2011 At the Cheyenne Civic Center

These performances may well be sold out already, but I'll share them here anyway.

Civic Center Box Office number is ...not given anywhee in theie 2010-2011 seasopn brochure that I can see. Jeez. Well, look 'em up on the Internet.

Anyway:

Forever Doo-Wop, March 4, 2011. Stars the Diamonds, the Tokens, and Danny and the Juniors.
Bowfire - March 18, 2011 - fiddle and violin virtuosos
Cats - April 20, 2011 - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Riverdance - May 10, 2011
Oakridge Boys - Christmas special - November 28, 2011
Moscow Ballet Nutcracker - December 8, 2011

Wizard of Oz at the Cheyenne Civic Center

I went to the Cheyenne Civic Center last night to see the touring production of The Wizard of Oz. I'll have to return there to take photographs of the building, for now I'll just concentrate on the Wizard of Oz, and other performances to come.

I seem to remember seeing the Wizard of Oz before...I think at the Minneapolis Children's Theater, and it was a regular play, not a musical. Or I may be confusing it with the Grinch, whcih I definitely saw there. Ah, sucks to get old and misplace your theater program collection.

Anyway, it was fun. It used most of the dialog and songs from the movie - including Over the Rainbow, but with a few additional lines and at least one scene - the Jitterbug scene that had been cut from the movie was done here.

Andrew Haserlat, who played the Scarecrow, didn't have the physical dexterity of Ray Bolger, but his physicality was okay and he had a good singing voice. Jesse Colman as Lion didn't try a Brooklynese accent a la Bert Lahr, but his Cowardly Lion did kind of make him stand out - excellent delivery of some comedic lines.

Pat Sibley as the Wicked Witch also did a good job.

We were far in the back and I hadn't brought opera glasses, so I didn't realize until today that the actress who played Aunt Em also did Gilda, and the actor who played Uncle Henry also played the Guard. As the guard, his vocalizations reminded me more of the guard from the movie Robots than from the movie - where Frank Morgan had played him, the Carriage Driver, the Doorman, and the Wizard of Oz.

Here, Robert John Biedermann played Professor Marvel and the Wizard of Oz. His best scene was of course the last scene where he is handing out the diploma, the testimonial, the medal, and so on.

Dorothy was played by Kate Bristol, Tinman by Beau Hutchings.

A projector had been set up that did the house rising and falling, Aunt Em calling for Dorothy changing into the Wicked Witch doing so, etc.

All in all, a very fun performance - all actors well up to the task, but those with the best lines of course standing out the most.

I checked out some reviews of the touring production and discovered that the actors who played the Munchkins were all locally recruited school kids. According to a letter written by a parent (3 years ago, for a New York production) - the local kids have to pay to be taught all the dance steps they are going to use in the performance - they are themselves not paid. Apparently they get a T-shirt and a line for their resume.

(Note the back of the program which says that the Munchkins had been trained by Lorraine Brown-Bassett and Andrea Rinne of EnAvant Dance Studio.

I also didn't realize that this was a one-night only show. I guess that's how they can be sure every performance will sell out, but gee, that's got to be hard on the actors, getting used to a new space every single day....

2011 Lunchtime Military History Series

I stopped in at the library today (my Wednesday scrabble club) and took a look at all the brochures. Found this one - and annoyingly I missed the "Life on a Wyoming Military Post" talk already!

Here's the detail:

Presented by Wyomoing State Library, FE Warren Base Library and FE Warren Base Museum
This four part luncheon presentation series highlights various aspects of historical military life in WYoming and documents available to you for conducting military research for both professional and personal purposes.

Space is limited. Please call 3-7.777.7281 or 307.773.5642 for reservations.

Feb 17: Life on a Wyoming Military Post. Join FE Warren Air Force Base Museum Curator Paula Taylor on a fascinating, historical journey into the lifestyle of soldiers stationed at Wyoming's Military Post.

Mar 17: Women on the POst. Ms Taylor will discuss the remarkable, yet arduous life of owmen on Wyoming's Military Posts.

Apr 21: Researching Military History with Wyoming author Chip Carlson. Mr. Carlson is an achnowledged authority on Tom Horn, Wyoming's infamous cattle detective. Twenty years of MR. Carlson's research have resulted in three books, the most recent of which won the prestigious annual award for history/biography from the Wyoming State Historical Society.

May 19: Geneaological Research Using Military Records. Elaine Hayes, the Special Collections LIbrarian at the Laramie County Library, will lead an engrossing discussion of genealogical research using military records and documents.

All presentations will be 11:30 am - 12: 30 pm at the Wyoming State Library (Room 124), at 2800 Central Avenue. Refreshments and drinks will be served. Feel free to bring your own lunch.

Space is limited. Please call 3-7.777.7281 or 307.773.5642 for reservations.

Reading the OED, by Ammon Shea

I stopped by Barnes & Noble today (it's located on Dell Range, adjacent to Red Lobster on one side and the Tokyo Bowl on the other), and picked up a book called Reading the OED: One Man, One Year, 21,730 Pages, by Ammon Shea.

