"Kinky Boots" at Broadway at the Bass

KINKY BOOTS
play program

The Travelling Toe and 2 other friends, feeling a little kinky, went to the Broadway touring show of "Kinky Boots".  It was presented by Broadway at the Bass.  We saw the show at the Sunday matinee performance at Bass Hall and it was full of other kinky people too.  

Broadway At The Bass

This musical comedy is based on the 2005 movie of the same name, "Kinky Boots".  The stage show premiered in Chicago then made it's Broadway debut in 2013.  It went on to win 5 Tony Awards.  The touring company set out on the road in 2014. 

The music and lyrics for the show were written by Cyndi Lauder - yes that Cyndi! The book was written by by Harvey Fierstein.

CYNDI LAUPER

HARVEY FIERSTEIN

The story beings with a young boy Charlie, leaving his Dad in Southampton to run the family shoe factory alone. Charlie is on the way to trendy London to make his fortune.  Along for the journey is his girlfriend  who sees a bright future ahead for the 2 of them far away from Southampton.

But Charlie's Dad passes away and Charlie finds out the shoe company is in dire financial trouble.  When he contemplates that the factory will have to be closed and the workers will lose their jobs, he tries to think of something to do to save the business.  Then he happens to meet "Lola" a beautiful transvestite who is complaining about the shoes "she" is wearing.  When a man wears women's shoes they just don't stand up to the wear and tear of a heavier body. Charlie has his "ah ha" moment and he soon has Lola designing kinky boots. The fiancee does not want to leave London for Southampton and returns back to her life in the Big City.  Charlie and Lauren, who works at the factory, become very good friends as they are work long hours together to get the boots ready for the Milan shoe season preview..  

KYLE TAYLOR PARKER
Lola

STEVEN BOOTH
Charlie

So Dear Readers, do Charlie and Lola save the factory, the workers jobs and form a great working relationship?  Well, after all this is live theater and anything can happen!

Lola and Charlie
in their
Kinky Boots

It was great fun to see the men also wearing high heels.  This is a fun show to experience.  One of the songs that both boys sing is a lament to their Dad's was "Not My Father's Son", each from a very different perspective.  Later in the play Lola has a solo,  "Hold Me In Your Heart" that was amazing. Charlie was excellent during his solo of "Soul Of A Man".  Both leading men had fabulous voices.  

One last note:  The make-up, costumes and choreography were super.  And the touring orchestra members were excellent as well and never played over the singers.  

If this show comes you way go see it.  If it comes back to Fort Worth we will be there!

Kinky Boots
Lola and girls

Migrating Monarchs presentation by Master Gardener Carol Welch

MONARCH BUTTERFLY

The Travelling Toe attended the October monthly meeting of the Westmont Garden Club.
The program was presented by Master Gardener, Carol Welch on “Migrating Monarchs”. 

Carol Welch
Master Gardner

Carol started the program with this quote:

                       

            “God has the foolish things of this world to confound the wise”

Carol shared the story of how a young Canadian boy was so entranced with the monarch butterflies that he began a lifelong journey to find their nesting place. Then in 1975 their nesting location was indeed found in Mexico.  It was photographed and documented for a 1976 edition of National Geographic Magazine. 

The Monarch butterflies leave their winter nesting location in Mexico in late February and March.  They then begin their long migration north to Canada.  One of the interesting facts that Carol shared was over this 2,000 mile journey, the butterfly needs to know when to leave, how to travel and how to know when they have arrived at the right place.  On their journey Monarchs have been known to hitch a ride on fishing boats to help them go south.

 Carol talked about how important native milkweed is to sustain the Monarch.  A female will lay over 1,000 eggs in her lifetime and only lays them on milkweed plants.  

There has been a downward trend of Monarch population.  This is due to loss of habitat and various chemicals used on weeds and other crops. 

What can we do to help the Monarch survive and thrive?  

