Urinetown (that’s right!)

It has been a month for shows!

Yesterday I went to see my good friend Meagan Little (she plays Hope Cladwell) in the River View Theater Company’s performance of Urinetown. Yes that is the name of the musical, and no, it’s not bad. I’ve listened to the songs of the show and did a little research about the show before I went (I’m just that kind of theater goer) but I was not prepared for the show to be as good as it was.

The show is just wildly funny and the vocals of the cast was amazing, everything from the set to the choreography captivated my attention. Even just little staging details that you pick up on… Hear no Evil, See no Evil, Speak no Evil. Staging with a candlestick, rope, knife, wrench, etc… (a la CLUE). And although some of the cast told me that they dropped lines/cracked on stage, I wasn’t able to tell. I just thought that it was a fabulous show.

The Riverview seemed to be a very well run company, especially for being in it’s first season… So kudos founders Angie Kells (who also directed the show) and Jeff Cook (who was the light and sound board technician). I also feel that I should mention that David “Doc” Lindquist’s (who also plays Caldwell B. Cladwell) and Angie Kells’ choreography was great for the show and really fit the songs. Just excelent.

See for yourself.

I’m here!

Cop Song (ooh Flashlights!)

Little Sally counts her money

Hope listens to Bobby’s Heart

Shhh….

Ah, there it is. It’s saying…..We all want a world, Filled with peace and joy……

Officer Lockstock, Caldwell B. Cladwell & Officer Barrel Dance

Poor Hope

Oh Yes! Urinetown is still playing for another weekend. At the Memorial Civic Theater in Richmond IL.

May 16th @ 8:00PM
May 17th @ 3:00PM and 8:00PM
May 18th @ 7:00PM

So if you have the chance and are close by, check it out. You won’t regret it, it’s just a great show.

Learn more! http://www.riverviewtheatre.org/default.aspx

Arlington Heights Community Concert Band

As it always seems to happen, when I go and see one show on a weekend I have another to go to as well.

Todays show was of a different nature, I went to go see my friends (Tess, Bill and Robin) perform with the AHCCB. This was Bills first time playing with the band and I’m thrilled that I was able to see him do it. Well Done!

This talented group of musicians performed their concert “When East Meets West” and the songs were great. The most memorable for me were “Medley from ‘Miss Saigon” and “Horse on the Prairie”. The latter of which was written by one of the bands members Taka Urayama, and I must say that it was a pretty amazing piece.

Although I tried to just sit and enjoy the music, I felt I needed to capture some of this show on (digital) film. So here are a few of the shots I got during the show.

The Full Band Waiting

Tess Waiting

The Conductor (Adam La Spata) Takes a bow after the first song

Barbara Decker Wachholz sings “Into the West”

Bill and Tess at Intermission

Bill, Tess, Mollie and Maz (he’s there I swear!) hang out before intermission is over.

Adam Explains his Outfit
(it represents the east while Adam is the West, East Meets West, get it?)

The Band Takes their Final Bow

It was great to be able to see the band perform again, it’s always a treat. I can’t wait until the 4th of July parade/concert! Today was especially great since Pattie, Bill, Mollie and Tess will be leaving for Springfield tomorrow. It’s always nice to hang out with them. Have a great time guys! Come home safe!

Jonathan Coulton

This post has been updated from it’s original version. Since there are nice people on youtube who posted last nights show I thought it was only fair to post the songs from that show. After all, the venue was awesome and so was the audience.

So last night I saw Jonathan Coulton at the Lakeshore Theater.

He wrote the song at the end of the game Portal (which is amazing, both the song and the game, everyone should play it). I won’t post that song here because it would ruin the game for anyone who has not played it (I think).

The show was pretty amazing. Lot’s of fun, lots of audience participation. I hadn’t heard many of his songs before going to the concert, really just the portal song, and Ikea, but I like his sound very much.

If you’re interested you can go to his store and listen to all his songs (http://www.jonathancoulton.com/store/downloads).

Here’s one of the songs he played last night. The slide show can be found by itself on youtube, but since I found a taping of last nights show I thought I would post this.

I like it, I like it alot.

The opening act was Paul and Storm but not only were they the opening act, they also sang with Jonathan (and he sang with them. Which made for a fun opening, closing, combined sort of show.

This is one of the songs they played together last night.

At the end of the night I had Jonathan Coulton sign my arm. And I went home happy.

It was great, especially for my first concert ever.