An Evening of THEE-AH-TAH.
For many years I have had a subscription to the Paper Mill Playhouse. Our season tickets are always for Friday night performances. As such, it is frankly a bit of a chore to come home from work at the end of the week and immediately hustle off to the theater. However, in all the years I have been schlepping to the theater on Fridays, I can count the times on one hand that I wasn’t glad I went.
Last night was no exception. It was hot; I was tired, and I would have preferred a seat on the deck with a cold drink. But, off to the theater we schlepped. Last night was also no exception in that I am particularly glad I went.
The show was “Hello, Dolly!†and it was excellent. “Dolly†was played by Tovah Feldshuh, an extremely talented woman of many voices, all of them wonderful. The supporting characters were also terrific. There aren’t many things quite as impressive as an entire ensemble facing the audience and singing full out, and “Hello, Dolly!†provided lots of that and some first-class hoofing as well.
Should you live anywhere near the Paper Mill Playhouse (Millburn, NJ), I urge you to see “Hello, Dolly!â€. You won’t be disappointed.
There’s just something about live theater, isn’t there? No matter what the show, I always think “Wow, look at those talented people up there doing stuff, and I’m sitting here like a slug.” Especially when it’s something like Cirque du Soleil, and there’s that whole bitter irony thing going where I’m slouching in my theater seat, having trouble uncrossing my legs, and my left foot’s gone all tingly already while people on stage put their heads through their ankles backwards and simultaneously balance a rack of spinning dinner plates on their stomachs. Deadbeats.
Comment by dogette — June 17, 2006 @ 2:46 pm
Dale and I helped start home town live theater in our community about 12 years ago. From humble beginnings it is now a thriving enterprise and like you, I can count on one hand the number of times I was disappointed. One of the most interesting events was early on when Maria Von Trapp, the grandmother, came to our theater for the performance of “The Sound of Music”. Dale had the pleasure of picking her up at the Fresno airport and bringing her to town. Long live live theater and especially home town theater.
Comment by Brian "Proud to be a Veteran" — June 18, 2006 @ 1:22 am