Mais ce n'est pas miserable si vous ettes avec la plus belle au theatre

Last night was a genuine trip into the cultural landscape that Toronto provides. Lady Friend ;), Carrie hooked us up with orchestra tickets to go see the repeat showing of Les Miserables at the Cannon Theater in the city. Sadly, due to the travesty that was Hurricane Katrina, the show was unable to move to New Orleans as was planned for this week. It should be noted that after the show the actor playing Jean Valjean, also known as Jack Black's identical twin, revealed to the crowd that all performances this week were being dedicated to the victims of that disaster and that proceeds would be donated to the American Red Cross.

Naturally to celebrate a long awaited return to the theater I felt that we needed to go out for a very posh dinner, and so we were able to get a table at Susur Lee's tapis inspired retaurant dubbed the same as his last name; Lee.

Our table was for 6:00, and though in my mind I thought we would be dining alone with the wait staff, by 6:15 the place was rammed and plates upon plates of crafted foodart flew from the kitchen onto the table. See Lee is a tasting room of sorts, where the menu consists of roughly 30 small size portions for two divided into Vegetable, Meat, and Fish. The idea is that you order roughly 4 to 6 dishes from all across the menu and dive into the immense realm that is Chef Lee's creations. So to start off the meal we decide on a deliche CabSauv, and proceeded to choose the following five dishes to split.

• A cold salad dubbed Singapore Slaw (*I wasnt fond of using the word *slaw in a restaurant such as this but it was worth it)

• Braised Lamb Chops with mint puree and spice pineapple (pictured)

• A sauteed portabello and green bean salad served cold with crushed peanuts and a soy inspired dressing (my favorite)

• Smoked Salmon served in a cilantro and bean dressing

• Mushroom dumplings stuffed with Feta, Capers, and mushrooms, served in a Red Pepper sauce (single regret).

Dinner was divine to use a word I would rarely throw out, and then in perfect wishy washy red wine haze we headed off to the Cannon theater for what turned out to be an amazing rendition of Les Mis. It is amazing to see the technological integration into the theater because it really does heighten the bar for a show. Javert's death, Valjean's walk through the sewers, time capsule veil screens setting each scene, and a rotating circular stage which was an amazing effect when Marius first goes to see Cosette, and when the little kid goes over the barracade for ammunition; poor bastard. It should be noted that the girl playing Fantine was hot as hell, and why Marius ever swooned over the curly haired wonder that was playing the little orphan gone rich kid is beyond me.

I'm a sucker for orchestra's and the singing was amazing, all in all the show was very impressive, and a welcomed treat to a former highschool drama queen that hadn't been back to the theater in a while. The show was great, and as musicals go, this show was built for any level of theater enthusiast; even the cynic thinking up some clever negative to throw in the comments right now should and would appreciate Les Miserables.


After the show, we went for a drink at what has now become my favorite lounge bar in Toronto, the Drake. We caught a band by the name of PictureSound. It was this odd looking but good sounding band made up of a Scottish front man and three guys who all looked like the guitarist from the Tragically Hip. Really they should of dubbed themselves Noel Gallacher and the Beards, but whatever. Their music was Oasis, meets East Coast Rock, meets some psychadellic trip rock deal. It was very cool, and an odd musical experience to end an amazing night.

A cultural escape was had this wednesday, but sadly I missed my soccer game which was scheduled for 8:30. Dang, kiddin, you cant swap posh and a partner in crime like Carrie for any co-ed intramural any day. Unless I could eat deliche food, go to the theater, and have an amazingly attractive girl beside me all night while playing soccer. Someone should invent something like that. And it shall be played on a rotating stage.

posted by mr. tomas ubik @ Thursday, October 27, 2005