Mission Mission

By Valerie Luu / Photos by Ruchita Lalmalani

I knew nothing about Tennis before going to their show on a Tuesday night at The Chapel.

All I had was this memory: listening to “Young and Old,” their sophomore album released in 2012, which was on heavy rotation at Reveille Coffee in North Beach, where I would go for a pot of tea and to chat with my cafe crushes.

Their song “It All Feels the Same” reminds me of continuing that soundtrack as I put on headphones after leaving the cafe. I’d skate down Montgomery toboggan gonflable Street while the fog lifted and the sun filtered through skyscrapers and commuters emerged from BART with freshly ironed clothes and washed hair.

When I hear that song, I think about what a luxury it was to have all that time to banter with baristas, to push up Howard Street to the Mission and to witness the morning sunrise. Where have those days gone?

I was curious what memories Tennis holds for other people, so I went into the show with this question: “Is there a Tennis song or album that reminds you of certain time in your life?”

Liz O’ Neal, 30, was the first person I spoke to. She was holding down a spot in front of the stage with her friend Hanna Steinberg, 29.

“How would you describe their music?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t thought about how to classify their sound up until that point. “It’s dreamy, sexy rock,” she said. “It makes you want to go to the beach.”

Beaches and boats are a big part of the band’s mythology. Alaina Moore and Patrick Riley, the husband-and-wife duo of Tennis, met in a philosophy class at the University of Colorado, Denver. After graduation, they took sail for half a year along the Atlantic Coast. “Cape Dory,” their debut album, was written on their trip and is a diary of the places they visited — Maryland, South Carolina and Florida.

For O’ Neal, “Marathon” brings back memories of her sailing trip in Greece. “We hired this old sea captain, who looked like a sexy dad from ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding.’ He took us to all these tiny Greek islands for a week,” she said. “It reminds me of being happy and carefree.”

I had recently come back from island hopping in the Cyclades, the group of Greek islands known for their whitewashed and blue domed buildings, so I was able to imagine how “Cape Dory” could be a perfect soundtrack to hanging out on a boat, grilling fish on the secluded beaches and feeling your cares dissolve away in the saltwater and Mediterranean sun.

For others, the songs are less about actual memories and more about a image.

For Serratia Krank, 22, “Baby Don’t Believe,” from Tennis’ most recent album, is a love song from a “wingman’s perspective.”

“When I hear the song, I see a guy with flowers at a woman’s window,” she said. “Or a guy in the back of a crowd watching his woman playing on stage. The crowd is going wild for her, but he doesn’t mind. He’s there for her.”

To Krank, an inspiring filmmaker, the song is about someone rooting on the sidelines — even if it’s yourself. Sometimes she’ll listen to the song while she looks at herself in the mirror. “I’m your biggest fan,” she says to herself, becoming the person in the crowd.

Her friend Jamie Banks, 24, said “10 Minutes 10 Years” resonates with him. “I think about their relationship,” he said of the married musicians. “If I ever wanted a relationship I would want to be like theirs.”

With that, the show started. Moore came out in a silver sequined dress and sat at a piano across from Riley, who was on guitar. Without speaking, they opened with “10 Minutes 10 Years,” blue lights illuminating her blonde afro.

Their current acoustic tour was inspired by an experience they had opening for Father John Misty. At one of his shows, he spontaneously went onstage without his band and played an unplugged set. “I was shocked that it was my favorite [part of the tour],” Moore said.

That inspired Tennis to strip embark on their “Solo in Stereo” tour with just the two of them — which required the couple to do things outside their comfort zones — for Moore it was playing the guitar and Riley, the drums.

The aim was a more raw, stripped down version that sounds closer to their demos. “It’s the most minimal, just like how we wrote it,” she said. “It’s four chords and the truth.”

In trying to be minimalist, Moore realized her true nature. “Five minutes later, I found myself with five pianos and 20 drum machines,” she laughed. “Turns out I’m a maximalist — I tried to bring it down to zero and ended up with an afro and a 100 percent sequined dress.”

In addition to the acoustic set, the stage design also made me feel like we were in their home recording studio. On stage at The Chapel was an upholstered green bench, vanilla shag rug and a side table with a velvet rose tablecloth which sat unused until “Island Music,” the last song on “Yours Conditionally” and the closing song of the night. Moore took a seat on the table and pressed a button, which turned it into a rotating pedestal.

