catnfiddle wrote As a side note, I did a double take when I realized Tom Cardinal was one of the male dancers in that number. I’d seen him in Return to Forbidden Planet and had that image of Captain Tempest in my mind. That image was already skewed after hearing his cover of “Aerials”, but seeing him in that dance just shocked me.

The very first Shadowbox show I saw was “Best of the Best”, their first show at the Easton location. Featured in that show was Tom singing Meat Loaf’s “Paradise By The Dashboard Light”. It was awesome – still one of the best performances I’ve seen there. I’d really love to see it brought back for their Best Of show to debut in the Brewery District.

Also especially fun – Tom as 1/3 of the “Christmas Queenies” at 2Co’s. I wonder if they’ll bring back the Queenies as a “Stage 2″ feature?

As a side note, I did a double take when I realized Tom Cardinal was one of the male dancers in that number. I’d seen him in Return to Forbidden Planet and had that image of Captain Tempest in my mind. That image was already skewed after hearing his cover of “Aerials”, but seeing him in that dance just shocked me.

catnfiddle wrote “Goth Parents” was a winner of a sketch as well, I agree. I outright cackled at the Hot Topics line. The only truly weak sketch, IMHO, was “Crazy Charlie”, but it was pretty much a giant Rickroll joke and it got the cheap laughs it deserved.

yes. we were kinda sorta Rickrolled there.

ALso, the West Side Story parody was great. I just couldn’t believe I was actually hearing “I just met a girl named Uhura”. *groan*

I had to actually stop myself laughing during their version of “Someday” when the very drunk girl behind me said “Wasn’t that song from Annie?”

My only real critical comment is that the Styx song “Renegade” (“Oh Mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law…” remember that one from the 80s?) was done in a rather “happy bouncy” way that struck me as being a little odd for that particular song, but hey, whatever, man, it’s rock&roll!

The music especially stood out for me as good from beginning to end. The previously mentioned version of “Aerials” was my favorite too, but a close runner-up was Carrie Lynn McDonald’s “Renegade” (a little more fun for me because I’d seen the “Backstage” teaser about it). “Walk This Way” and “Epic” were also nice touches, and for both shows Friday, the opening lick of “Highway To Hell” drew a huge cheer from the crowd.

Sketch-wise, my favorites were Dr. Mystery (one of the best recent installments in that series), as well as “The Exorsister” and “The Goth-parents”.

I’ll definitely be going back to check out this show again (as a regular patron) – hopefully soon. Anyone wanna try for a CU-group at the ‘box?

Full lineup for the current show is here.

The Brewery District is in for SUCH a treat when Shadowbox returns to the city! As they put it last night, it was never their intention to remain wedged between the public restrooms and a Foot Locker. Their latest show, Raisin’ Hell, looks like they’re getting ready for a triumphant escape from Easton.

Act I of this show had an odd mix of comedy sketches with a Sci-Fi / Horror mix. Dr. Mystery and the Even Laster Crusade threw together old radio serials with Indiana Jones satire with a satisfying, silly mix. The dolls and action figures used for the filler scenes were a perfect touch. The music was spot-on, with Tom Cardinal’s cover of “Aerials” standing out as a crowd favorite (at least it was my favorite). The show-stopper of the first half of the show, however, was an extremely cheeky Jym Ganahl via video. His reports of evil, sinister happenings are worth at least half the price of admission alone.

Act II actually picked up the momentum and quality of the material. The opening song / dance number of “Cry Little Sister” featured a wild vampire ballet swirling around singer and co-founder Steve Guyer. Its dramatic but gothic nature was able to blend well with the horror-themed comedy sketches that followed. The largest gem in this act was a full-blown spoof of West Side Story which pitted Star Wars and Star Trek characters against one another in song and dance. I howled through the entire sketch while my husband was in a full- blown facepalm. Maybe some of the humor hit too close to home?

As for the venue in general, I can’t wait until their capacity increases! The house was full with the line awaiting opening wrapped well into the mall. Once inside, the staff (well, the cast doubling as waiters, cooks and bartenders) do phenomenal work supplying the audience with food and drink within the half hour between house opening and curtain. We split a white pizza that was completely satisfying and each had our taste in drinks, all delivered by Jerrod Wigton within moments of his appearance on stage with the band.

Yes, it’s still a good drive away from downtown Columbus, but I heavily recommend the drive to support this company. The better this season does financially, the easier it will be for them to make the move to The Brewery District. Besides, it’s a great show!

http://www.columbusunderground.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=15390&start=24

mnoelleh wrote …at least Major Woody’s is closed for a little bit…

really? have any more info on this? how long will they be closed? why are they closed?

Much agreed that the area could use some new life-thank goodness at least Major Woody’s is closed for a little bit (no harm no foul if they’re your thing, but I heard horror stories from our security guys) and when I used to check out Lotus (now After5) there was often late night trouble from their general direction

now the city just needs to pave front street, it’s like going off road.

Rockmastermike wrote ‘read more’ link went 404

not just any 404… an eyeball peeling day-glow green 404 of pain

migrain… ouch

When they updated their site, it broke all of the old links. And their archives don’t contain anything (yet?) beyond last week.

There’s no way yet for me to update that URL, or any of the other old ones I’ve posted on CU.

Walker wrote READ MORE

‘read more’ link went 404

not just any 404… an eyeball peeling day-glow green 404 of pain

migrain… ouch

The final performances of this are on August 3rd if you want to catch it. If Jerrod is your server, tell him that you were sent by that Fiddle gal who drinks scotch. He’ll know who you mean.