Hadas Kuznits Video Diary

Xmas Eve Festivities

My radio station had tickets to Jewtopia at the Kimmel Center, but since a lot of our listeners couldn’t go on Christmas Eve due to family obligations, they offered them to us.

At first, I got a pair of tickets. Then, they had more tickets available, so I asked my friends if they wanted to go. Eventually, there were eight of us who all wanted to see the show!

So, me, Mike, Marlo, Maani, Melissa, Jen, Doug — and Andrew, the lone non-Jew in the group — went to see this play/comedy.

It was cute. Andrew said there were some Jewish references he didn’t understand, but generally, he got it.

At the end of the 2-man play, they held a Q&A session with the audience. I got the feeling that these two guys, Bryan and Sam, were visiting a city with which they were not too familiar, so after the Q&A session, I asked Mike if he thought we should invite these guys to dinner with our group. Mike said, sure! I’m not sure if he actually expected me to do it, but I saw the guys in the wings and went over the side of the stage where they were and called for them. I said, “Bryan and Sam!” a couple of times, and a stage manager came out. I asked if I could ask one of the guys a question. Then, Bryan came out. I told him there were eight of us, all about his and Sam’s age, all in our 30′s and did they want to join us for dinner around the block? I wrote down the name of the restaurant and the address and he said maybe.

So the eight of us got seated and I asked the waiter to take a photo:

Just as we were in the middle of ordering, Bryan walked in, and we pulled up a chair for him to join us. Ha, so funny!

I have to say, that was fun; but the best part about the whole thing was just being with my friends. It was so fun to hang out and have everyone together.

Bryan was so excited that we all came to his show. He asked us how we found out about it. I could see him picturing in his head how we all organized to go and all paid for tickets. I think we burst his bubble a little bit when we confessed that it was a bit of a last minute excursion and I got the tickets free from work. Sorry, Bryan. Good show, though!

After stuffing ourselves with Italian food, we saw the wait staff wanted to leave so we headed out. I set my camera on timer outside and took a photo of us all. That’s Bryan, the star of the evening, in the hat, black puffy coat and backpack in the middle:

I need to figure out how to not block everyone, when I jump into the photo after hitting the button and starting the countdown on the automatic timer!!!

Mike, Andrew, Melissa, Marlo and I continued our conversation at the Sofitel hotel lobby bar.

(I wasn’t in that photo, because I took it.)

We all felt ourselves getting sleepy and headed home. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend Christmas Eve than with some of my best friends. I don’t usually celelbrate this holiday, but since everyone else does, there’s usually nothing to do and it’s sort of a depressing, quiet night. That being said, I have to say, this was probably one of my best December 24ths ever! Happy holidays, everyone!

This entry was posted on December 24, 2009 at 5:06 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.