Tuesday, I ran into a very interesting bit of culture and how I ended up there is a story in itself. It all started Monday night when I got a text from my best friend, Leigh. Her step-mom was sick and didn't think she'd be up to the Broadway play that they had bought tickets to a few months ago so Leigh asked me if I wanted her step-mom's ticket. My only question was how to get home afterwards. We discussed appropriate dress (jeans and a nice shirt, advised by her Dad who had been to Broadway shows before out here where Hawaii-casual reigns everywhere) and then said good night. Tuesday morning, I woke up earlier than usual so I would have time to get ready, put on a knee-length blue-jean skirt complete with nylons and walked around all day in my favorite high-heeled shoes. I felt ridiculously over dressed, especially when I found out Leigh was wearing jeans and flip-flops. She teased me mercilessly over the heels, until she got a text from her Dad asking her to unload his ticket as well. She spent the rest of the day asking everyone she even kind of knew to take it. We finally convinced my brother, who has no fondness for musicals, to use it, but only with the help of my Dad (who thinks James needs a social life).
As we're walking up the block, trying to figure out exactly which building at the Blaisdell Center our show is, we notice a group of people gathered outside, so we walk over and discover it's a lecture on opera. We half-listen for a few minutes and then continue on our way, turn the corner and find something completely unexpected.
There's a large crowd milling around; most people are our grandparents age at least, although there are a few younger people. And me, who had felt overdressed all day, I suddenly find myself severely under-dressed. Men are wearing three-piece suits (I didn't even know men who lived in Hawaii owned three-piece suits) and some of the women have on ball gowns. Sure, there were a few other people as under-dressed as Leigh and I, but we had to actively look for them. And that's when we realized we had tickets for Aida the Opera, not Aida the Broadway musical based off of the opera.
