Mynee's Musings

If / Then

We saw If/Then at The Fox yesterday.  It was about a girl named Elizabeth who moves to New York to start over.  She meets Kate who is a teacher and Lucas who is a Community Organizer.  Lucas suggests that she go back to her college nickname of Beth so "Liz" stays with Kate and "Beth" leaves with Lucas.  The play is then about the two paths her life could take.  It was different and I really enjoyed it. Idina Menzel aka Adele Dazeem (LOL) starred in the production on Broadway. 

We ate dinner at Copia (love the Living Social deals) and then headed to Alpha Brewing for dessert.  Next up, Bridges of Madison County,

Beautiful

We saw Beautiful at The Fox yesterday.  It’s the story of Carol King.  I had no idea she wrote so many songs; Take Good Care of My Baby, Some Kind of Wonderful, Will You Love Me Tomorrow and of course, Beautiful, I Feel the Earth Move and It's Too Late just to name a few.  She sold her first song, It Might as Well Rain Until September, at the age of 16 to music publisher Donnie Kirshner.  Of course I remember him as Don Kirshner on the show Don Kirshner's Rock Concert. LOL.  Captain & Tennille were even on the show a few times.  Click here to see one of those performances.  More on them later...hee hee hee.

After the show, we ate at Urban Chestnut in The Grove.  Always yummy food and brews. Next show, If/then. 

Newsies

We saw Newsies at The Fox yesterday.  It was the second show in this year’s Broadway series.  It was a very cute show and I didn’t realize that it was a Disney movie back in 1992.  It’s about news boys in 1899.  The cost of papers was 50 cents for 100 papers. The price was then raised to 60 cents and the news boys went on strike.  Cute story line and great dancing.

After the show, we ate at Bottleworks; hummus, 4 cheese mac & cheese (me), meatball sandwich (Bill) and brews.  Oh, and a growler of the milk chocolate stout went home with us.  LOL.

Next show, Beautiful.   

Wicked

We saw Wicked yesterday with Lisa, Randy, Amanda and one of her friends.  Sarah was supposed to go but she was singing at the Blues game with her school choir group.  I’m sad that we missed that and that she missed Wicked but she said she had a great time and she was glad she went.  Anyway, Wicked is one of our favorites.  This was the fourth time we've seen it.  We first saw it back in 2007 when it first played here and we have seen it every time it's played in St. Louis.  

After the show, we ate dinner at Maggiano’s.  Yum!  A truly fun day.   

Matilda

The first show of the 2015/2016 Fox Broadway series opened this week with Matilda.  I had never read the book or seen the movie and I had no idea what it was about other than a girl named Matilda.  I didn't realize that Roald Dahl wrote the book.  He also wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which I knew, and was married to the actress, Patricia Neal, which I didn't know.  Anyway, it's the story of a gifted girl who is basically ignored by her parents.  She's sent to boarding school where there is an evil principal named Mrs. Trunchbull.  Matilda eventually realizes that she has the power of telekinesis and she begins to use it against the evil principal.  It's a really cute story and the girl who played Matilda, Gabby Guitierrez, was adorable and she certainly could sing!

After the show, we stopped by Alpha Brewing for a pre-dinner brew.  We then ate at Copia Urban Winery.  We had a Living Social coupon, oh my gosh, have you ever bought a Living Social coupon?  We love them.  We have bought quite a few for our favorite restaurants.  Anyway, we started with the arancini and then Bill had the ribeye and I had the shrimp and grits.  Super yummy!

Our next show in the Broadway Series isn't until January 23rd although we did buy tickets for one of the additional shows, Wicked, which we will see in December with Lisa, Randy, Amanda and Sarah. 

A Day in Hermann

Since they were predicting wonderful weather for the weekend, we decided to drive to Hermann yesterday.  Hermann is in Gasconade County and t’s about 60 miles from our house.  We haven’t driven to Hermann in years so I was really glad that we went.  We talk about going almost every Spring and Fall and something always comes up.  Well, this year, everything worked out.  The weather was gorgeous the trees were beautiful…

Our first stop was Stone Hill winery.  We bought tickets for the wine tasting and were able to sample about 6 different wines and made notes as to which ones were were planning to purchase.  We then decided to eat lunch at Vintage Restaurant which is the German restaurant at Stone Hill.  Oh my goodness, did someone say spaetzle?  I don’t usually take pictures of our food (OK, sometimes I do...hee hee hee) but I just had to share this…

After lunch, we walked around downtown Hermann to check out all of the little shops before heading home.  Great weather, great wine, delicious food, cute shops, perfect day.   

Rob Thomas 2015

We went to the Rob Thomas concert last night.  He was at the Peabody Opera House.  The show was originally scheduled for July but Rob’s wife was ill and he rescheduled the show.  I was glad because the rescheduled show was on Friday and the original show was on Wednesday I believe. Anyway, we ate at Square One before the show.  The weather was nice so we were able to eat on the patio.  They had a new beer called Oh Hawaii so of course we had to try it.  It was a wheat beer brewed with pineapples, hence the name.  The funny thing is, the only time I eat pineapple is in Hawaii and even then it’s only a few bites.  I’m not a big fan.  I do like it in drinks though; pina colada, beer, hee hee hee.  Anyway, it was really good. 

