Tag Archives: Pantages Theater

Fiddler On The Roof (or A Modern Take On A Classic)

Posted on April 25, 2019 | Comments Off on Fiddler On The Roof (or A Modern Take On A Classic)

This week was not only filled with musicals, but it was filled with Jewish musicals! I think that was pretty funny timing especially with Passover just being a few days away. Maybe both the Ahmanson and the Pantages timed out their shows to be around the holiday, but I’ll never know for sure. It doesn’t really matter because whenever “Fiddler On The Roof” was in our season I would have been excited to see it.

I’ve seen the show a few times plus I’ve seen the movie. But it’s been a long time since I’ve seen any version of it. But it’s one of the classic musicals that I’ve always loved and I was happy that I would get to see it again. Out of the 4 of us in the group, 2 of us had seen the show before and 2 had not. So it was a mix of those of us excited to see it again and those who were happy to see it for the first time.

My group had to change the dates of a few of our shows due to “Game Of Thrones”, so this was one of our shows that wasn’t on a Sunday in our regular seats. We were up again in the balcony, but we were very centered up there. I’m not sure if this show would have been better up close or not, but I loved the balcony seats that we had.

“Fiddler On The Roof” is not just a classic show in the sense that it was written a while ago, but it takes place a long time ago as well. Because of that, I wasn’t expecting a lot of changes compared to productions that I’ve seen in the past. They obviously won’t be wearing modern clothes while singing about how things have always been for men and women. But this show somehow added a lot of modern touches in it.

There was a moment at the beginning and end of the show that was added for this production that made it more modern, but I’m going to stay vague about it so it’s not spoiled for people who are going to be seeing the show. But I really liked those moments and how it connected the show to the present time. It made me feel like even though we were watching something that would have happened over 100 years ago, it is still relevant to today and we can learn lessons from what happened in the past.

They also added more modern dance moments. Dancing has always been a bit part of the show, but mixing classic and old-fashioned dances with a few more current dance moves was a really fun thing to watch. And the way that the sets were done also felt modern. They used doorways and limited set pieces in really interesting ways and I loved how they created the environment with both more elaborate and simple sets. It was like the mix of classic and modern; having a mix of elaborate and simple made things feel interesting and gave the show some variety and extra interest.

And with almost all shows that I see, the performances were awesome. I loved how each character added some personality into the script. There were some great comedic moments that weren’t expected and the intonation of some of the lines gave things a fresh take. This show has always had interesting asides, but I felt like I saw more of those this time than I remembered from before. Of course, I might be forgetting some of those from the past productions I’ve seen since it has been so long. But either way, it still felt like things had been updated without actually changing what they were saying or the storyline.

Overall, I really enjoyed the show and this production in particular. I think I am more attracted to shows that have large casts and big musical numbers since that is very different from what working in film and tv is like. I love seeing productions that are very different from what I experience with my career. And this show for sure had a big cast and big musical numbers with lots of awesome dancing! It’s exactly what I love to see and this show didn’t disappoint at all!

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And Another Season Of Musicals (or The Next Season Will Be A Bit Different)

Posted on April 12, 2019 | 1 comment

There was some debate among my Pantages season ticket group if we would renew for next season or not. I am now always game to renew even if I’m not totally sure on the shows in the season. But the coming season does have a few shows that I am excited to see so I was very happy to renew if at least one other person was going to do so (I don’t want to necessarily go for a season alone). But the rest of the group wasn’t totally sure about it and we gave ourselves some time to figure things out before the deadline to renew and guarantee our seats.

One person in the group quickly decided that they weren’t going to renew. I totally understand why they aren’t going to do it, but I’m still sad that they won’t be a part of the next season. Right before the deadline we set for ourselves, another person decided not to renew as well. At right at our deadline date, the last person decided to go for it so we renewed the season tickets for 2 of us.

As much as I love having a big group to go to the shows, I’m happy that I’ll be going with a friend for the coming season. As long as I’m not going alone, I’m in. So I was so happy that someone else decided to do the next season with me and I can’t wait until we get to see all the shows I’m excited to see and to discover which of the ones I don’t know much about become new favorites! I seem to always be surprised each season by which musicals I end up loving and sometimes a show I wasn’t sure I would like becomes something I really enjoy.

