We've known Doc for many years; he was one of the two Band Directors at the high school (and the middle school). We had many happy concerts and half-time shows and band camps with him.
The kids love him.
He retired last year, having been in various music education programs for forty years or so, but did not hang up his instruments. He continues to play lots of gigs in various Jazz Ensembles and groups. We heard him last week at a free Jazz concert in the park down at the Gerald Ford Museum.
And last night, we heard him playing his trumpet in the orchestra for a local community theater production of West Side Story.
But before we get to that ...
We had been needing a date night, and this was a golden opportunity. One of our favorite people playing in the orchestra for one of the best plays ever! So, naturally, on a date night, there is traditionally dinner and a show, right?
The show was all set to go. And dinner was an easy choice; we love Thai food, and there was this Thai place just down the street from the theater.
So after a hard day at work, we left the kids to fend for themselves and drove up to Jenison to get some delicious Thai food. I had the route all mapped in my head -- and on a piece of paper, since my memory isn't as good as it used to be. And we were almost there.
And then we ran into "Road Closed". Another victim of the fierce Michigan winters.
Strike One.
Luckily for me, Cheryl had all the alternate routes in her head, so she directed me to where we needed to go, and soon enough we were back on track, headed to food and fun!
We found the restaurant and pulled into the parking lot and ... that was weird ... there's no one else there. Except a car that pulled up at the same time we did.
Cheryl, with her keen eyesight, saw a sign up on the door: "Closed June 30 - July 7". OK, so they took one of the biggest vacation / holiday weeks and instead of eagerly anticipating all the hungry celebrants looking for some good Thai food, they closed their doors and headed up north to their cabin, like everyone else.
Rats. No Thai food tonight.
Strike Two
So we headed back down the street looking for an alternative. Hmmm ... this place "Fazoli's" looks Italian. Will Italian do? Sure, why not.
The building kinda looks like an old Pizza Hut.
But we went inside anyway.
Our hearts dropped a bit. It was fast-food Italian. Not quite what we'd been planning. But we went ahead and got in line anyway. Because we didn't have a lot of time to reconnoiter.
Naturally, we got the New Kid at the counter. The one who had a little trouble understanding what we were ordering because he wasn't quite as familiar with the menu as one of the Old Kids.
We ordered the Three Cheese Tortellini Alfredo. Which comes with peas and bacon and chicken and three kinds of cheese. And we ordered iced lemonades to drink.
"Would you like the Combo?" he asked. "It comes with a free drink." Sure. Whatever. So he ordered it up. Then asked what kind of soda we wanted to drink.
"We already ordered iced lemonades. Can the free drink be an iced lemonade?"
"No."
Oh, OK. Well, scratch the Combo and just give us the Tortellini like we originally asked for, and the two lemonades. Got it? Cool.
We got our drinks and then went to find a seat and waited. In a few minutes, this nice lady brought us ... a plate of plain tortellini. No peas. No bacon. No chicken.
Strike Three.
"Um -- we ordered the Three Cheese Tortellini, the one with the peas and bacon and chicken and three cheeses."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'll be right back."
A few minutes later, she brought the same plate back, except now it had been liberally sprinkled with peas and bacon and chicken. And three cheeses.
It wasn't too bad.
But that was the third strike. We were getting nervous about the rest of the evening.
After dinner, we drove back up to the theater and got our tickets from Will-Call and stood around with the rest of the crowd until the doors opened. We found our seats - right smack in the middle of the Orchestra seating area! - and got ready to enjoy the show.
It was a good show.
Not a great show.
But it was a good show.
The cast ranged from high-school kids to college kids to post-grad kids to old fogeys almost as old as I am. And they were about as good as you might imagine. Some were overdoing it, some were underdoing it; some kept on pitch, some not so much. There were moments where lines or lyrics were forgotten, tempos were off-beat, the synchronization between singer and instruments was off.
But it was a good show.
Afterward, we met one of the other band directors that Cheryl knows (she knows everyone!) and he led us back to the prep room where Doc was getting ready to go. We had a joyful reunion with Doc and then he took us on a backstage tour of the theater, which was very impressive. The set building area is awesome! And the dressing rooms were huge! We had a hard time saying good-bye, but he needed to get going for another gig in the morning, so we bid him adieu and went on our way.
To the store.
For coffee.
And ice cream.
Which is just enough to get us ready for another day.
