No one puts Baby in a corner.

Such a classic line from a classic cinematic gem of the 80's.

Yes, Dirty Dancing will always hold a special place in my heart. It, along with La Bamba, was the first movie we ever rented to be played on our sassy new Betamax VCR. Not a rental - we owned that puppy. In fact, my parents still have it somewhere in their house. Must be worth something these days for the nostalgia buffs...but I digress.

It was the film that made everyone fall in love with Patrick Swaze and long to go on summer vacations to resorts with their parents. You felt the anguish of Jerry Orbach's disappointment when Baby let him down. You felt the flash point chemistry between Patrick and pre-nose-job Jennifer Grey. You learned all the words to Hungry Eyes and She's Like the Wind and tried to dance like the Kellerman's staffers in your parent's basement during sleepovers.

Well okay, maybe that last part was just us, but you get the point.

So why am I talking about this decades (yep, 20 years!!) after the movie was released? Because I went to see the stage production last night (hence no blog post - got home after midnight) and I had the time of my life. Pretty much.

CJ had bought tickets for us to go for my birthday which was a fantastic gift. We picked the date in August and she booked the tickets not knowing that three days after the show, she'd be packing up and moving 200kms away. Excellent timing on her part as it gave us a chance to hang out one last time before she's gone.

Now, I think we can all agree that the show is inherently cheesy. Part of its charm, really. At least it's the good cheese, and not the festering, smells like dirty socks cheese. We can all take comfort in that. So despite everything, I was actually okay with the cheese quotient in last night's performance.

The problem? It's not Patrick Swaze or Jennifer Grey up there. I've seen the movie so many times that it's impossible not to project the screen actors onto their stage counterparts - and only be disappointed when they simply can't measure up. So you really have to let yourself go with this one, enjoy it for what it is, and sit back, relax, and relish a nicely cut boy in tight pants with or without his shirt on. Yum.

The acting was...okay. A bit too much enunciation for my liking, especially for a casual offering. But that's the musical theatre snob in me. The dancing was fantastic, how could it not be, and the singing was actually quite good as well. Canadian Idol Melissa O'Neill had a featured singing role and I was very pleased that my original (positive) impression of her was affirmed when seeing her in person. That girl has some serious pipes! Good on ya!

From a vocal perspective, the real star of the show was the male vocal lead, who also played Johnny's cousin (you know, the guy that she took a watermelon from?). Dag, can that boy sing. Sweet holy shit he's talented. And that's some high praise coming from me 'cause I really rake them over the coals when I go to the theeeaatahhhh.

Best part of the entire show was the ending. And I don't say that in a tongue in cheek kinda way, I sincerely mean it. That dance number at the end, the one that begins right after that famous line in this post's title is uttered, was incredibly well done. The air was electric - seriously! Everyone was chair dancing and trying not to sing along, but failing. Very cool, very cool indeed.

Cue applause, everyone bows, and the music keeps playing. I throw on my coat, clap myself out of the theatre, say a quick but somehow meaningful goodbye and good luck to CJ, then I make a run for the subway so as to ensure I catch my GO train home. Which I did - fret not.

And to complete the streak of good things, I had a wonderful lunch with one of our people today, had not one but TWO Starbucks lattes (yee haw!) and got to finally catch up on Heroes and Private Practice since my flippin week had been so busy. Now I'm shuffling off to bed 'cause I'm tired but wait - I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning!

That's right, I took the day off. I plan on sleeping late, wrapping Christmas presents, watching trashy tv, and hanging out in my pj's until about 6pm. I'm desperate to just get some rest and hopefully get this freakin cold out of my system once and for all.

Sorry to those of you that have to trudge off to work tomorrow - I'm not trying to rub it in or anything. I'll think of you all as you're heading to the office...if I happen to be awake around that time.

Enjoy!!!

And that's your daily dash. How's your diva doin'?