The gentle thud of the walker against the barn floor, the rustle of Ugly Kitty Sweaters, and the faintly audible ringing of too many hearing aids in one place, one might instantly be transported back in time. Another evening of the dreaded "Dinner Theatre Experience" seems to be lurking to close for comfort, and throws the patron back to the memories of their grandparents dragging them to see another production of Hello, Dolly!
Dining on a delicious buffet, any individual aged from 15-50 will find their meal to be rather tasty. However, their minds may drift to a fantasy of Hooters girls, sports, and their local bar. Worry, stress, and indigestion overcome the younger person who fears the dreaded tacky showbiz machine may take them victim with another underwhelming performance at their local theater. As they order a drink from the bartender (Who gives any Hooter's Girl a run for their money), they prep their mind to survive Andrew Lloyd Webber's furry, hissy, and repetitive musical CATS! The lights dim, the overture starts, and within a few minutes the fans of musical theatre are born.
New Candlelight Theatre redefined what is possible for a dinner theatre production. Few professional theatres in Delaware have survived outside of Wilmington's City Limits, let alone any dinner theatres. Many theatres may work only to maintain the business they have left, but NCT, by producing CATS, makes a statement that nothing will deter NCT from creating new audiences, new memories (HA!), and remain culturally relevant in Delaware. It takes an enormous set of Jellicle Balls to flawlessly re-create a multi-million dollar, world-renowned, and challenging spectacle of a musical. (Not to be confused with Full Monty balls) Congrats to Dann Dunn, Chris Alberts, Clint Williams, Jeff Reim, and Jackie Alberts for taking on a challenging piece that has started a new chapter of possibilities for NCT!
Review, after review, after review has praised this production. It is an honor to watch this show night, after night, after night. I am proud to call many of the cast friends. Each of them performs show stopping numbers. Lindsay Mauck, Kaylan Wetzel, Timm Cannon, Colleen McGinnis, and Dave Snyder, give the audiences exactly what they want: Perfection. Every other cast member is exceptionally talented, and diversified. Tim Osgood, Anastasia Bokas, Billy Hart, Mike Angelini, Holly Becker, Justina Ercole, Alexis DeDonato, and many more provide memorable moments on stage. Alas, every show has its crucial and memorable moment. Griz limps onto stage to make one final plea to be awarded a new life. The all too familiar and typically poorly executed song begins, tonight, the performance is not typical or poorly executed. Erica Harr as Grizabella begins to sing the iconic song Memory. As you can tell, I love to hear myself talk, but for a few minutes during every performance I am silent, amazed, and welled up with tears. (Maybe it's the red wine I have during Act 2!)
Sadly, by the end of March the packed houses, standing ovations, enthusiastic applause will become “a memory, too.”All good things must come to an end. However, not everything ends this gloriously. Kudos to everyone working on CATS, I am proud to be a performer/volunteer at NCT because of people like you!
Everyone aged 15-50 needs to come enjoy an evening at NCT. It isn't your grandparents' dinner theatre. It's a quality professional theatrical performance that happens to have dinner served 2 hours before show time! Come enjoy a show at NCT, where the size of your Jellicle Balls matter…and for that matter, the size of your Full Monty ones too!
Monday, February 28, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
WilmU's Yellow Hogwarts Express
The moment had come. I anxiously stood in the cold dark wind clutching my backpack praying for the arrival of the dreaded transportation vessel known as the Yellow Limousine. Shivering I looked around, but my mother was nowhere to be found waving me off to a wonderful day of school. My brown bag lunched filled with nutrition was replaced with yet another bag of McDonald's 2,000,000 calorie meal, and a large Shamrock Shake. My Power Ranger Velcro Light Ups were replaced with my favorite pair of dress shoes. Suddenly, as a strong gust of wind blew away my Phillies cap and another 30 pieces of hair, the realization was Earth shattering. This wasn't a typical morning during my formative Kindergarten days, but a dark Tuesday evening in February of 2011. The Yellow Limo, which I had artfully avoided since Kindergarten, would be transporting me to Wilmington University's New Castle Campus.