Before the show started, I overheard Jamie Banks making a bet with Serratia Krank: “For every song you don’t dance to, you owe me a dollar,” he said. After Tennis finished “Island Music” and the house lights turned on, I turned to the two friends and asked if they had danced to every song.

“I did,” said Krank. As for Banks, he was coming out of a haze. “I didn’t dance to the last song,” he said. “I was so stunned by her beauty.”

As was I. “Island Music” now holds that image of Moore spinning onstage looking and sounding ethereal as she sang the lyrics “through the living and breathing and dreaming / like a daze” with tropical guitar sounds looping in the background. It was a magical ending, something out of a ’70s daydream.

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Thanks to The Chapel, Allan Hough, and Tennis for the lovely, memorable show.

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Valerie Luu chases grandmas for Chinatown Pretty and hustles at Rice Paper Scissors. She’s probably listened to “10 Minutes 10 Years” a hundred times.

Ruchita Lalmalani is a portrait and concert photographer. She’s available for prints, press and shoots at electric.spaceinvader@gmail.com.

[Editor's note: The Sadies are playing at the Chapel on Sunday afternoon and they are the BEST! Thanks Val!!!]

Living in such a rich, vibrant, diverse and progressive city as San Francisco is a true privilege. We are a community comprised of so much compassion, activism, and forward thinking. These themes are embodied even more passionately within our beloved music scene. There is no better time than now to take advantage of our strength and positivity and channel it into helping others. This month, Spin the Night is teaming up with Make It Funky to raise money for charities dedicated to defending and protecting naturalized civil rights for all. Please take this opportunity to read about the charities we’ve selected below and decide how you’d like to contribute. Booty-bumpin’ AND benevolence? Doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks so much everyone! Looking forward to groovin’ and givin’ with the best of The Bay. The soundtrack for the evening will be provided by local selectors Jimmy B (Green Gorilla Lounge), Jesse Sizmo (Lips & Rhythm) and Onemohit (Make It Funky).

DONATE HERE: spinthenight.eventbrite.com

$10 — Minimum donation

$30 — Suggested donation

$100 Club! — receive special surprise gift to wear at the event

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~ The American Civil Liberties Union ~

“So long as we have enough people in this country willing to fight for their rights, we’ll be called a democracy.” — ACLU founder Roger Baldwin

The ACLU ensures the promise of the Bill of Rights to every individual, and expands its reach to people historically denied its protections. It fights on every frontier and facet against war and terror, and relentlessly protects religious freedom, freedom of speech, and civil liberty everywhere. Donations to the ACLU will provide protection, advocacy and support the traditionally marginalized, including but not limited to the LGBTQ community, minorities, immigrants, the disabled, those impoverished or persecuted, refugees, and many more.

~ The Sierra Club ~

The Sierra Club is one of the oldest and most revered environmental conservation organizations. It was founded by John Muir in the late 19th century, who was awestruck by Yosemite’s breathtaking natural beauty and wanted to find a way to protect it. The Sierra Club’s mission is “to explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.” All donations for the Sierra Club will be used to lobby for progressive and green political policies, as well as create and support hiking, rock-climbing, mountaineering and other alpine recreation programs to spread love and respect of nature.

~ Planned Parenthood ~

Planned Parenthood is a fearless warrior in the battle for women’s health rights and equality. They are the largest and most effective organization supporting reproductive health rights. They believe “in the fundamental right of each individual, throughout the world, to manage his or her fertility, regardless of the individual’s income, marital status, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, national origin, or residence.” Donations for Planned parenthood will be put toward providing complementary and discreet health services for those who cannot obtain them through traditional health care channels. The funds will also be spent to advocate public policies which guarantee these rights and access to such services, and to ensure everyone always has a place to turn for support and solutions in terms of their reproductive health.

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Check out this week’s full entertainment line up at Pops Bar:

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For those of you who missed the The Speakeasy the first time around, it’s an immersive play set in prohibition-era San Francisco. It had a sell out run in the TL in 2014. After losing their space, they decided to find a more permanent one to keep the show running. They closed for about a year, did an awesome crowd-funded micro investment campaign, got a space on the North Beach/Chinatown border, and set about to converting it into a real, three times bigger than the original, Speakeasy.  When The Speakeasy officially re-opened we knew we had to see it again, so Brittany donned her flapper dress, and brought Sam with her for a fresh perspective. After the show we stumbled over to Vesuvio to dissect what we had just experienced. We pushed our way into a table with a lovely couple who were also dressed as a flapper and a gangster. As we had guessed, they had also just seen the show, so we asked them to join us for drama talk and drinks.

