Sequins Are a Girl's Best Friend

I didn't know this line when putting on this outfit for the opening performance of the new professional regional theater program in Tacoma, and yet I wore sequins as if I knew.

The first season of Tacoma Arts Live (formerly known as the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts) opened with a comedy play Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike by Christopher Durang. Premiered in 2012, it originally featured one of my favorite actors David Hyde Pierce as Vanya, and Sigourney Weaver as Masha. If you are familiar with Anton Chekhov's plays (such as The Cherry Orchard, The Seagull, Three Sisters and of course Uncle Vanya), then you'd recognize the countless connections to the famous Russian author and playwright - starting with the Russian names of all the six characters (even Spike's real name is Vlad), though none of them is Russian.

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But even if you didn't read Chekhov, you'd still be able to enjoy the play which provides both laughing out loud jokes and food for thought, which both Anya and Justin mentioned when I asked them how they liked the show. Justin even said that it was his favorite of all the performances we've seen together. I was pleasantly surprised with the high quality of the production. The actors, the directing and stage design were wonderful, and I am definitely looking forward to other new productions at Tacoma Arts Live (this season, there will be two, and the next one is scheduled in May 2019; but in the future they aim for 4 productions each season). 

For our first performance of this holiday season, I wore my golden velvet pants (shown in FEBRUARY 2018), thrifted cotton knit coat from Goodwill in Oregon (shown in JUNE 2018), my floppy wool hat (last time shown in FEBRUARY 2018), beloved vintage carpet bag and this sparkly polka dot top that I bought on sale earlier this year. I've never had an item fully made of sequins before, and didn't expect that it's actually quite heavy! "Masha is right, I think sequins are a girl's best friend," said Sonia in the play who most probably also wore sequins for the first time in her 52 years, combining it with Maggie Smith impressions. Speaking of whom, have you watched the new documentary Tea with the Dames yet? If you love Maggie Smith, Judi Dench or any of the four legendary dames of the British cinema featured in the film, it's a must - Justin and I enjoyed it, and we highly recommend. Don't get confused because the documentary has another name too - Nothing Like a Dame.

But back from the English tea party to my modest American hometown Tacoma. We got so lucky (almost without my planning at all, hehe) that just after the live performance, on the square next to the theater, we witnessed Christmas tree lighting - the Tacomian tradition that is in its 73rd year now! The best news is that they stopped cutting a tree for this ceremony and now use a tall fur tree growing right in front of the Pantages theater (almost all theaters in Tacoma are right there, in what is called our Theater District). I don't know about you, but I still am in touch with my inner child and feel happily excited when it comes to tree lighting. In Russia, we have the same New Year's tradition, only our count down is a "count up", and as kids we used to say something like: 

One, two, three -

Light up, little fur tree!

or, as it goes in my mother's tongue:

Раз, два, три -

Ёлочка, гори!

Wishing you a beautiful and happy season filled with

LOVE, JOY and SeQUiNs!

Linking with Patti's Visible Monday
and Tina's Pink Friday

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