I’ve been doing the Pantages season for a few years now and this next season will be different from the other years I’ve done it. “Hamilton” will be coming back to the Pantages next year and it looks like they will be doing another long run. That show technically is not a part of our new season, but we will have access to get tickets early so that’s a good thing. I definitely want to see it again at least once! And I’ve already told my parents they should come to LA to see the show with me since I know they both would love it (and we haven’t gone to a musical together for over 20 years). But because they will be here for a long run, the season can’t be at the Pantages theater the entire time. So the first few shows of the season will be at the Pantages and then the second half of the season will be moving to the Dolby Theater (where the Oscars are held).

I’ve been to the Dolby before and have been to an event there once. It’s a huge theater and it will be interesting to see how the musicals do on a much bigger stage. I think it will be fun and different and I’m sure it will be just as good on that stage as shows are at the Pantages. And even though it never seems repetitive or routine to go to our shows, I think having something to change it up is exciting and I am really looking forward to it.

And like I’ve said every year when I’ve gotten another season of musicals, I’m just so glad to be getting to do this again. The shows bring so much joy into my life and it makes me have a commitment to go out and have fun. I go to them when I feel amazing and I go to them when I’m feeling nauseous. It’s something to enjoy and make sure that I don’t stay home doing nothing all the time. There are not many social things in my life that have the same commitment as these shows do and I probably should find more things like it so I can make sure I do maintain some sort of regular fun in my life.

But I’m really jumping ahead since I do still have a couple more shows in the current season. I think it’s nice that they are back to back because then there’s not a big gap when I can see shows. And I just get to look forward to everything I get to see! Now I get to enjoy a few more shows that I already have seen and get to look forward to a bunch of new shows and a new theater venue!

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Another New Musical (or An Evening Of Golden Tickets)

Posted on April 4, 2019 | 1 comment

With so many repeat musicals this season for my group, it’s so nice when we get to see something new that none of us have seen. With all of us being big theater people, it is so rare to find a show that is new to us all. In past seasons, that was more common since a lot of shows were new shows that were touring for the first time. I think whenever something is unique in a season it just seems a little extra special.

And this past weekend was one of the few shows that was new to us all. We got to see “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.

While it was a new musical, we all were very familiar with the story. I read the book as a kid and have seen the 2 movie versions. But this was the first time seeing the stage production and I knew there were new things in it. Plus, I was excited to see how they were going to accomplish some things that used a lot of movie magic in the movie versions.

We got to the theater early so we decided to go to Wood & Vine for a quick drink first. The manager saw us come in and came over to chat with us. We missed seeing him when we were there the last time, so we caught up on “Cats” and he filled us in about a few things with this show. He really liked the show and thought there were a few things that really stood out to him that he wanted us to make sure we caught. And then he asked us what we were going to drink. I was just going to have water, but he said that we had to try the Golden Ticket drink. I wish I could remember everything that was in the drink, but I do remember that the garish is real gold!

Even though I don’t really drink, I had to try it. It was good and if I had been eating too I probably would have had more. But drinking when I don’t drink on an empty stomach didn’t seem like the best combination. But I was so grateful to the manager for letting us try the drinks!

Once it was closer to showtime, we went across the street to the theater. Since we have changed dates for so many of our shows, we rarely sit in our normal seats. But this show was one that we kept the same so we were back in the orchestra over on the side. But I have to admit I kind of missed being in the balcony. Even though I love being close to the stage to see the actors better, I know we did have some sight line issues. If I could afford it, I would do season tickets one section better so we’d be more centered (but still on the side). But if we do renew our season, going one section better almost doubles the cost of our tickets!

Even with the sight line issues, the show was still awesome! It was very familiar since I knew the book and movies, but there were still new things to experience and enjoy. Most of the songs are original to the musical and they fit in really well with the songs that are from the movies. The sets and costumes were all so bright and colorful and they did a great job making the factory seem as amazing as they can do in a movie.

I also loved that they didn’t tone down things when you compare it to the book. When the kids in the book have their incidents, it’s pretty dark. And that’s pretty much what they did in this show. It’s not gruesome or graphic, but it’s not overlooked or suggested that they were perfectly fine. It made the show more like a dark comedy and I think that was perfect. We were laughing so much during the show and sometimes shocked that they went as far as they did before laughing. It’s still more a show that is appropriate for younger audiences than some other ones, but they made it so it wasn’t just a kid show.

