Ready for “Hello, Dolly! at Indy’s Beef & Boards
Indy attraction
“Hello, Dolly!” comes to Beef & Boards
Opening tonight at Indy’s beloved Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is the classic musical Hello, Dolly. Suzanne Stark stars again as the iconic Dolly Levi in this matchmaking musical classic. Sher and I are thrilled and excited that we have the opportunity to catch the show this weekend!
Dolly Levi (Suzanne Stark), center, celebrates her triumphant return to society at Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in Hello, Dolly!
The B&B facility
Strait from the B&B press release: “Based on the play “The Matchmaker” by Thornton Wilder, Hello, Dolly! is the story of the vibrant, romantic, and meddling Dolly Levi, who is filled with both personality and an agenda. A turn-of-the-century matchmaker,
Dolly is tasked with arranging a match for the wealthy Horace Vandergelder, although she’d prefer to keep him for herself. Horace may have his sights set on a pretty young widow, but Dolly is determined to get her man.”
This wonderful musical will be onstage through May 15th. Check the Beef & Boards website for details about tickets, showtimes, and the buffet menu for this performance. Don’t miss your chance to see Tony Award winning Hello, Dolly!
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.
Another large vintage 1970 art work
De Wain Valentine was born in Colorado in 1936. He is known for his translucent glass, fiberglass and polyester resin minimalist creations. Of the same time as Robert Indiana of the LOVE sculpture, Valentine has a fine piece in the same gallery room at Newfields (IMA) in Indianapolis.
Vintage 1970 Double Concave Circle (Deep Violet-Red)
Above is the ID plaque at the museum with information about Valentines art
This is an impressive 8 foot tall circle of polyester resin. What we found fascinating was the fact that this striking red circle is a mere 20 feet or so from the Robert Indiana LOVE sculpture. Both were made in 1970. De Wain Valentine lives in California, and developed a unique resin for large scale pieces.
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!
BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse
Philly steak
It has been over a year since we were able to see Maj’s sister. That changed when we met for lunch at BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Noblesville, Indiana. Noblesville is northeast of Indianapolis but is really part of the Indy Metro area. BJ’s is part of a national chain.
We had a wonderful time “catching up” on the news from my sister’s family and we shared our family news too. It’s amazing how much has occurred in the past year and a half in our families.
The restaurant is spacious, and when seated we noticed extra partitions between booths. The food and service was excellent. The menu featured tons of options, and many different beers. We ordered something we had never seen before: a flight of margaritas! Served like a flight of beers, it had four different margarita samples. We agreed the strawberry sample was our favorite.
The flight of margaritas
The food and service were both excellent. The portions were very generous, and all three of us enjoyed our meals. The most enjoyment of this luncheon came from our being together again. Now that things are at least somewhat back to near normal, we hope to get together each month.
Roadtirement 