In the Heights

I missed the Broadway tour of In the Heights when it was touring a few years back.   Fortunately for me, the Beck Center is playing it right now!  Tickets are sold out and it's amazing!  

It's about a Spanish speaking neighborhood in Washington Heights.  It combines wonderful dancing, the story of a community, and rap/hip hop.   You should go see it!

If/Then

We saw If/Then yesterday.   It's about a woman, Elizabeth, and the choices she makes in her life.   The unique thing about this musical is two parallel realities are shown in alternating turn.  The stories break off at a single choice at the beginning of the show.  It's really fascinating the way it is performed.  In one path, Beth pursues career and her dream of becoming a city planner.   In the other path, Liz chases love and family.   The lead actress is Liz when she wears glasses and Beth without them.  It works incredibly well.

The part was written for Idina Menzel.  The actress who is on tour was Idina's understudy for Wicked and for If/Then.   I wasn't sure I was going to enjoy this show.   In fact, once I got there, it reminded me of how I play visual novels.   I usually alternate save files between different choices.   I liked it more than I thought I would.

My one criticism of the plot is when Beth mentions that she didn't have a real marriage because she didn't have children.  That line really devalues the marriages of people who choose to not have kids or can't have kids.  I really disagree with it.

Try the World: Thailand

It's been a while since we received out Thailand box, but we've been so busy!   I think it arrived over 3 weeks ago and we haven't yet had any of the delicious treats inside.

It seems they have permanently switched to this rectangular box instead of the original square.   

Here is the lovely patterned brochure of all the foods.

Tom Yum soup.   It has multiple packets inside.  I hope it's good.

Try the World always sends some sort of tea.   Tea is probably up there with milk as my favorite beverage.

We usually get our dried mangos from the Philippines.   Hopefully these are good.   I can be very particular about dried mangos.  

I'll try this cocunut flower syrup on ice cream.

I'm looking forward to these spicy rice crackers.   I like savory snacks.  If they are too spicy, I can add cheese to tone down the flavor.

I have never seen rice packaged like this before.   I have seen black rice at the store though.

I may try using the curry paste to make something eventually.   I just need to figure out what.

Lastly, coconut crispy rolls.   I know these will be good.

Little Shop of Horrors

We got to see Little Shop of Horrors at the Cleveland Playhouse!  Let me start by saying this is one of my favorite musicals of all time.  It's darkly humorous and the music is fantastic! You can see a video preview here.

This production is a little different from your standard version of Little Shop.  The urchins (the girls) are also the band/orchestra this time.  They interact with the other characters and carry their instruments around on stage.  It's a great effect!  Plus, there are 2 more than usual.

The puppetry on the stage is also impressive.  I thought that Seymour was controlling the plant but you could see both his hands.  The actor who voices the plant is excellent!  You'd swear he was Levi Stubbs!   Please go see this show, it's amazing!

pHuel Cafe

We went to pHuel Cafe for dinner last Thursday.   Yes, I know the capitalization is irregular.   I think it's supposed to invoke thoughts about pH balance and health food.   It was yummy and reasonably priced.   I looked at the menu early in the day expecting to order dinner, but it turns out that they have breakfast available all day!  Pictured above is my mushroom, onion, and goat cheese omelet.   Yummy!

Steve had steak with macaroni on the side.   The menu online is a little different from what they have in the cafe right now.  I can't recall the exact name of the dish.   Nice portion sizes too.

We each had blended drinks to go with our meals.  Mine was peanut maple.   That was very dessert like and of juice consistency.  Steve had the strawberry pineapple.  Both were very tasty.

Parallax

We went to Parallax last night for dinner.  We had been meaning to go, and we just happened to be in the neighborhood.  Pictured above is the pork shank Steve ordered.  The meat was very tender and falling off the bone.  It was served with spicy egg noodles.

 We also had calamari as an appetizer.  This was really delicious!   It had a marinara sauce and a sweet and sour type of sauce served with it.

I went with salmon rolls because I had a snack before going out.   These were nice.  I would have tried one of their specialty rolls if I had more appetite.

Overall, no leftovers with very nice portion sizes.  We'll probably visit again and try the dessert menu.

Jack Frost Donuts

I stopped by Jack Frost Donuts after I got a lovely picture of them from Steve, who happened to try them at work.  These are huge with tons of icing on top.   I got all of the yeast raised type.

Top row left to right: Peanut butter chocolate with nuts, apple, maple frosted
Bottom row: Trix, Cookies and Cream, Pineapple

These were quite tasty.   They are moving into their new building on Valentine's Day.   Worth the visit.