High School Musical Chairs

When I was a preteen there was a movie that came out that I absolutely loved. I swear I must have gone to the theater to see it about fourteen times. It was a musical, and I knew all the words to all the songs, and I would sing them into my hairbrush at home while I dreamt of how cool it would be to be Sandra Dee with her blonde bob in her poodle skirts and tight black hotpants and be kissed by John Travolta. *swoon* It’s also where I learned what the term “bun in the oven” meant, what virginity was, and that girls actually sneaked out of their houses to meet boys. (What was my mother thinking letting me watch this movie??)
Let’s just say that “Grease is the word, is the word, is the word……….”
If you do not have a ‘tween or preteen in your house these days you might not know about modern day’s answer to “Grease.” It lies in a TV movie on Disney Channel called “High School Musical” and I swear, Allison is as hooked on it as I was on Grease, only she’s probably watched it twenty-eight times. And I get the pleasure of watching her sing into her hairbrush and dream of how cool it would be to be Gabriella with her long brunette wavy hair in her cropped tops and sparkly dresses and be kissed by Zac Efron. (I’ve seen this movie and I don’t think she is learning anything too inappropriate from it. I mean, it IS Disney after all, right?)
Apparently the rest of the tween and preteen population is equally as obsessed by the movie as Allison, because they came in concert this week and it created quite a stir among her friends.
The fun started about a month ago when we tried to buy tickets. It was like next to impossible. We went on the Ticketmaster website at exactly the moment they went on sale and we still were only able to score level three tickets, which if you know anything about these seats at the St. Pete Times Forum could also be called Two Rows Away From a Nosebleed And Don’t Lean Over Too Far Or You Might Land in Level Two Seats Without Even Taking The Stairs seats.
But just scoring the tickets at all was enough for Allison, even if the cast looks like somebody kicked an ant pile and we have to watch the entire show on the giant TV screens just to get a glimpse of them. And we went to the concert with my sister and my niece, who is eight, and the girls were so excited!
Oh and before I forget, here is a little tip for the guys out there. If you are looking to meet some women, this is where they are. Lots of women. Lots. Single dad with a daughter? You could score big time here.
So anyway, we get to our Level Three Nosebleed Seats at the concert and no kidding, we are like three rows from the top, and we watch the opening act, which looks a lot like one ant scurrying around with a microphone.
But I am thinking, well, at least we are not like the people over there who have hockey banners hanging in front of them and can’t even see the one ant scurrying around on the stage. But my sister? She starts to panic. Because the cotton candy guy is coming this way and of course my niece wants one, and she cannot figure out how she is ever going to get one without a nosebleed or falling face first into the level two seats. And apparently she cannot handle high places very well because she starts to feel sick. Which makes her panic even more. So she gets up and says she can’t handle sitting here anymore and that she is not going to.
So I am thinking we are so screwed because we are totally going to miss the start of the show since if she is getting up then we all have to. We go out to the concession area and she stops an usher and explains the fear of heights and they send us to Guest Services. Who send us to the box office. Who tell us for just ten dollars more we can have seats like ten feet from the stage. Four of them. All together. In a row.
Hello? Where did THOSE come from? And why the hell couldn’t I buy them online? But whatever….just give them to us already because we are totally going to miss the start of this show!
So we race to the section of the new seats and the girls just about had a heart attack. It was like you could reach out and touch the stage. And we totally did not miss the start of the show, because it started just as we sat down. They loved it. And for a fleeting moment I felt a little old being the parent bringing her daughter to a concert instead of the being the kid going to the concert, but it was really fun to see all the girls screaming and singing and dancing.
How we ever managed to get the great seats I will never know. It was incredibly lucky, but sharing the concert with Allison was a memory I will never forget. And hopefully she won’t either.