On Tuesday (23 Dec) Donna went out with a friend of hers who was living in Toronto during the morning, so I had time to do the boring things like washing, clearing emails, grocery and present shopping and the like. We met up in the afternoon at the Ed Mirvish Theatre to see the Jersey Boys stage musical. I’d never seen it so when I learned it was showing in Toronto the same time Donna was here, I bought us a couple of tickets — which handily covered any further need of buying her a Christmas present.

The theatre was packed with people, and there’s a serious flow problem in the foyer of that place. People coming in off the streets butt against a wall of people trying to get inside to their seats. It was a bit of a mess. Donna arrived a minute or two before it started.

The musical went for nearly three hours and at times, I really felt the minutes, however, the show had a lot going for it. The story is interesting (I never knew anything about Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons until I saw this), the songs are instantly recognizable (even if I didn’t know it was these guys who sang it originally), and the cast was excellent.

What I found hard to enjoy was the constant talking with the audience to cover the plot. As a result the pace and energy keeps dissipating. There wasn’t any really big emotional climax throughout, and sometimes it felt like they were really trying to pull you along like a stubborn mule. I’m glad I saw it though — even if I was humming the songs for days after.

In the evening we took it easy we called our grandmother as it was her birthday on Christmas Eve and we were lucky enough to catch Dad and Laurence who were visiting as well. Then, once a Glen got home, we went down to Julian’s to eat homemade apple pie and exchange gifts.

He bought us a new board game called Dirty Minds, as well as some socks from Hudson Bay, a Christmas ornament (with a moose on it), hand and feet warmers for skiing, some badges for Glen and a GoPro mount for me. He even bought something for Donna. Such a thoughtful boy.