Gangster: It was striking how much effort went into transporting the audience. The production value, the set design, the sound design, the different story lines, how immersive it was, I loved it. It’s nice to be able to put away our modern life, put the cell phones away for the night, and just experience something amazing.

Flapper: I agree, I enjoyed having a night out with no phones. The show was so intricate, there were so many things going on, but it never felt forced or fake. We were just comparing our experiences and it was fun because we each got something different out of it. There are so many story-lines, I could see how you could go back over and over again and still see something new. If you spend the night in the casino, you’ll have a totally different night than someone who stays in the cabaret, or watches the dressing rooms. It’s also fun to see a theater performance, with performances in it, so you see the characters on the stage in the cabaret, and then you get to see their back stories and feel like you’re behind the scenes.

Sam: It was also fun to be integrated into the scene in a way that you aren’t normally in theater. You’re an audience member in the cabaret, which is a play within a play, so you almost have to become a character yourself. Everyone dresses the part too, like you guys look amazing, you can’t tell the audience from the actors.

Brittany: I think what’s great about this show, compared to other immersive theater plays I’ve seen, is you really have a hard time parsing fiction from reality. In shows like Sleep No More you know the plot. When you see a character you know who they are and their role in the story. Here you don’t know the story-lines, and you have no idea who is in the play and who is an audience member, which makes the discovery process that much more exciting.

F: Exactly, this is the first time in a long time I’ve left a show and really wanted to talk about. Like, which things did you see, what pieces of the plot do you have, because you only get bits and pieces of the show. We didn’t know how much we were supposed to stick to a structured thing, so we didn’t really move around the space until the second half of the show when we realized there were other rooms. I am sure there is a ton we missed.

B: I think no matter what you’re going to miss something, you just have to appreciate where you are in the moment.

S: So true, I think my favorite part was a scene we watched while we were spying on the office where two actors were performing, and just three of us were watching. No one else got to see that bit of plot, and that made the experience that much more special.

The Verdict: Absolutely a must see. We didn’t think it was possible to like this show more than the first time we reviewed it, but this new space is amazing, the show is tighter and overall the experience is more impressive. Yes, it’s expensive, and you have to budget for some of their delicious cocktails too, but buy it as a gift to yourself. It’s totally worth it.

The Drama Talk: The Speakeasy space is absolutely amazing. The cabaret is beautiful, the bar feels smoky even though there’s no smoke, and you totally feel like a creeper snooping into the ultra realistic dressing rooms and office. It doesn’t look like a set, it looks like a real speakeasy with classic cocktails and all. Since the audience is dressed up as much as the actors you sometimes forget that you’re in a play. This is the real-life version of virtual reality – we felt transported to the 1920s. There are so many different pieces to this production that it’s impossible to see it all. Yes it does still give you a certain amount of FOMO, but honestly it’s just too fun to care. While you don’t leave knowing the full story of any of the characters, you do leave with snapshots into their lives which are powerful. You could easily see this show 4 or 5 times and still not really know what happened, but that is part of the beauty and what should make this permanent run possible.

The Drinks: The Speakeasy is a speakeasy.  So much so you can go to the bar known as Club 1923 on certain nights after the show just for drinks. They have great cocktails, which are way too easy to order. You give them your credit card ahead of time so after your third drink you forget that you’re still paying them when you show your wooden nickle. The booze flows freely, and some audience members were more than tipsy by the end, but if you’re looking for a place for more drinks after the show Vesuvio is stumbling distance from the door.

Tickets for The Speakeasy can be purchased through The Speakeasy SF website and are currently available through March. Although some nights are sold-out there are lots of others that still have space, so if you need a last minute gift you can still book now. Thursday and Sunday shows are $85, Friday and Saturday shows are $110. You can also become a member of Club 1923 if you want to keep going back, and get discounted tickets for you and your friends. Club 1923 is also open on select nights after the show, so if you want to get a sneak peek into the space without committing to the show, you can pay a $10 cover for a night of drinking in a pretty dope bar.