This was the perfect show to see when we saw it. My friends and I all needed something funny to watch because we were all dealing with some other things that were putting us in slightly down moods. And a dark comedy was the best mix of dark and sinister with great laughs that we needed. I left in a much better mood than I arrived in and I was still smiling and giggling thinking back at some of the things we saw in the show.

Our next few shows are all sadder shows, so hopefully I’ll be in the perfect mood for possibly crying while watching!

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Another Dinner And A Show Night (or Classic Musicals And Yummy Food)

Posted on March 20, 2019 | 2 comments

As I’ve mentioned a few times before, the current season at the Pantages has a lot of classic musicals. Most of them I have seen before, but I always love seeing a musical again. But there are a few shows this season that I haven’t seen and sometimes I get a bit nervous about seeing something new if I’m not totally sure I will like it. And the most recent show we saw was “Cats”, and it was one that I was a bit hesitant about.

But before I get to the show, I have to talk about our incredible dinner! We went to Wood & Vine again because it really is our favorite pre-show dinner place. Usually when we go, the manager is there and he likes to make sure we get to try some of his favorite menu items. This time, he was out-of-town so we knew we wouldn’t have his guidance on the food. But the last time we were there, we got to meet the new chef and he and I have become friends on social media. So I reached out to him online to ask if there were any new menu items he thought we should try, and he gave us a few things that he recommended for us and said he would stop by our table at some point to say hello.

The first thing that was recommended was to get the charred romaine salad.

This was the perfect thing to start with and it was nice and light and it didn’t fill us up too much. When we were finishing up the salad, the chef came over to chat with us before the entrees were brought over and it was really nice to get to catch up. He had to rush away when there was something he had to tend to in the kitchen, but it was when our food was served so we turned our focus to eating some delicious things!

We got the shrimp and grits, halibut, and pork shanks. We had the pork shanks before and they were just as good as we remembered them. The shrimp and grits were a bit spicy, but not too spicy for me. And the halibut might be my new favorite! It was so light and flavorful and I loved the spinach cous cous that it was served with.

We weren’t sure if we wanted to order dessert, but because they spoil us so much at Wood & Vine they said they wanted to give us one of the desserts. We have had a few things on the dessert menu in the past, and while they are things we love we decided to go with something new. So we ordered the whiskey cake.

I have never had whiskey cake before and I was worried it would be too filling, but it was another lighter option. We didn’t eat a ton of it because the chef came over again to chat with us a bit more and we had to rush out of there to get across the street to the theater. But the bites I had were so good!

As always, we had the best dinner at Wood & Vine and we really appreciate how much they spoil us there! And it was so much fun having time to chat with the chef before the show because he had already seen it and he was sharing his review with us.

I know that “Cats” is a classic and it seems like everyone has seen it. But I had never seen it before. I was familiar with the song “Memory” and I knew the show was actually about cats (and it wasn’t something deeper than that). And I found out during dinner that the show was not that plot heavy so I was prepared for that. But none of us in the group had seen the show before and we were all a bit hesitant about it.

I will never say that I hate a show, but this show was not one of my favorites. It had nothing to do with the performers. They were amazing and the dancing was incredible. If it was a dance show, I might have liked it a bit more. But I spent so much of the first act trying to understand what was happening. I didn’t know until intermission that all the songs except for “Memory” are the text from poems by T.S. Eliot. Once I found that out things were making a bit more sense for me, but it was still a weird show. I like more plot driven shows and I think even though I knew there wasn’t a heavy plot I kept looking for a deeper meaning or to understand something that wasn’t there.

I was glad that my friends had the same feelings as I did about the show because I really spent a lot of time during the first act wondering if I was just completely missing the point. I think we all were trying to look too much into things and we should have just been sitting back and relaxing. And we were all able to laugh at ourselves a bit after the show for how hard we were trying to figure things out when there was nothing to figure out.

But besides over thinking the show and being a bit confused, it was still a fun night out. And I am glad I can check off another classic musical off of the lists of shows I’ve never seen! And of course, I love any night I get to spend with my friends and have an amazing dinner!

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Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way)

Posted on February 22, 2019 | Comments Off on Another Round Of A Repeat Musical (or Seeing A Show A Different Way)

With this season at the Pantages being a lot of shows I’ve seen before, I’ve been enjoying seeing how a show connects with me now versus how it connected to me in the past. With many of the repeat shows, they are shows I saw at a different venue and with a different theater group (sometimes community theater versus professional tours) so that is what the focus has been for me when I reflect back on it. But when I’m seeing a show again at the same venue and with the same caliber of performers, I focus on different things.

