The Hippodrome - Where's The What?

We're going to have a little more Baltimore architectural history today. Over the weekend we went downtown to see a show at the Hippodrome Theater. The show was 'Stomp' and if you have never seen it, I do recommend it as a fun, entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. My husband and I took the Buggy girl and also a couple of other family members went along. This show is all about creativity and imagination, it's music and dance and fun. Sounds perfect for an almost six year old and it was!

This theater is just beautiful inside and I really enjoy looking at the architecture. The theater originally opened in 1914 as a movie palace and vaudeville theater. They could seat 3,000 and the average weekly attendance was 30,000. In 1931 a facelift was performed with new seats installed and a new marquee. At that time prices for a show were 25 cents before noon, 35 cents from noon until 6pm and 50 cents after 6pm. The prices are a tad higher today!

The theater gained quite a reputation and booked acts such as Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Red Skelton as vaudeville performers. Musical acts were also very big and included Dinah Shore,the Andrews Sisters, Benny Goodman, Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. A lot of great history in those walls.
The theater was renovated and restored in the late 1990's and now features touring Broadway shows. We have seen several shows there and it's really my favorite theater in Baltimore.

On Saturday, we dressed up a little, shined the shoes, bows were tied perfectly, the dress was just so and off we went. We clapped, we laughed, we were entertained as people have been doing in this building for close to 100 years! Toward the end of the show, it ran a little long for a six year old, Buggy leaned over to me and asked in a VERY loud whisper,

"Grandmom, where's the Food Court? I want a hot dog."

All Idiots-First Come, First Served!

I know I'm posting super late today. I have a painful dental issue today and I have tried, unsuccessfully to get an appointment with a dentist all day! My regular dentist and 6 others are unavailable today (and tomorrow!) I finally got an appointment tomorrow with a dentist, not mine. Is Monday the official Dentist's day off? They don't work in the winter? What's a person to do? Anyway, I'll just work through the excruciating agony, no problem.
Over the weekend my husband and I went to a theater to see Kathleen Madigan perform. Unfamiliar? She's a comedian, wildly funny. We first saw her on Last Comic Standing several years ago and we've been fans ever since. The show was great and we had a wonderful time. Well, we had a wonderful time except for this one issue.....Stupid People!
I'm telling you there are too many disrespectful idiots in this world for my taste. In my world there are many gray issues, but there are also A LOT of things that are just plain black and white. For instance; when you purchase tickets to a show at a theater, or the movies for that matter, and the show begins at 8:00pm, what time should you plan to arrive and get to your assigned seat? Here you go, I'll give you multiple choice on this:

A. 7:45pm

B. 8 freakin 30pm

In my mind the correct answer is A. 7:45pm and that is when we arrived and sat in our assigned seats, got our coats settled, etc. You might get thirsty you say? Sure, we purchased our drinks at the bar prior to being seated. Oh, and we had a bathroom check at that time as well. This is a theater, not your living room folks, you can't DVR the show while you wander around looking in the refrigerator, plus there are other people to consider and yes, I know that comes as a surprise. There were people still arriving to be seated at 8:45pm! Why Bother? What you got caught up in a Mayberry RFD rerun and forgot?

Then there are the ones who need to pop up and leave their seat every 10 minutes. Oh, you think I exaggerate? The three people in front of us and toward the center of the aisle each stood up and left their seat, collectively 4 times during the second half of the show..after intermission!

I have a couple of ideas for this nonsense; first, no more assigned seats, apparently we, as a society are not responsible enough to handle that kind of freedom. Everything is first come, first served. If you arrive late you will stand at the back of the theater. Second, if you can not remain in your seat for the 45 minutes remaining until intermission, then you will have to move to the back of the theater upon your return from the bar so be sure to carry your coat along with you. Problems solved.

I only wish I owned a theater so I could try out these new rules. Who is with me? Does this make sense to you?