CHER Returns to Stage with "Dressed to Kill" Tour 2014

Yes, she said she was done.

But...

This IS Cher, after all. She will never be done, much to the delight of her millions of fans ~ including me. She can have a dozen final tours and I will be at each one if possible. It's been said that only cockroaches and Cher will survive a nuclear holocaust and the cockroaches aren't guaranteed.

CHER herself revealed that she will kick off her “Dressed To Kill” 49 city North American Tour beginning in Phoenix on March 22, 2014 with stops in NYC, Los Angeles, Boston, Las Vegas, and Indianapolis.

All online tickets purchased (presale and general public), will receive a free copy of Cher’s new album “Closer To The Truth.”

2014 TOUR DATES AND CITIES

Sat, March 22 Phoenix, AZ US Airways Center

*Mon, March 24 Houston, TX Toyota Center

*Wed, March 26 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center

Fri, March 28 Little Rock, AR Verizon Arena

Sat, March 29 Tulsa, OK BOK Center

Mon, March 31 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena

Wed, April 2 Pittsburgh, PA Consol Energy Center

*Fri, April 4 Washington DC Verizon Center

Sat, April 5 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun

Mon, April 7 Toronto, ON Air Canada Centre

Wed, April 9 Boston, MA TD Garden

Fri, April 11 Indianapolis, IN Bankers Life Fieldhouse

Sat, April 12 Detroit, MI Joe Louis Arena

Wed, April 23 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center

Fri, April 25 Montreal, QC Bell Center

Sat, April 26 Ottawa, ON Canada Tire Centre

*Mon, April 28 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo Center

Wed, April 30 Columbus, OH Nationwide Arena

Fri, May 2 Cleveland, OH Quicken Loans Arena

Mon, May 5 Charlotte, NC Times Warner Cable Arena

Wed, May 7 Raleigh, NC PNC Arena

*Fri, May 9 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center

*Sat, May 10 East Rutherford, NJ Izod Center

*Mon, May 12 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

Wed, May 14 Jacksonville, FL Veterans Memorial Arena

Fri, May 16 Orlando, FL Amway Center

Sat, May 17 Ft. Lauderdale, FL BB&T Center

Sun, May 25 Las Vegas, NV MGM Grand

Wed, May 28 Denver, CO Pepsi Center

Fri, May 30 Lincoln, NE Pinnacle Bank Arena

Sat, May 31 Kansas City, MO Sprint Center

Mon, June 2 Louisville, KY KFC Yum! Center

Wed, June 4 St. Louis, MO Scottrade Center

Fri, June 6 Milwaukee, WI BMO Harris Bradley Center

Sat, June 7 Chicago, IL Allstate Arena

Mon, June 9 Des Moines, IA Wells Fargo Arena

Wed, June 11 Minneapolis, MN Target Center

Fri, June 20 Winnipeg, MB MTS Centre

Sat, June 21 Saskatoon, SK Credit Union Centre

Mon, June 23 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place

Wed, June 25 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome

Fri, June 27 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena

*Sat, June 28 Seattle, WA Key Arena

Mon, June 30 Portland, OR Moda Center

*Wed, July 2 San Jose, CA SAP Center at San Jose

Sat, July 5 Ontario, CA Citizens Business Bank Arena

*Mon, July 7 Los Angeles, CA Staples Center

*Wed, July 9 Anaheim, CA Honda Center

Fri, July 11 San Diego, CA Valley View Casino Center 

Images provided by lizrosenbergmedia.com

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at www.GottaGo.us and www.FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, www.BroadwayWorld.com, an in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Top 10 Best Indianapolis Fall Festivals 2013

Easing from the blistering summer into a colorful autumn creates a longing for festivals in the Midwest. Indiana fall festivals are plentiful in quantity and diversity.
And in the Indianapolis area there are many to help keep your festival needs satisfied with pumpkins, music and cultural celebrations.

Who is in, who moved up or down, and who is out? Check out last year's list by clicking here. Here are my Top 10 Best Indianapolis Fall Festivals 2013.

1) Riley Days
What: The annual event highlights Indiana's poet James Whitcomb Riley. Actibites include children's parade of flowers, ceremonies, parade, more than 450 vendors, midway, pageant, music and more.
When: Oct. 3-6
Where: Greenfield
Website: RileyFestival.com

2) Penrod Arts Fair
What: 47th annual holding of more than 300 artists, 6 entertainment stages, 50 arts-related, non profit groups, extensive children's area, Indiana Craft Beer Garden  NOTE: New this year An Evening with Penrod on Fri., Sept. 7.
When: Sept. 7-8
Where: Indianapolis Museum of Art grounds
Website: PenrodArtsFair.org

3) Indianapolis Scottish Highland Games & Festival
What: 4th annual celebration of Scottish heritage with reenactments, ceremonies, 50 world-class amateur-athletes participating in Celtic games including haggis toss, sheath and hammer throw, Scotch tasting, authentic food, beer, scotch, pipe bands, bagpipers, roving entertainers and children's activities.
2013 Time period: 1540s under King James V
When: Oct. 12
Where: German Park, Indianapolis
Website: IndyScotGamesandFest.com