This week, my group saw “Kinky Boots”.

I saw this show for the first time a little over 4 years ago when it was in my first season that I did at the Pantages. When I saw it the first time, I loved the show and I think I also was still on a high from being so excited that I had season tickets to see more musicals. It really was a great decision for me to get that first season and I know that I was always just so happy that I was seeing anything. There were some shows I liked more than others, but every show was extra magical because I was seeing shows again after not seeing musicals for so long.

And I did enjoy “Kinky Boots” just as much this time as I did 4 years ago. It’s such a fun show and the songs are awesome. I loved this show for so many reasons the first time and I think I loved it for many of those reasons again this time. We were watching the show from the balcony instead of our usual orchestra seats, but being further away from the stage didn’t take away from the show. While I like being able to see the faces clearly of the actors, it’s fun seeing the stage in full when you are further back too.

Out of the 4 of us in our group, 2 of us had seen the show before (my friend Dani was the one who got me in the first time I had season tickets so she saw it then). But the other 2 hadn’t seen the show and I was excited to see their reactions. And I think they loved it just as much as I did. It really is a great show and I think the performers were so talented.

But we all also had a few weird reactions to a few moments in the show. After the Me Too movement and becoming more aware of harassment that I might have brushed off in the past, we all noticed moments in the show that just didn’t sit right with us. I know that shows cannot change with the times and that the writers didn’t mean anything negative or sexist from it, but it was interesting to see how I didn’t notice those moments before. I have become more and more aware of how I have thought things were wrong but normal and now looking back I’ve realized they were not normal and not acceptable. And yes, there is a part of the show that has to be homophobic as lesson to the other characters and that was fine. But there were just little things that I think we all picked up on that just made us think a bit more.

I know that there are so many musicals that I have looked back on and realized that I didn’t think much about a line or an action and now I realize that it is something that I wouldn’t consider acceptable in real life. This is just a sign of how times have changed and not a reflection of what things should be like now. I’m curious to see if I have that feeling about the next few repeat shows I have this season. I have a feeling that I will because there are things I have said out loud when describing the show that made me stop and try to explain why it was that way.

Even with those few moments that made me think or took me by surprise that I didn’t think about it last time, it was still an awesome night out. It was fun that we happened to be there on the opening night of the show for LA (our original tickets were on Oscar Sunday and we didn’t want to be stuck in all the street closures). And sitting up in the balcony was also really fun since that’s not something we do that often. We will have a few more shows in the balcony this season because we have changed the dates of our tickets a few times as well as being seated up there for the add-on shows we did. We are still debating about renewing for next season, but now we are also considering seeing if we can move our tickets to the balcony if we do renew. We’ve had our seats on the side of the orchestra for so long and it might be a fun change to be somewhere new. I guess I’ll have to see what happens if we do decide to do the next season.

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Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out)

Posted on February 6, 2019 | Comments Off on Big Musical Instead of Big Game (or Another Sunday Night Out)

This past Sunday was the Super Bowl, and there are plenty of times that I’ve watched it (mainly to see my friends in the commercials) or go to a party to watch. I don’t follow football and don’t really know all the random rules of the game, but when I can watch it with friends it’s more of a fun afternoon than watching a game. But I also don’t mind if I miss it since it’s not really a big deal for me.

So when I realized that one of our shows for this season at the Pantages was that day, I didn’t think twice about it. I can always watch the fun commercials online later and even though a LA team was in the game it still wasn’t a big deal for me to watch it. It actually made things a bit easier on us because we didn’t have to deal with traffic on the drive to the theater!

We got a quick dinner at Shake Shack before the show, and we had another benefit of going to a show that evening: the restaurant was empty! Normally, it’s a very long line out the door to order and we’ve waited an hour to order in the past. This time, there was nobody in line and we got our food within 10 minutes! While it’s not my favorite burger place, I’ve learned that getting it without the bun makes it better to me and it’s a cheap and easy dinner. I love our more elaborate dinners before a show, but doing something cheap is nice too especially when I don’t have the extra money.

