Phantom of the Opera

Last night, I went down to the Cadillac Palace Theatre to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. I am still shocked about how bad an experience this was. 1) Parking was $30. Are you kidding me? The only parking lot open within blocks charges an arm and a leg - and they don't even direct traffic leaving the lot. 2) The Palace Theatre didn't open its doors until 7:30, when the show starts at 8:00. It's bad enough that we froze our asses off outside waiting for the doors to open, but with so many people rushing in you didn't have time for a cocktail. Poor planning. 3) The theatre seats are not comfortable. 4) Jason Mills (who plays the Phantom) has a decent voice - but should absolutely not be playing the Phantom. As the lead role in the musical, the Phantom should have the strongest and best voice in the play. Jason Mills wasn't even close. 5) Sara Jean Ford (who plays Christine Daae) was phenomonal. She was about the only bright spot of the night. 6) Great job production team. 7) I was disappointed by the orchestra. They actually played fine, but I have no idea why anyone chose to have synthesized guitars and drums instead of the real thing. That was a really bad idea, and the music really suffered as a result. I don't know if Andrew Lloyd Webber was in town to see this show, but I hope for his sake he wasn't. I can only imagine how fantastic this play would have been on its debut night... but last night's show couldn't possibly compete.

6 reasons I hate Macy's and Martha Stewart

This past weekend, I had the *pleasure* of eating dinner at Macy's Walnut Room restaurant on State Street. This was not my first trip to the Walnut Room, but I have to say that I was really disappointed. My thoughts:

1. If Martha Stewart decorated anything in the Walnut Room (she was supposed to have decorated the tree), then she needs to be sent back to prison. It looked okay, but it's pathetic to have a celebrity design something with no pizazz.
2. I loved waiting 2 hours for our table to be called... and then having to wait another 1/2 hour in the line to actually get seated. I loved it.
3. The service was sssslllloooowwww.... our waitress was great and knew the menu, but it took her forever to get ketchup, drinks, and our check. Maybe she had 20 tables, but come on now.
4. The windows outside of Macy's are a far cry from what Marshall Fields used to put up.
5. Macy's is retarded if they don't keep up with tradition of excellence in decorating both the Walnut Room's tree and the windows on State Street. Thousands of tourists and locals come each year to see them... which probably benefits the store with extra sales. Lackluster decorations will not keep the tourists coming.
6. While waiting for our table to be called, we walked around the 8th floor to look at furniture. I really want to know who buys furniture from this store - so I can kick them in the groin. Wow is that stuff over-priced!

I'm just plain disappointed with Macy's. Marshall Field wouldn't have stood for this, and the Chicago public shouldn't either.

A collective "Boooooo" for Macy's!