Little House on the Prairie: The Musical!

A couple of months ago I got a phone call from Jason, my son-in-law. He wanted to know if by chance Bill and I would want to go see a play with them when we were here in Minn. Beka's birthday wasn't until November, but the play was happening earlier and he wanted to surprise her. He thought it odd that anyone might want to go--but Beka was a fan of the books. Guess where she got that???? Her mom is a HUGE fan of Laura Ingals Wilder!!!!!
Last night was Beka's early Birthday night. A friend came to babysit and off we went to Red Lobster. Beka didn't know where we were going....until in the middle of dinner. I'm not sure any of us were prepared for what lay ahead. We had a wonderful dinner at Red Lobster.....Those who live in Eureka can understand the excitement of eating at the big chain restaurants....McDonalds, Marie Callendars & Applebees is all we have at home. Beka was excited to learn we were going to Little House on the Prairie at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis as she hadn't heard about it yet. Oh, and one more thing.....guess who starred as Ma? Melissa Gilbert....Laura of the TV series fame! Here's Beka and Jason with their tickets...are they a lovely couple! I think so.
Jason had been trying to get the tickets for 2 months. At first he only had 4 separate tickets. This show has been sold out since it began in July through Oct. 11 the last day. Calling nearly every day he was finally able to get two sets of two tickets. The sets were simple but amazing and the musical told the story according to the books beginning with Little House on the Prairie through These Happy Golden Years. The music was lively and the songs snappy. The character of Nellie was perfect but more lovable that the one on TV. There were quilts---I noticed those of course! The Guthrie Theatre is a fantastic place--two main theatres and one small stage so actually there were three productions going on all at once. There were some children at our performance....including two 7-9 year old girls wearing their prairie costumes complete with sunbonnets. Melissa Gilbert did herself proud. While I know she is not known for her singing ability she was able to make a great showing for the group songs and held her own for her solo about Laura, her wild child. What a great time we had! I certainly hope that other theatre groups put the production on....I loved it and it's great entertainment for the whole family even if you never heard of Laura Ingals Wilder.