By the end of the play, it didn't seem so alien any more. I've never seen big Broadway stars perform in a big Broadway play, until I found myself sitting in the Curran Theater on Geary Street in San Francisco this afternoon, watching Valerie Harper, Tony Roberts and Michele Lee in "The Tale of the Allergist's Wife." This show was nominated for Tony awards! And I was there.

It wasn't actually on Broadway, and I've never been to New York City, but these actors said the same words and did the same bits of business that they did there. The sets, lighting and sound were far beyond anything I'm used to seeing in local theater productions. I could tell that even from high in the mezzanine where we sat today.

So I'm not going to review the play. How could I? I enjoyed it, but I think I enjoyed the overall experience just as much. Climbing the carpeted stairs, leafing through the program, gasping as the lights came on — it was all good.

(As for the play, I laughed hard most of the way through the first act. The second act is written to make you squirm, and I did. Toward the end it didn't have as many moments of sheer fun as it did in the opening scenes, which are almost like a series of blackout sketches.

But I wasn't going to review it. I remember now.)

This is the first of the Best of Broadway series that I've been to. Later this year we're seeing Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot," and some time next year it's "The Producers." I think I'm going to like getting used to this.

There's one big problem, though. Last night I tried on four pairs of slacks, trying to decide what I could wear today. I don't dress up much, mostly because I don't get out of the house much. It's a gross understatement to say that everything I tried last night was too tight. Nothing would fasten around my waist. It was like trying to put on a pair of pants that belonged to one of those skinny Little Leaguers.

Before my next trip to Broadway I should find some more suitable clothes. I ended up wearing black Levi's. They look okay, I guess, and nobody pointed and laughed (as far as I could tell), but I'd have felt more comfortable, especially as we were being seated in the Compass Rose restaurant inside the St. Francis Hotel for our fine pre-show dining experience. (I had the smoked duck pasta.)

I did wear a dressy shirt and real leather shoes, so I wasn't a total fashion disaster.

Mom and I were two of only twenty people on the bus from Santa Rosa. I guess the play isn't known well enough out here in the sticks, and I'm sure the tour company lost money. They'll make it up on some other trip, though. The twenty of us will tell our friends what a great job Daytripping always does when we ride with them. And it beats hassling with driving through Marin and trying to find a place to park in the City. Seriously.