Baltimore Pride.... no, not that kind.

I have this morning ritual where I try to put off getting out of bed as long as humanly possible by watching the Today Show and bargaining with Al Roker through the TV. "5 more minutes, Al.... I'm just waiting until Al Roker makes one more bone-headed comment and then I'll get out of bed, I promise!" (The things one does when they live alone and aren't held accountable by anyone for their complete and utter weirdness) This almost always results in a 15 to 20 minute rush to pick out something to wear that's suitable for work, brush my teeth, wash my face, find my phone and keys which have invariably hid themselves inconspicuously during the night, and get out the door. I try to turn Matt and Meredith and Ann and Al off during this time, but sometimes, something is coming up which hinders me from pressing the POWER button on the TV.

This special little scenario became happenstance on Monday when they announced that the cast of Cry-Baby on Broadway would performing live in Rockafellar Plaza. I sat on the edge of my bed, half-dressed, toothbrush-in-mouth watching these amazing dancing boys do an entire tap number with license plates strapped to their feet and got a little twinkle in my eye every time they turned around to reveal the "Baltimore County" emblem on the back of their jailhouse jumpsuits. It was a fantastic number. It made me proud of things I have no reason to be proud of: John Waters, 1950s Baltimore, etc.



I get super excitable, however, when at least two of my worlds collide. When THREE of my worlds collide like they did on Monday (The Today Show, Baltimore, musical theatre), my head explodes in happiness. I seriously cannot wait to see this nonsense. I read a few reviews. The Chicago Tribuneseems to think it's campy and trite. The NY Times thinks it's precocious. I think I'm going to hear one reference to Baltimore and lose my nut. Especially when it's not Homicide: Life on the Street or The Wire or The Corner or anything else characterizing Baltimore as a city dead to drugs and gangs. Who's taking the train up to NY to see it with me?