  

Make your own garden a Monarch Waystation and have it certified.  The specifics of this venture can be found at the Monarch Watch website:

                                               www.monarchwatch.org.

A Texas based program to help re-forest the nesting grounds in Mexico can be found at:

                                     www.forestsformonarchs.org

Carol was featured in the July “Weatherford Now” magazine and is quoted as saying:

Becoming a Master Gardener is the best thing I ever did.  It is so

rewarding and challenging and sharing what I have learned is important.

Master Gardner Program

Carol Welch
Master Gardner

Monarch Joint Venture
page 2

Monarch Joint Venture
page 1

"Bad Jews" presented by Stage West

BAD JEWS
AT
STAGE WEST

The Travelling Toe and Dear Friend attended the Sunday afternoon performance of "Bad Jews" at Stage West.

The play was written by Joshua Harmon. The play had it's world premiere at Roundabout Underground, located in NYC, IN 2013. Since that time it has been performed at various venues in the US and abroad as well.

Joshua Harmon
playwright

A brief overview of the story line is as follows: 

The night after their grandfather’s funeral, three cousins engage in a verbal battle over a family heirloom. In one corner is the unstoppable and self-assured force of “Super Jew” Daphna. In the other, the immovable and entitled object of her secular cousin Liam. And in the middle is Liam’s brother Jonah, trying to stay out of the fray. 

Coming into this squabble between the cousins is Liam's girlfriend, Melody.  She is not Jewish and because of that it becomes a major friction between Liam and Daphna.  What is at the crux of the dispute is who gets custody of the grandfather's Chai symbol necklace.  It is a sacred symbol to the cousins as their grandfather was able to hide it while he was in a concentration camp during the Holocaust. Both he and the Chai necklace survived and now who receives this astonishing symbol of their Faith becomes the focus of their rage and anger. And dare one say, petty jealousy? 

According to Google:

The Chai symbol can be worn by Jews as a medallion around the neck, similarly to other Jewish symbols, such as the Star of David. "the letters of chai add up to 18. For this reason, 18 is a spiritual number in Judaism, and many Jews give gifts of money in multiples of 18 as a result."

Chai Symbol

All four of the actors were very good in their roles.  There is lots of dialogue, especially for Daphna as she goes on her rants.  Joshua is very quite and just wants to be left out of the tug of war between Daphna and Liam.  Melody is the interloper who tries to make everyone get along. There is a very poignant scene at the end of the play that really reflects the love one of the 3 cousins had for the grandfather. 

The only negative of the play noted was that the "F" word is rather over used.  The Travelling Toe realizes that the "F" word provides shock value in a live performance, but it makes one wonder could not the playwright think of any other word to use to express anger and frustration than that one?  Just a thought!

CAST:

                                Jonah                                        Matthew Grondin

                                Daphna                                     Kelsey Milbourn

                                Liam                                          Garret Storms

                                Melody                                       Alexandra Lawrence

Stage West

"Dracula" presented by Texas Ballet Theater

Carl Coomer
as
DRACULA

The Travelling Toe and 2 other friends attended the Sunday afternoon performance of "Dracula" presented by Texas Ballet Theater.

The story of Dracula is told in 3 acts in the ballet choreographed by Artistic Director of the TBT, Ben Stevenson.  The ballet is performed to music by Franz Liszt.

Ben Stevenson
choreography

Franz Liszt

The first scene opens in Dracula's castle crypt.  He and his numerous brides are awakened and are hungry for blood.  Just at that time Dracula's henchman Renfield, arrives driving a coach pulled by 2 "ballet"horses.  Inside the coach is a young girl Flora who Renfield has kidnapped to present to his master.  After Dracula has his fill, the brides then converge on Flora.