The kids love him.
He retired last year, having been in various music education programs for forty years or so, but did not hang up his instruments. He continues to play lots of gigs in various Jazz Ensembles and groups. We heard him last week at a free Jazz concert in the park down at the Gerald Ford Museum.
And last night, we heard him playing his trumpet in the orchestra for a local community theater production of West Side Story.
But before we get to that ...
We had been needing a date night, and this was a golden opportunity. One of our favorite people playing in the orchestra for one of the best plays ever! So, naturally, on a date night, there is traditionally dinner and a show, right?
The show was all set to go. And dinner was an easy choice; we love Thai food, and there was this Thai place just down the street from the theater.
So after a hard day at work, we left the kids to fend for themselves and drove up to Jenison to get some delicious Thai food. I had the route all mapped in my head -- and on a piece of paper, since my memory isn't as good as it used to be. And we were almost there.
And then we ran into "Road Closed". Another victim of the fierce Michigan winters.
Strike One.
Luckily for me, Cheryl had all the alternate routes in her head, so she directed me to where we needed to go, and soon enough we were back on track, headed to food and fun!
We found the restaurant and pulled into the parking lot and ... that was weird ... there's no one else there. Except a car that pulled up at the same time we did.
Cheryl, with her keen eyesight, saw a sign up on the door: "Closed June 30 - July 7". OK, so they took one of the biggest vacation / holiday weeks and instead of eagerly anticipating all the hungry celebrants looking for some good Thai food, they closed their doors and headed up north to their cabin, like everyone else.
Rats. No Thai food tonight.
Strike Two
So we headed back down the street looking for an alternative. Hmmm ... this place "Fazoli's" looks Italian. Will Italian do? Sure, why not.
The building kinda looks like an old Pizza Hut.
But we went inside anyway.
Our hearts dropped a bit. It was fast-food Italian. Not quite what we'd been planning. But we went ahead and got in line anyway. Because we didn't have a lot of time to reconnoiter.
Naturally, we got the New Kid at the counter. The one who had a little trouble understanding what we were ordering because he wasn't quite as familiar with the menu as one of the Old Kids.
We ordered the Three Cheese Tortellini Alfredo. Which comes with peas and bacon and chicken and three kinds of cheese. And we ordered iced lemonades to drink.
"Would you like the Combo?" he asked. "It comes with a free drink." Sure. Whatever. So he ordered it up. Then asked what kind of soda we wanted to drink.
"We already ordered iced lemonades. Can the free drink be an iced lemonade?"
"No."
Oh, OK. Well, scratch the Combo and just give us the Tortellini like we originally asked for, and the two lemonades. Got it? Cool.
We got our drinks and then went to find a seat and waited. In a few minutes, this nice lady brought us ... a plate of plain tortellini. No peas. No bacon. No chicken.
Strike Three.
"Um -- we ordered the Three Cheese Tortellini, the one with the peas and bacon and chicken and three cheeses."
"Oh. I'm sorry, I'll be right back."
A few minutes later, she brought the same plate back, except now it had been liberally sprinkled with peas and bacon and chicken. And three cheeses.
It wasn't too bad.
But that was the third strike. We were getting nervous about the rest of the evening.
After dinner, we drove back up to the theater and got our tickets from Will-Call and stood around with the rest of the crowd until the doors opened. We found our seats - right smack in the middle of the Orchestra seating area! - and got ready to enjoy the show.
It was a good show.
Not a great show.
But it was a good show.
The cast ranged from high-school kids to college kids to post-grad kids to old fogeys almost as old as I am. And they were about as good as you might imagine. Some were overdoing it, some were underdoing it; some kept on pitch, some not so much. There were moments where lines or lyrics were forgotten, tempos were off-beat, the synchronization between singer and instruments was off.
But it was a good show.
Afterward, we met one of the other band directors that Cheryl knows (she knows everyone!) and he led us back to the prep room where Doc was getting ready to go. We had a joyful reunion with Doc and then he took us on a backstage tour of the theater, which was very impressive. The set building area is awesome! And the dressing rooms were huge! We had a hard time saying good-bye, but he needed to get going for another gig in the morning, so we bid him adieu and went on our way.
To the store.
For coffee.
And ice cream.
Which is just enough to get us ready for another day.
1 comment:
Sounds like a fun date night! Full of adequate food and adequate entertainment... lol... but it's the company that counts!
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