Annie

I have had my dosage of cute for the holiday season!  This afternoon, we saw the Beck Center's production of Annie.   It's s charming revival of the 1977 musical, based on the Depression era comic series.

Little orphan Annie (brought to life by Anna Barrett) was left by her parents at a public orphanage with the promise of returning for her someday.  She finds herself a guest of the wealthy Mr. Warbucks.   She seems to enchant every life that she touches, included President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.  

Miss Barrett has beautiful singing voice.  She and the other girls are absolutely adorable and full of cheerful energy, despite their dismal  life situation.  The story is wonderful, and it has just the right amount of Christmas spirit.

Beauty and the Beast

Tonight we saw the new tour of Disney's Beauty and the Beast.   I saw the original production on tour in 1996.  The music and storyline remain the same (including the additional songs from the original production that were cut from the movie), but the staging and sets are quite different.  The original run featured greatly detailed sets, which were reminiscent of the 1991 animated feature film.  The new production is more impressionistic, like walking into a French painting.  The colors are vivid and the set structures are more fanciful.

One thing that I found interesting was how they maneuvered the castle set pieces around.  Men dressed up as gargoyles would push the scenes onto the stage and they would essentially disappear.  Actually, the guys would sit really still and fade into the background.  It was really easy to forget that they were there until things started moving again.  They were definitely more than stagehands though.  They danced along with the rest of the company during "Human Again."

I'm really glad that they kept the beer stein clanking part during "Gaston."  It was one of the most memorable parts of the original production for me.   You should definitely watch out for it and enjoy it.  Overall, the production is fun and sweet.  It's got something for everyone, from kids to Broadway veterans.

The Little Dog Laughed

We saw the Little Dog Laughed tonight at the Beck Center for the Arts.  The theater literature describes it as a farce, but I think it's more of a drama with comedic moments.   The dialogue is sharp and characters feel very real.  Most of all, the play is about discovery of emotions and sexuality, as well as portrayals of stereotyped ideals. 

The play only has 4 characters.  Mitchell Green is the Hollywood star who has a "slight case of recurring homosexuality."  Dianne is his fierce agent who want to make it big as a respected producer.   Alex is a rent boy who is first called by a drunk Mitchell, and eventually he forms a close relationship with him.  Lastly, there is Ellen, the girlfriend of Alex.

It is a thought provoking piece.  I recommend it, but it isn't a light comedy by any means.  It's definitely worth taking the time to see.

Main Street Cupcakes for Halloween

It's almost Halloween, and Main Street Cupcakes decorated their goods for the season!

Left to right:
Top row:
Birthday Cupcake - Citrus infused white cake with rainbow sprinkles baked in topped with vanilla buttercream frosting and rainbow non perils
Wedding Day White - traditional white cake with a hint of almond covered in vanilla buttercream frosting
MSC Dark Chocolate Fluff - Dark chocolate cake filled with chocolate fluff and topped with chocolate ganache

Bottom row:
Mint Chocolate Chip - Dark mint chocolate cake filled with chocolate chips and smothered in mint buttercream topped with chocolate chips
Red Velvet - Southern style red velvet cake smothered in white buttercream frosting
French Toast - Vanilla cake with maple and cinnamon covered in vanilla buttercream and a pad of extra buttery buttercream

The Capitol Steps

The Capitol Steps are a musical, political comedy troupe.  Tonight, I saw them live for the first time since 1996.  Many of their past and current members have had staffer experience.   I highly recommend that you check out their website or their YouTube channel.  The troupe's satire is excellent, covering all aspects of politics, diplomacy, and scandal.  The material was current, up to the third presidential debate and Donald Trump's video announcement.   Check them out!

Bricco

Tonight my husband and I went for dinner and a show.  Bricco was located directly across from our theater.   It specializes in pizza and pastas.   Everything we ordered tonight seemed to have a spicy kick to it.  Even the butter served with the bread was orange tinted and mildly spicy!  The weather was quite warm today, and we wouldn't have access to our fridge for leftovers.  Splitting an entree and an appetizer was just the right amount of food for the two of us.

This was our appetizer, Parmesan crusted calamari tossed with chorizo, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, and creamy Parmesan dressing.   I enjoyed this, even though spicy food is not my usual pick.  It had a good mix of the squid rings and tentacle pieces.  Yummy!

Bricco's kitchen was kind enough divide our entree into two separate servings when we mentioned we were splitting it.  This is the shrimp and Andouille sausage ravioli with corn, Anaheim peppers, scallions, roasted potatoes, and Cajun cream sauce.   I was expecting the sauce to be more zesty.  However, it was really creamy and balanced out the spice of the ravioli and the peppers.

The next time I visit, I hope to have time to look over the dessert menu.