4) Irvington Halloween Festival
What: Historic neighborhood street festival celebrating the charming community with more than 120 vendors, entertainment, fun, children's activities and a costume parade. Street festival is on 26th.
When: Oct. 19-26
Where: Historic Irvington neighborhood, Indianapolis
Website: IrvingtonHalloween.com

5) Feast of the Hunter's Moon
What: 46th annual recreation of the annual fall gathering of the French and Native Americans at a fur trading outpost in the mid 1700s.
When: Oct. 5-6
Where: Historic Fort Ouiatenon Park, West Lafayette, IN
Website: Tcha.mus.in.us

6) Heartland Film Festival
What: 21st annual event honoring uplifting independent, international films and film-related activities bringing together film professionals and enthusiasts for viewing of films, workshops and award ceremony.
When: Oct. 17-26
Where: Various locations throughout Indianapolis
Website: HeartlandFilmFestival.com

7) Fishers Renaissance Faire
What: 9th annual event showcasing the era of Queen Elizabeth I with more than 250 costumed characters, armed combat, jousting, period music and dancing, Shakespeare vignettes, knighting ceremonies, more than 70 artisans and merchants, food vendors, beer and mead.
2013 Theme: 20th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth I's coronation Time period: 1579
When: Oct. 5-6
Where: Fishers, IN
Website: FishersRenFaire.com

8) Covered Bridge Festival
What: 55th annual largest state festival showcases covered bridges, entertainment, and locally crafted items and food.
When: Oct. 12-21
Where: Various locations throughout Parke County; headquartered in Rockville, IN
Website: CoveredBridges.com

9) Versailles Pumpkin Show
What: 111th annual event celebrating America's favorite gourd ~ the pumpkin ~ with parades, food eating contests, music and pumpkins.
When: Sept. 25-26
Where: Versailles, IN
Website: VersaillesPumpkinShow.com

10) Cambridge Canal Days Festival
What: The 41st annual heritage event includes tractor show, kids race, haunt and historic tours, golf tournament, street vendors, ice cream social and pies, food vendors, beer garden and more.
When: Sept. 7-8
Where: Cambridge City
Website: VisitRichmond.org

Images: Izzy Evans and furnished
Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer, and performing arts and restaurant critic. Read Infused, at GottaGo.us and FoodandDrinkDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on Gottago.us, BroadwayWorld.com, in M and Retired Living magazines and several Indianapolis area newspapers. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at www.GottaGo.us and www.FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, www.BroadwayWorld.com, and in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Theater Review: Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre: Father of the Bride

Ermel and Stockberger

Jeff Stockberger tears up the stage in "Father of the Bride," currently playing on Indianapolis' north side Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre. Stockberger portrays perfectly the exasperated, doting father attempting to keep a cork in his piggy bank while giving his only daughter her dream wedding ~ a role that easily could have been written exclusively for the comedic master.

Made famous with the 1950 film starring Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor film of the same name, the comical look at what a father goes through when giving away his daughter at a wedding is based on the New York Times bestseller book by Edward Streeter. A remake 1991 film was made starring Steve Martin.

So how does it play out in live theater? Actually...it does. The set remains the same throughout ~ the home of the Banks family. With Stockberger as the May pole to which all other characters circled, the play flows easily.

Stockberger and Wims

Kristin Lennox portrays convincingly Stanley's wife, keeping his feathers from being ruffled and soothing her daughter as needed. Deb Wims plays OCD secretary, Ms. Bellamy, with great energy and Lisa Ermel is easily believable as Kay, the daughter in love with love and Buckley Dunstan, portrayed by Ben Tebbe.

Stockberger's uptight, tight-fisted character loosens up sweetly to his adoring Kay's wishes and hugs. Ermel's modern day take on the Elizabeth Taylor role could not have been better as the in-love and optimistic 20-something.

McKay and Stockberger

Wedding planner, Mr. Massoula, was given the over-the-top homosexual treatment by Ivory McKay, which always brings laughter from the audience.

Although I would have liked to see the film's drunk-dinner scene left in (and portrayed by Stockberger) and the use of cell phones ~ as other modern terms were used to bring it up-to-date, the remaining changes enhanced the material, including references to Indianapolis' metro area.

Bottom Line: Beef and Boards' Father of the Bride gives Stockberger the chance to shine ~ and shine he truly does. Bring tissues...you're going to need them.

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at GottaGo.us and FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Personal Lifestyle Adviser on (CBS) Channel 8 WISH TV. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, BroadwayWorld.com, and in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Beef and Boards Dinner Theatre 2014 Season Lineup Features a Flying Nanny, Fiddlers, Farmers, Fortresses & Felines

One of the things I like best about Beef & Boards Dinner Theatre is its desire to include a well-balanced selection in its annual offerings. Its 2014 season includes classics, comedies and current favorites. Every year theatergoers look forward to the season lineups throughout the city, hoping they will be refreshing and well considered. The disappointment of a tired, just-like-every-other lineup is as real as opening a birthday or holiday gift to find not the gift you'd dreamed of, but a generic one.