After dinner, we headed over to the concert.  There were two opening bands; Plain White T's and Vinyl Station.  They were actually both very good.  Rob Thomas took the stage around 9:15 or so.  Here is the (approximate) setlist:

1. Give Me the Meltdown 
2. Fallin’ to Pieces 
3. Lonely No More 
4. Real World ’09 
5. Mockingbird 
6. Trust You
7. Cradlesong 
8. One Shot
9. Her Diamonds 
10. Feel so Bad
11. Ever the Same 
12. Someday
13. Fire on the Mountain
14. Wind It Up (new song)
15. Streetcorner Symphony 
16. 3 AM / The Joker 
17. Little Wonders
18. I Am an Illusion 
19. Disease
20. …Something to Be 
21. Smooth
22. This Is How a Heart Breaks

I couldn't find the St. Louis setlist online.  I know he sang all of these songs, I'm just not sure if this was the exact order.  Oh, he also sang David Bowie's "Let's Dance" which was really cool.

I was able to take a few pictures and they turned out pretty well:

 

It was a great concert and a wonderful way to start the holiday weekend. 

2015 Muny Season Recap

The Muny season ended yesterday.  As I mentioned in the Beauty and the Beast post, we decided not to attend the performance of Oklahoma on Friday.  Our nieces, Amanda and Sarah, went instead and they enjoyed it.  I had heard that this performance was different in that the long drawn-out sad scene was shortened considerably.  One of my coworkers who also doesn't really like Oklahoma went on Friday night and said that it was actually very good.  Anyway, we ate dinner at Vito's in the Valley (gotta love those Living Social deals) and then had a dessert beer at I-Tap, Lagunitas Mozango; and IPA brewed with mango.  Yummy!

So, here is the list of the 2015, most favorite to least favorite:

• Into the Woods
• Buddy Holly
• Hairspray
• Beauty & the Beast
• My Fair Lady

It's not that I don't like My Fair Lady but Bill doesn't really like it so, hee hee hee.  We were able to vote online again this year for next year's shows.  I voted for the following:

• Fidler on the Roof
• Jesus Christ Superstar
• Mame
• Ragtime
• Wizard of Oz
• Young Frankenstein
• 42nd Street

The only one I haven't seen is Ragtime.  I don't really know anything about it but am hoping that it features ragtime music.  All of the others, well, they're some of my all-time favorites.  

Here's to another great Muny season.  I'm looking forward to 2016.

Downtown Restaurant Week 2015

Last night, we took part in Downtown Restaurant Week again this year as we have for about the past 9 years.  This year, we decided to eat at Lucas Park Grille.  We have considered eating there for years but every time I check the menu online, I don't really see anything that grabs my attention.  Well, the menu for Restaurant Week was excellent.  Bill started with the firecracker shrimp and I had the spinach-ricotta ravioli.  They were both good as I tasted both, however, I forgot to give Bill a taste of my ravioli, hee hee.  Anyway, he then had the kale salad and I had the tomato bisque.  They were both good and yes, I gave Bill a taste of my soup.  We both had the fillet with truffled potato gnocchi, white asparagus, port wine demi.  Oh my gosh, I ate everything on my plate!  I'm not even a big fan of steak but this was seriously good.  The fillet and gnocchi aren't even on their current regular menu but I will be checking from time to time because I would definitely go back for another fillet.  Yum!

The weather was nice so we headed to Urban Chestnut to enjoy a brew in the Biergarten.  There was a German band playing, what else, German music.  They even played "Du, Du liegst mir im Herzen" a German folk song I learned in German class back in 8th grade.  I remember the teacher saying that it was a popular beer hall song.  Ha!  I still remember the words and yes, I sang along.  Prosit.

Beauty and the Beast

We went to our last show of the Muny season last night; Beauty and the Beast.  It's not the last show, just our last show.  More on that later.  Anyway, we have seen Beauty and the Beast before and it's really cute.  In fact, I didn't remember how cute it really is.  I mean, it's a "kid" show but there is adult humor too.  Rob McClure played Lumiere and he also played the Baker in Into the Woods last week.  I can't even imagine how hard it is to rehearse for a show while you're appearing in another!  He also played Lord Farquaad in Shrek two seasons ago.

We ate at the Culver Pavillion again.  This week, they had crab topped tilapia, bbq baby back ribs, toasted ravioli (invented right here in St. Louis) and various sides and salads.  Oh, there was also pizza and chicken fingers for the younger crowd.

So, next week is the final week of the season, Oklahoma.  Not one of our favorites.  Yes, it's Rodgers and Hammerstein, yes it's a classic and yes, I like several of the songs such as, "Oklahoma", "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "Surrey With the Fringe on Top".  I just remember that someone dies and there's a big long scene that sad.  Oh, and there are cowboys.  Ha.  Anyway, we are giving the tickets to my sister, brother-in-law, niece, niece (or any combination thereof) or whoever wants to go. :)