The second act takes place in the castle village.  A young girl, Svetlana is celebrating her 18th birthday with her parents and all the villagers.  One of the guests is a young man, Frederick who is in love with  Svetlana and they want to marry.  But he is almost afraid to ask her father, the innkeeper, for her hand in marriage.  Just after the father has given his blessing, a strange coach arrives and Renfield jumps off the coach and abducts Svetlana to tale to his master.

The curtain opens on the third act that takes place back at  the castle.  The brides along with Flora are waiting for the Count.  He enters with Svetlana.  She is to be the next bride.  As the Count begins to mesmerize her, she tries to resist him.  But as she losing the battle with Dracula, her father, Frederick and the Priest storm into the castle to rescue Svetlana.  Using a Cross to repeal the brides, the Priest helps Frederick find Svetlana.  Then Frederick starts pulling the drapes and curtains down bathing the castle in sunlight.  Dracula flies to a perch in the ceiling and with a loud explosion he is killed.


Wow!!  We all 3 agreed that this was a wonderful production.  All the costumes were just lovely.  There were about 12 brides and they all wore white filmy dresses and each one was styled differently to denote various time periods.  During the village scene, once again the dresses were of similar colors but designed differently.  So too were the men's vests and sashes.  But of course one of the most interesting and dazzling costume pieces was Dracula's cape which was reported to weight 30 pounds.

The main dancers for the matinee performance that we saw were:

Alexander Kotelenets
                                            Dracula

Angela Kenny
                                            Flora

Emmanuel Velazquez
                                            Renfield

Carolyn Judson
                                            Svetlana

Jiyan Dai
                                            Frederick


And they were all excellent in their roles!

Taking this production up even a further notch was that the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra provided excellent musical accompaniment for the ballet.  Michael Moricz was guest conductor.




Texas Ballet Theater

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra

TBT Photo

"Pan" (movie critique)

PAN
movie poster

The Friday Movie Mavens and the Travelling Toe hit the local multiplex to view "Pan". There were 5 of us who attended the movie screening and the review decision was split - 3 not liking it much and 2 of us liking it.  It is hard not to like a movie that has Hugh Jackman in it!

The main plot of this movie is that a baby, who is named Peter, is left at a London orphanage by his mother.  The nuns who run the orphanage are cruel to all the boys living there giving them little food, clothing or protection.  But the nuns are also hiding a dark secret. Peter, being a curious boy, begins to question where all the young lads have disappeared to during the night  The nuns tell him that the missing boys are now part of loving families in Australia.  But we soon learn the truth.  Pirates, led by Captain Blackbeard kidnaps the boys and puts them to work in a mine, turning them into forced labor.  The miners are trying to find fairy dust crystals for the Captain, who needs it to maintain his vim, vigor, vitality and appearance.

While working in the mines, Peter makes friends with James Hook (Garrett Hedlund).  The two of them along with Smee, steal a flying boat and take off  with Blackbeard in hot pursuit.  The runaways eventually land in the forest of the Fairy Kingdom, where the natives capture them. They are about to be executed when Tiger Lily sees Peter's pan medallion around his neck and realizes  who he really is.  The young boy is Peter Pan, his mother was human but his father was a fairy prince. They both died battling Captain Blackbeard.  Peter struggles to realize what his parents legacy is and what it means for him.  

Dear Readers, The Travelling Toe will leave the story line at this point as you might be interested enough to see it yourself or not as the case may be.  It is worth at least the effort to watch it on demand or streaming.

CAST:

Hugh Jackman
Captain Blackbeard

Rooney Mara
Tiger Lily

                                                                 

Garrett Hedlund
James Hook

Levi Miller
Peter Pan

The 2 of us who enjoyed the movie, thought the plot of the movie was good and there was enough action to keep it interesting. It was very colorful especially during the time in the Fairy Kingdom.  The costumes that Hugh Jackman wore were very elaborate as well as his very black ornate wigs.

This is not a movie for everyone but it provides a nice back story of how Peter Pan became Peter Pan and who all the Lost Boys really were.