There’s something about summer that makes a person nostalgic for childhood. Maybe it’s a pining for the good-ol’-days of summer vacation, or the longer hours of sunlight awaken something inside, but summer always feels like a good time to give-in to our more juvenile instincts. Perhaps that’s why when we heard that Beauty and the Beast was coming to SHN’s Orpheum Theater we decided to go for some Drama Talk and Drinks.

Brittany: It was cute. The kids in the audience were adorable.

Katie: Yes! It’s always fun when you have a responsive audience. It was cute to hear the kids get into it.

B: Lumiere was awesome. I loved him.

K: “Be Our Guest” was fucking FUN. It’s fun in the movie, but it was more fun on stage. Amazing costumes, choreography, and sets. You really felt transported to a magical world. I was obsessed with Beauty and the Beast when I was kid. I literally watched it every day the year it came out.

B: So did it live up your expectations?

K: Not exactly. The opening song and “Be Our Guest” were great. I didn’t care much about the new ones they added to the score though.

B: The new Beast songs were droning.

K: Right? He was like (singing) “I’m the BEEAAST, you are YOOOU!”. There were also different character development things I preferred in the movie. The Beast seemed a lot more abusive in the stage version. He wasn’t just losing his temper, he was throwing Belle around.

B: Belle is always a little Stockholm Syndrome-y, but I feel like the live-action makes it darker than the cartoon. The ending seemed more aggressive than I remember too. Gaston in the movie was a jerk, but funny. In this he was a little more sinister and violent.

K: The voices were beautiful, the actors were very talented, and the set was amazing, but I still think I prefer the movie version. There were certain things that were awesome to see on stage. They used the puppets really well, and the transformation of the Beast was so cool to see live. I just wish they had either gone really different from the film, or stayed true to it. This felt in-between.

B: At the same time, the kids in the audience seemed to love it. Which, really, is the point. I think it’s a show for kids. It just also happens to appeal to adults since it’s a Disney classic.

The Verdict: Have family visiting for the holiday weekend or summer vacation? This is a great family friendly activity. Love Disney and want to see your favorite characters live on stage? Go, but it may not be exactly what you expect. Hate Disney and the patriarchal sugar coated fairy-tales it peddles?  This show is probably not your cup of tea.

The Drama Talk: Like so many touring shows, there are lots of great things to say about this production. The set, costumes, and spectacle truly transport you to a fairy-tale world. The leads are all very talented. Lumiere, played by Ryan N. Phillips, could not be more fun to watch. Yet despite a lot of good, it didn’t quite live up to our childhood memories of the original Disney animated film.

The Drinks: If you too want to find yourself in an enchanted castle, and return to a different kind of childhood, we recommend walking a few blocks up to Geary to the classic dive bar Edinburgh Castle Pub after the show. You’re best off if you stick with beer, but they do have a full bar.

Beauty and the Beast runs through July 10th. There are $40 “virtual rush” tickets available for every show, so go ahead and try your luck here. There are also currently discount tickets available on Goldstar for as little as $45. Otherwise, you can always purchase tickets through the SHN website.

When we were contacted about reviewing the Curran’s last show of their “Under Construction” series we hesitated because Brittany was going to be in DC for work. However, I thought if this show has even half the entertainment value, innovation and beauty of the previous show we saw at this venue…I really needed to be there! So while Brittany was being snowed in, I took my reoccurring stand in Garrett Lamb and we powered through the rain and headed downtown.

Taylor Mac at the Curran: Under Construction (c) Jim Norrena

Katie: Wow. I have few words…still processing. All I can say is that was really impressive. I can’t believe I’ve gone my whole life without experiencing, as Taylor Mac (the writer, performer, and co-director) called it, a “radical faerie realist ritual”. So, what did you think?

Garrett: I don’t know, but I think I liked it. The format was unique. Sort of a storytelling/musical/drag show/concert. And of course the venue was unique too!

K: Hell yeah! How cool was it to be on the stage of the Curran and be looking out towards the orchestra!

G: Totally. But thinking about the show, some of it didn’t make sense, and wasn’t very polished. Like when they handed out a pamphlet on “Equality of the Sexes” and didn’t really refer to it, or use it with the audience. Or when he wanted us to be eating apples but his “dandy minions” hadn’t given them to us yet. But I guess Taylor did mention this was a workshop in progress. That said, everything else was on point and very moving and entertaining.

