Today we went to the World’s Oldest Indoor Rodeo at the Fort Worth Stock Yards. And yes, it was truly our first rodeo. This was the 117th Rodeo and was held at the Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum in Fort Worth. This is the last year the event will be held at Will Rogers. A new $450 million arena is being built a short distance away. We got a great parking place in the handicap lot and found our way to the first exhibit hall. The range of vendors was outstanding! Of course, there was the western hats, boots, house decor and clothing for the entire family. The vendors also ranged from mattresses to furniture, fire pit and metal signs and fences to farm equipment, home improvements to home made butter, honey, and salsa. It was a great home show, a beautiful western wear boutique and a wonderful craft show rolled into …
We entered the Illusionarium, an immersive and technologically enhanced dining room, for the Cirque Dreams and Steam show. The show is inspired by Science Fiction, Victorian Fashion, Steampunk & the Industrial Revolution.We were seated by our hostess. Steve had reserved the “floor” seating, as it was billed as closer to the stage. The hostess and staff was dressed in steampunk style garb. They offered us drinks and then gave us a menu to let us know what we would be eating. While we were waiting for and during our dinner cast members came out dressed in incredibly elaborate costumes. The first lady was dressed in the Industrial style with her being made of metal pipes. None of the “characters” were named so I named some of them. This one I called the clock lady. I didn’t get a photo of her clock down. She walked around with the clock up …
“Million Dollar Quartet,” the Broadway show that follows a night, December 4, 1956, during a jam session at the Sun Record Studios, in Memphis, Tennessee, with Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins and Johnny Cash. Perkins had come into the studios, accompanied by his brothers Clayton and Jay and a drummer by the name of W.S. Holland to record some new material. Sam Phillips, the owner of Sun Records, wanted to spice up the instrumentation brought in Jerry Lee Lewis to play piano on the session. Conversations about the music business are intertwined with the music. The person portraying Jerry Lee Lewis did an outstanding job. We had seen this show at the New Dinner Theatre in KC so we already knew the story line and music.
Burn The Floor is a production on three of the NCL ships, the Getaway, Breakaway and the Epic. We first saw the show on the Breakaway about three years ago. There was little difference between the two shows. In each one, the scenes were disjointed and the sets didn’t change.There were spiraling steel staircases for the dancers to move on and off the stage as needed. Spotlights took your attention to different performers as they become the star of each scene. The opening begins with the traditional ballroom waltz, followed by a rebellious gang as grunge rockers dressed in black leather take the stage. The next group is lead by a scorching leading lady in a cocktail dress and arm length gloves, dancing in a smoky jazz club.
We, Steve, Rick, Rumi and I, went to see the national tour of The Book of Mormon, at the Municipal Auditorium Music Hall. The Book of Mormon follows two young Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda, who soon discover their training did not quite prepare them for the world outside of Salt Lake City. Elder Price, an enthusiastic lad who fully expects his Heavenly Father to bless his proselytizing efforts, even though he’d rather have been assigned to his favorite city, Orlando, Florida. Elder Cunningham is his missionary companion, a socially awkward nerd who has problems telling the truth. These wide-eyed fellows get more than they bargained for when they encounter the crushing poverty and repressive conditions the local people face. The two missionaries discover a world rife with superstition, ignorance and violence and people with little interest in a brand of theology by white Americans in the 19th century. However, Elder Cunningham …
Tonight was our last musical for this season at the Music Theater, at the Off Center Theatre at Crown Center. Oliver! was the first musical adaptation of a famous Charles Dickens work to become a stage hit. With music and lyrics by Lionel Bart, it première in the West End in 1960, enjoying a long run, a successful Broadway production in 1963 and further tours and revivals. It was made into a musical film in 1968. Major London revivals played from 1994–98 and again from 2008–11. It’s the story of a boy who becomes an orphan after the death of his mum. He gets shuffled around from place to place, getting exploited wherever possible. He end up getting in with the wrong crowd – a gang of petty thieves – and doing some things which he knows that he shouldn’t (such as picking a pocket or two). It ends on …
We saw “Shear Madness†at the New Theatre Restaurant. The guest star was Richard Karn best known for TV’s “Home Improvements.†Also so appearing, Jim Korinke, who appeared in the first local production of “Shear Madness” in 1988 and has been in every subsequent local version since then. Dodie Brown, Craig Benton, Ron Megee and Cathy Barnett rounded out the cast. We had never seen Ron Megee in anything but really enjoyed his performance as a gay hairdresser. At points in the plays, the cast really had problems not laughing at themselves, which made it even funnier. Part of the fun happens before the play actually starts, as Barnett spruces up the salon and gives Brown a real shampoo. Megee squirts white goo onto Benton’s head which turns to pure slapstick and is quite funny. Once the play starts, it is an audience-participation murder mystery and played strictly for laughs. …
“Murder Among Friends†begins with a clap of thunder that the audience nearly jumping out of our seats. It was very loud and Morgan Fairchild was on the stage as the lights came up. It is very unusual for New Theatre for the “star” to show up on stage so soon. Morgan Fairchild was perfectly cast as Angela Forrester, “the 15th-richest woman in America.†She combines a touch of vulnerability and a healthy sense of comedic timing to create a conniving beauty who wants out of a loveless, miserable marriage. After the thunder, the plot unfolds with her young lover who is to murder her husband, a “fading†star decides to do away with him she finds out that murder is far more challenging than marriage. The couple was joined by Marshall Saidenberg, Palmer’s producer and wife, Gertrude, to ring in the New Year. When Gertrude shows up wearing a …
We really enjoyed the “Oh What a Night” show, a foursome that did two tribute shows based on Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. The four guys who impersonated Frankie Valli’s group were superb, singing many memorable songs from this classic pop group. The range of the voices of two of their singers was incredible, from lows to Frankie’s falsetto highs. Not only were their voices outstanding but they all the dance moves down to a perfection. We had seen “Jersey Boys,” the Broadway play, in New York and thought the performance on the ship almost met the quality of the Broadway show. This first picture is from the Oh What a Night website describing the show. Often we remember the group but can’t remember the songs, this picture helps as a reminding of the great songs The Four Seasons recorded. Save Save Save
Since Pride of America is such a small ship we did not expect the entertainment to be very much. We were surprised on several nights. The Lights, Camera, Music was an elegant tribute to the greatest moments of the Hollywood Musical. The costumes were wonderful as were the sets and production of the songs. We saw cinematic classics come to life from the romantic glamour of the 1940s, “Singing in the Rain” to the high-kicking can-can of the “Moulin Rouge. These are just a few of the songs represented on this wonderful show night. Save Save
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