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 middle toe up with a sprinkle of pixie dust scattered by Tinker Belle.  




Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only. 

"The Martian" (movie critique)

THE MARTIAN
movie poster

Dear Readers, have you seen the latest movie, "The Martian" starring Matt Damon?  If not then you need to go see it.  The Friday Movie Mavens and The Travelling Toe all agreed it was one of the best movies of the year.

The plot of the movie starts with 5 astronauts on Mars finishing experiments before leaving the planet.  A sudden storm hits and the astronauts start making their way to the rocket when Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is hit with flying debris and his communication equipment is damaged.  He is knocked out and the other astronauts, not able to make contact with him, think he is dead.  NASA tells them they must leave the planet immediately due to the storm.  They take off and leave Mark on Mars.. The Commander of the Ares III space ship, Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) is upset at having to a man behind.  But the other astronauts tell her that she made the right decision for them all and for the mission.  

However, Mark is not dead but seriously injured.  He makes it back to the base camp and cleans his wounds.  He realizes he has no contact with NASA and starts a video log of what he has to do to survive as long as he can.  During his taping sessions as he assesses the situation he is funny, matter of fact and really ridicules Melissa's taste int the music she left behind. (a glittering ball was not part of the equipment taken to Mars)

There are lots of interesting story lines during the movie such as how NASA finally realizes he is in fact alive and doing his best to survive.  He must ration his food and comes up with a clever way to grown potatoes on Mars.  It is does sort of have a ewww factor but compost is compost wherever you are.  

How is Mark rescued?  Well, Dear Readers see the movie yourself.  

Side Note:  This movie is 141 minutes long so ration your liquid consumption accordingly.

ASTRONAUTS CAST:

Matt Damon

Jessica Chastain

Michael Pena

Kate Mara

Sebastian Stan

NASA SUPPORT PERSONNEL:

Jeff Daniels

Chiwetel Ejiofor

Kristen Wiig

Ridley Scott
producer & director

The Travelling Toe gives this movie 1 big toe up and 1 middle toe up with a side of French Fries and a Mars bar.


One last note, the movie is based on the  book, "The Martian:,  written by Andy Weir.

Andy Weir

Disclaimer:  The Travelling Toe is not a professional critic and any opinions expressed are of entertainment purposes.

Mars
the red planet

"Live and Let Die a Symphonic Tribute to Paul McCartney" with the Fort Worth Pops Symphony Orchestra

LIVE AND LET DIE
A Symphonic Tribute to Paul McCartney

Bass Hall
Fort Worth, Texas

The Travelling Toe and a friend went to the Sunday matinee performance of the Forth Worth Symphony Pops Concert at Bass Hall.  The show was "Live and Let Die a Symphonic Tribute to Paul McCartney".  The show stared Tony Kishman, who has a played in various Beatles tribute bands.

Tony Kishman

Paul McCartney

The concert was very entertaining especially if you enjoy Beatles music.  With band mates Jim Owen, keyboards, Chris Camilleri, drums and John Mojave on lead guitar, Tony sung Paul's  music from the Beatles songbook as well as the Wings era.The Fort Worth Symphony provided extra layers to the songs including brass and percussion and lovely strings.

What was enjoyable about this live performance was that the group pretty much just sang one song after another.  There was very little wasted time spent on talking or explaining which allotted more time for Paul's music to be performed.

Just a few songs that the group did were:

                                                     Yesterday
                                                     My Love
                                                     Live and Let Die
                                                     Jet
                                                     Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
                                                     Eleanor Rigby
                                                     Let It Be
                                                     When I'm Sixty-Four 
                                                             (well, he made it as he is 73!)


To close the show, the group did "Hey Jude".  Audience members and Symphony members alike got their mobiles out, lit them up and waved them in the air.

What an enjoyable concert.  If you have the opportunity to see this show and you like Paul's music then don't miss it when it comes your way!


Live and Let Die Show

Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra