Showtime at the Hippodrome

I've been trying to get onto this screen for hours today.

Last night at the Hippodrome Theater they had the world premiere of the documentary movie on the Hippodrome Theater. I figured since it was a movie, I would dress down. Plus, I wasn't in the mood to get fancy and so I wore jeans and a sweater and my fancy boots (they're old, and they're only fancy because I never wear them). What a mistake. People were dressed to the nines with their fur coats, high heels and prom dresses. Oops. My bad. Next time I'll dress up.

So we got there around 6:55, and the show started at 7:30. I went to Will Call to pick up the tickets and after a long episode of 'Who's on First' the lady informed me that I needed to go to the box office to get my tickets. Done and done. Ed and I proceed to the upper balcony to sit down, and we notice that the theater isn't crowded at all. The Grand Suite seats were all taken, but the majority on the upper tier were not. So we went to our aisle and noticed there was a family of three sitting next to our seats. Ed and I scooted one seat over to give the family some space. There were empty seats in the section in front of us, so I told Ed that we will move forward once the lights dim. So we're sitting there drinking our beer and wine, and and two older females start walking down the aisle towards me. I told Ed that I bet one of them is going to have my seat number and actually want me to move down. Lo and behold! They are asking me where my tickets are and where my seat is. So Ed and I squish back next to the family, and the old ladies squish next to me. Our section probably has 200 seats. There are 30 people in the entire section and 7 of us are squished in the second row up. So I tell Ed that I'm hot and I'm moving. We squeezed past the ladies and sat under the fan a little down the aisle. Well, what do you know? Another gentleman comes walking up with our seats again. Ed was getting so mad, so we totally got up and went to the section in front of ours, which was the first tier of the balcony! Woohoo! We're in the big time.

Ed was still hot (he gets hot very easily) so he went to get another beer. The lights dimmed, and all sorts of people came running down from the upper tier to our tier to sit in the better seats. Well one family (or couple) smelled just like moth balls. It was pretty yucky. I scooted down one more sit away from the people, and when Ed came back he said 'where did all the mothballs come from?' HA!!HA!! It was those people. In the end the show was really good. The documentary will be on Maryland Public Television, but the lady only said the date once, so I don't know when it will be on.

The Hippodrome Theater was built in 1914, and the first shows that appeared were the Vaudevill type shows, a few singers and dancers like the Andrews Sisters and Cab Calloway. The owner of the theater gave Charlie Chaplin a chance to perform also. The theater closed in the mid to late 60s, and was just reopened in 2003. The renovation took 3 years, and the detail of the ceilings, floors, seats, everything is just amazing. A lot of painting and plasterwork was done and it looks gorgeous. The proceeds from the program last night went to the Baltimore Mounted Police Unit and a horse named Butch came onstage to accept the award. Butch was nervous and took a dump right on stage. Everyone started laughing, but that's what happens when you have animals on stage.

I didn't realize what a big deal it was to go to such a fancy place, but now I appreciate it so much more. I'm really lucky to live so close to the city and to be able to experience live shows whenever I want to. It's not cheap, but so far every dime spent has been worth it. Do you think a fur is tax deductible? hee hee.