Starlight Theater - Part 2

(Note: I've decided to stop calling folks by their initials, and am going to use nicknames for them. I don't know why, but it somehow seems less cumbersome to call my husband Elfriend rather than J, my daughter Gidget rather than C, and my son Dash rather than N. :-) )

The third show of the season this year was Grease. We'd seen it a few years ago, the last time it came to Starlight. We remembered liking the music and dancing, costumes, things like that. What we didn't like was the moral of the story.

Since we still couldn't get anyone to go with is, we had serious discussions on whether or not we should bring the kids. Finally we decided that most of the stuff that we didn't like would just fly over the kids' heads. If Dash had been the same age as Gidget, we probably wouldn't have done so. Of course, there's always the danger that Gidget would absorb more than one would think from appearances. She's done that sort of thing before. You think she hasn't been paying attention to something, then some time later you realize that she's internalized all of it.

During our dinner, I almost ran into Bob Rohlf on our trip to the buffet. Fortunately, I was able to stop myself on time. I said "Hi," he said "hi," and that was it. It took me a moment to realize who he was, since for some reason folks look different when they're two feet away from you than when they are close to a football field's width away from you, up on stage. By the time I realized why he looked familiar, it was too late too say anything to him. Though what I would have said, I don't know . . . "You're Bob Rohlf." "I know."

The language in Grease was worse than I remembered. Probably selective memory at work. And, of course, the staging was different, and things like that. I don't remember if the last time the show was there was before or after they put in the new stage. They did that a few years, making the stage smaller, but more versatile, closer to the Broadway standard. That way, they have a greater selection of shows to choose from. The stage is also enclosed now, so it can be air-conditioned, which I'm sure the actors appreciate on these warm Kansas City nights. The first rows of the audience appreciates that, too. If the last time the show was there was before the stage changed, that would probably explain quite a few of the staging changes.

We were right about most of the plot going right over the kids' heads. Later we asked Dash what the story was about, and he told us, "It's about a car."

We all enjoyed the evening. More on the last two shows, Rent and Hairspray later.