Have you had any major disappointments with concerts and shows you’ve been to?—the kind where you think, “if I’d only known.” Here’s a short list of my bummers.
“An Evening with Carol Burnett” Saw this “show” in 1997. It turned out to be her telling anecdotes and taking questions from the audience in a much-too-large auditorium. That was it. No singing. No acting. And 2/3 of the questions were idiotic. Wasn’t worth the trip to hear the “Tarzan yell” in person.
“Phantom of the Opera” No, not that one—and that was the problem. I got tickets and then realized it was not the Andrew Lloyd Webber version. The songs were classic opera, as I remember. Not what I was looking for.
Arlo Guthrie—When you’re famous for about two songs, you’d better play ‘em both. He told the audience that if they wanted to hear “Alice’s Restaurant” they could buy the album.
Paula Poundstone—Okay, it wasn’t really her fault that I was in the first row. It maybe wasn’t even her fault that the first row and the back of the audience were one in the same that night in the Des Moines Civic Center. The act went on, though. Boy did we need that crowd. Somebody needed to laugh. I learned we had much different views on our Creator and sexuality. Ooh! It reminded me of a college comedy show where the audience was Melba toast compared to the rough-around-the-edges comedian. When he announced he’d managed to kick drugs and awaited praise from us, we’re all staring at him like, “You were on drugs? Ooh!”