Although "Cats" is certainly familiar to B&B visitors, it has actually not played there since 2009. Opening the season with a comedy, as is their tradition, the Ken Ludwig Tony-Award winning, "Lend Me a Tenor" stands out as different than their normal fare, as does "Anything Goes" a Cole Porter musical.

I am not the only one, I'm certain, to compare versions of the same production ~ whether a film or stage performance. Mary Poppins played in Indy in 2009 with Broadway Across America Indianapolis (read my review here), and I intend to catch B&B's version to review, compare and (hopefully) enjoy as it truly is one of my favorite stories.

2014 Season

Lend Me a Tenor

Dec. 28, 2013-Feb. 2, 2014

A world-famous singer is set to perform with the Cleveland Grand Opera Company, but all doesn't go according to plan in this madcap comedy set during the 1930s. Winner of three Tony Awards ~ celebrating its 25th Anniversary in 2014.

Cats

Feb. 6-March 30

Andrew Lloyd Webber’s seven-time Tony Award winning story celebrates the annual gathering of the Jellicle cats at which one is selected to ascend to the Heaviside layer. Based on the universally popular poetry of T.S. Eliot and also marking its 25th Anniversary in 2014, Cats remains the second-longest running Broadway musical in history.

Anything Goes

April 3-May 11

Two unlikely pairs set off on a course to true love on the S.S. American in this classic boy-meets-girl tale. But they’re going to need the help of a crew of singing sailors, exotic disguises and good old-fashioned blackmail to reach their destination. Celebrating its 80^th Anniversary in 2014, this musical comedy features music and lyrics by Cole Porter.

Mary Poppins

May 15-June 29

With a little magic and a lot of common sense, Mary Poppins is a nanny like the troubled Banks family has never seen before, and she teaches them to value each other again. Based on the books by P.L. Travers and the classic Walt Disney film.

Church Basement Ladies:
A Mighty Fortress is Our Basement

July 5-Aug. 17

The new installment in the "Church Basement Ladies" series, which includes the original CBL, and A Second Helping. It's 960 and that means new high heels for confirmation, a food booth at the county fair and driving lessons. This musical comedy was inspired by the books “Growing Up Lutheran” and “Those Lutheran Ladies” by Janet Letness Martin and Suzann Nelson.

Oklahoma!

Aug. 21-Oct. 5

The first collaboration of Rodgers & Hammerstein is set in Indian Territory at the turn of the 20th century where farmers and cowboys collide and love doesn't come easy for one particularly headstrong pair. Based on the play “Green Grow the Lilacs” by Lynn Riggs, Oklahoma! originally opened on Broadway in 1943 and has spurred four revivals.

Fiddler on the Roof

Oct. 9-Nov. 23

Marking its 50^th Anniversary in 2014, the nine-time Tony Award winning musical embraces tradition in a changing world. Even in the tight-knit Jewish community of Anatevka, social mores are changing and anti-Semitism is growing in Czarist Russia.

 A Beef and Boards Christmas

Nov. 28-Dec. 23

The season is beautifully celebrated through song and story in this original production (read reviews for 2009, 2010, 2011, here), that has become a tradition for many families for more than 20 years.

  

A Christmas Carol

Dec. 6-22

The one-hour adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol, is onstage for select performances. Enhanced with holiday carols, this iconic tale portrays miserly Ebenezer Scrooge, who is given a second chance.

CHILDREN’S THEATRE 2014

The Pyramid Players is designed to entertain children of any age. Youngsters also have the opportunity to meet the cast after the show for pictures and autographs. Performances take place on select Fridays at 10 a.m. and Saturdays at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Performances last one hour, are presented without intermission, and include juice and a snack.

How I Became a Pirate

Feb. 14-March 15

 Based on Melinda Long’s popular children’s book of the same name, this musical brings to the stage the tale of young Jeremy Jacob’s high seas adventure.

Sleeping Beauty

Oct. 17-Nov. 15 

This classic fairy tale made popular by the Brothers Grimm centers around a beautiful princess, who is destined to fall into a deep sleep for 100 years until being awakened by a prince’s kiss.

MEMBERSHIP & TICKET AVAILABILITY

 VIP Memberships for the 2014 season go on sale to the public starting Sept. 3. Individual show tickets to the general public start Oct. 1.

Tickets, directions and showtimes are available at BeefandBoards.com.

Images: Beef and Boards

Elizabeth J. Musgrave is a syndicated fine-living, travel columnist, freelance writer and photographer, and performing arts and restaurant critic for Gotta Go. Read Infused, her spirits, wine & beer lifestyle column, at www.GottaGo.us and www.FoodDigital.com and catch her as Indy’s Entertainment Adviser on 93 WIBC. Gotta Go is published on www.Gottago.us, www.BroadwayWorld.com, an in print. Follow her on Twitter @GottaGo, LinkedIn and Facebook.