Mynee's Musings

Sound of Music

We saw our last show of the Broadway Series season Saturday at The Fox.  I've lost track of how many times I've seen it but it's definitely one of my favorites.  Each time I see it, I remember how much I love it and this time was no exception.  Maria, Sound of Music, My Favorite Things, Do-Re-Mi, Edelweiss, So Long Farewell, Sixteen Going on Seventeen, Climb Every Mountain...I love them all.  Bill calls Sound of Music "The King and I with Alp and Nazis."  LOL

When we went into The Fox, the weather was perfect; sunny and about 75 degrees.  After the show, we were walking toward the exit and heard someone say something about 70 mile per hour winds.  Sure enough, when we walked outside, it was dark and the wind was blowing.  It looked like it could pour any minute.  We started walking quickly to our car and got there just before it started raining.  We drove a few blocks to Pappo's (fka Six Row) and sat in the car for a few minutes before the rain let up a bit and we went inside.  Yummy pizza and brews, although I still miss Six Row.

That wraps up the Fox Broadway Series season until October. Next up, The Muny! 

Bridge of Madison County

We saw Bridges of Madison County at The Fox yesterday.  We’ve never seen the movie so I didn’t really know the story line other than some guy comes to town and some married woman falls in love with him.  Ha, yeah there’s a lot more to the story.  Before the show started, we were sitting in our seats and I decided to Google the story line.  I started reading it to Bill and it went on and on and on and that was only Act One!  Oh my, we weren't really sure what to expect.  As it turns out, it was much better than we expected.  I might even have to watch the movie sometime.

After the show, we were going to eat at Four Hands Brewing since we had never eaten there before.  We’ve had their beers numerous times and we really enjoy them.  The brewery is only a few blocks from Busch Stadium so it’s usually very crowded before and after the game.  Since the Cardinals weren't in town and since we knew that we’d be at the brewery by 5:15 or so, we figured it wouldn’t be crowded.  Wrong!  It was packed.  Oh yeah, the Blues were in town.  Change of plans; we ate at Morgan Street.  As always, great food and brews.  

Next up, last show of the season, The Sound of Music.

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. 

Fox Broadway Series 2014-2015 Recap

Now that the season has ended, here’s a list of the shows in order from most favorite to least favorite:

1. A Christmas Story
2. Motown
3. Phantom
4. Dirty Dancing
5. Kinky Boots
6. Cinderella

A Christmas Story was the hands down favorite as I expected it would be.  I love the story of Cinderella but this production was a little strange.  I like Dirty Dancing more than I thought I would.  I saw the movie once and wasn’t really impressed but the musical was good.   

Overall, it was a great season.  I’m looking forward to the 2015/2016 season.

Kinky Boots

We saw the last show of the season, Kinky Boots, at the Fox Saturday.  It is the story of a man who inherits a shoe factory from his father.  The factory had been in the family for years, beginning with his grandfather.  Sales were not what they once were so he considers closing the factory until he meets a transvestite, Lola, and he decides to make “kinky boots”.  The actor who played Lola, Darius Harper, was excellent! 

After the show, we went to Wildwood Pub & Grill to meet the family for Sarah’s birthday dinner (see previous post).  They have changed their menu and added a few new dishes.  I had the buffalo chicken pasta and it was super yummy. 

I’ll post a recap of the season soon.

Phantom of the Opera

We saw Phantom of the Opera at the Fox on Saturday.  It's the tragic love story of a man deformed since birth and the Paris Opera House chorus singer with whom he falls in love.  He tutors her and terrorizes the rest of the opera house.  I had seen it before but it was a long time ago, I think back in 1991 or 1992 and Bill had never seen it.  I love the songs, especially Music of the Night, All I Ask of You and The Phantom of the Opera.

We ate dinner at Rosalita’s after the show.  We ordered the flautas for the appetizer and they were really good but very filling.  Ha, my eyes are always bigger than my stomach.  I then ordered the al pastor street tacos and Bill ordered tacos too but I forget which kind...hee hee hee.  Whatever it was, he enjoyed it and I really enjoyed mine.  Oh my goodness, I couldn’t eat all of it.  I ended up just eating the meat and leaving the tortillas for the second and third taco.  I think next time I order it, I’ll just tell them to leave off the tortillas and give me three scoops of the masa instead.

After dinner, we went to Alpha Brewing which is only about a block from Rosalita’s.  It’s been open for almost 2 years and this is the first time we visited.  I love the bar…

They call it the coin bar.  They have tasty brews and a cute little patio out front.  We’ll definitely be visiting again soon when the weather is nice.