get it.  

I've been reading more of Lauren Conrad's books.  L.A. Candy fabulous but her books get progressively less interesting.  I enjoyed Sweet Little Lies  and Sugar and Spice, but the characters in The Fame Game are not as interesting.  Jane Roberts, the character loosely based on Lauren herself is missing from the series and she was the reason the first three were so enthralling.  I will read the other two anyway.  They're not bad.  Just not as good.