My fear is quite understandable, I am clearly under developed in Bus Etiquette. Should I still be excited to go over speed bumps while sitting in the back seat? Should I feel like a nerd to sit in the front? Is there a Show Tune Only Section? Instead of bullying for my lunch Money, would the mean kids steal my Merlot? Thanks goodness my shrink is on speed dial, (I have a private line in each of the houses I have built him) because I am convinced that the minds behind WilmU's Evening Class Transportation have genetics that hail from the McDonald's ball pit where I purchased my dinner. Never the less, I wished my apparition skill magically worked to avoid WilmU's Yellow Hogwarts Express. Within 54 minutes, WilmU's Yellow Hogwarts Express would also destroy a principal belief of my father: The shortest point from Point A to Point B is a straight line.
The following Timeline and Map will explain...
4:55: Enter WilmU campus @ Entrance B/Point A. Entrance A was not accessible to traffic coming off of Ramp A. Continue on to Point B (Building where my class is located).
4:57: Arrive at Point B. Man in Uniform stops me. He proceeds to allow Cars from Ramp A to pull into location A.
5:05: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A.
5:13: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Headache begins
5:16: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Politely ask Man in Uniform if I will be able to move any time soon. He informs me "He has got this under control." I wonder if this may be true because this is the same type of man in uniform that is supposed to winning the War on Drugs.
5:27: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Body starts to itch. Start to think like Judy Garland and consider scouring around for any booze and/or Advil.
5:28: Man In Uniform informs me that WilmU's"Overflow" lot is now full, I must continue to the "Overflow Overflow Lot" at the Wilmington Manor Elementary School. I grew concerned, I was not armed with tampons or pads, all of which are needed to confront "Overflow Overflow." He informed me that there I will find WilmU's version of the HogWarts Express: Lehane's finest Yellow Limousine.
5:29: Enroute to the Redundantly-Named Lot, I pass by the same McDonald's where the genetic ball pit is located.
5:33: Arrive at Platform 9 and 3/Class-Will-Be-Over-By-The-Time-You-Will-Actually-Get-On-Campus (AKA Wilmington Manor Elementary) and board onto the Yellow Hogwarts Express.
5:35: Begin the journey back to campus. Now, if you look at the map, we took the Red Route (The longer Route) NOT the shorter, less traffic ridden GREEN Route.
5:39: Arrive at Ramp A. Join the traffic on the ramp. As we are crawling past Entrance A, Man in Uniform is dining in his car. Itching and Judy behaviors return.
5:42: Passenger A, perhaps secretly related to Cybill, goes on a tirade about the inadequacy of this process. Laced with profanity, she unleashed pro-verb-ial spit balls out of her mouth at such a fast rate a machine gun would be impressed. While I agreed, I quietly held my Merlot tighter. I know a bus bully when I see one!
5:49: Arrive back at Entrance B and continue to Point B, depleted, exhausted, and extremely late for class. I questioned a basic theory I will teach someday: The shortest way from Point A to Point B is a straight line.According to WilmU's Magical Yellow Hogwarts Express, the shortest way from Point A to Point B is not a straight line. It's actually the Red Route and 54 nonrefundable minutes of my life. How will I explain this to my future classes? They will never understand until they ride the WilmU Yellow Hogwarts Express.
My fear is quite understandable, I am clearly under developed in Bus Etiquette. Should I still be excited to go over speed bumps while sitting in the back seat? Should I feel like a nerd to sit in the front? Is there a Show Tune Only Section? Instead of bullying for my lunch Money, would the mean kids steal my Merlot? Thanks goodness my shrink is on speed dial, (I have a private line in each of the houses I have built him) because I am convinced that the minds behind WilmU's Evening Class Transportation have genetics that hail from the McDonald's ball pit where I purchased my dinner. Never the less, I wished my apparition skill magically worked to avoid WilmU's Yellow Hogwarts Express. Within 54 minutes, WilmU's Yellow Hogwarts Express would also destroy a principal belief of my father: The shortest point from Point A to Point B is a straight line.
The following Timeline and Map will explain...
4:55: Enter WilmU campus @ Entrance B/Point A. Entrance A was not accessible to traffic coming off of Ramp A. Continue on to Point B (Building where my class is located).
4:57: Arrive at Point B. Man in Uniform stops me. He proceeds to allow Cars from Ramp A to pull into location A.
5:05: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A.
5:13: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Headache begins
5:16: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Politely ask Man in Uniform if I will be able to move any time soon. He informs me "He has got this under control." I wonder if this may be true because this is the same type of man in uniform that is supposed to winning the War on Drugs.
5:27: Still at point B, still watching cars pour in from Ramp A. Body starts to itch. Start to think like Judy Garland and consider scouring around for any booze and/or Advil.
