Overture's new reusable sippy cups, er, "souvenir cups," made their debut Wednesday night at the Decemberists' sold-out show.

Finally, we can drink booze in Overture Hall like classy adults! We're protected from our slobby, drink-spilling selves by a handy lid.

I purchased the above vodka-cranberry for $9, and nursed it for the better part of the show. That's $5 for the drink, $3 for thecup, $1 for tip. I've been hardened by Summerfest and Alpine Valley prices ($9 for a can of Bud! $11 for a hot dog!), so this doesn't seem so outrageous to me. Still, ouch. I'm wagering the likelihood that I'll remember to bring my cup to the next show, and it's not looking good.

Overture's plan, of course, is that we'll take the cup home, wash it and remember to bring it to the next show. All of which makes perfect sense for regular Overture patrons with good housekeeping skills and excellent memory. For occasional Overture-goers, out-of-towners and the forgetful, it's a rip.

The people sitting next to me, a woman and her out-of-town father, said they enjoyed drinking Spotted Cow in the theater but suggested that Overture store the cups for patrons the way some breweries keep special steins for their regulars (the Essen Haus on Wilson St. and the Grumpy Troll in Mount Horeb have both done this).

Cost aside, it feels a little like high school to be sipping a mixed drink from what is essentially a clear to-go coffee mug. (Oh,you didn't careen around Madison city streets passing around a gas station coffee mug full of Screwdriver mix and listening to Jay Zwith your DD friend at the wheel of her mom's minivan in highschool? Oh.)

An outcry over the indignity of sippy cups is inevitable. But I'm not sure we have the right to get all up in a snit. Today's "on-the-go" (ugh) society spends the majority of our waking lives sucking on some water bottle or lidded mug. Once in a while, it strikes me how bizarre this is. Fifty years ago, people drank their water from glasses, their coffee from regular ceramic mugs -- sitting down! -- and their alcohol from snifters. What happened to us?

While I'm generally happy that Overture is doing something that has the potential to be sustainable and waste-saving, I worry that Overture's carpet- and upholstery-protecting cup policy will end up not being all that effective. All cups spill, really. I saw a woman sneak in an open, regular plastic cup full of drink, and there must have been more like her on Wednesday night. Can the doorstaff keep a lid on the cup policy? (Zing! I'm here all week, folks.)

Did you buy a sippy cup last night? Will you remember it for the next show? How can Overture improve their cup policy?

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