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Cedar Point Live Entertainment 2014 June 1, 2014

Posted by ronannarbor in Cedar Point.
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Cedar Point’s summer season is off to a good start — with one of its best Live shows in over a decade: Lusty Lil’s at the Palace in Frontiertown scores points for the best entertainment CP has seen in years.

Following the “Wild West” theme, while using almost no older music and mostly pop and Broadway tunes, the show is funny, well directed, well choreographed, and very well presented by its cast that come from across the country. Also adding to the fun is a colorful versatile set, and some great costumes. Its harmless for the entire family, and there isn’t much in the way of anything “lusty” at all…true to its opening number from Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’s “Nothing Dirty Going On”. Throw in some can-can, soft-shoe, barbershop quartet, and a nifty turn on “Favorite Son” from The Will Rogers Follies and its clear that someone smart and musical theater savvy is at the helm. Running a swift 30 minutes, the production features a live pianist and percussionist that play to a recorded track of other instruments. Be sure to stop by The Palace for a fun family show that you will truly say, “wow, I had no idea they did things like this at CP”…Here’s a glimpse:

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Down the Frontier Trail, Rockin’ Country is the newest show at the Red Garter Saloon. Its a mish-mash of country pop tunes, none of which are memorable nor would you have ever heard them unless you listen to exclusively country stations. The cast here is excellent, with a great guitarist, percussionist, and gitfiddle player that play live to a recorded track. Vocals are strong, and they are at their best when the track drops out every now and again so you can actually hear them. The problem here, as has been the past three summers, is the horrendous sound system — the track is far too loud, causing the live musicians to play even louder, and leaving the vocalists shouting to be heard — the result, the vocals are incomprehensible mush…all of which could be solved with proper sound levels. But they are definitely going for the “loud rock sound” here, and its a failure. You’ll leave the teensy Red Garter with your ears ringing. It bears repeating that the cast here is very strong, its too bad they are handed such poor sound equipment to work with. Here’s a glimpse of what’s going on there:

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At the Aquatic Stadium, Extreme Wheels returns again in a show that is nothing but crowd pleasing, but basically the same thing they do every summer: the stunts look great, the cast is enthusiastic, and the music selections are upbeat and fun. I admire the physicality of these folks…I just wonder how much longer until this attraction is gone. Its rumored that entire area is due for the next big CP facelift, and that will virtually guarantee this stadium will be gone a few seasons down the road. It looks like this:

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On Broadway has opened late afternoon performances at the front of the park (same show as last year). It suffers  bit from over-amplifiction issues this season, but the college cast is strong and it remains a solid offering which for many park goes on the way to the front of the park will end their day.

The brand new ice skating show Snoopy Unleashed (with a strangely phallic logo) is a series of a half dozen or so “scenes” in which live skaters join Snoopy for some ice skating fun. The cast is strong, and the choreography here is particularly good in small-group (5 or 6) skater units — the footwork is good, and the charisma is excellent. Lacking a strong pairs skating team (the featured pair is adequate but not Shelton siblings from a few years ago) its none-the-less a solid and very professionally presented production. Audience favorite Trey Ayers performs several energetic routines.  Its a fun show, beautifully designed, lit, and costumed and you and your wee ones will have fun together.

Also back this year with all new songs (and flying stunts) is the end-of-the-day park celebration “Luminosity” with all new songs and a huge high-energy cast, lots of flame, lasers, and fireworks. Not everything works (A strange chinese-dragon type roller coaster for example) but overall its a superb way to wrap up your day at Cedar Point — and stay and dance awhile with the cast. Great fun.

Be sure to take some time off from Coaster riding to enjoy one of Cedar Point’s fine live entertainment productions. There are also many times during the day that special theatrical offerings are presented for the tiny tot set featuring Peanuts characters – both in Camp Snoopy on the Gemini midway, as well as on the Luminosity stage. These are very well done, and include plenty of mingling/photo time afterwards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cedar Point 2011 – Live Shows (Review) Updated June 2, 2011

Posted by ronannarbor in Entertainment.
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Good News, Bad News…and another summer of live shows at Cedar Point

First the Good News: Tropical Heat, Island Beat is back at the Red Garter Saloon, and it’s as ridiculously entertaining as last year. Infused with Island-beat pop rock standards, the cast delivers 25 minutes of energetic, fun music with the best selection of songs at the Point. Grab a drink, enjoy the show, and see what the raves were about (including my own) from last season. This year’s cast brings its own charisma to the show.

