Good Books + Melissa Gilbert = Great Musical

Growing up (an still today) I am a lover of books. I have many favorites, but one series has earned a shelf to all it's own. No not Harry Potter (though greatly loved), it's a book series that I read when I was just starting to read. For a LONG time I was completely into The Baby-sitter's Club, but one series held my attention with a sense of adventure and awe for much longer. In fact I just read through the series again over break. Know what it is yet? I'll tell you: The Little House books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I have whole set and you may not be able to tell from the picture, but they are well loved, especially The Long Winter which has always been a favorite.

I could tell of my love for Laura and books for days and days and days. I dressed up as her for multiple Halloweens and in 3rd grade she was my biography buddy (we had to read a biography and make decorate a cut-out shaped like a person to represent our buddies). I've been to many of the homestead sites (Pepin, WI; DeSmidt, SD; Burr Oak, IA) and long one day to visit Rocky Ridge Farm down in Missouri.

This whole week I have been excited and hoping, skirming, and praying for a ticket to Little House on the Prairie: The Musical. It's been here in Madison for the past week and I could not afford tickets at $45 a pop. The Overture Center (Madison's civic center) had an offer for students to buy tickets the day of the show for $20 (OVER HALF OFF!!!). I kept crossing my fingers that there were tickets left for today's matinee because 2 dear friends were going, including a lil gal that I introduced to Laura's world.

It.was.AMAZING! On thing I forgot to mention is that Melissa Gilbert (Laura from the TV show) played MA :) She was so great in the role even though she's not known as a singer. The musical was so beautifully done with outstanding music, great actors, and bits and pieces from most of the books (mostly By the Shores of Silver Lake, The Long Winter, Little Town on the Prairie, and These Happy Golden Years). Some of the dialogue was directly out of the books and it made my heart smile so much I cried during a few of the songs. Here's a picture of my program.

And the man who played Almanzo could totally sing and dance and was SUPER ATTRACTIVE! You know how many teen (and sometimes older) girls say that they are Team Edward, Team Jacob, Team Harry, Team Fiyero, Team (insert cute boy's name here)? Well I've decided that I'm TEAM ALMANZO!