TRIPPING TO LANCASTER COUNTY DAYS 3 AND 4

DAY 3 as it’s the following morning and American Music Theatre was the next attraction on our agenda, located at 2425 Lincoln Hwy. E. in Lancaster, where they feature both touring concerts and original shows since 1997.   The seating is 1600 and despite the amount of food that Laurie and I absorbed, we only needed to occupy two of them to see Music of the Night, the Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber.  Music was from the Broadway shows: Sunset Boulevard, Starlight Express, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Song and Dance (which I never heard of), Aspects of Love (another one I’ve never heard of), Whistle Down the Wind (Did these shows run for one performance or only ran in London?), Cats, Jesus Christ Superstar, Requiem, Evita, the Overture from The Beautiful Game (apparently this one didn’t get past the overture), and Phantom of the Opera.  Just an aside…the part of Christine was written for his wife, Sarah Brightman and I’ve often heard her singing “Pie Jesu” from Requiem. 

 www.amtshows.com

It’s time for lunch…yahoo!  We went to DJ’s Taste of the 50s at 2410 Old Philadelphia Pike in Lancaster, a great throwback to a 50s diner.   

The price may not be that of the 50s but the food is.  Keep in mind that microwave ovens weren’t invented, burgers were freshly made and fries were hand cut.  Could not resist a good old hamburger and chose The Russian: burger topped with cole slaw, swiss cheese and thousand islands dressing…and fries.   Just had to have a chocolate malted with it.  Yummy! 

There was a table of women who each ordered a sundae.  By the look on their faces, they were a bit stunned to see how huge they were…like two large scoops with all the toppings.  It was so unexpected that one woman tried to hide her face with the hood on her sweatshirt.   

We did not get to meet the owners, Gerald and DJ Kling.  One thing I noticed on their website was “25 cents from each cup of coffee purchased at DJ’s Taste of the 50’s will be donated to venues where Christ is proclaimed as Savior and King”.  I guess that lets out Temple Beth El.  www.djstasteofthe50s.com

The whistle sound tooting from a locomotive  is always distinguishable.  That is what we heard pulling into the parking lot of the Strasburg Railroad.   Changing of direction involves unlinking the engine, chugging along a track alongside and passing the train until it is back on the same track. Back up and hook it up.  We boarded the locomotive  that consisted of different cars such as: a luxurious President’s Car, First Class Parlor, First Class Lounge Car, Dining Car, Open Air Car, and the one we rode in…the simple coach.   Comfortable seats that you can move to the direction that you are going in.  There seemed to be options for getting off the train at a few stations that would allow you to picnic.  At one point the conductor talked about a railroad “ghost”.   We stopped at one particular spot and as the whistle blew the “ghost” would echo the same sounds. 

 “Next stop, Paradise” is the end of the line as the engine does its thing for our return on this very relaxing 45-minute “tour” through the Amish farm country.  

There is much history about the railroad, which you will find on Laurie’s blog.  Check out the website for the schedule and various events including The Great Train Robbery.  www.strasburgrailroad.com

There are some cute shops at the station worth exploring.   We skipped them and went across the street to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.   I am told that there are more than 100 locomotives and rail cars on display as well as an historical (vs. hysterical) collection.  After seeing a map of the layout I notice 5 platforms and a second floor with an exhibit gallery.  Too much for me to take in and difficult to board any of the cars which are open to do so.  I do, however, take the Steinman Station, a 1915 era train station along with an orientation video, the Stewart Junction Railway Education Center and a few exhibits placed on the outside of some of the cars.  History about railroad cars are not quite my thing and let Laurie take in much more for her blog. Discount tickets are available to combine both the Strasburg RR and RR Museum.

 www.rrmuseumpa.org 

Since we weren’t down by the station so early in the morning, check-in time at the Amish View Inn and Suites was in order.  Located at 3125 Old Philadelphia Pike in the town of Bird-in Hand (I wonder if there is a town called Two in a Bush?), the inn has expanded adding on an Adults Only wing.  Maybe they should have located in the town of Intercourse. There is actually a sign as you walk down the hall approaching it that says that you have to be 18 or older.   They seemed to be working on a separate entrance being erected.  