Next, more Good News: What a difference a year makes. Grand Ole Country at The Palace Theatre is the show they tried to stage last year, but found undone by the uneven casting. This year, the attractive ensemble cast is terrific, and every performer can not only sing well, but also do the difficult choreography, and do so with a smile on their faces. It’s a whole new creature, and it’s highly recommended this year. Granted, you better like your classic country music, ’cause it’s all about the foot-stomping, clap-along, “know how to hold ’em” variety here.  My one complaint — just like last year, the pre-recorded score is cranked up way too loud for the singers, who at times struggle to be heard over the soundtrack. It looks something like this:

Rockin’ The Point, at the Jack Aldrich, replaces last season’s one-year disaster, Rock Band Live. Thank goodness. This returns the show back to it’s musical theater roots, with a variety of students from around the region performing a 30-minute homage to rock music, from the 50’s to the 80’s. The talent varies from good to very good, and it’s a welcome return-to-form for the standard Broadway-style-review. The show is upbeat, the cast clearly enjoying themselves, and a good way to end your day at the park. The sound inside this theater is uneven. Depending on where you sit, it can be just right, too loud, too echo-y, or too soft. I suggest getting there early and sitting toward the middle to middle rear of the house.

Everybody Loves Snoopy is back at the Goodtime Theater (the old Imax theater) and it is virtually identical to last years show, with the same cast basically intact. That’s good news because it brings back the excellent brother-sister team of Neill and Lara Shelton, with some of the supporting cast also showing improved strength and a few new tricks this year. But the show itself is virtually identical, complete with 7 costume changes and multiple sets. The general consensus on the way out of the theater was “this is the best show I have ever seen in a theme park” and outside of Disney Shows, I would second that.

And now, the Bad News….I have never been a fan of All Wheels Extreme in any of its incarnations, and this year’s is even a bigger mess. It’s loud, chaotic, and everything you see here is done better, faster, and more cleanly on weekend Extreme Sports tv shows — you know, the ones they run in the middle of the afternoon on Saturdays because even the studio sports departments know that nobody watches this stuff. That is not to say that this cast is not athletic, and that they don’t know their craft. The bimbos are back to cheer, clap, and generally serve as obstacles for the stunt performers to swerve around and increase Cedar Fair’s insurance premiums. I suppose if you are a very drunk father of a group of  7-year old boys who insist on seeing this show, they probably serve to make this 25 minutes more tolerable. It’s chaotic, and the direction is poor — you don’t know where to look for half of the production, and the tumbling and bike-riding is well done but overall one-note.

This year one of the bimbos does this:

One of the tumblers does this:

BLECH….

Cedar Point 2010 – Live Shows (Review) — updated May 31, 2010

Posted by ronannarbor in Entertainment, musical theater, Theatre.
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All of Cedar Point’s shows are now up and running for the 2010 season.

I’ll start with the newest of them, “Rock Band Live” at the front of the park. It’s awful. I can’t tell you what a mess this show is. Based on the computer game, it mixes pre-auditioned audience participation with a gag-me “scripted show” and is a direct ripoff of “the American Idol Experience” at Disney Hollywood studios without the budget, glitz, interest, or talent. The microphones go on and off, emit static, and sometimes fizzle right out. The lighting and costuming are bizarre to say the least — at times, it looks like the slaughter-of-the-pig sequence from Carrie, the Musical. The technical work is sloppy throughout. The performances are shaky, ranging from mediocre to completely inadequate.

I’m not even going to waste more time on that show — it is dreadful — stay away. It is sure to be a one-season temporary production in the theater that normally houses Broadway-style reviews.