K: Agreed. For a performance art piece, this is the one of the best I’ve ever seen. I mean, to be able to command the room like that for three hours was really special. Plus, the idea of doing a 24 hour concert later this year in New York is super intriguing. But I can’t lie, I was really distracted by the fact that Nancy Pelosi was sitting in our row!

G: Me too! That was amazing, I’m glad Nancy was into it. I wonder what she thought when Taylor stripped down to only a golden thong, and then gave her husband a lap dance!

The Verdict: It doesn’t matter if you like or don’t like performance art, drag shows, or musicals. This is a very special experience that should be had by all. Taylor Mac’s performance was provocative, present, raw, hilarious, honest, beautiful, uncomfortable, comforting all the while very philosophical.

The Drama Talk: I’m not going to lie, when I saw that this show was 3 hours long without an intermission I thought twice about going, but the time went by so fast it was crazy. From the venue, to the ridiculously amazing costumes, down to the talented band there is so much to see and hear, there is never a moment you are daydreaming about your instagram feed. I do think time went by so fast because the show has interactive moments where you will be asked to participate. I usually don’t like to participate at the theater but the way it was done in this piece really enhanced Taylor’s theme of “imperfection fostering community”. That night we were a community and this was more than a show, it was a profound shared experience. Go in with an open mind and you will leave with a heart full of love for how art can change lives.

The Drinks: There is a bar on the stage. So get there a little early and grab a drink. And don’t worry, even though the show is 3 hours with no intermission there are little breaks where Taylor changes costumes and you can run down to the bathroom.

A 24-Decade History of Popular Music runs through January 30th at the Curran. You can purchase tickets on Curran’s website for $50.

Here at DT&D we feel like every season is a good season to see theater. But the holiday season, with the relative cold, rain and staycation days, is perfect for getting into some cozy theaters. Katie & Brittany suggest some local shows that you might want to check out. Here’s their report:

[file photo by me]

From gin & tonicah Hanukkah fetes, to ugly sweater parties, to awkward office eggnog-a-thons, your calendar may already be booked through 2015. But for those of you who are looking for a theater fix, or to find a family friendly outing while people are in town, we didn’t want to leave you hanging. Although we normally don’t recommend shows without prior viewing, with holiday parties and cold and flu season upon us, we just didn’t have time to see everything. But that’s no reason for you to miss out. So without further ado, here’s our round-up of what caught our eye this holiday season that we didn’t get to see.

Looking for laughs?

A Merry Forking Christmas
PianoFight’s brand-spanking-new-Kickstarter-funded venue is opening this week! The first show to pop the champagne on its main stage is A Merry Forking Christmas, their reliably funny choose-your-own-adventure holiday sketch show. Go check out PianoFight’s new digs, try their new bar, and forget about your holiday stress. From the mouths of marketers:

The Holidays are the most magical time of the year, unless you’re stuck in the mall on Christmas Eve. PianoFight’s A Merry FORKING! Christmas chronicles the final hours of the Christmas shopping frenzy through the eyes of a pot-dealing Santa and his cookie-stand partner in crime, a mall security guard on his last legs, a bride-to-be deserted by her would-be fiancé, and a bored mortician who’s got nothing to do until people get back to the business of dying once the holidays have ended. The fates of these five characters and whether Christmas can be saved for each is left up to the audience who will vote at crucial forks in the plot to determine the final outcome. This December, with 362,880 possible paths through the show, saving Christmas is up to you. Get your tickets here.

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RSVP and invite your friends!

Last month we took a look at the wild messages hidden in Mission street names. Today, bar names. Behold:

Simian Bros = Mission Bar
Calamine Lubricant = Latin American Club
Teat Itch = The Attic
Be Nerds = Benders
Never Have Tits = Thieves Tavern
Origami Solvers = Virgil’s Sea Room
Swell Host = Shotwell’s
Some Death = Homestead
Smallish Onion Silo = Mission Hill Saloon
Bye, Jean = Jay ‘n’ Bee
Open Mall = Lone Palm
Cold Cocks = Doc’s Clock
Tubby Area = Beauty Bar
Bland Tic = Blind Cat
Thirty-Machete Cheddar Element = Dr. Teeth
Trick God = Trick Dog

Highlight the list to see translations. Which ones are most appropriate?