We went over to the theater early because I needed to change the date for one of my tickets (I’ll be out of town the date everyone else is going so I’ll be doing one show this season alone) and it’s free to do ticket transfers in person. It’s not expensive to do it online, but it was easy enough to do in person since we were there and I’d rather save the money. Even with doing the ticket exchange, we were still in our seats with plenty of time to spare before the show started. And this time, we had another classic musical: “Hello, Dolly!”.

I saw “Hello, Dolly!” once when I was growing up. It was a community theater show that I went to and I remembered it being a very fun show. But I know that community theater is a much smaller scale than what is done at the Pantages so I was very excited to see what this production would be like.

And this production was spectacular! The show was as good as always and I love all the songs. I’ve seen a lot of shows over the past few years, and this show seemed to have the fullest sound. It was amazing and felt like they had twice as many people as they really did in the cast. And I knew the costumes would be great too, and they didn’t disappoint. I love all the colors and fabulous things that people wear. We’ve had other shows that were full of awesome things, but this show seemed to step things up a level.

And the cast was so wonderful! Dolly was played by Betty Buckley, who is a Broadway legend! I had heard from friends who went to the show before I saw it that she just added so much to the character. I think we all loved how she really took her time with certain parts of the show and it was just so funny! Of course, she’s an amazing singer as was the rest of the cast, but watching someone really enjoy playing a character and making it their own is so fun! I know I left the show smiling and so happy that I am getting to see more classic musicals again and on a big stage!

Over the next month, we have our next 2 shows (one of them is the show I will be going to alone). We are really only in the beginning of our current season even though we’ve already had so many shows. That’s what happens when you add some of the add-on shows to the season. And the newest season has just been announced and it will be at both the Pantages and the Dolby theater. My group hasn’t decided what we will be doing yet, but I’m hoping at least one other person will want to do the next season. Every time I see a show (and every time I write these posts), I remember how much joy musicals bring to my life. I really want to keep this going and continue to bring this much happiness to my life!

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Another Wicked Night Out (or Seeing A Show From Up High)

Posted on December 12, 2018 | Comments Off on Another Wicked Night Out (or Seeing A Show From Up High)

With this season at the Pantages, I’ve mentioned that there are a bunch of shows that I have seen before. It’s still a novelty to me to see a show more than once so it’s exciting to see shows again. I can pay attention to different details when I’m more familiar with they show and it always brings a new meaning to it. And while I love when something in a show surprises me, I love it just as much when those surprises are now expected and I can enjoy other aspects of the show.

This past week was another repeat show for me when we had tickets for “Wicked”. It didn’t seem that long ago that I had that show as a part of my season, but when I looked back at my blog post about it I realized it was almost 4 years ago! I couldn’t believe it’s been that long since that season, but I guess I’ve been doing season tickets for a lot longer than I feel like I have. All of us in my group were excited to see the show and I love when we are all as enthusiastic about a show as everyone else.

But because of holiday stuff and travel schedules, it was tough for all 4 of us to get together for the show. We can change our dates on our tickets, but we can’t always get them in the same price section as the original tickets. So sometimes if we change the date we have to pay a little bit. Since I could keep my original date and didn’t want to spend a bit more on tickets, I decided to go the night we were scheduled to be there. And Grace decided to keep her ticket the same too so it was the 2 of us out at the show that night.

Even though these tickets were a part of our current season tickets, they were an add-on show so we weren’t in our normal seats. While I love our normal seats and being so close to the stage, it can be fun to watch a show I’ve already seen from a different viewpoint. We were up in the balcony this time, but we were the first row behind the aisle so it felt like we didn’t have to be right behind a bunch of other people.

Grace had mentioned to me before the show started that she hadn’t seen the show before, and I was so excited for her to see it. But I didn’t realize she didn’t know the story that well and she had a bunch of funny moments where she was very surprised by how characters in the show connected to characters from the “Wizard of Oz” movie. I tried not to laugh when she was totally shocked, but we both had a good giggle when she was blown away by a plot point. It’s so fun to get to watch a friend experience a show for the first time and see their reactions. 

The show was just as good as I remembered it. The songs are always fun songs and the actors were amazing. The woman who played Elphaba has played the role on Broadway and currently is the actor who has played the role the longest. The Glinda we were supposed to see was also from the Broadway cast, but we saw the understudy that night. Being an understudy is a tough job since you don’t get to rehearse the part as often as you’d like, but the understudy did an incredible job. She was so fun to watch and made the role her own. And all of the rest of the cast was just as impressive.