Everybody Love’s Snoopy is the big-budget ice skating show in the Goodtime Theater. It’s much better than last season’s production, and the skating is quite good. The entire thing is well choreographed and the sets and costumes look terrific (this is an import from Cedar Fair’s Knotts Berry Farm from last season). Brother and sister skating team Lara and Neill Shelton (competitive pairs skaters) do a terrific job with their featured segments — they are energetic, young, and attractive. There are no beer-bellied skaters this year (unlike last season). The show looks something like this:

Lara and Neill Shelton “boogy” to some Buble:

And here, they perform more serious stuff (their death spiral):

By the way — the Goodtime Theatre (Everybody Loves Snoopy) used to be the old IMAX theater at CP — as a result, it was designed to maximize sound from the front of the house to the back, and to deaden audience sound. That results in a very hollow live-feedback sound. You literally can not hear the people around you applauding, laughing, or responding. As a result, the sound is very one-directional. They make a big deal every year of urging you to applaud and respond when you like the skating elements. Please do so. The cast will enjoy hearing your response, and your neighbors will feel less like they are the only ones in the packed theater.

Let’s continue with the most highly attended but least interesting show of the bunch: ALL WHEELS EXTREME; which really is only bikes, in-line skates, scooters (the artist fell twice), gymnasts (of the backflip and not much else variety) and a couple cheerleaders.

The show is what it is, and except for music, is virtually identical to last summer’s show. The stunts are good. The cast is attractive. The effort and energy that goes into this show are phenomenal. But it’s all a hollow thing. You can see more than this on tv these days, any given afternoon. But they amp the volume up, keep the crowd cheering, and its a pleasant way to spend 25 minutes with a great view (of both the performers and the blue lake beyond). Here, one of the performers does a (wait-for-it…) backflip:

Here’s another shot: you get the idea —

GRAND OLE COUNTRY at The Palace Saloon is a tremendous improvement over the sing-along that has been there the past few seasons. The six-person cast performs a variety of country and gospel songs from Patsy Cline to current favorites. It all moves along briskly in a clumsily-choreographed community-theatre caliber show. The performers have great voices. The girls are particularly strong. The guys have nice voices but stumble through their dance moves. The volume of the canned music is cranked up far too loudly for the performers, and some of them can’t be heard over the piped-in music. This is the same problem that plagued last-years show at the Red Garter Saloon. One of the men (with a deep baritone voice) fares better than the others; another of whom has many solos and basically can’t be heard at all. The costuming is fine, and the lighting good. My suggestion would be to crank down the volume, let the kids perform, and cut all that fussy choreography. Here they perform some of the clumsy choreography:

On the other hand, the diamond of the summer so far is over at the Red Garter Saloon. TROPICAL BEAT – ISLAND HEAT is an all-around terrific show; the best in the park this summer. The live band is back and they look and sound terrific backing up a three-member cast.  The guitar player sings along, and it’s all great fun. The music here is crowd-pleasing; the cast is energetic and clearly having fun; and the show is well-staged, avoiding needless movement, briskly working its way through a set of beach-party infused tunes that range from “Get On Your Feet”…to “Turn the Beat Around”. Terrific fun. Here’s a few shots of the cast in action:

As with all shows at CP, you need to get there at least a half hour before the show. The Red Garter Saloon in particular has a seating problem with not enough chairs to go around. If it’s full, get a soda and stand at the bar. This show is worth standing through.  If you only have time for one show – skip the more obvious All Wheels stunt unspectacular, and head directly to the Red Garter Saloon at the front end of the Frontier Trail. You’ll have a great time, and see the most professionally produced show at CP in quite some time. If you have time for two, pick up Everybody Loves Snoopy and enjoy the skating, air conditioning, and attractive cast.

Summary – 2010

Best Show: Tropical Beat – Island Heat

Best cast: (tie) Everybody Loves Snoopy — Tropical Beat – Island Heat

Most Energetic cast: All Wheel’s Extreme

Best Choreoraphy: Everybody Loves Snoopy

Best Direction: Tropical Beat – Island Heat

Best Lighting: Everybody Loves Snoopy

Best Sound Design: Everybody Loves Snoopy

Best Set Design: Everybody Loves Snoopy

Best Costumes: Everybody Loves Snoopy

Best Featured performers: Lara and Neill Shelton (Everybody Loves Snoopy)

Best musical selections: Tropical Beat – Island Heat