["Never Have Tits" photo by Maggie]

The condo construction chaos at the New Mission Theater site is displacing the Mission Community Market for a while, but it might be for the best since they get to move over to 22nd Street between Mission and Valencia, which gets a hell of a lot more foot traffic and just generally has a lot more going on than Bartlett between 21st and 22nd, where the market usually happens. Mission Local reports:

Hasel Vasquez, who runs the perfume stand in Anita’s Beauty Salon on 22nd echoed the overall sentiment: “Not only will it help the market – it will help us,” she said referring to the new foot traffic.

Vasquez said the market’s location on Bartlett is “too tucked away” and the move closer to Mission Street will give Latinos “better access.”

Read on.

['gram by @malenarose]

Hello folks, here’s the newest installment of our feature where two local theater lovers go see some live performance and discuss it over drinks. Here they review Dirty Dancing Live at The Dark Room:

Last Saturday night we donned our leg warmers and beige iridescent lipstick, and headed to one of our favorite Mission live performance venues, The Dark Room, for their newest show, Dirty Dancing Live! Neither of us had been to one of The Dark Room’s live performances of “classic” films, but we were intrigued by the concept, and had the perfect bar to match the 80s chick flick set in the 60s vibe, Beauty Bar. One of us was pumped, the other skeptical, but both of us were ready for Drama Talk and Drinks . . .

Brittany: When we decided to go see Dirty Dancing Live, I was soo excited. To the point I nearly texted my college roommate to brag. We were the kind of dorks that watched the movie literally over 50 times, in the two years we lived together, so I was expecting to love the show because I LOOOOVE the movie.

Katie: I don’t have any real connection to the film, but was really hoping to be pleasantly entertained, but I don’t even know what to say about what we just saw . . . There were some people laughing, the kids in front of us were having a ball . . . (struggles to find words)

B: Just say it . . . it was awful.

K: It’s just that they didn’t make a clear choice of what it was. Was it a movie reenactment . . . was it an interpretation?

B: Was it a spoof?

K: One moment it would be straight up word for word, moment by moment reenactment. Then they would skip over tons of shit and suddenly be a spoof. It just seemed they didn’t know exactly what they wanted it to be. It had potential to be good if they just made a clearer choice.

B: I love Dirty Dancing the movie – it’s cheesy and corny. If they had taken it far enough, and made it really spoofy, it could have been funny. But you’re right, they didn’t take anything far enough. It felt to me like, if I was trying to study for a test on Dirty Dancing, this was the not as good cliff notes version.

Also, Dirty Dancing is a summer coming of age movie. The actress who played Baby was super adult the whole time, and played the whole being naive thing as just an act, which totally killed the plot.

K: One thing we gotta give her, is that she’s a dead ringer for the actress in the movie (Jennifer Grey). I mean body shape, hair, face I was shocked – looks wise she was amazing. You could tell she’s capable, but maybe just needed better direction? Also, doing a show like this in that space seemed kinda awkward.

B: The Dark room is a hard space – I get that – it is super small. Doing any big dance number is really hard – but that’s what people love about Dirty Dancing! The first time that Baby goes to the staff living area, and sees them dancing, that’s supposed to be a big game changing scene.

K: They didn’t make a moment out of that at all.

B: However, I did think they did the scene where Baby and Johnny lip sync and dance really well. That was spot on and cute. Besides that moment, I just wasn’t with them.

K: I really do love the Dark Room though – it’s such a cool performance venue.

B: Me too, I’ve seen such great stuff there. I’ve enjoyed The Business, other comedy shows, sketch comedy. It’s just this staged movie piece didn’t really know what it wanted to be, so unfortunately it wasn’t much of anything.

 
The Verdict: Unless you’re friends with one of the actors don’t waste your money. Even if you are friends with the actors, get them to give you comps. Tickets are $15 advance and $20 at the door, even $5 would be a stretch for this mediocre performance.

The Drama Talk: We didn’t know when to laugh and the awkwardness of some of the acting made us want to cry. Although the two leads seemed like they may have had talent, nothing about this performance let them show it. But don’t give up on going to shows at the Dark Room, they always have cool stuff going on!

The Drinks: Unnamed Summer-y deliciousness from the creative mind of the awesome Beauty Bar bartender. Brittany had an Absolute Hibiscus cocktail, and Katie had an Absolute Citrus cocktail. Both were a high point of the evening.

Dirty Dancing Live runs through the end of May, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm.