Tuesdays with Lawrence

It's becoming a habit, I suppose. Last week we did Bunker Hill and Free State Brewery. This week we went a little further south on Mass St. and ate at a new (to us, at least) restaurant, Genovese, and saw Nightwish at the Granada.

The restaurant, Genovese (that's Jen-oh-vay-say, not Jen-oh-veez), is Italian brought to you by the people who brought you Mexican at La Parrilla and East Asian at Zen Zero. It advertises itself as northern Italian cuisine with fresh seasonal ingredients. Well, I can't tell northern from southern, but I could tell local and fresh. The basil on our flatbread appetizer tasted like it had been plucked from a plant just before reaching our table. We did their Tuesday special - 2 people split one appetizer, one soup or salad, one pasta or pizza, and one dessert. More than enough food, and everything was just wonderfully delicious. It's a great option in Lawrence for Italian food - especially if places like Teller's or Paisano's aren't in your budget.

After dinner, the concert. Nightwish is a symphonic metal band. If you're into the genre, you may object to the classification - I've heard fantasy metal, progressive metal, operatic metal - whatever. It's amps, guitars, drums...a female vocalist and symphonic instrumentation. And they put on a hell of a show. Awesome high energy, decent but not over-the-top lighting and smoke effects, and a good mix of their songs. I was screaming like a little fangirl by the last couple songs. Go check out a couple of their songs on YouTube or something.
I was surprised at The Granada also. I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but that was my first time being there. Being smoke-free makes it really nice. And it had better ladies' bathroom facilities than the Beaumont (honestly, guys, 2 stalls?). The reentry policy was also more forgiving, which ended up being useful. Finally, it had a lot of multi-tiered standing area, which meant even if you're, say, 5'4" and got there a little late, you might still see some of the show.

You like musicals?

On Sunday, we went to go see "The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!)" at the Quality Hill Playhouse. It's a parody of various musical stylings, featuring five mini musicals, each modeled off a different famous writer/team - such as Rodgers and nHammerstei or Andrew Lloyd Webber. It's a small cast - four actors and the pianist - and each plot features the four actors in the same role (Hero, Heroine, Villain, Mentor) and generally the same plot - the Heroine can't pay her rent.

But the parodies are spot on, and even when I didn't recognize the writer's name (for example, "Kander and Ebb") it was pretty clear by the time that particular segment finished.

And we kept laughing the whole time, laughing until my side hurt and smiling until my cheeks hurt. The singers were extremely talented, too, with great voices and a knack for using them in just the right way for that moment of the show. If that level of talent is normal for Quality Hill, I'd definitely come back.

The playhouse itself is a small venue - maybe a couple hundred seats, tops. We were in row G...the back row. The lobby is tiny and unimpressive, but the bathrooms are nice. The small stage area means you're not relying on a sound system either, and the singers and instrument(s) are plainly there in all their natural beauty.

The Musical of Musicals at Quality Hill is playing until May 11, and I'd encourage that anyone who's been to a few musicals and enjoyed them go see it.

Mi noche muy mexicana

(My Very Mexican Night)

It ended up being quite a Mexican themed night, though we didn't really plan it that way.

Started off by going down to Southwest Boulevard and partaking of my very favorite Mexican restaurant, Taquería Mexico. This is, after all, where we held our rehearsal dinner. As always, fabulous food at a reasonable price. Service was a little slow tonight, but my perception might have been skewed by the fact that we were in a bit of a hurry. If you never have, try the horchata - it's a sweet beverage made from powdered rice flour. Theirs isn't exceptional, but it's very good. Their margaritas aren't bad either. And make sure they bring you the salsa picante in addition to the salsa gringa. It has a strong flavor of roasted red chilis, and is utterly delightful.

We then headed towards downtown to see the State Symphony of Mexico at the Music Hall, part of the Harriman-Jewel concert series. Ah, most excellent stuff. They started the first half of the show with Spanish composers, and the second half played a symphony by Brahms. The highlight of the show by far was Alfonso Moreno, the solo guitarist who played through the second part of the first half. One of his numbers was so captivating, it was as though the entire audience was holding its breath - so silent! Not even normal crowd sounds of coughing and shuffling. They played three encores!

Tall people - if you go to the Music Hall, be sure to get an aisle seat. *I* was cramped for leg room. But it is a beautiful art deco style building with very good acoustics.

So in addition to Mexican food and Mexican music...in order to save a few dollars, we decided to park in the Crossroads on the street (for free) and then walk a few blocks rather than paying for event parking downtown. We ended up parking in front of the Mexican consulate. Go figure.

Oh, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm trying out the "reviewer" format for my blog - I figure I watch enough, listen to enough, and do enough stuff - it's worth a go, even if only a few people read it. So let me know if you like it.

Movie-going

We went to go see "There Will Be Blood" over the weekend at the Rio Theater in downtown Overland Park, so I have two things to review for you today.

"There Will Be Blood": Now, I know this was a darling of the awards people-who-know-things, and it definitely did have its strong points. On the whole, though, I did not like this movie. It starts out strong, in silence, with high emotion and drama. But here's what I expected from the movie, based on the previews: A drama based on the politics and power struggles between the Oilman and the Preacher, centered on the effects that the Oil Boom has on this small town.

Instead, it was a series of snapshots from Plainview (the Oilman)'s life -- which again, could have been really good, and did make for a great character study. So let's talk character for a moment Plainview is, from the start, less than entirely honest, but he's shrewd and seems fond of his boy. Not your good buddy, maybe, but someone you can respect, if not admire. By the end, he's pure, twisted evil. And I felt - perhaps I'm a lazy moviegoer - that the reasons for this descent were never explained. Suddenly he just does these horrible things, seemingly for no reason at all, leaving the viewer going, "Oh. Well I guess he's just a bad person?" Great study of a character as he collapses, but it's hard (for me, at least) to spend 2.5 hours studying the character of a person I don't like or understand.

My second criticism is a lack of continuity between these snapshots. We see moments from Plainview's life spread out over 25+ years, and while they paint a story (events happening in sequence) there's no traditional plot... no particular conflict that overarches everything, no particular development. We see these fascinating (and very well done) moments, but we don't see causes for the moments, motivations leading to them, or the effects of them. Again - maybe I'm being a lazy movie watcher, but even as I thought about the movie later, as you will be forced to do, I couldn't fill in the gaps.

There's more, but if you read some of the less favorable reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, you'll pretty much get it.

Cinematography was beautiful and talented, score was freakin' sweet.

Now for the Rio itself -
That place was fun! Smelled a bit like Liberty Hall, but smaller and no beer. Seats were more comfortable, though. It was an "old-fashioned" movie experience, but without the bad parts of old-fashioned. They only have one screen, so if the movie they're showing isn't what you want to see, you'll just have to wait. But next time they get a show in that you want to see, check it out!