![]() ![]() ![]() The music was nothing short of spectacular, the choreography splendid and finely tuned, and the evening passed very quickly.Įven if you don't remember hula hoops, Ipana toothpaste, Sputnik and TV Dinners, the music from the Platters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson and a host of others will surely bring your hands together, tapping to your feet and smiles to your faces. but at least I knew the tune! In any case, I would find it extremely hard to believe that there was even a single droopy eyelid in the crowd that evening. Ok, so there were a few to which I couldn't sing along. The Fifties were my years and every song performed that evening, from television commercials to theme songs to chart-toppers, were ones to which I knew the lyrics. The show that Heidi and I attended - Those Fabulous Fifties - was about as fast-paced as any I have ever witnessed and the energy released was roughly equivalent to that required by all the air-conditioners of Los Angeles during a summer heat wave! Add to that the professional costume designers, set and lighting designers and the musical directors and choreographers and you have a high class production available in but a few areas of the country. This, and all his shows to be sure, are well-written and masterfully performed. ![]() ![]() The rigorous schedule to which they will commit includes over 80 performances in a 9-10 week period. When looking for a cast for his show, Flesch heads to New York where he'll see more than 600 actors auditioning for perhaps 20 parts. The theater talent is scouted by Artistic Director Ed Flesch, producer of all the Fireside's roughly five shows per year since coming on board in 1978. And those youngsters were having just as much fun as anyone in the large audience (the Fireside theater-in-the-round can accommodate up to 650 at a time). Atkinson, as well as the entire Midwest, a truly Broadway-caliber theater that will appeal to all age groups - a fact that was exemplified by the large number of children that I observed attending the performance that evening. In the 2017 season we also saw Mamma Mia and South Pacific.Importantly, the Fireside brings to Ft. It is a theater in the round with 652 seats and not a bad one in the bunch. There is no picture taking in the theater during the performance but here is our group gathering in our seats. The delightful meal was finished off with a dessert of red velvet cake served with homemade gingerbread ice cream. The entree was complimented by garlic Parmesan orzo and roasted fresh vegetables. The entree of chicken piccata was lightly breaded and sauteed to a golden brown, resting on a veloute lemon cream sauce and it was garnished with caper buds and parsley. There is a signature menu for each show and the Miracle on 34th Street began with an appetizer of cream of shiitake mushroom soup served with freshly baked bread from their Artisan Bakery. and another seating of dinner that begins eating at 3 p.m. Therefore they can have overlapping seatings with a show going on from 1:15 - 3:45 p.m. Unlike some dinner theaters that I have worked at or attended the theater is separate from the restaurant. This year we had 43 people on the bus to the Fireside to see Miracle on 34th Street the musical. The Christmas trip is usually the most highly attended. I host a bus trip 2 or 3 times a year to the dinner theater that is 2 1/2 hours from our home town. Sunday, I was thankful for a fun trip to the Fireside Theater in Ft. ![]()
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