Last week, after a long day of jury duty in Downtown Los Angeles, I met Dan and my Father-in-Law, Dave, for Dame Edna's Glorious Goodbye: The Farewell Tour at the Ahmanson Theatre. The Ahmanson is located in The Music Center Complex, which is my favorite place in all of Los Angeles. Magic happens here.

We arrived a few hours early, giving us enough time for a leisurely dinner at Kendall's Brasserie, a French restaurant located in The Music Center complex. Many years ago, I had a lackluster meal at a different restaurant that used to inhabit the same location. I was pleased to have a wonderful meal at Kendall's Brasserie. If you're a seafood fan, the sea bass with leaks is scrumptious. Beyond the food, this restaurant has a great vibe. Most of the other patrons are also doing a pre-theatre meal, so everyone seems excited and happy. I highly recommend Kendall's Brasserie if you have tickets for a show. It was a great start to the evening!

Barry Humphries created the character of Dame Edna Everage while attending college in Melbourne in 1955. He has since taken his character around the world and in 2000, he even won a Tony Award. This is his third time bringing Dame Edna to the Ahmanson Theatre, but my first time experiencing the character live.

We had great seats in the sixth row of the orchestra. This is great, except that the show relies heavily on audience participation. My stomach hurt from both laughing and bracing myself for potentially being called out during the show. Luckily, we survived unscathed. If you're sitting in the front, make sure to dress nice and don't engage in any bad behavior. If you fail in these areas, Dame Edna will notice and she will tell the entire theatre! Among those called out, was a woman rooting in her purse for a cough drop and the loud crinkle noise that she made when she unwrapped it. There was also a woman in the front row who decided to read her program mid-show. Naughty! Funny enough, there was a man sitting in the front row, who had decided to deck himself out in a homemade Dame Edna costume and he was completely ignored.

The show is loosely scripted with Dame Edna filling us in on her life and her enlightenment that she found while on a trip to the far east. There are a few musical numbers with back up dancers, that transition the sections of the show. Mostly, this is a stand-up show, with Dame Edna interacting with the audience. Humphries' sharp wit and quick thinking is impressive. Although interacting with the audience is entirely unpredictable, he never flusters and manages to stay in character with a quick observation or comeback. He's so quick that it often takes the audience a beat to catch up with his joke.

My favorite moment was when he pulled two audience members on stage for a quick wedding. He picked a young man and an elderly woman, named Audrey. Audrey was extremely vivacious and gave Humphries a run for his money with her remarks. She practically stole the show. What was fun to watch, was seeing that Humphries was clearly amused by Audrey's antics, as he tried to keep control of the stage. Humphries has a lot of fun playing Dame Edna and this shines through.

I can't remember the last time that I saw a more entertaining or outrageous show. At curtain call, Humphries returned to the stage sans the Dame Edna costume and he thanked everyone for coming to the show. Although this is a farewell tour, he alluded to the possibility for another "final" show. I hope that he is healthy and willing to go another round, because the world needs more Dame Edna.

Months ago, my boyfriend's father was in town and he was raving about a production of War Horse that he saw in London. He enjoyed it so much, that he bought tickets for us to see it at the Ahmanson theater last night. (A huge, huge thank you if you happen to be reading this blog!).

I had mixed feelings going into the show. I was trying hard to separate the stage version from the movie. I can't sugarcoat it, the 2011 Steven Spielberg adaptation was a piece of crap. An overwrought, painfully sentimental piece of horse crap. In my opinion, one of the worst movies of 2011. I couldn't believe that it got an a Best Picture nomination.

That said, my first exposure to any incarnation of War Horse was during the 2011 season at the Ahmanson. In the lobby, they had a video loop of clips of shows coming for the 2012 season and War Horse was featured. I was absolutely mesmerized by the amazing horse puppets and immediately knew that I had to see the show. This was before seeing the movie or knowing much about the plot, if I could only catch one big show in 2012, it was going to be War Horse.

I wish that I hadn't seen the movie first. I feel like the stage production would have been a very different experience and much more moving, if I had not known what to expect. The plot is clunky and the pacing is uneven, often running slow.

However, that does not diminish the fact that the show is incredible on many levels. First and most obvious, hands down the best puppeteering that I have ever seen. Each horse (at times the stage was filled with horses) has three puppeteers controlling the movements. It's flawless. It really felt like real horses were on stage. The puppeteers all create distinctive personalities for each horse and they were as much of a character as any actor on the stage. The actors were fine, but overshadowed by the horses, the real stars. Completely stunning to watch. The goose puppet was a favorite character!

The set was simplistic and perfect. Mostly a giant space with minimal props and a giant project screen to help set the scene. The use of lighting was imaginative. If someone was interested in becoming a lighting designer, this was the show to watch and take notes. Even though the show had the spectacle of the amazing horse puppets, this was not a show that relied on gimmicks. Nothing was extraneous. This is probably the aspect of the show that I respected the most.

I respected that the theater version did not beat me over the head with sentimentality. It had a bit, but wasn't overbearing like Spielberg's version. The play was much more balanced and cutting out the the last fifteen minutes that were in the movie went a long way. It ended just on the right note. I may have felt the story was slow, but there is so much about the production that they got right, I can't help but write an overwhelmingly positive review.

Go see War Horse!!!