Girlfriend at the Lyric Theatre - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
“I love musicals; I love the ballet, opera, the circus. It’s all performance to me.”
I don’t go out and explore Oklahoma City as often as I should. I think it’s easy to overlook the place you live when you think about travel and adventure. And I’m pretty much a hermit most of the time. My favorite place to be when I’m not traveling is in bed writing or reading, which sounds more than a little lazy but it’s absolutely true. I don’t spend as much time as I’d like there either because I chase my six and four year old around a lot.
The reason I got out on a sunshiny Sunday afternoon was because my very good friend Lauren invited me to come see her sister play drums in the musical Girlfriend at the Lyric Theater. And we couldn’t pass us the chance for lunch and dessert beforehand. The last time I’d even seen any kind of live performance that wasn’t a band at the Diamond Ballroom was my cousin’s high school performance in a musical too many years ago. My kids are addicted to The Greatest Showman right now though and considering they both sing and dance along it counts as performance too.
The three of us met for brunch at Pizzeria Gusto in the Uptown District before the play. I hadn’t been before and was pleasantly surprised. It wasn’t at all what I’d been expecting, which was a typical pizza place with passable food. It’s a shabby chic, exposed brick, industrial style seating, with crisp white table cloths and napkins kind of place. Also velvet curtains. I’m a firm believer in velvet; everywhere and everyone should have some. And the main menu stretches far beyond wood fired pizzas and the brunch menu features things like ricotta waffles, frittatas, and pitchers of mimosas. I can personally vouch for the last two and my friend and her sister had margarita pizza which looked amazing. I definitely plan to go back with Darrell at some point.
Afterward we had a little bit of time to kill before the play and headed to Roxy’s Ice Cream across the street from the Lyric Theater in the Plaza. I love Roxy’s and I don’t go often enough because it’s a little out of the way for me. I enjoyed sitting with Lauren over mango and chocolate chip ice cream (not together because that would be a weird combination) soaking up the first sunny day of spring after the frigid start of the season. And the ice cream is always amazing so you should drop what you’re doing right now and go get some.
Girlfriend, staring Jimmy Mavrikes and Ian Marcontell, is a sweet story about falling in love and finding yourself along the way. The two characters, one an outsider and the other a football star, navigate a irresistible attraction in a small minded Nebraskan town where they won’t be accepted. It’s bright and happy and full of the first kiss kind of thrill which makes it even more poignant when it starts to crumble. But it all comes together on a hopeful note (thank goodness because I love a happy ending) with the characters finding each other again in another place at a different time.
The actors are incredible and I fell in love with both. Who can resist a good love story? And the play is based on the album Girlfriend by Matthew Sweet and was originally released in 1991. The album is very 90’s (I’m not saying that’s a bad thing at all - it’s absolutely feels like the music of my tween years) and it translates into a musical wonderfully. We loved the experience so much we’re considering getting summer passes and seeing the rest of the musicals lined up for the season. Until then though I’ll have to get my fix watching Greatest Showman with my kids.
So much has changed in Oklahoma City over the years. I can remember a time when most of the restaurants were chains and there wasn’t anything to do after nine o’clock at night. Now we’ve got a growing downtown and so much going on all the time. New things keep coming and getting out with my friend reminded me to pay more attention. Oklahoma City is a pretty great place to live and I shouldn’t overlook it when I’m planning the next fun thing I want to do.