Anything Goes

We saw Anything Goes today!  I haven't seen this version of it.  This particular production of it won the Tony for Best Revival in 2011.  Actually, the last time I saw it, a friend was performing in it in a college play.  This truly is a classic in every sense of the word.  It has the music of Cole Porter, mistaken identity, and wonderful choreography!   I highly recommend seeing this musical. 

Apparently when the show was first produced in 1934, the plot wasn't very cohesive at all and it lacked a flowing narrative and definitive ending.  All of that has been remedied in this revival.  The costumes are beautiful, the wit and timing are sharp, and the plot makes perfect sense.  You truly get a sense of each character the moment he or she walks upon the stage.

 If you want to experience a true Broadway classic, see this show!

Fall Cupcakes!

Today I stopped in at Main Street Cupcakes and got some of their fall flavors.

Top row:  Vanilla Chai (Chai spiced vanilla cake covered in rich buttercream frosting sprinkled with cinnamon) and Sparkling Pear (Pear cake topped with champagne buttercream)

Bottom row:  Margarita (Margarita style white cake covered in delicious key lime frosting, garnished with green sugar) and Pumpkin Spice (Pumpkin spice cake covered in vanilla buttercream and a pumpkin spice garnish)

You can't tell from this view here, but the icing is so high that it bumps your nose when you take a big bite.  Yummy!

Xanadu

It's theater season again!   I'm looking forward to seeing and writing about my subscriptions this year.  Today, we saw the Beck Center for the Arts' production of Xanadu.  The musical is based on the movie of the same named starring Olivia Newton John.

I didn't want to see the show until I had seen the movie first.  The movie isn't terrible.  The special effects are campy and it runs a bit on the long side.  My husband actually fell asleep a couple of times during the movie.  However, it was nice to get a feeling for the original.

Now the musical makes fun of the movie.   For instance, the exaggerated 1980s clothing featuring legwarmers (they are an important plot point).  Oh, and the Australian accent of the main character (also an important plot point).  I love a show that crosses the fourth wall and can have fun at its own expense.  Know those cheesy music videos featuring the gratuitous wind machine?  Watch for it!  It was too fun!

They did change a few things between the movie and the musical.  In the movie, Kira was Terpsichore, the Muse of dance.  In the musical, Kira is Clio, Muse of history.  The musical emphasizes that Sonny did the painting of the Muses.   The character of Danny was made more gruff and less likeable that his movie counterpart (played by Gene Kelly).  They also added subplot of two of  Kira's Muse sisters (Melpomene and Calliope) scheming against her.

The musical runs 1 hour and 30 minutes with no intermission.  I was familiar with several of the songs because of all the Dance Dance Revolution I used to play.  It's nice to know the context of the songs.

Horseshoe Casino: The Spread Buffet

I finally got to visit the Horseshoe Casino today.  It's really interesting to see a casino in Cleveland because I've been going to Las Vegas since I was ten year old.  Anyhow, I'm not really into gambling, so we went to the buffet, aptly named The Spread.

The restaurant is no ordinary buffet.   Each station actually has a small kitchen behind it where the food for the station is prepared.  For example, this is the Italian station:

Note the wood fire ovens in the back for making pizza.

The Spread features art and objects found during the remodeling of the Higbee Building where the casino is located.

As for the food, it was great!  There was a wide variety of things to choose from.  We went this morning for brunch and I'm still feeling full.   I'll probably skip dinner.  Below are pictures of things our party tried in no particular order.

On this plate are a pork dumpling, a cracker with Swiss cheese, a strip of bacon, a waffle, a buttermilk pancake, a quesadilla, scrambled eggs, and a home style hash brown.

They served fried chicken in these individual baskets!   They had a number of dishes like that.

On this plate are a slice of mushroom pizza, an omeletmade to order, a piece of french toast, a lice of garlic bread, and a fortune cookie.

This is a peanut butter tart.  It had a fudge chocolate center.

On this plate:  another waffle, eggs Benedict, two more pork dumplings, Caesar salad, pesto pasta with mushrooms, and smoked salmon.

This plate has another waffle, the pesto pasta with mushrooms, penne pasta with red sauce, a chocolate croissant, a chocolate brownie on a stick, and a piece of pineapple.

This plate has creamed spinach, scrambled eggs, whipped potatoes, General Tso's chicken, spicy beef, and Kielbasa sausage.

This is the Spread's gelato freezer.  The flavors rotate on the inside and the attendant serves it for you.  I just had to get a picture!

The gelato here is stracciatella, coffee, and mango.   The plate to the right is cherry pie.

This is banana, vanilla, and chocolate gelato.

This is creme caramel, pistachio, and sugar free milk cream gelato.   The glass to the right is a strawberry smoothie.

The Spread is definitely an experience not to be missed.  However, it is an indulgence and a whole lot of food.  If you go, plan on eating lightly that day before and afterwards. 

