The Pink Ladies and T-Birds have invaded Charlotte... Oven's Auditorium has been transformed into Rydell High... and Taylor Hicks went from American Idol, to an American Classic - Grease is the word!
Last night was opening night for the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center's presentation of Grease at Oven's Auditorium, and it will only be here until Dec. 6.
Just like the book is always different from the movie, the movie is always different from the musical. There is new music, characters take on new traits and even the plot sequence is different. And that in itself is reason enough to go see it.
It's the kind of musical where you just can't help but bob your head and shake your shoulders ... but you kind of have to refrain from doing so, because it's rude for the people behind you. Every time someone in the crowd moves his head, the person behind him has to adjust his in order to see — and then the person behind them, the person behind them ... and so on. This tall dude in front of me kept fidgeting with his face and changing positions, which required me to. At one point, I had to maneuver myself to see through the space between his elbow and his head.
Not just because you get to eat X number of elaborate homemade dinners, but because it's a holiday for giving thanks. So I want to give my sincere thanks to you ... yeah you, the person reading this ... you complete me! I appreciate you! All four of you (including my mom ... Hi Mom!) :) But one or one million, I am grateful for even the one.
But just like we should appreciate and honor our troops every day, not just Veterans Day, we should have the attitude of gratitude every day as well. So perhaps we should celebrate Thanksgiving, every day. Does this mean we can stuff our faces with stuffing every day, too?
And why is it that holiday dinner parties always seem to have balls of some sort ... Cheese balls, spinach balls, meatballs ... that's a lot of balls — perhaps I should send some to my ex.
Happy Thanksgiving party people!
According to Jay-Z, “after the party it’s the hotel lobby” ... or, you can just have the party at the hotel bar.
BLT in the Ritz Carlton just opened, and pretty much the entire hotel lobby is a lounge. It stands for Bistro Laurent Tourondel — not bacon, lettuce and tomato. In fact, a BLT in that joint would probably cost you $15, for lunch.
It’s not cheap... it is at the Ritz after all and the lounge is well, rather ritzy. And their organic cocktails and premium wine list of the lobby-lounge correspond with the price range of a steak house.
It’s been open a few weeks and since then has been the hot spot for N.Y. Knicks and pretty much every celebrity that comes through Charlotte.
The Panthers may not be serving up good games at the stadium, but they are serving up good food - and for a good cause. From the field to the kitchen the Panthers go ...
By Larken Egleston
Despite yesterday's loss, the timing of the Panthers' second win in a row couldn’t have come at a better time for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina. After a slow start to the season for the Cats, the city’s renewed interest in the team was evident in the turnout out at last Monday’s annual “Taste of the Panthers” event at Bank of America Stadium.
With the local food bank being the primary beneficiary of the event, it was a night where the “haves” could help feed the “have-nots” in our community by simply coming out and sampling some of the best food Charlotte’s chefs have to offer. With most of Charlotte’s top restaurants being represented (Ember Grille, Blue, and even a booth by the always-popular culinary school Johnson & Wales to name a few) there was no shortage of great food for the hungry crowd.
Tonight at Villa Francesca's from 7 - 10 p.m. there will be a charity pizza party to "Take a Slice out of Cancer."
The pizza will be topped with local celebs such as FOX Morning Rising's Mark Mathis and Anna Koiman, Panther players Dante Rosario, Jon Beason, and Charles Godfrey, Bobcats Raymond Felton, and Mayor Pat McCrory - and they'll be making their own pizzas that you can try.
I'll be tossing and topping my own pizza as well. I wouldn't necessarily recommend trying mine however; the best thing I cook is cereal, and I can make a mean PB&J
Cost is $15 at the door (price includes event t-shirt) and there will also be a silent auction to help raise additional funds because all the pizza proceeds will benefit the American Cancer Society.
... was actually in October this year. (It’s usually in September despite the fact it’s called Oktoberfest, but that’s neither here nor there.)
Not only did one of Charlotte’s biggest (and drunkest) festivals change months, but locations as well. This year the massive beer sampling went back to the Metrolina Expo rather than Memorial Stadium. As a result, it had more of a county fair feel than the Renaissance tailgate one Memorial Stadium provided.
Oktoberfest celebrates the culture of drinking with 350 beers on tap from different brewers. They give you a shot pint glass and you go sampling like Saturday at Costco.
And with a lot of drinking, came a lot of peeing. While I was standing in line to break my seal in the outdoor restrooms, all along the woods surrounding the beer tents were guys watering the bushes. At that moment, I decided that I wish I were a guy. Not only would I be better at football and exempt from makeup and menstruation, but I could avoid porta-potties all together, let alone the lines for them — guys can just whip it out and instant bladder relief.
