Off I go! It’s been a heckuva year already, with much more to come. For now, though, I’m taking a little time off. I’ll be away from work and email (and, somewhat, social media) from now until July 23! First up: Boston! Starting tomorrow! For a week! So, hit me up, Bostonians! 
Then, back to DC, for another week off. I’m seeing shows (so many!), friends (hopefully the same!), and more! I’m looking forward to all of that—and to just taking some time to unwind and be content. I’m definitely not going into hiding, though, so reach out and let’s make plans!
I’ll be in and out over the next two weeks (see above!), but in the meantime ... let us try to be good to one another — and ourselves. I’ll do my best to do so, on both fronts, from vacation! (See below!)
DCA 🛫 BOS❗️
Update: I am 100% certain I am breaking the rules every time I encounter public transportation in Boston.
You just like, get on? Where do you pay? Is this socialism? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
my impression of boston public transportation
I’m here but I’m really gone. Intermission. Incredible.
Thanks for your patience. / What a show. It’s not perfect, but it’s works, well, and it’s got moments of incredible theater in it. The timeliness of Alanis’s music is striking. ... I’ll be interested to see what it looks like on Broadway.
I was a 1995 high school graduate, and the album that forms the foundation for the show’s music was a key piece of my summer before college. Hearing those songs jolted me back to 17. Watching them fit well into a show about today hit me. Hard.
NIGHT TWO SHOW: Intermission. And I cannot. 😍
me, assessing moulin rouge the musical 30 seconds into it, at intermission, and at the end:
I wish I had written down precisely what my fellow queer theater-goer friend said as we left. “I thought that only happened inside my head,” he said. That’s almost exact, but then he added something like, “It was a gay dream vision.” He is not wrong.
This was the fourth public performance, and I could already tell it’s going to be a hit. The music is everything. If you’re a Moulin Rouge fan, you’ll be astounded by how well they kept to what we know and love but updated everything to make it a whole new experience.
The performances — KAREN OLIVO AND AARON TVEIT FOR QUEEN AND KING OF MY HEART — are fantastic. Sahr Ngaujah as Toulouse-Lautrec and Danny Burstein as Harold Zidler are particular delights as well.
BTW, don’t take my word for it. This was the crowd around the corner, beyond some construction, waiting outside the stage door for the first Friday night performance of Moulin Rouge the Musical. 😱
“Sing a dirty song at my funeral.”
“Filthy.”
“Filthy.”
Yes, I returned to the Moulin Rouge tonight. It’s such a perfect escape. It also honors Luhrmann’s movie by expanding on all of the movie’s excesses in the ways that can be done so well on stage: The music, the dancing, the set, the costumes, the energy. I really love it.
Take a vacation, they said. 🎭 It’ll be good for you, they said. 💆🏻♂️ It’s not like the country will be gone by time you return, they said. 👀
Today’s Adventure: Can America’s transportation grid handle getting Chris home from one East Coast city to another? (This shouldn’t be difficult, but I’ve been booked on 4 flights in the past 3 hours to do so.)
BOS 🛫 DCA❗️
Talk about “just making it.” (They had kept moving me to later and later flights, then finally were like, “Well, can you run to the airport right now?” So, I did. And we made it!)
BYE.
OK, now that I’m back in DC, it’s a lot easier to get sucked back into Twitter and the news cycle. ... So, I’m going to take a hard break from social here to rest and reset. Back Monday. Have a good week and weekend, all, and let us try to be good to one another — and ourselves.
Update from DC: @JanelleMonae is incredible. What a night.
Update from DC: @erasureinfo is always a wonderful night. Andy Bell and Vince Clarke were putting words and music to gay lives before I understood what that meant, so it always makes me happy to see them live.
It’s been such a lovely break for me over these past two weeks. It’s already been a long year; I didn’t realize how badly I needed this vacation until I took it. Thanks to all in Boston & DC who I was able to spend time with for helping to make it such a rejuvenating respite.
Thanks to all of my colleagues, also, who made it possible for me to get away. ... What’s next? I’ll be back at work in the morning, catching up on all that’s happened while I’ve been gone (🤯) and figuring out what I need to dig into and write about!
For now though, I’m going to enjoy one more night away from here, so I’ll see y’all in the morning! ... Night, all, and let us be good to one another — and ourselves.
