Last night we went to a a restaurant we like very much and sat at the bar. The place was packed and we had no reservations. We only intended to have a drink and some appetizers so sitting at the bar was perfect. This restaurant is much more than a pour some beers and uncork the wine bottles kind of place. They are part of the city’s new craft cocktail scene, but not in a hipster bartender way. I liked my drink at Heritage a few weeks ago, but coiffed mustaches, vests and bow ties and showy work with the boston shaker is not my thing. I asked the bartender if she could recommend an after dinner drink and she pointed me to two options. I picked the one with bourbon and sambuca. Yes. The two flavors were meant to be together. Oh my lord. So good.
After our snacks and drinks, we walked down the street to the theater. The Richmond Symphony started playing at 8pm and all was tightly zipped up there. Just a few security folks standing around in the lobby. We walked past the Carpenter Center entrance down to the sign that said “Performance Tonight: Gottwald Playhouse”. We picked up our tickets at Will Call and then went to stand in line. People were in high spirits in our line. It was not like going to the symphony. I like our symphony, but this was not the symphony crowd. For one thing EVERYONE in line was a minimum of 30 years younger than the people sitting in the big theater a lobby over. (Really, Richmond. If you want that awesome group of people to keep bringing great music to the community do something about including the 40 and younger crowd because the geriatric crowd is getting smaller every year.)
Where was I? Oh yeah, the line. Friendly, consuming beverages and dressed in everything from Oxford shirts to bowler hats to fishnets. We were in line for Those Freaking Weirdos Present Rule Britannia Burlesque Show. Yes. We saw women in pasties. We saw a guy juggle and an incredible fan dance that brought the house down. All right next door to the octogenarians listening to Mendelssohn and Barber and some other dead composer (as you know Barber is not my favorite). I think when the first woman stripped down to sparkly nothingness I clapped the loudest because of that very dichotomy.
But, the fan dance? Look up Lily Liqueur on the tubes. Holy crap she was good.