Mama Mia Night

Even though this evening occurred in my hometown, it still qualifies as travel in mind mind because the reason for this gathering was initiated by a previous trip to NYC. In case I haven't mentioned it, it's my favorite city to visit. I posted about my last NYC girls trip back on May 28th, when I was discussing the healing benefits of Girlie Girl travel. During the combo Girls/Business trip (I like to piggy-back), I went to see Mama Mia on Broadway as part of my daughter's 16th birthday weekend. Soooo... when it came out on the big screen - voila! another excuse to go out with the girls. So the ladies of NYC and I made the trek down to the new Coconut Point Mall in Bonita for a little din-din at Ruth's Chris followed by the movie.

Now the Ruth's Chris portion of the evening was a bonus (not your everyday girls night out eating establishment). Turns out I have had these gift cards burning a hole in my wallet for about 6 months now. My dear hubby was not all that impressed the last time we went to Ruth's Chris for the 25 year anniversary of our first date back in January. He felt he could do a better steak (which I can't argue with), and didn't find the prices justified. Of course, his choice for a night out is usually the Ale House for nachos. Therefore, he had no need for these gift cards. I knew my trusted NY travelers on the other hand would put them to good use.

Making good use of our money-saving skills, we brought along a postcard we had received for a free Little Bite appetizer and enjoyed it in the bar with a round of Happy Hour Cabernets. There were five of us, so the two mom and daughter combos order the Summer Special of Dinner for Two for $89. It included a salad each, an entreé each, 2 side dishes and a dessert to share. The fifth wheel (and I say that lovingly because she only has boys, so can't bring any daughters along) ordered an entreé a la carte and we all shared the sides and salads. The choice of petite filet was unanimous, and other than a couple of them leaning heavily from medium rare to rare, they were very good. All in all, a good meal, but still doesn't hold a candle to the steak at Andre's in Naples or Mark Joseph's in NYC. Sorry Ruth.

On to the reason for the post… Mama Mia! "Mama Mia, here I go again, my my, how can I resist you? Mama Mia, does it show again, my my, just how much I've missed you?" Can you hear the tune in your head? Because I can't get it out of mine! And it's true, I can't tell you how much I miss that feeling of watching a musical. In the movie, I had the desire to stand up and belt out the tunes with Meryl and her friends, Christine and Julie. My daughter actually reached out and patted my hands down a couple times when my body lost control of itself and began to wave its arms. She also hushed at me when a couple strained sounds escaped my lip sinking face. Oh the embarassment. I thought Meryl was awesome, truly loved to watch her sing (especially my favorite song, Winner Takes It All). Pierce is piercingly endearing, but sorry to say, not a singer. My opinion of the movie is that you really have to have the experience of the play in order to truly enjoy the movie, because it brings back the excitement of a live performance while you are watching it. Something the movie had that the play didn't - spectacular scenery of Greece. And finally, a question - because I can't remember, was Stellan's character gay in the play? Don't seem to recall that.