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Rumors hosted Renica J. Justrenica’s The Dirty Game Show last Saturday. The game show, a sort of bawdy twist on The Price Is Right, featured an oscillating potpori of both raunchy and tongue-in-cheek questions. Many audience members in the bar played along with the show, with “guess the song” questions getting the most enthusiastic response. The show started at 9:00 p.m., and it lasted about two hours. The DJ was Joshua Atom.
What’s The Grand Canyon? It’s a giant canyon in northern Arizona. And if it’s not the biggest canyon in the world, it’s certainly close to it. The canyon was carved about five million years ago by the Colorado River. Where is it? It’s only in Arizona. I must confess that I initially thought that parts of it bordered Colorado. Not true. It’s all in Arizona. How do you get there? The closest major airport to the southern rim of the canyon is Phoenix International, in Phoenix. I had a direct flight from Fort Lauderdale to Phoenix. The drive from Phoenix to the Grand Canyon is about 220 miles.
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Where can you stay? The closest towns to the Grand Canyon National Park are Williams, Arizona (which is where we stayed), and Tusayan, Arizona. Williams is known as “The Gateway to the Grand Canyon,” and they have a train that brings you to the Grand Canyon. However, she ain’t cheap, and it only leaves once day. Tusayan is the last town before you enter the Grand Canyon, and they’re many affordable hotels there. The park itself also has several lodges and campgrounds. The crown glory of the lodges is, of course, the fabulous El Tovar Hotel, which should not be missed.
How was the Grand Canyon? I initially pictured some Thelma & Louise (which was filmed on the northern rim) open hole in the ground, and not much more than that. It’s nothing like that. When people say the Grand Canyon, they mean the southern rim, and, specifically, they mean the Grand Canyon Village. The Grand Canyon Village, which is within the Grand Canyon National Park, contains many historic buildings and lodges, all set in deference to the canyon itself. And some of the building and shops are literally teetering right on the edge of the canyon, where they’ve stood like that for decades. Furthermore, there is heavy theming going on in the village. The architecture style of buildings at some of the western and midwestern national parks is colloquially called, “parkitecture,” which is an architectural style that’s meant to both harmonize and utilize the surrounding landscape. The Grand Canyon Village certainly has no shortage of building done in this style; many of them date to the early 1900s. Concerning the village, there are free shuttles that bring you from one building to the next (or you can walk or bike the trails to get to different areas).
How many days do you need to see everything? At least two. There are so many buildings to see, that it’s too much to cram it all into one day. The main village takes about an entire day to see. There is also a smaller eastern section that takes about a half an hour to drive to. This area has an indigenous museum and a popular observation tower. On the second day, you can see this eastern area, and then maybe walk on trails for a couple of hours, either in the eastern area, or back at the main part of the village.
What can you do there? You can visit the Grand Canyon Village, walk the trails, or take a helicopter to the bottom of the canyon. If you want to walk to the bottom of the canyon, you must, one, enjoy heights, and, two, allow two days to do it. It takes one day to walk down it, and then you have to camp at the bottom of it. You would walk back up the next day. If you want to raft the Colorado River, that’s a whole other thing, which requires several days to do it. As far as the canyon goes, don’t miss the view from the Yavapai Geological Museum. A group of scientists selected this site in the 1920s as the most spectacular view of it. How’s the gay scene? There really isn’t any to speak of. You’ll have to turn on your Grindr or Tinder accounts.
What was surprising about it? Several things. One, we saw a male elk, and if you’ve never seen one of them, they’re like the size of an elephant (actually, an adult male is about 700 lbs.). Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture of it. Two, I wasn’t aware that much of the canyon in the southern rim is buffered by trees. I wasn’t expecting to see trees, and then this monstrous canyon beyond them. And finally, there’s a lot a smoking that goes on in the area. There’s a large European population that visits the canyon, much larger than I’ve seen anywhere else in the U.S. (including Disney and Vegas), and you know how they are with the cigarettes.
Is it worth visiting again? Omg, yes. The first view of the canyon is difficult to describe, in that it was everything that I thought it would be, but nothing like it. Once you get over the initial shock of it, the majesty of the canyon never dulls. You could stare at it for hours. You also have a weird sensation of looking down from an airplane (the highest straight-down drop is 3,000 feet) when you’re looking at it, but your feet are on the ground. It’s really something that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime.
What’s La Cage aux Folles? It’s a musical from 1983, which is based on a French play of the same name. Harvey Fierstein wrote the book, and Jerry Herman wrote the music and lyrics. The show is a farcical comedy about a gay couple’s son that’s marrying into a conservative family. The original cast starred Gene Barry and George Hearn as the couple. The play was also turned into the American film, The Birdcage.
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What’s the Lauderhill Performing Arts Center (LPAC)? It’s a new-ish theater in Lauderhill, Florida. The theater holds over 1,100 people, and it opened in 2016. It has two levels. Also, the orchestra pit, which was at the front of the stage, was the biggest one that I’ve ever seen, ready to gobble up a performer—who took one wrong step—like some kind of theatrical version of The Mighty Sarlacc.
How was the venue? The theater is nice enough, but, given its size, it’s more suited to big road shows or for big stars. The lobby is probably its most impressive feature. How was the parking? Weird. You’re directed to meander all around the back of the venue, just to get to a parking lot that’s directly to the right of the venue. Why can’t you just turn right and drive into the parking lot? In any case, parking is free.
Does the venue serve liquor? Only wine. How were the drinks? Fine, I supposed. One glass of wine, which was served in a plastic cup, was $7. Does the venue serve food? Only finger food and candy. Strangely, they have someone peddling popcorn. How was the food? We didn’t get any. How much were the tickets? $48 each. Where were the seats? They were in the orchestra. And any seat offers a good view. I can’t comment on the view from the mezzanine. Was the show sold out? Not even close.
How was the show? Regarding the book, it’s not quite as strong or as clever with the situational comedy as the original French film is (I never saw the play, so I don’t know about that). This is the first production that the Stage Door Theater, the longstanding theater company in Broward County, has had at their new residence, the LPAC. There are issues that have to be worked out with the audio, as the sound was cutting in and out at times. There were also some problems with the costumes. Some didn’t necessarily look of sufficient quality to be worn in the “hottest drag club on the Riviera,” and there was one number where the back of Zaza’s dress was either ripped or it wasn’t zipped up. In addition, strangely, some of the Les Cagelles dances—which are supposed to be drag performers—appeared to be biological women. But despite these minor complaints, the show was excellent. The production shinned in the numbers that featured the leads, Larry Buzzeo as Albin/Zaza and Jamie Michael Parnell as Georges, with appropriate humor and chemistry between them. What singing expertise Buzzeo may have lacked in some numbers, he made up for in the famous, “I Am What I Am.” And although Parnell might have looked too young to play Georges, rarely will one hear a voice of this caliber outside of the walls of a first-rate Broadway show. His numbers were hands-down the most enthusiastically received of the evening. Elijah Word cleverly channeled the edginess of the leads from the hit TV show, Pose, with his characterization of the couple’s longsuffering butler/maid, Jacob. Regarding the ensemble, they gleamed the brightest in “La Cage aux Folles,” with wild can-can-type dancing.
How was the crowd? They appeared to consist primarily of season pass holders, and, not to be ageist, they were rather on the elderly side. The company could probably stand to market to a younger demographic to even out the crowd. What could have improved the show? The audio needs to be fixed, and more attention needs to be paid to the costumes. Regarding the venue, to each his own, but, to me, much of the production’s energy is gobbled up by the vastness of the house. Maybe the runs should be shorter, in hopes that the theater would be fuller? It’s a shame that they didn’t build another house that held about 400.
The Lauderhill Performing Arts Center is located at 3800 NW 11thPlace, in Lauderhill, Florida. The production runs to September 23.