This past weekend, I went on my own little sanctioned Uptown bar crawl… the non-EpiCentre crawl.
Nothing against the EpiCentre, as I have spent many a night there at its many venues. But that’s just my point … I spend too many a night there. Do you suffer from a monotonous nightlife — as in your friends always want to go to the same places, which is where you usually end up? Well, if your nightlife is falling into a routine, like a 9 -5 … just take a vacation.
I started my vacation at the grand opening of Fiji and Kashmir — which felt like a trip to the Twilight Zone. I don’t know what it is about the 5th Street corridor, but it really does have the vibe of a curse that no amount of remodeling can seem to eradicate.
Especially when it’s haunted by the bad attitudes of some of the pretentious patrons and bouncer the grouch. But the sushi is good at Fiji, and the (one) table-top touchscreen in the Zen Lounge of Kashmir was fun to play on — literally play on as you aren't able to control the music, dictate the television screen, and order food, but we doodled our names and played tic-tac-toe. Either I am just a big kid, or I was just bored … either way, we sailed onward on our Uptown foot cruise.
...Charlotte is getting a homegrown version of a House of Blues or Hard Rock Cafe — that's what's going down the Blvd. ... or going up rather.
The Blvd. is located down the Boulevard ... Independence, that is, where Stir used to be, but they are stirring it up completely. For starters, it’s not a nightclub anymore — it’s an all-genre entertainment venue. And I do mean all genres.
They have a big-name schedule and diverse calendar penciled in, but general manager Marc Harding said they do not wish to announce it just yet. But Marc did tell me the schedule will include a blend of country acts to pop to beachy music, to old school pop, to '70s and '80s mix. From local to national acts and concerts to comedy.
Wednesday night is comedy night, Thursday will host local to regional bands, Friday and Saturday are slated for national acts and a Gospel Brunch on Sundays.
That’s what I did last weekend. Literally.
John Mayer was right … there is no such thing as the real world. Sure, the only thing consistent in life is its inconsistencies, but despite the changes in our lives over the years, there’s one thing that never, ever changes … our nightlife.
This I learned last weekend after going home to Hometown, Va., for Harrisonburg High School's class of '99 10-year reunion.
Other than some added responsibilities, bills, mileage, experience and Facebook friends … not much has changed in a decade.
What did we do in high school? Party. What did we do at our high school reunion? Party. Just like we did in 1999 — except we handle our liquor (and actions) a little bit better now. And just like in high school, when I came stumbling in late I got a lecture from my mother. Another thing that never changes in life are true friendships. My current band of best friends is the same band I played with in high school … the “Spice Girls” and we still do the same things together as we always have — we just hire babysitters and invite our …(their) … husbands.
Unfortunately, however, there is another thing that doesn’t seem to change, and that's the gossip — people talking behind others' backs and spreading rumors. While my class graduated from hating on one another, you never graduate from having haters in your life. The real world has those, too, and they can cost you a lot more than your high school reputation. But my theory is that if someone talks behind your back, you are just two steps in front of them. And haters serve as great motivational speakers because nothing’s more motivating than someone discrediting you. I guess you can say the only thing that changed for me over the past 10 years is that I grew out of giving a damn.
Good thing because is it just me, or does the Charlotte social scene sometimes seem like Nightlife High?
The best display of tits and ass isn’t at Uptown Cabaret... it’s at Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. And by "Tits and Ass" I’m referring to a musical number within the Broadway play A Chorus Line, which is currently playing in Charlotte and will be thru Oct. 4.
The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center’s Broadway Light Series production of A Chorus Line opened Tuesday night. A Chorus Line is about, well, a Chorus Line and the audition-slash-interview process of. It was an artistic and hilarious display of the reality of entertainment. That’s all I’m going to say, I am not a spoiler – go see it yourself. You can buy tickets here
But I will tell you that there’s no intermission so be sure to pee before the play.
The cast after party was at Sonoma, tucked within Founders Hall. The bar is so hidden I didn’t even know it was there. It’s the perfect place for the bankers to come down from their tower and have a cocktail after work … or at lunch. There I got to see Tits and Ass … or the singer of the song rather, Val played by actress Mindy Dougherty and the Vicodin popping vixen Shelia played by Emily Fletcher. I also got to meet Charlottean Sterling Masters who played the role of Kristine.
So rather you're looking for a musical production, or tits and ass ... you can find it on the Chorus Line.
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