On Thursday night, Dave and I went to see the Marx Brothers play, Animal Crackers, at the Skylight Opera Theatre, which is located - quite fittingly - on North Broadway in the Third Ward. Our downstairs neighbor, Linda, was one of the stars of the show, playing Mrs. Rittenhouse, so we were there to cheer her on.
Venturing down into the Third Ward is always a treat, as the buildings and streets are so charming and unique. We sat in the Skylight Bar for one drink before the show, and then found our way upstairs to our third-level balcony seats.
The theater was small but beautiful, with three levels of soft, cushy seats, and a painted ceiling with a huge chandelier hanging from it. A little after 7:30 the orchestra started up and for the next two hours, we sat and enjoyed the silly show. The song and dance numbers along with the ridiculous slapstick comedy were quite entertaining, and the crowd was howling with laughter pretty much the entire time. Sarah at Paint the Town reviewed this show a couple weeks ago and I took these two pictures from her site.
Linda was wonderful. After hearing her singing and playing the piano downstairs since we've lived here, I'm very glad I finally got to see her in action.
We hung out in the Skylight Bar for a little while after the show and caught the beginning of stand-up comedy night. There were about 20 people in there in total, and I gotta say, it was painful. After enduring a few of the would-be jokes, we slithered out the back way, as quickly as we could before we were spotted. We took a little walk across the street to see the big gingerbread house and Christmas tree and then we headed home.
I did some Christmas shopping Friday after work, and then Dave and I braved the crazy crowds at Mayfair Mall this afternoon, too. We shopped for about two hours, which is all we could really handle. Yesterday was spent down in Lake Forest, Illinois at my cousin, Katie's, wedding. The setting was elegant, the food was divine, and the DJ kept the dance floor filled all night. Plus, it was really great to see a lot of my family that I don't get to see often enough. I had an amazing time - I only hope that people have that much fun at my wedding next year!
So the weekend went by in the blink of an eye, but I don't feel too badly about it - Christmas is at the end of the week, and then - lucky, lucky me - our office is closed until after the new year, so I have off! I'm pretty stoked about that.
Hope you had a good weekend. Sorry for my week-long absence on here, though it was Typepad's fault, not mine! I'll be back again before the week is up, I promise.
(You can click below if you want to see a few pics from the wedding yesterday - it was just so nice and such fun, and I wanted to share with those who were interested!)
Let me guess...Cha Cha Slide Erin =)
Posted by: Christi | December 19, 2005 at 11:13 AM
LOL
You got it! It's my favorite. =)
Posted by: Erin | December 19, 2005 at 11:25 AM
Between the Cha Cha Slide (I have no idea what this is) and Dave eating the gingerbread house, I'm convinced that you guys are totally cheeseballs in real life. :^)
Posted by: Andre | December 19, 2005 at 02:52 PM
I really enjoy your site, Erin. I've been reading since you started this summer and want to thank you for several really good ideas of places to go and things to do in the area. If you've not yet been, I'll make a plug for you to check out 7 Bridges in Grant Park. It's a great place for a hike, picnic, nap, etc.
I also saw Animal Crackers, but we left at the intermission! The production, singing, dancing, etc. was all very well done, but the humor was totally lost on me. Maybe it's because I didn't grow up watching the Marx Brothers, but the slapstick humor made the thing too chaotic.
That being said, the Skylight Opera is an awesome theater and the bar is cool, too. You guys are wise to have a drink beforehand, as having a drink at intermission usually means waiting in line for a while and then chugging down the drink because the intermission is over.
Thanks again for the site!
Posted by: Brian | December 20, 2005 at 08:53 AM
I wish I would have been able to leave at intermission. The acting was good, the music was done well, but the jokes were horrendous. I'm pretty sure I didn't laugh once, but the people around me sure thought the 3,000th play on words joke was a laugh riot. Every single one of em was groan inducing. Anything else to add, Erin?
Posted by: Dave (the one eating the gingerbread house) | December 21, 2005 at 08:30 AM
Did anyone make the nacho cheese joke? That would have been worth it for me. You know, "What do you get when you have cheese that isn't yours?"
Posted by: Andre | December 21, 2005 at 10:16 AM
That's way funnier than any of the jokes I heard the other night. Erin says she has nothing else to add.
Posted by: Dave (the one eating the gingerbread house) | December 21, 2005 at 09:08 PM