Ready for “Hello, Dolly! at Indy’s Beef & Boards
Indianapolis
Kinky Boots at Beef & Boards
We finally got to spend a wonderful evening together at Beef & Boards. That danged virus had kept us away for different reasons since our last time attending a show in October, 2019. Once again the buffet was great and the show was very very entertaining. It was great to be back enjoying live musical theater, and we highly recommend this show!
Lola (Jonathan Studdard), center, performs “Raise You Up” with her Angels at the fashion show.
Kinky Boots, the five time Tony Award winner for the Best Musical is playing now at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. This is the first time that the musical has played at Indy’s beloved dinner theater. Based on a true story and featuring Cyndi Lauper music, the production has also deservedly been awarded the Best Original Score and the Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.
Lola (Jonathan Studdard) and Charlie (Jacob Butler) celebrate the launch of their line of transvestite footwear with the factory employees
The story chronicles the strange and chance meeting of a struggling shoe factory owner Charley and a marvelously outspoken and animated drag queen Lola. What follows is a blend of music, mayhem, heartwarming story twists and turns and some social commentary on human sexual identities. One of the classic lines uttered several times was “Ladies .. gentlemen… and those who have yet to make up their minds!”.
Lola (Jonathan Studdard), center, performs at the Blue Angel Club with her Angels
Of note are the performances of, frankly, the entire cast. You will see a lot of talent on stage during Kinky Boots. Jonathan Studdard’s portrayal of Lola/Simon is remarkable in character and intensity. Jacob Butler’s shoe maker Charlie is a solid portrayal of a conservative man trying to get a grip on his relationship with a drag queen. Sparks do fly between Lola, Charlie and Don (Peter Scharbrough) one of the factory workers. Lola’s Angels are four very talented men in drag as backup singers and dancers.
Lola (Jonathan Studdard), right, sings “I’m Not My Father’s Son” to Charlie (Jacob Butler)
Lola (Jonathan Studdard) sings “Hold Me in Your Heart” at the Clacton Nursing Home
As you would suspect, the music from Cyndi Lauper is a wonderful choice of this production. The singing and dancing is superb. Hats off to the B&B orchestra, costume design and choreography. Kinky Boots is on stage through March 27 at Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Tickets include the Beef & Boards dinner buffet and select beverages. For tickets, visit Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre or call the box office at 317.872.9664. (Please note that this show is rated PG-13 for some adult content.)
We’re finally off to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
Photo courtesy Beef & Boards Media
It has been since October 2019 since our last visit to Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre in Indianapolis. COVID-19 closed it for a long time, and some rocky start ups were also hurt by that danged pandemic. We were due to go last week but alas, Covid exposure within the cast forced a postponement of the opening of Kinky Boots . We are going tonight!
This production is a Tony Award winning musical, featuring the music of Cyndi Lauper and on stage at B&B for the first time.
This has survived over 5000 years
This Egyptian vessel has survived for over 5000 years. It is amazing that you can still observe it close up in the Newfields museum in Indianapolis.
This pot is about 14 inches tall
This artifact is identified in a museum information label as a Nagada II Vessel, titled Flamingos. It is dated 3400-3200 B.C. The pictures of the flamingos and the geometric lines are typical of other pots of the same vintage.
“Kinky Boots” coming to Indy Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre
The 2022 season at Indy’s beloved dinner theater has a Tony Award winning musical opening next week. Their press release proudly states: Kinky Boots, the Tony Award-winner for Best Musical, struts onto the Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre stage for the first time in 2022, featuring music by Cyndi Lauper and a heartwarming tale that’s based on a true story. Opening Feb. 10, this high-heeled hit will bring plenty of sparkle to Beef & Boards’ 49th Season!
This vibrant musical not only won the Best Musical Tony, but also Best Original Score for the talented music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper, along with four additional Tony Awards, and the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theatre Album.
Kinky Boots is on stage for 47 performances through March 27 in the intimate space of Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre. Tickets include the dinner buffet and select beverages. For tickets, visit beefandboards.com or call the box office at 317.872.9664.
We are so looking forward to seeing this marvelous show. The pandemic stifled so many months of B&B’s productions. It will seem like finally getting to go to visit a dear friend when we see Kinky Boots next week.
LOVE is over 50 years old
LOVE outside at the IMA in the early years
Robert Indiana was born in 1928 as Robert Clark. His first use of the stacked four letters of “LOVE” was created for a Christmas card in 1964 for the New York Museum of Modern Art. This design creation led to the LOVE sculpture constructed of Cor-ten steel in 1970. LOVE was first put on display at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It made the rounds of several American cities for five years until it returned to the IMA. After needed restoration was performed due to weathering of the steel, it is now displayed inside the museum building to protect it from the elements.
Standing in front of the LOVE sculpture will give you a feel for the size of the letters
Remember 8 cent stamps?
The design was also the inspiration of a USPS 8 cent stamp in 1973. Countless copies of the statue were made and sold over the years, however Robert Indiana had failed to copyright his design, thus he did not reap the benefits.
Even with masks we liked the Van Gogh show
Masks were required for admittance to the Van Gogh experience at Newfields 4th floor gallery called The Lume. We went this week, and even with masks we enjoyed ourselves immensely. You can read another post about our adventure here.
Bench seating in the gallery enabled us to sit as long as we wanted.
Sher checking out the Van Gogh bedroom table, right from the painting!
While insuring social distancing we dropped our masks for this photo op in the Van Gogh bedroom
A highlight was seeing up close and personal Van Gogh’s painting “Sheaves of Wheat”, 1890
We had fun at The Lume: Van Gogh experience at Newfields Indy
There was more than the digital presentations at the Van Gogh experience at The Lume. An activity room was set up with a few things to do. One was an interesting device that took a picture of your face, then offered you your choice of different Van Gogh styles.
Sher on left, Maj on right, both ala Vincent van Gogh styles
Sher and I both tried this “activity”. Hopefully they will soon email the digital copies to us, as was promised when we picked our style. Our pictures were displayed prominently on the wall for a time.
Indy’s Circle of Lights celebration
Monument Circle, the “center” of downtown Indianapolis, Indiana, is a large traffic circle with the Soldiers & Sailors Monument standing in the center. Each year the monument is turned into an impressive display of Christmas lights. It has been dubbed by some as being the “World’s Largest Christmas Tree”.
Photo courtesy Indiana War Memorial Foundation
Each November the Indiana Brotherhood of Electrical Workers IBEW 481 decorate the Soldiers & Sailors Monument with 52 garland strands with 4,784 LED lights, strung from the top of the Monument to its base. The Monument will continue to be surrounded by 26 larger-than-life toy soldiers and sailors and 26 peppermint sticks.
Last year the pandemic forced the lighting of the monument and fireworks to be on TV only. This year folks viewed the celebration in person. The celebration started with a talent show on the circle. The lighting of the nearly 5000 colorful LED bulbs signals the beginning of the Christmas Season in the Hoosier State.
Going to see Beef and Boards “Shear Madness” to start the 2022 season
Tony (Daniel Klingler) plops shaving cream on Nick (Jeff Stockberger) as he prepares to give the undercover cop a shave in Shear Madness
From a Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre press release dated December, 2021: “Shear Madness is back by popular demand to kick off Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre’s 2022 Season! Opening just a bit early, on Dec. 28, this play will have the audiences rolling in the aisles as they help detangle the clues of a murder mystery in a not-so-typical hair salon.”
This hilarious production features madcap improvisation blended with the clues that reveal the person responsible for the murder of the old lady upstairs in the salon. The audience gets to spot clues, interrogate suspects, and solve the mystery. No two shows end the same, leading to repeat customers who enjoy the madcap mayhem. Set in Indianapolis, the play features many funny references to the local area.
Shear Madness has won tons of awards, including “Best Comedy of the Year” multiple times, and has been inducted into the Comedy Hall of Fame, the first stage play to be so honored. It will run through February 5. Tickets range from $58 to $70 and include Chef Odell Ward’s famous dinner buffet. For tickets visit Beef and Boards or call the box office at 317-872-9664.
Sher and I have not been to B&B since October 2019. We can’t wait to get back to our favorite theater!
Roadtirement 