I did miss being so close to the stage and being able to see more reactions on the actors’ faces, but being further back let me see the show as an entire piece and not just a part that I focused on. I got to see the show framed by the stage in a different way and it was interesting to see that. I’ve only sat in the balcony a few times compared to the dozens of times I’ve been in the orchestra. So I tried to enjoy the experience for what it was and enjoy having a new view of the show.

The one advantage of our seats in the balcony was that it was much faster to get out of the theater than it is from our normal seats. So within minutes of the show ending, Grace and I were outside and saying goodbye so I could drive home and she could catch the subway back to her place. But I had to take one more look back at the theater because it was so beautiful being decorated for the holidays.

Our next show is next month and I’m hoping all 4 of us can attend the show together. So far, for the 3 shows we’ve had, we haven’t all been able to be there together. I understand that all of us have slightly crazy schedules and it can be tough to coordinate things. But one of the things I love about having season tickets with my friends is getting to be with my friends. We’ve still got a bunch of shows this season to make that happen, and I know it will.

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A Tasting And Theater Night (or Enjoying A Fun Night Out)

Posted on November 14, 2018 | Comments Off on A Tasting And Theater Night (or Enjoying A Fun Night Out)

The current season for the Pantages has officially begun! Our first show of this current season was actually an add-on show, so this past weekend was the first show of the main season. And since this season is so close to the end of the last season, it does just feel like one long season. And that’s perfectly fine with me.

And just last the past few seasons, we are going to try to have dinner before the show to make it a full night out. And even before we started to plan what we would do for dinner before this show, I got an email from the manager at Wood & Vine. They have a new chef there and they wanted to see if we wanted to come in for a tasting! We all love Wood & Vine so there was no question that we would be coming in!

I had taken a look at the menu before we went in, and everything looked delicious! I knew it would be tough for us to decide what we wanted to get, but I had a feeling that anything we picked would be amazing.

When we got there, my friends ordered cocktails and we knew we wanted the French onion dip with chips so we got that ordered right away. Then we checked out the menu and I think we got a pretty good variety and selection of things to try.

For starters/side dishes we had the dip with chips, wedge salad, and asparagus.

For entrees we had the shrimp and grits, the 50/50 burger (we got it without a bun as one of my friends has a gluten allergy, scotch eggs, and pork shanks.

We also tried the pasta dishes. We got the mac and cheese and the vegan spaghetti and meatballs.

And we got 3 of the 4 desserts they had (one of them was already sold out so we couldn’t try the cobbler).

It really was a ton of food, but the portions aren’t ridiculously huge and almost everything was split among the 4 of us. So while we were all full, it wasn’t that bad. And everything was so good so it was so worth it!

There was nothing we tried that I wouldn’t get again. But there were a few standouts to me. We all loved the French onion dip and even asked for more chips so we could keep on eating it. Then when we got our burger we discovered that dipping the fries in the dip was even better! The pork shank was a favorite among the entire group and I know that I will be getting that every time I’m there and it’s on the menu! The shrimp and grits was a hit with my friends, but since I’m very sensitive to spicy foods I had to only have a little taste. But what I tried was delicious! And I think the mac and cheese was the best variation of it that we’ve had from all of the times we’ve ordered it at Wood & Vine (yes, even better than the lobster mac!).

All the desserts were delicious and we were happy to see they kept the butterscotch on the menu. This version was a bit lighter and had more air whipped into it, but I liked that. And the ice cream was the perfect thing to have with the butterscotch. But I think if we had to pick a favorite dessert, the donut holes were the winner! It came with a chocolate bacon sauce and a raspberry sauce, and they were both great dipping options.

We also got a chance to meet the new chef, Rick Sipovic. He has been the chef at restaurants all over the country, but he grew up in the south so a lot of his dishes are inspired by that. He was so friendly and fun to talk to! We enjoyed hearing about how he decided on certain things on the menu and how the crowds that come in for dinner before the show can be very different from show to show. We were enjoying talking with him so much that we were there until about 5 minutes before showtime! We quickly said goodbye and thank you to Rick and everyone else at Wood & Vine to go across the street to the Pantages.