Li Wah

We went out last night to my favorite Chinese restaurant, Li Wah.   They have the best dim sum in Cleveland!  They serve it on the rolling carts every day before 1 pm, but Sunday dim sum is the best.   Their website menu doesn't feature the sheer variety of things they have to serve.  Last night we ordered the 6 person set meal with the substitution of salty fish eggplant casserole instead of the black mushroom dish.  Also, we added an order of salted fish, chicken fried rice.  The order served the seven of us with plenty of leftovers.

 We also ordered some bubble tea.   The front one is taro and the back one is papaya.

This one is pineapple pictured with the plain hot tea.

The soup was beef with cilantro.

This is roasted duck over jellyfish, served chilled.

This is my cousin's favorite dish, beef with asparagus and peppers.

This is the Chinese style lobster.  It does have some shell bits in the chunks, so be cautious when eating it.

This is a sweet and sour pork dish.

This is a Chinese style fried chicken.  By the way, the colorful things on top are prawn crackers.

This is the salt fish eggplant casserole we substituted for the black mushroom dish.  It's delicious!  The eggplant is savory and tender, with just a bit of salty goodness from the fish.

My favorite dish is the salted fish, chicken fried rice.   It was completely finished!

This is tilapia served with bones.  I'm not a big fan of fish with bones, but everyone else enjoyed it.

As you can see, the set menu has lots of food for a fixed price.  The only additions we had were the bubble teas and the the fried rice.  You should definitely go to Li Wah if you want authentic Chinese food.  

The Chocolate Bar

I went out with a group of friends last night to the Chocolate Bar.  I've actually been to this restaurant before a couple of years ago.  Last time we had the Chocolate Bar Baguette (A Chocolate Bar original. toasted baguette, smooth dark chocolate and coarse sea salt.  Served with an olive oil and chocolate dipping sauce.)  which was good, and the Chocolate Bar Pasta (fresh pasta tossed with white chocolate cream, fresh basil, white pepper and white wine. Served with a southwestern corn and pepper medley.), which I thought was strange even for my tastes.  It was sweetened pasta, that made me feel like someone melted a white chocolate bar into alfredo sauce.

This was my drink, a Frosted Cinnamon Bun milkshake.  It was large enough for my husband to share it with me.  This was tasty.  It was sweet and creamy and very much like its namesake. We had to ask a server for a straw.  The white thing in the photo is a white chocolate stick garnish.  Pretty, but I wasn't about to try drinking directly from a glass brimming with whipped cream.

Our table shared a couple of appetizers.  This is the Tomato and Fresh Mozzarella (Slices of tomato, homemade mozzarella, basil, drizzled with balsamic reduction and a sprinkle of sea salt).   I'm not really into tomatoes, but the cheese was nice enough. The balsamic drizzle wasn't too strongly vinegar tasting.

This is their Cheese Tray appetizer.  At the time of this writing, it was not on the PDF of the restaurant's menu.   There were butter and wheat crackers, a blue cheese, a slice of cheddar cheese, and a generous slice of brie.  Additionally, there were apple slices topped with a fig spread, candied walnuts, chocolate chips, and fresh strawberries.  I think this appetizer could use additional crackers and a second knife.

My husband had the Mexican Pork Tenderloin (Rubbed in a spicy cocoa seasoning and served with a bourbon ancho sauce, mango salsa and roasted potatoes. finished with a smoked sea salt).  I had a little bit and it was slightly spicy.

I had the Ski Country sandwich (honey baked ham layered with cheddar cheese, sliced apples, dijon mayo and a home-made apple cream cheese on panini.).   I liked this.  The apples provided a nice complement to the ham and the cheddar cheese.

We both had to take home half of our meals because the portions were fairly generous.  I'm calling this a total of four meals.  The sandwich reheated nicely for breakfast too.

Ketchup

Friday, we went out of town for a wedding and ate at Ketchup in National Harbor, Maryland.  As you can see in the picture above, they have six flavored ketchup varieties in addition to the standard.  From left to right we have: Root Beer, Maple Bacon, Ranch, White Truffle, Honey Chipotle, and Orange Habenero.

They came in this caddy.

In this photo from left to right: Orange Habenero, Maple Bacon, Root Beer, Ranch, White Truffle, and Honey Chipotle.  My favorite was the White Truffle, and my husband liked the Orange Habenero.  We both disliked the Honey Chipotle.

We ordered and split the Shake and Bake Chicken (because we didn't have access to a microwave for leftovers).  From the menu, "boneless chicken breast breaded in crushed corn flakes, raspberry sauce, mac & cheese and veggies."  Unfortunately, I couldn't really taste the raspberry sauce.

We also had the Truffle Fries.  They were tasty without the ketchup, with a delicate and savory flavor from the truffle oil.