Got you with that title, didn’t I?
One of the perks of working in the theatre is that you can enjoy qaulity entertainment several nights a week for free.
Between the two of us working at two different theatres that boast multi-show seasons, plus the free tickets that theatres tend to exchange with other area theatres for their employees and actors, and the connections we have to friends who work for other area theatres and dance companies, we are in a constant rotation of shows, so we’re really never at a loss for a good performance, if we’re in the mood to see one. And sometimes we’re obligated to see them. But really the biggest hinderance in our case isn’t the cost since we’re, very luckily, not paying $42 a ticket per show, it’s the fact that we just simply don’t have enough time or energy to hit them all. But we try to hit the ones we are required to see, and the ones that sound the most appealing, if we can make it happen schedule-wise – an even mix. Both CCM and ETC opted for a little more spooktastic of productions given that October is Halloween month. I could use some variety in my life, and both productions were regional premieres and fairly new works, so fine by me!
On Thursday night after work we traipsed up to Mt. Admas, a totally gorgeous area of town we’d love to live in, to try out City View Tavern, which Cincinnati Magazine rates as the #1 burger in Cincy, and then we stopped for an ice cream at Baskin Robbins and finished out our night seeing Coram Boy at CCM. On Friday night we dined at an authentic Mexican restarant in downtown that recieved rave reviews from our co-workers and then sat in on both the regular production and understudy intern performance of Ghost-Writer at ETC.
City View Tavern is this tiny little hole-in-the-wall tavern near the top of Mt. Adams, which is at the top of one of seven hills of Cincinnati. You drive up a series of long and winding streets, past the monestary, that snake up the mountain. Nestled in a residential area on a ridiculously narrow one-way street on a steep hillside is City View Tavern. It’s tiny but clean and charming, has a sweet little bar with a small selection of beers and a few liquors, a handful of tables inside (but no table-side service, bar only), a menu with five items (all burgers), a pool table, and no music blaring on the stereo, but the bartender has a slew of board games you can play at your table. The real draws are the burgers, which were indeed very good (we ordered the Big Ted Delux – the name was coincidental, but totally appreciated. The vegetarian version was called Big Ted No Ted), and the phenomenal views of Cincinnati. I can totally picture us steaking claim to one of the patio tables out in the back on a warm summer’s eve, ordering a round of beers and burgers, and widdling away a few hours enjoying a warm sunset view and playing scrabble. It was good stuff! Hole-in-the-walls usually are.
I’ll come clean here. I was really intrigued by the storyline of Coram Boy, which is why we put in for the comp tickets. It sounded so interesting! But I also knew it was nicknamed the dead baby play and had heard the tales of gory CCM production meetings discussing the burial pit onstage, and the baby they’d made that moves and cries and then (at least in early rehearsals, they toned it down a lot by the time it reached the stage) was supposed to die a pretty gruesome on-stage death. Given all that uplifting information about this epic three-hour production, I was having second thoughts about if I was in the mood for something so long and dreary on an otherwise relaxing Thursday night. But my interest, thankfully, got the better of me. The play was first performed on the London stage in 2005 and this was its regional premiere, and the plot did sound really, really good! So we went. And it was awesome. It was dark, a period piece, but it had many moments of humor and joy. It was intriguing and kept you on the edge of your seat, just waiting to see what would happen next. It was perfect for Halloween, but not at all scary. Asthetically, there were some truly beautiful moments onstage where the costumes and lights and colors and props and fog and music all blended together to form completely lovely pictures. I found the acting to be good and the roles great, meaty roles for actors and actresses looking to sink their teeth into a something new. The show also features a good deal of music and some singing (though it is not a musical) and the Cincinnati Children’s Choir played a pretty large role in the production. Cute kids! And those three hours that I’d thought would be long and exhausting pretty much flew by in no time – lots of “ah ha!” moments and unexpected, riveting, twists and turns. It would make a great novel! I won’t waste time detailing the plot to you, but I would recommend reading more about it here and here. Don’t let the nickname turn you off. It was an excellent production and I’d put it right up there with the top three shows I’ve seen at CCM: Evita, Coram Boy, and Rent.
Friday night after work we left the car parked at the theatre and took a brisk walk downtown to Taqueria Mercado for some Mexican eats. We’d heard the rumor that this place was authentic, but I’m a tex-mex expert and hold Mexican food to high standards. I wasn’t disappointed! It was delicious. The chips were hot, cripsy and flaky, the salsa teeming with cumin and a spicy aftertaste, the cheese was creamy and authentic Mexican, and they used a ton of cilantro! The flavors were to die for. Ted downed a burrito as big as his face and I had two small quesadillas – shrimp and steak. We’ll definitely frequent Taqueria Mercado in the future. Just like being back in Texas!
Ghost-Writer was a completely different experience than I had envisioned. For starters, it was only an hour-and-a-half long with no intermission – a far cry from Thursday night’s 3-hour epic production. I’d read the play previously, several weeks ago, and from that read garnished an idea in my head about what everything would look and sound like. Perhaps this isn’t the best method, but I like reading plays and when you’re working on a study guide and curriculum standards for it, you kind of have to read the play ahead of tme. I enjoyed the play and I thought the actors put a neat spin on things, playing them in a way that I hadn’t even thought about, which was cool. But I also really enjoyed reading the play and, being that it is a play about books and authors, reading it brought a certain level of understanding and intimacy to the work. The concept of the play, if you’ve never heard of it, is a very interesting one and based on a true story, which is even neater. It follows a renowned author and the brainy female typist he hires to types his novels as he dictates them through a nearly twenty year relationship. After the author dies his typist continues to type his last novel until its completion, claiming the words are his words but told through her fingers, leading the audience to determine whether she finishes writing the book, or if his ghost finishes the book through her. Clever stuff. It’s at the end of its run today, as is Coram Boy, but they’re work checking out if a they’re coming to a theatre near you – support local theatre!
I could get used to dinner and a play a few times a month :-) Luckily, we can! Now if only the dinners were free too…maybe I should become a food blogger too? Feed the habit, so to speak.
