John Martin's Homepage

The Arts

Fairly regularly, I attend lectures, plays, operas, and concerts, which are listed below. Though it's a stretch to include television and movies on a page called "The Arts," they are included here as well.

Television

I have not owned a television since March of 2002. When I did own a television, my favorite shows were The Practice, and Ally McBeal when it was in its heydey. Now, when I'm at a place with a television, I love to catch Will & Grace (as soon as Karen opens her mouth, I'm on the floor rolling), and Judging Amy.

Movies

As far as movies go, I see very few mainstream movies. Movies are in a different place, click here to see those. (Warning: You will be taken outside of my homepage to a place on the Internet where I keep an online journal. At any time while in my journal, you can comment on any of the entries by clicking on the words "leave a comment" in the lower left corner of each entry. To return to my homepage, you'll have to use the "Back" button on your browser to navigate your way back here, or just type in my homepage address to start all over again.)

Lectures

Date	Speaker	Venue	Comments
02/15/00	Joan Rivers	Memorial Auditorium	First in the Unique Lives series, whose subscription base consisted of about 3000 women and 200 gay men. Joan was hysterical.
03/01/00	Lesley Stahl	Memorial Auditorium	Second in the series.
04/05/00	Gloria Steinem	Memorial Auditorium	Third in the series. I didn't think much of Gloria before I attended. I left a big fan of hers.
05/10/00	Gov. Ann Richards	Memorial Auditorium	Fourth in the series.
06/05/00	Mary Tyler Moore	Memorial Auditorium	Last in the series. I brought mom to this one, and it turned out to be quite disappointing. Mary basically "read" her lecture instead of talking from the heart.
02/26/01	Lauren Bacall	Memorial Auditorium	In the 2001 series. Lauren was so bitter. I felt sorry for her after attending this.
06/04/01	Maya Angelou	Memorial Auditorium	Superb!
04/05/02	David Sedaris	Meymandi Hall	Just hysterical.

Plays

Date	Name	Venue	Comments
05/1987	Les Miserables	The West End, London	I saw this with Donna, her parents, and my parents while on our trip to Europe.
?	Oh! Calcutta!	Broadway	The full monty before The Full Monty!
?	Cats	Broadway	I saw this before I'd ever been around cats, and didn't "get it." I loved the music though.
?	A Chorus Line	Broadway
?	Lettice & Lovage	Off-Broadway	This had Maggie Smith in it. Love her!
?	Angels in America	Broadway	I didn't get this when I saw it.
?	10 Naked Men	Off-Broadway
11/11/97	Triumph of Love	Broadway	Starred Betty Buckley and F. Murray Abraham.
11/12/97	Bring In 'Da Noise Bring In 'Da Funk	Broadway
11/19/97	Forever Tango	Off-Broadway	Hot tango dancers!
11/25/97	Ivanov	Off-Broadway	Starred Kevin Cline and Robert Foxworth.
12/02/97	The Life	Broadway	I saw this twice, once with mom.
12/06/97	Grandma Sylvia's Funeral	Off-Broadway	I saw this with mom. This was so funny, especially at the beginning when I dropped her off at the theater while I parked.
12/06/97	Rockettes' Christmas Spectacular	Rockefeller Center	Classic! I saw this with mom.
12/07/97	The Last Session	Off-Broadway	I saw this with mom.
12/08/97	Miss Saigon	Broadway	I saw this with mom.
12/10/97	The Phantom of the Opera	Broadway	I saw this with mom. We had 5th row seats.
12/27/97	Rent	Broadway	I surprised Rob on his birthday at 10AM with a 3:00 flight that day for the 8PM showing that night.
10/09/99	Naked Boys Singing	Off-Broadway	And yes, they were!
04/05/01	Bent	Artspace	A REP production. Most excellent. I cried.
10/21/01	Stomp	Memorial Auditorium	What fun!
02/19/02	The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told	Artspace	Local theater (REP) presentation.
03/05/02	Rent	BTI Center	Had to see it again.
04/20/02	The Mystery of Charles Dickens	Broadway	Nick, Michael's partner, was the Lighting Designer for this play. He invited me to a dress rehearsal, and I got to see how some of the "back stage" stuff works, which was very cool.
07/07/02	The Vagina Monologues	Meymandi Hall	I laughed and laughed and laughed.
02/20/03	Lilies	Artspace	Local theater (REP) presentation. Gregor was in it. Well done.
03/01/03	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	Off-Broadway	I took mom and dad to see this one. It starred Whoopi Goldberg.
03/01/03	Man of La Mancha	Broadway	I took mom and dad to see this one, too. Ma Rainey was the matinee. This was the evening show.
03/02/03	The Lion King	Broadway	I took mom and dad to see this one, too.
10/02/03	The Mousetrap	NC State University	Gregor was in it.
03/14/04	Mamma Mia!	BTI Center	I loved these ABBA songs. I went with Judy.
Various	Various	Local Venues	I had season tickets to the UNC's Playmakers for several years. I've seen many of Raleigh Ensemble Players plays. My friend Gregor is an actor, and I try to see every play that he has a part in.
06/26/04	Wicked!	Broadway	Two hours before the matinee, I entered the lottery drawing for two front row tickets at $25 a piece. The show was sold out. About 250 people entered the lottery. My name was called 4th! What a fantastic, fantastic show.
06/26/04	Frozen	Broadway	Swoozie Kurtz was in this, who I love. Very, very intense. Great drama!
10/29/04	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	NC State University	This was a decent local production. Gregor was in it.
02/20/05	Miss Saigon	BTI Center	With Donna, Judy, Robert, and Richard Z. We met Joe and Richard (from Charlotte) there.
06/03/05	Appintment with Death	NC State University	I loved this play. My friend Gregor was in it.
06/19/05	Dial "M" for Murder	NC State University	I loved this play, too. My friend Gregor had a lead part in it.
10/04/05	The Producers	Broadway	My friend Steve and I laughed and laughed at this play, which neither of us had seen.
10/05/05	Lion King	Broadway	This was my second time seeing this show on Broadway, and it was as magnificent this time as it was the last. Steve saw it for the first time. We attended the matinee.
10/05/05	Wicked	Broadway	Last year, I won the lottery and saw this on the front row. This time, Steve won the lottery, and we both saw it on the front row.
10/06/05	Hairspray	Broadway	We almost "lost our card" over this one! Great show!
10/07/05	Mamma Mia!	Broadway	I'd seen this in Raleigh, but not on Broadway, so it was a first for both Steve and me. The lady in the standing room only slot behind and to the left of me thought I'd paid $81.25 to hear her sing ABBA songs.

