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| - Welcome to my first live review. What does that mean? It means I'm writing it from my table at Stage West. Thanks, iPhone.
This our first visit to Stage West after they completed renovations. Not much has changed, but the newly created buffet room is a definite improvement. In the past, while structured, the trip to the buffet was almost always a long wait. With the new room, people move through rather briskly and the food is easier to access. My only gripe is that the food isn't clearly labeled, so it's easy to visit the same station twice (as there are duplicate stations).
The food quality was excellent, no huge surprise here. I've rarely heard anything bad about the food at Stage West. I was pleasantly surprised by the Dijon Panko Crusted Rack of Lamb. I'm a huge lamb fan, having grown up eating it regularly. So it was nice to see it on the menu and even nicer to find it was prepared well. The beef was about what you would expect and the Sauteed Jumbo Shrimps with Garlic Butter & Cognac, which is prepared for you as you wait, was delicious. The deserts were good, but nothing fantastic. I was a little disappointed by the selection, which seems to have gotten smaller since our last visit.
On to the show. We had the pleasure of watching Married Alive, staring Joyce DeWitt of Three's Company fame. The most important thing here is that we genuinely enjoyed the show. I have a few critiques, but overall the show was fun. I found Joyce DeWitt's performance to be wonderful, although it took a bit of adjustment to get used to her. The problem here is that the playbill is still using a photo from her Three's Company days. Likely taken almost 30 years ago, she does not look the same. She looks great, don't get me wrong, but it was just unexpected to be inundated with photos of a 20-30 something and then being greeted by a woman who just turned 60. The supporting players were good, although at times hard to hear. Both of the younger performers, Tory Doctor and Ksenia Thurgood, seemed to struggle projecting their voices when singing. But maybe it's just me.
The play itself was good, but a bit slow. The first act was fun, funny, and energetic. The second slowed down quite a bit and was somewhat disappointing. Overall, a great experience.
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