5:28: Man In Uniform informs me that WilmU's"Overflow" lot is now full, I must continue to the "Overflow Overflow Lot" at the Wilmington Manor Elementary School. I grew concerned, I was not armed with tampons or pads, all of which are needed to confront "Overflow Overflow." He informed me that there I will find WilmU's version of the HogWarts Express: Lehane's finest Yellow Limousine.
5:29: Enroute to the Redundantly-Named Lot, I pass by the same McDonald's where the genetic ball pit is located.
5:33: Arrive at Platform 9 and 3/Class-Will-Be-Over-By-The-Time-You-Will-Actually-Get-On-Campus (AKA Wilmington Manor Elementary) and board onto the Yellow Hogwarts Express.
5:35: Begin the journey back to campus. Now, if you look at the map, we took the Red Route (The longer Route) NOT the shorter, less traffic ridden GREEN Route.
5:39: Arrive at Ramp A. Join the traffic on the ramp. As we are crawling past Entrance A, Man in Uniform is dining in his car. Itching and Judy behaviors return.
5:42: Passenger A, perhaps secretly related to Cybill, goes on a tirade about the inadequacy of this process. Laced with profanity, she unleashed pro-verb-ial spit balls out of her mouth at such a fast rate a machine gun would be impressed. While I agreed, I quietly held my Merlot tighter. I know a bus bully when I see one!
5:49: Arrive back at Entrance B and continue to Point B, depleted, exhausted, and extremely late for class. I questioned a basic theory I will teach someday: The shortest way from Point A to Point B is a straight line.According to WilmU's Magical Yellow Hogwarts Express, the shortest way from Point A to Point B is not a straight line. It's actually the Red Route and 54 nonrefundable minutes of my life. How will I explain this to my future classes? They will never understand until they ride the WilmU Yellow Hogwarts Express.
Here goes nothin'
Many of you may feel that my relentless Facebook status updates would satisfy my need for attention. However, some friends have decided to tease me with a dangerous thought for months: CREATE A BLOG. I will never mention the individuals names because many of you may want to kill them, but never the less, the internet has received the worst gift ever: FrozenLimeLight.
My name selection has one foo-foo and metaphorical meaning. It represents the fact that being a figure skater and musical theatre performer, I have spent my entire life as a legend in my livingroom. (Thanks, Mom for not having another child. I would have less wall space!) Actually, not just my livingroom, but the living room of everyone in my family. Not only do I have only child syndrome, I have only cousin, nephew, grandchild, and great grand child syndrome. Shockingly, for a family that carries out divorces so masterfully, child bearing is not one of our redeeming qualities. So, I am frozen in the limelight of my family. No where to hide, run, and no option but to carry on the Briccotto name! While this title comes with unlimited (and appreciated) attention, gifts, and support, it also comes with unrelenting pressure to ensure my family's name doesn't end with my legacy. It would be a legacy difficult to see through the red-wine stains.
If you think this blog will solely be filled with the same information you encounter on my Facebook Statuses, you are correct. Here's to many years of the random ramblings on love, wine, politics, family, food, theatre, skating, education, and more.
Here's to recording the life events of the last Briccotto, FrozenLimeLight. (BTW, I pray this Blog is only a springboard for a reality series. My ass is totally better then Kim K's)
My name selection has one foo-foo and metaphorical meaning. It represents the fact that being a figure skater and musical theatre performer, I have spent my entire life as a legend in my livingroom. (Thanks, Mom for not having another child. I would have less wall space!) Actually, not just my livingroom, but the living room of everyone in my family. Not only do I have only child syndrome, I have only cousin, nephew, grandchild, and great grand child syndrome. Shockingly, for a family that carries out divorces so masterfully, child bearing is not one of our redeeming qualities. So, I am frozen in the limelight of my family. No where to hide, run, and no option but to carry on the Briccotto name! While this title comes with unlimited (and appreciated) attention, gifts, and support, it also comes with unrelenting pressure to ensure my family's name doesn't end with my legacy. It would be a legacy difficult to see through the red-wine stains.
If you think this blog will solely be filled with the same information you encounter on my Facebook Statuses, you are correct. Here's to many years of the random ramblings on love, wine, politics, family, food, theatre, skating, education, and more.
Here's to recording the life events of the last Briccotto, FrozenLimeLight. (BTW, I pray this Blog is only a springboard for a reality series. My ass is totally better then Kim K's)
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