February Favorites // 2019

Bye bye February, catch ya later! This month came and went, filled with plenty to talk about! I managed to fit in so much in the shortest month of the year that I’m so excited to share in this blog post!

Dear Evan Hansen

I had every intention of including Dear Evan Hansen in last month’s Favorites blog post, but due to crazy circumstances, that didn’t happen. I was supposed to see the musical in Seattle on January 23rd, opening night. I was so excited and ready for it, but on my way home from work and less than three hours before the show was supposed to begin, I got a notification that Dear Evan Hansen was cancelled for that evening. Apparently the set pieces were stuck in Portland or something, so the show was not going to go on. Ticket holders were told we could either get a refund or come to a new Friday matinee show. Not surprisingly, I was pretty upset and it took me a day to cool down. Thankfully work understood and I was able to take that afternoon off.

I had been waiting to see Dear Evan Hansen for roughly two years. I couldn’t afford to fly to New York to see it, so I had to wait till a national tour was able to make its way to Seattle. The day of the show, I was understandably thrilled and poor Andrew had to put up with my giddiness. By the second song of the first act, I was crying. And by the end of the first act, I was full on sobbing.

It’s safe to say that I absolutely loved the show. I think it does a beautiful job of showcasing anxiety in the social media world that we now live in and the songs were truly moving. Also, the character growth is so powerful and tugs at heart strings. If you haven’t listened to the musical’s soundtrack, I highly, highly, highly recommend you do that.

Ben Platt

Ben Platt has already been featured on my blog before, but now I’m happy to talk about him in respect to his own original music! The same day that I saw Dear Evan Hansen, Ben Platt released two singles from his debut album: “Bad Habit” (see above) and “Ease My Mind”. While his voice obviously strong and powerful from years on Broadway, he also has the amazing ability to delve into the pop world with a dash of soul. I have no doubt that his debut album Sing to Me Instead will touch people and be a success.

Teatro ZinZanni

For Christmas, my parents gifted me and Andrew with gift cards to Teatro ZinZanni. This part circus, part dinner show is nestled in Woodinville (formerly in Seattle and Marymoor Park) and puts guests right up against the show while they wine and dine. My parents have attended a couple times for work parties, but this was a first for me and Andrew, so we decided to make it our belated Valentine’s Day plans!

The theme for the show was “Hollywood & Vine”. It centered around three New Jersey sisters trying to make it to Hollywood, but ending up in the “Hollywood District” of Woodinville, Washington. They interact with the locals, who are on the hunt for Bigfoot. The show was quirky, but the talent was jaw-dropping. People were flying around on a trapeze, there was a woman who had at least 20 hula hoops going around her entire body, and a couple singers with fantastic voices. We were also served delicious meals. Andrew and I started out with a bread basket to accompany our drinks, then had an antipasto salad and a butternut squash and carrot soup with potato and ricotta cheese gnocchi. I opted for the goat cheese and roasted pumpkin ravioli for my entree while Andrew had the grilled Washington sirloin. Everybody was then treated to a mascarpone chocolate espresso mousse for dessert. It’s safe to say we were feeling pretty full by the end of the evening.

Tunnel to Viaduct 8k

The Seattle Viaduct is coming down! As a last hooray, my mom and I decided to participate in the Tunnel to Viaduct 8k, starting in the new 99 tunnel, running south before circling back around and finishing on the northbound lanes of the Viaduct. There were tens of thousands of people there, so our start time was a little delayed. We got to the tunnel around 8:30am, and finished a little over an hour later! Seeing as this was the furthest distance my mom and I have ever ran before, we were quite pleased with our time!