This Grand King suite had a kitchenette hidden in a cabinet…frig, microwave, coffee-maker.  A full breakfast is included so I didn’t those amenities.  The bathroom was a hoot.   Lights would go on when you walked in.   Claw foot tub was facing a HD tv.  Don’t worry. There is another tv in the bedroom area.  Huge walk-in shower and an abutting toilet room.   I’m glad that I happened to have kept the separate light on in the bathroom.  As I was taking a shower the lights went out.   I guess the mechanism didn’t detect movement in the shower stall.  Once I opened the stall door, the lights went back on.  

No problem with needing to have the curtains closed on the windows. The only one that might have been able to see my naked body was a cow in the distance with binoculars. 


 www.amishviewinn.com

Dinner brought us into downtown Lancaster to The Pressroom on W. King St.  Motif is mahogany and newspapers in a building that dates back to the mid 1700s.  

Bill of fare is basic Americana with some fusions.   Beer menu had a Framboise Lambic – Belgian Raspberry.  Tall bottle as if ordering a bottle of wine.   Laurie and I shared it.  You can certainly see the head on the beer. 

Soup of the day sounded great.   Yellow squash or butternut, I don’t remember.  It tasted great at first until I realized that is was peppery.  A beet salad sounded good. It was mixed with watercress, some chopped smoked salmon, and chevre.  “8 big grilled wings”.  I’m up for it, since I don’t see the word “hot”. Just give me the blue cheese, celery and carrots to go along anyway.  

Wednesday and Saturday brings live music.  That evening there was a jazz band performing in an area at the front window.  Cool.

 www.pressroomrestaurant.com  

On DAY 4  I find that not all Best Western hotels are the same or even owned by one company.  Each one has a different owner.  I found that out as we headed for the Best Western Plus Intercourse Inn.  The Makeover Committee dropped by and renovated the whole place to include the Serenity Day Spa.  Most hotels rent a spot to a spa.  This BW owns it and that is why we ventured here. 

I chose to have a facial chickening out on having a massage.   It felt as if layers of skin treatments were applied and removed.  I would say that my face felt as smooth as a baby’s bottom but I have actually never felt a baby’s bottom. 

Laurie, who did get a massage, went off on a tour to take in the renovations.   I, however, relaxed and hydrated with a bottle of water.  www.intercoursevillageinn.com

Lunch was scheduled at Osteria Avanti, a classical Italian country restaurant located at the Inn at Leola Village.   The restaurant is connected to the inn and we got a tour of practically the whole village.   I could not do all of the walking about, although it is quite a group of shops, spa and various accommodations.   

I chose a Tuscan soup and a “small plate” of poached salmon over risotto.   Both tasted quite good and enough food to send me home as we then head back to Queens.  Hmmm...I think I see a covered bridge on the way.  www.osteriaavanti.com

Photos by Merle Exit and Laurie Katz

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

My birthday was full of celebrations starting with Saturday evening when I covered the New York Sharks game.  We played the Montreal Blitz and despite their losing, they gathered after the game, came over to me and sang the Quebec version of Happy Birthday.  Here are the lyrics.

Ma chere Merle
C'est à ton tour 
de te laisser parler d'amour!
Ma chère Merle
C'est à ton tour 
de te laisser parler d'amour!

Translated it basically means, "My dear Merle, this is a day for you to receive love." 

Going home was difficult thanks to Access-A-Ride and a problematic car service.  One of the former Shark players, Cheri Eleazar, drove me home going way out of her way to do so.   Sharks can certainly become your adopted family. 

My neighbor, Juan Feliciano, brought over a birthday ice cream cake.   Chocolate!!!!!!

Monday's celebration took place at River Japanese Cuisine restaurant located on Springfield Blvd in Oakland Gardens.  

THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV

Based on Gaston Leroux’s Internationally Acclaimed
Twentieth Century Gothic Dazzler
Le Fantôme de l’Opéra

OPENING JULY 9
PREVIEWS BEGIN JULY 2

Starring
Andrew Fox,  Stoddard Blackall,  Nathan Chang,  Kelly Leissler
Brian Matthew Byus,  Olivia Howell,  Danielle Heaton,
Ellie Bensinger
Featuring
THE AUDIENCE

At
SOPHIE’S at BROADWAY

Created By
Jordan Scott Gilbert & Philip Lakin
Directed by Philip Lakin
Produced by Jordan Scott Gilbert
Scenery, Lighting & Sound Design by
Ocean Bay Entertainment, Inc.

Highlighting The Great Subjects of Comedy
Emotional Frenzy,  Desperate Retaliation,  Broken Promises,  Death Threats, Terrorism, 
Murderous Explosives,  Torture Chambers,  Kidnapping,
Stockholm Syndrome,  Broken Hearts,  Defeated Spirits,  Schizophrenic Voices,
The Great Operas of Europe and Faces That Resemble Rotting Corpses

  Enterprising producer Jordan Scott Gilbert will open his THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV on Wednesday, July 9th at Sophie’s At Broadway (318 West 53rd Street – between Eighth 
and Ninth Avenues).

Preview performances begin Wednesday, July 2nd.

An interactive musical comedy improvisational retelling of this planet’s most haunting love story, THE PHANTOM of THE IMPROV is based on Gaston Leroux’s Twentieth Century Gothic dazzler, which has sold millions of copies while single-handedly subsidizing Broadway for the last three decades; not to mention the various film adaptations that have lined the pockets of movie executives in Hollywood and abroad.

Keenly aware that the worldwide Reality Show Industry is devoured by over 100,000,000 weekly viewers, director Philip Lakin and Mr. Gilbert have created an emotionally driven narrative between a handsome celebrity, an unsuspecting virginal beauty and a disgustingly ugly obsessed stalker that cries out for AUDIENCE INVOLVMENT, PARTICIPAION and COLLABORATION .

They have taken the French million-dollar novel and opened it up for suggestions from the world’s hippest and quick-witted audience – the New York ticket buyers.
The courageous cast will, on the spot, embrace the audience’s re-writes and brilliantly incorporate them into their own unfolding universe.

Created by Mr. Gilbert and Mr. Lakin, THE PHANTOM of the IMPROV will come to be known as the dawn of REALITY THEATRE.
 

THE ORIGINAL STORY

As EVERYONE knows Mr. Leroux’s narrative goes like this:  The lovely and beautiful Christine Daaé travels Europe with her famous fiddler father whose folk concerts are sure-fire sell-out events until he dies and she goes to live with his benefactor’s elderly widow and reconnects with her childhood sweetheart, the handsome Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny who encourages her burgeoning music career at Paris’ Opera House where she begins to hear a haunting and other-worldly voice in her head which turns out to be the voice of  Erik: The Phantom, a physically deformed and mentally disturbed musical genius who also happens to be one of the original architects of the Opera House under which he has made his home to which he drags Christine after a headline-grabbing audience-crushing horror of a plummeting chandelier which he orchestrated after being ignored by the Opera’s management.  Erik: The Phantom is madly in love with Christine and completely besotted by her voice as opposed to Raoul who is obsessed by her perfect body and angelic face.  Speaking of faces, Erik: The Phantom’s is described in the novel as resembling that of a rotting corpse which seems less and less to bother Christine as she embraces a severe case of Stockholm Syndrome and begins to fall for the murderous freak who releases her back into society so that she can star on the stage of the Opera House after which he re-kidnaps her and threatens to blow the Opera House to smithereens if she does not agree to be his wife.  Erik attempts to drown Raoul.  Christine kisses Erik who is so flummoxed by this display of kindness that he re-releases her on the condition that she promises to bury him when he dies of a broken heart which he does three weeks later.

Skip to the year 2014.

THE AUDIENCE’S ASSIGNMENT

The audience will be asked to improve on the novel’s outrageous narrative. 
Their suggestions will be embraced by the cast on stage and incorporated both musically and dramatically. 
The audience needs to be as creative as the cast is quick to respond.
This is a duel of wits.  This is a challenge of dramatic and comic genius.
This is the most high-stakes show in the Broadway neighborhood.
This is the NEW reality.     This is REALITY THEATRE.