The show we saw this time was “A Bronx Tale” and none of us knew really anything about the show. A few of us knew it was based on a movie which was based on real life, but we hadn’t seen the movie. But I’ve heard that sometimes when seeing a show based on another thing, it’s best to go in with limited knowledge. We didn’t have the movie to compare the musical to and that’s usually a good thing.

We enjoyed the show. It was an interesting journey about the life of the main character when he was a kid and as a teenager and the story was easy to follow (a worry I have when I don’t know anything about the story). There were several very catchy songs and a bunch of them reminded us of other musicals which was a fun surprise. I think it was a nice musical to have to officially start off the season and it’s one of the only shows this season I had no familiarity with before going in. I’ve said it before but it will be interesting this season when I know a majority of the shows we are seeing, since usually I only know one or two of them.

This really was the perfect night out! The show was fun and we had a truly incredible dinner! There was never a question before that we would keep going to Wood & Vine before several of our shows, but now I’m looking forward to it even more to try the other things on the menu and see how it changes as the menu is based on what is available that season. I’m sure the winter, spring, and summer menus will be just as good as this fall one is. And I am so excited to keep having the best dinners before seeing some of the best musicals!

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Another Musical Season (or Enjoying A Repeat Musical)

Posted on September 18, 2018 | Comments Off on Another Musical Season (or Enjoying A Repeat Musical)

Even though the last season of our shows at the Pantages just ended about a month ago, the new season just started for us! Technically the new season officially starts in November with the season ticket package we bought, but our group also decided to get a couple of add-on shows so we got to start our season early! That also means that we have 11 shows this season instead of the 7 that came with our package! It’s going to be a full season, but I’m really excited for it.

One thing that is different for this season is that I have more repeat musicals than any other season. Out of the 11 shows, I’ve seen 7 before. That’s a lot considering that in the past seasons I usually only had seen 1 or 2 before. But since I’ve been enjoying seeing musicals more than once lately, I’m actually really excited about it.

And this first show was a repeat one for me. We saw “Beautiful“, which I previously saw about 2 years ago when Dani and I did our Black Friday deal for a mini-season of tickets.

Dani and I had seen the show before, but the 2 other people in our group hadn’t seen it. Michelle, who has been a part of our past 2 seasons and is doing this season too, was new to the show. And my friend Grace is the 4th person in our group this season, but she was unable to make this show. So my birthday twin Joanna took the 4th ticket and she was new to the show too! Joanna actually didn’t know really anything about the show, but when I asked her if she wanted the ticket she was free and the price was right so she said yes!

I remember the first time I saw “Beautiful” that I was almost a bit overwhelmed. There was so much to pay attention to in the show and I knew I missed things. There were some on stage quick changes that I wished I could see again and sometimes I got distracted by the music because I didn’t realize the song was done by Carole King. So it was nice to get to see the show again so I could focus on it in a different way than I could the first time seeing it.

And being able to focus on it in a different way gave me a different appreciation and I got a different enjoyment out of the show. I was so glad that it was just as good (if not better) the second time around because not every musical is one that I think I would enjoy seeing a second time. Some of the shock I felt the last time seeing the show from not realizing things would be happening was gone and I could just sit back, relax, and enjoy the performances. It was funny because I did tell Joanna that there were some amazing on stage quick changes and when they happened she had the same reaction I had the first time. And after the show was done she was telling me how much she loved it.

Dani and I both agreed that this touring cast was amazing. We had some favorites from the last touring cast and this one, but overall it was still a really wonderful show and we enjoyed it. And Michelle really liked it too and I think we all agreed it was a great way to kick off a new season of shows.

The last time I saw “Beautiful”, I said it was my favorite musical I had seen. It’s still one of my favorites, but now that I’ve seen so many musicals I don’t know if I can pick a favorite anymore. I see musicals a different way now that they don’t feel like a rare treat. When you don’t see them that often, I think it’s easier to pick favorites. Now that I see them about every month or every other month, I can notice more specific differences between shows. One show might have the most impressive songs while another has the best overall script. One show might be incredible with costumes and dancing while another can have the best actors. I don’t know how to pick which show is my favorite because for almost every single show I’ve seen in the past few years I can name one thing that was the best in that show.

