By Shannon Magsam
I took my husband out on a date last night. I even drove. We went to see a sneak peek of MacHomer at Walton Arts Center, which opens this weekend. You mean you don’t have tickets yet? DOH!
Seriously, if you — or someone you love, as in our case — is a Simpson’s fan, you have got to see this show. I have the added bonus of having a husband who also loves Shakespeare’s Macbeth, so I knew this was a show for us.
I figured I’d enjoy it fine, but I really went for John. (Well, I also love the theatre and didn’t want to pass up free tickets.) Minutes after the show started, I realized I would have been happy to pay full price.
Canadian Actor Rick Miller was sensational and I was terribly impressed with his ability to seamlessly and swiftly move from one Simpson’s character to another. Not only did he do spot-on impressions of practically EVERY ONE of the television show’s characters, but he brought in other TV commentators from shows like Family Guy, PBS and South Park. I’m still trying to figure out how he managed to pull off throwing Marge, Homer and the whole Simpson’s gang into a Shakespeare play, but he did it in a way that had the whole audience laughing — loudly. And much of the Macbeth dialogue was left intact. Thither.
I couldn’t imagine how Rick spoke non-stop for near 1 1/2 hours without getting completely hoarse. Then, THEN he came out for a curtain call and did the most amazing singer impressions. He got a standing O.
There were assorted donuts on the way out. Homer would have been happy. I was.
I didn’t drive on the way to retrieve Ladybug from her friend’s house. I really only drove to the theatre because John got home so late that we had no time to eat dinner before the play. I ate standing over the sink just before he got home, then I handed him some food and a drink as we walked out the door. He ate it on the way. A little bare bones as dates go, but it was successful, nonetheless. We laughed, we held hands, we spent a few hours in the theatre together, something we often used to do pre-kidlet.
After we picked up Ladybug, we were a threesome again. But we were relaxed and rejuvenated. The opposite of tragic.
If you’d like to see MacHomer, go to the Walton Arts Center website and order tickets for Friday, Saturday or Sunday (link).