I wouldn't have paid full price for it - $21.95 - but it was "bargain priced" for $4.98 and so I picked it up.

It's kind of fun...a book full of words that no one would ever use in real life, but that are just fun to know.

Here's the description from the book cover:

"If you are interested in vocabulary that is both spectacularly useful and beautifully useles, read on...I have read the OED so that you don't have to."

So begins Ammon Shea's tireless, word-obsessed, and more than slightly masochistic journey.

The word lover's Mount Everest, the Oxford English Dictionary has enthralled logophiles since its initial publication more than eighty years ago. Weighing in at 137 pounds, it is the dictionary to end all dictionaries.

Who would set out to read this massive work in its entirety? Only a man as obsessed, coffee-fueled and verbally inclined as Ammon Shea.

In twenty-six chapters marked by a documentarian's keen eye and filled with sharp wit and sheer delight, Shea shares his year inside the OED, delivering a hair-pulling, eye-crossing account of reading every word, and revealing the most obscure, hilarious, oddly useful, and exquisitely useless gems he discovers along the way.

Filled with lexocographical revelations and miscellaneous marginalia, Reading the OED is a feast forword lovers...and just might be the death of Ammon Shea.

http://www.AmmonShea.com

Cheyenne Phone Numbers to Know

From the Guide to Cheyenne 2010-2011 edition

Cheyenne Area Code is 307.

Emergency - 911
Cheyenne Police Department - 637-6500
Wyoming Highway Patrol - 777-4321
Laramie County Fire Department - 637-6320
Laramie County Sheriff's Department - 637-6524
Cheyenne REgional Medical Center - 634-2273
VA Hospital - 775-7550
Wyoming Road Conditions - 511 or 888-WYO-ROAD
Qwest Phone Services - 800-244-1111
Bresnan Communications (Cable and internet) - 632-8114
Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power - 638-3361
Board of Public Utilities & Sewer - 637-6460
Government Information - 637-6200
Voter REgistration - 633-4268
Driver's License - 777-4800
Laramie County School District - 771-2100
FE Warren Air Force Base - 773-3381
Laramie County Library System - 634-3561
Wyoming Game & Fish - 777-4600
Cheyenne Area Convention & Visitor's Bureau
Greater Cheyenne Area of Commerce (638-3388)
Time & Temperature - 632-5555

February events in Cheyenne

I picked up the Guide To Cheyenne 2010-2011 edition today.

Let's see what it has to say about events in Cheyenee for February 2011:

Feb 4-13: US Bank Glass Art Celebration - Botanic Gardens Conservatory.

And that's it. That's where the schedule ends!

The schedule of events for 2010 didn't start until April, so I guess nothing much happens in March of any year, and this Guide to Cheyenne must be published each year at the latter half of March.

So in a month or so, I expect to be able to share what's going to be happening in April, 2011!

Mexican Restaurant Carry Out Menu: Guadalahara

The 6 scans below are from the take-out menu of Guadalahara Family Mexican Restaurant, located at 1745 Dell Range Blvd in Cheyenne and also for Hacienda Guadalajara, on 317 W. Lincolnway. (The Lincolnway one is the one my sister and I went to a couple of weeks ago. As you recall, we loved the decor, the service was good, but we felt the food was only adequate.)

This menu and its prices are current as of a couple of weeks ago, but of course menus and prices are always subject to change. But it gives you an idea of what's there. Click on each scan to get a larger, readable version.

Highway 80 Through Denver - E470 Express Toll

I have taken Highway 80 from Cheyenne south through Denver, and continuing on down to Texas. In all the times I took the highway through Denver, I spied signs for the E-470 License Plate Toll.

I never understood what that meant. There was never a toll booth at which to stop and pay, and I assumed that only Denver drivers/Colorado drivers had to stop and pay at the toll, and that they'd know where the toll booth was. [On all other toll roads I've been on, driving from Hampton Roads, Virginia up to Erie Pennsylvania, there were a few toll roads, but you stopped and got a ticket at one end, and paid at the other.)

Not so.

What happens is your license plate number is photographed, and they know where you get on and off this E-470 stretch of Highway 80. Then, 2 months later, they send you a bill.

I'm attaching the flyer I got with my latest bill. Unfortunately I've tossed the bill itself, but I think each one-way use of the toll road was $2.50.

Click on each photo to see an enlarged version, if you care to read what it says.

Wind, Wind, Wind

Shall I make another comment about the ever-present wind?

Brrrrr.

The inclement weather has slowed - well, stopped - my explorations of Cheyenne and environs, but I shall get up to speed shortly.

Finally got rid of Direct TV - satellite in which we didn't get local channels - ridiculous - and now have Bresnan cable. Much nicer.

For anyone in the Cheyenne area, I can only suggest that you not get Direct TV - at least not if you like knowing what's going on in your local area, or like to watch sports such as football.