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Hola! That means "Hello." That's right, I saw In the Heights for the nueve time. I had to go because my nieces were visiting, and Eliana (the 12-year-old) is obsessed with the show. And so is my sister, Nancy. And, quite frankly, me. I thought that surely I would start to be bored now that I've seen it so many times, but it's still amazing. There were so many moments where I started to cry. Note bene: I don't necessarily cry when something is emotionally devastating in a show…I cry when I see what I consider a perfect theatrical moment. I was so moved listening to the phenomenal vocal arrangement mixed with the creative

Listen to Seth's Podcast: Climbing More Heights

choreography at the end of "96,000" and the title song that I had tears coming out of my eyes….or, as they inexplicably say in Legally Blonde, tears coming out of my nose.

We went to the show last Sunday night to see Mandy Gonzales' final performance, and I expected weeping from everyone throughout the show, but I was surprised to see that everyone kept it together. Afterwards I found out that Mandy had been sobbing before the show began, but of course her perfect voice was completely unaffected. Her nickname amongst the cast is "The Beast" because her voice never wavers. The only tears I saw during the show were from Priscilla Lopez who plays Mandy's mom, and she waited til the last scene in the show when tears were appropriate. The main liquid around me personally, however, was not tears but saliva. Both my sister and 12-year-old niece were drooling throughout the show because of their obsession with Chris Jackson. Every time he came onstage, Nancy had to grab and hold hands with me and Eliana in some bizarre type of prayer circle. Nancy is hi-larious and acknowledged to me that Chris is married and perhaps not interested in her. But she said it's probably because she's 48 years old and hopefully he'll be psyched to know she'll soon be 49. Anybody? Nadie.

During intermission of Memphis, a woman walked over to my seat and giddily told me how much she loves my deconstructions and all of my writing. This prompted the elderly woman in back of us to ask the person next to her, loudly, "What did he write? This show?" I was too mortified to turn around so she asked again… this time directing the question to my niece. "What does he write?" Eliana turned around and replied, 'Um…he writes for Playbill.'" The woman stared blankly. She then followed her staring with a barely imperceptible nod. Eliana turned back around. Yay. It's fun to be praised and humiliated in front of your 12-year-old niece. The best of both worlds.  Continued...