THE PLAYERS

Andrew Fox
(Theatre: Twisted, Foreverman, Roads Courageous, Edges   Film: Dream Lover,  Thunderstruck: An AC/DC Movie Musical, Solomon Grundy: Born on a Monday)
Stoddard Blackall
( Broadway’s Next Hit Musical, Petting Zoo, A Stoddy Story ) 
Nathan Chang 
(Upright Citizens Brigade, Boomtown, Joseph And The Amazing …, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Drowsy Chaperone, Spelling Bee, Seussical, Steppin’ off the Sidewalk {Bistro Award})
Kelly Leissler
(Love, Genius and a Walk, [title of show], Ragtime, Evil Dead The Musical)
Brian Matthew Byus 
(At Trouble's End, On Baile's Strand, The Three Sisters, The Living, Taming of The Shrew, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Long Day's Journey Into Night, Waiting For Godot, Orpheus Descending.  LAByrinth Theater Company: 2014 Winter Ensemble-Intensive)
Olivia Howell 
(The Berenstain Bears (Off-Broadway), Eight is Never Enough Comedy Troupe (Off- Broadway), The 39 Steps, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Peter Rabbit, A Year With Frog and Toad, and Fancy Nancy (Tour).
Danielle Heaton 
Off-Broadway: On The Town, Bat Boy, The Killing Room.  Comedy Group: Cross Line Baby
Ellie Bensinger
Theatre: Legally Blonde, Tartuffe, The Pajama Game, Tick...Tick...Boom!,
Candide   Television: The Blacklist   Film: Titanic, 10,000 Saints

The Performance Schedule
Wednesdays @ 8:00pm
Thursdays @ 8:00pm
Fridays @ 8:00pm
Saturdays @ 8:00pm
The Tickets  $35
There is a Two Item Minimum
Seating is first come, first serve.
Buy Online: www.phantomimprov.com
Buy by Phone:  1-800-838-3006
The Venue
Sophie’s At Broadway
318 West 53rd Street
( between 8th & 9th Avenues )
 

THE DIRECTOR

PHILIP LAKIN is an actor/director/producer who loves nothing more than bringing stories to life.  Recent directing credits include Kennedy’s Children by Robert Patrick and Princess by Catherine Davidson. As an actor, he has appeared in A Good Night To Die (Tribeca Film Festival), Nikki and Sarah Live (MTV), Law & Order (NBC), and several theaters all over the tri-state area.  Mr. Lakin is currently launching his first start-up: Actor Dash, a speed-networking event for actors and content creators.    

                                                                  THE PRODUCER

JORDAN SCOTT GILBERT has worked with some of the most successful actors, writers, directors, and producers in the world.  He is the President of his own independent production and casting company, representing film, television, and theatrical productions worldwide.   Jordan is Co-Producer of the 3-time Tony Award nominated and Drama Desk Award winning Broadway production of Ghost The Musical with Paramount Pictures, for which he was named the first Broadway Producer Of The Year by The Examiner and Broadway Global, and received a Drama League Award nomination, among many other honors.   Jordan also produced on Stephen Schwartz's London revival of Pippin starring Frances Ruffelle.  Recent credits include Ball Boy, Disney's They Spoke Out: American Voices Against The Holocaust, We Are Lights starring Melba Moore and Nick Wyman, Peace Aqua starring Andrea McArdle, and Showbiz Talk with numerous Academy, Tony and Grammy Award winners.  Jordan first served as assistant to the lead producer on the Broadway musical A Tale Of Two Cities.  As a performer, Jordan has appeared on Broadway, as well as in several stage, film and television projects, including celebrity-studded charity events for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, Lincoln Center, Studio 54 Below, National Opera Center, among many other venues.   Jordan is releasing his debut EP later this year and will be in pre-production for a new musical aimed for Broadway, as well as a major motion picture.  

www. phantomimprov.com