I really wasn’t concerned that this coming season of shows would be a lot of shows that I’ve seen before. There is only 1 show that I have seen more than once that I really didn’t care for it after the first time. It’s still a bit of a novelty for me to see shows more than once since I went so long without seeing musicals. And fortunately almost all the experiences I’ve had before with repeat shows have been good and usually make me appreciate the musical more. The next show will be a new one for me, but with all the repeat shows coming up I am getting more and more excited to see what it will be like seeing those shows again. I’m just really glad the first show in this season of repeat shows was such a wonderful night out to start things off on a really great note.

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The Last Show Of The Season (or Ending On A High Note)

Posted on August 7, 2018 | 1 comment

This past weekend was the last show of the current season at the Pantages for my group. It’s been a pretty amazing season and I’ve loved having these Sunday adventures with my friends. The next season for us will be starting in 5 weeks, so it’s not that much of a gap between this season and next. But one of the members of our group won’t be joining us next season. She is going back to school to get her doctorate so she won’t have the time to commit to the season. We do have another friend who will be joining us, but it was still a bit sad to know that this was going to be the last show for this group that has been together for 2 seasons.

We started our evening out at Wood & Vine like we have for so many shows. We love going there for dinner because it is always great and the staff spoils us there. But they also just got a new menu (they change the menu seasonally) and we really wanted to see what the new offerings were and checking out what some of our new favorites would be.

I had looked at the menu before going and had picked out a few things I knew I wanted us to get, but I still took a look to see if my mind had changed. And our group quickly decided that we wanted all 4 main dishes that were on the top row of the menu plus the street corn. We thought all 4 of those main dishes were new ones, but it turns out the lamb burger has always been on the menu and we just never got it!

Our veggies came out first. We ordered the corn but the manager also wanted us to try the salad.

The salad was nice and fresh, but the corn tasted so luxurious! It was perfectly seasoned and the creme on it was delicious! We quickly ate it all and were excited to get the main dishes we ordered.

The 4 things we got were the pork belly tacos, the lamb burger, the pasta with prawns, and the tequila chicken.

Without a doubt, our absolute favorite was the tacos. The pork belly melted but was also nice and crispy. It was so good that I wish I was having it again right now because my mouth is watering! The lamb burger was a bit spicy so I only had a small taste of it, but my friends said that it is a must-order for the next time we have dinner. And the pasta with prawns and the chicken were amazing too! We all were tasting everything and most of the time we were eating we were much more focused on the food than talking.

And the dessert menu at Wood & Vine was expanded recently and the manager wanted us to try 2 of the new desserts.

I don’t like pineapple (it hurts my mouth), but I loved the ice cream in the pineapple sundae. And my friends said the pineapple was beautifully grilled and tasted amazing. And I loved the chocolate truffles! They were really rich, but the perfect size to enjoy them and not feel stuffed.

As always, the food at Wood & Vine really amazed us and we were having the best time having dinner there. I have a feeling that we will continue going there for dinner before our shows multiple times in our next season. The manager also told us some ideas they were thinking for the fall menu and we cannot wait to see what they go with and try out all the new things!

After dinner we walked across the street to the theater to go to our show. This time, we were seeing “Waitress” which was one of the shows I was most excited to see this season.

I love the movie “Waitress” and it’s one that I watch over and over. The story behind the writer, director, and one of the actors is a sad one and that makes the movie even more special for me to watch. She created this amazing movie and was waiting to find out if it got accepted to Sundance but was murdered before she could find out it got in. The movie was critically acclaimed and she never got to experience that. And I love that her legacy is continuing with the musical being loved by so many people.

Since I was familiar with the story and characters, I was excited to see what changed they made from the movie to the musical. Sometimes adaptations skip some of my favorite parts or I feel like there is something missing. But this time I was so happy with how the musical took elements from the movie and expanded upon them. I felt like so many characters were built upon and they were even more lovable. And the main story and plot was very true to the movie and that made me happy too.

I’m so glad that this musical didn’t disappoint me since it was something I had been looking forward to since this season was announced. It’s not that often that I am disappointed by a show, but it can happen and I’m always a little worried that something I’m really excited about will do that. But this wasn’t that situation and it really helped to end our season on such a wonderful high note!

I’m already so excited for the next season and the season after that will be announced in a few months. Hopefully that season will be another one that many of us want to go to and the tradition will continue with getting season tickets. I’ve said this pretty much every time I go to a show, but going makes me so happy and I’m just grateful that I have friends who do this with me and make these evenings feel so special.

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