Kimberly Akimbo!

 The Tony Award winning musical came to Omaha this week amid a snowy cold weather system that may have kept the crowd down. I expected nothing as much of what I read about this quirky musical was not good. What we got was really something.

Kimberly is a soon to turn 16-year-old with progeria and in a new school with no friends. Progeria ages people at 4-5 times the normal rate thus Kim is a 60 something looking woman trying to fit in. Kim is dealing with the disease, with terrible parents, a con artist aunt, and knowing she will die soon. It's a lot for a kid to deal with. She meets Seth, a kind kid who plays the tuba and works at the local skating rink. They become friends and also befriend a group of 4 show choir nerds, none of whom even know each other very well. Well, until Aunt Debra, a foul mouthed grifter who never misses the opportunity to make an ill-gotten dollar, sums them up to each other that made me laugh out loud.

Kim deals with school, a science experiment about her disease that she really didn't want to do, and her parents who are having another baby they want to "be perfect" unlike Kim, who they believe ruined their lives and are not shy about telling her. Aunt Debra gets her and the other teens into a check fraud scheme to make them money for show choir uniforms, and a road trip for Kim to see things she will probably never get to see.

The show has all the emotions. Laughter, sadness, pity, and disgust. Theres not a weak moment in it. The cast is wonderful. Carolee Carmello plays Kim and considering she's been nominated for 3 Tonys we are lucky to have her in the lead. Original Broadway cast member, Justin Cooley, returns as Kim's buddy Seth and he is perfect. Jim Hogan and Laura Woyasz as Kim's just awful parents also shine. It's not easy playing mean to a kid who will soon die. But Aunt Debra, played by Emily Koch, gets all the good lines and the most laughs. She swears like a sailor, never met a person she doesn't see as a potential mark and is really a piece of .....work. The teens who play the show choir nerds are also great at playing to type. 

All in all, this musical is just the weird type of show that will make you forget the world for a couple of hours. It's got catchy songs, and the lyrics are understandable with the great sound system they brought with them. It has a Dear Evan Hansen vibe but better.

I can't imagine the Broadway version is any better than this tour. Go, you'll be glad you did..

Collective Soul!

 

Need a palate cleanser from seeing a South African invader standing in the Oval Office with a child on his shoulders filibustering on his grift while the Felon sits at his desk with a goofy grin on his orange mug? Great me too.

Collective Soul was at the Steelhouse in Omaha last night for a show of hits and more hits. Collective Soul had more hits in the 90's than any other rock band and seeing them for the 5th time didn't disappoint. Ed Roland, lead singer, is in his 60's and still has it. His voice is great, his onstage banter is great, his crazy outfit was great, the band is still great, and the crowd of middle aged and boomer fans was great.

Starting with a couple of newer songs that still rocked, Collective Soul, led by Roland in a sort of mink coat, got the crowd right into it. Heavy, one of those hits from the 90's, really got them going. When the opening chords of Shine began, oh it was on now. The crowd sang along the chorus at the urging of Roland who wisely backed off and let the fans do the honor of doing the Yeah and the whoa, heaven let your light shine down. It was a great group effort.

The latter part of the show featured all the hits, December, The World I Know, Gel, She Said, Precious Declaration and of course Run which of course had a sing along from the masses.

Collective Soul is one of those bands that get better with age. The music is wonderful, and the wisdom of a 62 year old man, Ed Roland, shows during his stage stories. This show was postponed from last summer and Roland freely admitted it was because he had a nosebleed that wouldn't stop and needed 2 different ENT doctors to get it stopped. "At my age everything is 50/50 on making it or not". 

There was a tribute to Aerosmith, who gave them their big break by adding them to a tour in the 90's. A tribute to AC/DC with Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, Ed's first "import album".

This band tours constantly. I mean I've seen them 5 times now, but not for 20 years or so. Wanna forget the world for 90 minutes? Go see Collective Soul, it will make you feel young again.

Halftime Shows!

 Ok its about time I emerge from my cocoon. Politics was of no interest to me after Nov 5th. America chose a fascist liar and sexual predator and I accept that, Not gonna rush the Capitol, not gonna beat up cops, not gonna crap in Mike Johnson's wastebasket cuz you see we are adults. We may hate what happened but accept it and move on. Trump is a traitorous piece of shit, we know that, and we voted for Kamala Harris to stop him. It didn't work for whatever reason, eggs, woke, racism, sexism whatever you want to blame, feel free. Fact remains there's a madman in the Oval Office with all 3 branches of government in his corner and a Cabinet full of lunkheads he's seen on TV (Hegseth RFK Duffy) or ones he wants to fuck (Noem, Gabbard) or psychos willing to destroy the nation (Patel, Stefanik, Miller) in his name. But what can we do? Nothing. At least until 2024.

Did I like the Super Bowl halftime show? I'd be lying if I said yes. Kendrick Lamar is not for my demo. Old white men. My time is over. We aren't gonna see Paul McCartney or the Who or even Pearl Jam in what is left of my lifetime at the Super Bowl halftime. It's a whole new world. The young folks are running the show. And if they wanna see Kendrick Lamar or the Weeknd or even Beyonce that's the way it is. Old guys like me need to just live with it. We don't need to go ballistic and post every stupid thought we have on social media. Most of the outrage from Magas is, let's face it, racist at best and the Final Solution at worst. They want country. They want white people onstage. They want their orange hero to put out an EO mandating white people at halftime of the Super Bowl. 

Kendrick Lamar put it to Trump right in his face. Trump left rather than see Kenrick Lamar "insult" him. Then Trump tweeted out an old Democratic idea of eliminating pennies, trashed Taylor Swift and claimed she was booed because of Magats. Yeah, the fact she used to be an Eagles fan before Travis came along may have had something to do with the booing but why question the Felon? He's never wrong. 

Kendrick Lamar was fine. He didn't piss me off just as Dre and Mars and Katy Perry didn't. I simply don't care. If the entertainment doesn't interest me, so be it. If some idiotic decision to have Nugent or Kid Rock or Morgan Wallen perform at the next Super Bowl, ok then. I won't pay attention. But anger? Never.

"The revolution is about to be televised, You picked the right time but the wrong guy"

Goddamn right sir. That alone was worth it.