Operas

Date	Name	Venue	Comments
06/23/00	Madama Butterfly	Memorial Auditorium	This is basically the operatic version of the play, Miss Saigon.
04/01/01	Starbird	A.J. Fletcher Auditorium	I can't remember a thing about this opera. I'm not sure I even attended it. It's on my calendar, though. :-)
05/30/01	Carmen	A.J. Fletcher Auditorium	I saw this with Mary.
02/08/02	Beatrice di Tenda	A.J. Fletcher Auditorium	I saw this with Mary.
03/22/02	H.M.S. Pinafore	Carolina Theater	This was a Gilbert and Sullivan opera, which means it was in English. :-)
01/31/03	Samson & Delilah	BTI Center	I saw this with Mary.
03/19/04	Ruddigore	Carolina Theater	Another Gilbert and Sullivan opera, and Robert's first opera.
05/21/04	Turandot	BTI Center	I saw this with Mary. We found between six and seven typos in the subtitles, and the subtitle machine went down for about seven minutes near the end of Act I.
04/01/05	The Merry Widow	BTI Center	I saw this with Mary and Robert. It was in English, and we "air checked off" items on my "mind map" as they happened.
06/10/05	Tosca	BTI Center	I saw this with Mary, Kelly, and Robert. Things went fairly smoothly at this performance. Once again, we "air checked" items on my "mind map" as they happened.

Concerts

Date	Performer(s)	Venue	Comments
07/25/98	Leann Rimes	Alltel Pavilion	She was still just a kid, and just belted out those songs. Amazing.
?	Elton John	Alltel Pavilion	We had lawn seats, and it rained like a mother during this concert.
?	Anita Baker	Alltel Pavilion	Rob and I had killer seats (the tables) for this concert.
?	Jimmy Buffet	Alltel Pavilion	Cheeseburgers in paradise!
?	James Taylor	Alltel Pavilion	I'm pretty sure I've seen James a couple of times at "the Creek."
?	Reba McIntyre	Alltel Pavilion	I just love Reba.
06/14/03	Brooks & Dunn	Alltel Pavilion	I went with the guys I dance with at Flex, and we did line dances on the lawn during the concert. A couple of girls sitting next to us joined in on the ones they knew. Fun!
05/14/04	Alan Jackson & Martina McBride	Alltel Pavilion	Alan is so great. Martina held her own as well. It took us 1.5 hours to get out of the parking lot when it was over. That sucked!
06/12/04	Tim McGraw	Alltel Pavilion	Just an absolute hunk of man.
11/04/04	Dolly Parton	Alltel Pavilion	One of the most genuine people I've ever had the honor of being in the presence of. Loved the show!
02/04/05	Josh Groban	RBC Center	This was my Christmas present from Joe. What a voice on this man, and the violin virtuoso with him was phenomenal.
04/17/05	Reba McEntire	Alltel Pavilion	Joe Nichols opened, then Brad Paisley opened, then Reba. Great show!
07/29/05	James Taylor	Alltel Pavilion	We tailgated with Mary, Charlie, Robbie, Dean, Bryan and Jen. Loved James.
11/26/05	Broadway Nights with the Three Phantoms	Blumenthol Theater, Charlotte, NC	I saw this with Joe, for free!
02/05/06	The Ten Tenors	Memorial Auditorium	It was good, but overall I was disappointed.