Reflecting after a wonderful evening attending a screening of Wicked: For Good with Colette. After the credits rolled, Kevin McCarthy “geeked out” with Ariana Grande. He asked so many insightful questions, and Ariana fielded them with grace and humor. I don’t have any regrets supporting the arts, especially when we get opportunities like this to hear industry professionals share the intricacies that you’d never know otherwise. More to come in 2026, but continue reading to learn where my money went in 2025!
While I had said that I didn’t feel some “carpe diem” attitude after finishing chemo and getting my “no evidence of disease” results, I did apparently adopt an attitude of “buy the tickets.” It started in January, when I bought tickets to Tahiti—a bucket-list destination since I was 12. It continued from there with the shows we saw in NYC in February. We had planned to see Romeo + Juliet and The Great Gatsby for sure, but I ended up adding All In before we left, and then Moulin Rouge while we were there. Things took off in May when I made Colette take me to Mamma Mia at the last minute on Mother’s Day. I then bought tickets for a few book interviews. Josh Groban interviewed Jeffrey Seller about his book, Theater Kid. Then, “holding space” lady, Tracy E. Gilchrist, interviewed Tommy Dorfman about her book, Maybe This Will Save Me. In June, we went to see Hugh Jackman at the Hollywood Bowl, took in the joy of Disneyland Pride Night, and were awed by Jeremy Jordan’s talent at his solo concert. July took us to Atlanta, and then, immediately upon our return, we saw Jesus Christ Superstar at the Hollywood Bowl. A pop-up Conan Gray show and a calm Wasia Project concert in August held us over until Chicago (the band) at the Hollywood Bowl and Disneyland Oogie Boogie Bash in September.
Then in October, we went all out with Conan Gray, Chappell Roan, and Jeremy Jordan’s band Age of Madness (a completely different show than in June). Throw in Les Miserables and Hadestown at The Pantages and The Nightmare Before Christmas at the Hollywood Bowl, and we pretty much had a show or two every week. We didn’t exactly slow down in November with going to two shows of Moulin Rouge, one at The Segerstrom Center and one at The Pantages, to see the amazing John Cardoza as Christian. Colette went to see Hadestown again, so it was two times for her. Then Jonathan, Colette, and I went to the Las Vegas Grand Prix!
Did we slow down in December? Well, a little. We went to Suffs at The Pantages, which was inspiring and better than I expected. I opted out of Jingle Ball, but sent Colette with two other friends and a willing chaperone. Colette got to see Conan Gray for the third time in a year, and she fell to her knees when she saw Renee Rapp live. We rounded out the month with another day at Disneyland to celebrate the holidays. I love the holiday parade, and I caught it two times this year.
Well, that was a lot. I should probably get a handle on things before I bankrupt us buying tickets. Well… we haven’t been to the shows yet, but we still have two musical theater season ticket packages left to finish at The Segerstrom and The Pantages. Did I buy tickets to the Landostand for the Silverstone Grand Prix in July 2026? Maybe… Did I also buy tickets to the ALTer Ego concert for January 17th? Well, yes. But I mean Green Day, Sublime, Twenty One Pilots, Good Charlotte, Cage the Elephant, Gigi Perez, Myles Smith, and Almost Monday, who can pass that up? Seeing Conan Gray three times in 12 months is definitely enough. Well, that is, until he announced The Wishbone World Tour with dates in Los Angeles. Other than continuing to subscribe to the Hollywood Bowl season, that might be enough tickets.
Oh, well, that is aside from having to see some shows in the West End when we go to London for the race. And um, Colette has us promising another trip to NYC to see Jack Wolfe as Orpheus in Hadestown on Broadway. Perhaps this “buy the tickets” is a new normal.
Encore!