We went on a date!

Well, it was kind of a date.  We got a babysitter for the kid (yay, Reg!).  And we went to see a show and have dinner.  The first time since the kid was born.  It was exciting.

What did we do?  Dylan and I, and four busloads of Ovo cast and crew, went to see the LA permanent installation Cirque du Soleil show, Iris, at the Kodak Theater.  That's one of the perks of being a traveling Cirque show in a town with a permanent Cirque show.

The show itself was beyond amazing.  They do things with cameras and projectors (22 of them!) that cannot be described.  I was so engrossed with watching the projections of the performers on the screen that I'd forget to watch the performers themselves.  And there were a few acts where I was holding my breath, sure someone would miss a cue while they flew way up in the air.  But, I had nothing to worry about - they were phenomenal!

Sitting with a crowd of other Cirque performers gave another perspective on some of the acts.  They would burst out in applause at different times then the general audience, acknowledging stunts that were particularly technically difficult, instead of just showy.  It helped increase my own appreciation of the difficulty of some of the things the performers do.  Like when four contortionists formed a human totem pole.  That was cool.

And the Iris team brought a bit of Ovo flair to the show as well.  They had a replica of one of the costumes used in Ovo, and added it to one of the big acts, having the performer make some spectacular flips and really showing off the Red Spider costume.  Most of the audience just thought it was another character in the scene - our corner of the theater knew better.  Afterwards, Dylan was talking with the Ovo performer who plays the Red Spider, and found out that it wasn't her on stage (we had thought it was during the show), but that the Iris team had incorporated it on their own.  With Iris coming to our opening night tomorrow, who knows what Ovo'll do to impress them.

Afterwards, we went out for drinks and snacks at the Hard Rock Cafe next door.  Dylan and I hadn't really meant to hang out, planning on getting back to the kid with the 10:30 shuttle, instead of waiting around until 12:30, but there was a brief backstage tour that Dylan really wanted to be part of, and we missed the shuttle.  It was cool seeing backstage, and hearing about what would be taken out on Sunday so the Kodak can prepare for the Academy Awards.  After 6 years at Oregon Shakespeare, though, hearing about a huge set being pulled out so something else can go in isn't that impressive.  Yes, this is a whole different scale (four semi trailers just to carry the stage deck, as opposed to the 6 or so carts that OSF uses), but they also have days instead of hours.  The concepts are mostly the same.  I think Dylan was way more impressed then I was.

Anyway - at Hard Rock.  Drinks!  Appetizers!  And running into an old OSF coworker of Dylan's who is now working on Iris (we didn't know that).  Theater really is a small world.

We took a brief stroll down Hollywood Blvd and saw the star for Guy, the man who started and still owns Cirque - right in front of the Kodak.

Then home for the night.  It was a great night out.

Oh - then, we were watching a little TV the next morning, and stumbled across a show Dylan likes on National Geographic called "World's Toughest Fixes," where this engineer goes on site to things like cruise liners that are replacing engines.  The episode that was on took place entirely in Vegas and, among other fixes (like the Bellagio fountains), the host helped the Cirque du Soleil team on KA fix their stage floor (here's the clip on Hulu).  After watching Iris, getting the backstage tour, and being the person on Ovo who would be leading a fix like that (if Ovo had a stage like KA), Dylan was psyched to watch it.