Young Frankenstein The Musical

The reason that Dan and I went to Seattle was to see the new Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein. It really was worth the trip and turned us on to a whole new city that we fell in love with. Here are a few of my impressions of the show.

It played at the Paramount in Seattle, which is a lovely old theater that seemed to be a part of the set. The sets themselves were great and the show had some nice special effects. There is a great musical number, "Roll in The Hay" with Roger Bart, Sutton Foster and Igor that was pretty unique. There are also 2 great show stoppers, "Transylvania Mania" and "Puttin' on the Ritz", both of which are big song and dance numbers. Andrea Martin made me giggle with her song "He Vas My Boyfriend" and Megan Mullally gives new meaning to "Deep Love".

The show itself was way too long, coming in at just under 3 hours. They will have to do some cutting, which will be hard, because the show truly follows the movie. Mel Brooks not only wrote the book, he also wrote the lyrics and the music. Since he is the producer it will be hard for him to cut his baby. There are a 3 or 4 songs that could be shortened, if not cut altogether.

The cast was very good, I especially enjoyed Andrea Martin's Frau Blucher and Megan Mullally's Elizabeth. Megan's voice was incredible and she was very funny. Roger Bart is good as Dr. Frankenstein, it will be interesting to see if his voice holds up after all the screaming he does. Christopher Fitzgerald is very funny as Igor and gets some of the best lines. Shuler Hensley Monster is good, it's too bad they don't use his beautiful singing voice more. Sutton Foster is one of my favorite Broadway stars and she is underused and misused in this show, she pulls her part off, but really does not have much to work with.

I want to see the show after it opens in New York, just to see if they cut it and how. It starts previews there on October 11 at the Hilton Theatre. If you like the movie, you won't be disappointed with the musical. The Seattle crowd loved the show and seemed very enthusiastic, it will be interesting to see how it plays in New York.

Of coarse Dan and I were a couple of Stagedoor Johnnies and hung around the back door lurking for autographs. We got autographs from Megan, Andrea and Roger and they were all very pleasant and willing to give some face time to their fans after a long night on the stage.

Sotto Voce

Yesterday I received a box in the mail of olive oils and vinegar from my Seattle trip. I love getting food related things in the mail, hell, I like getting food related things anywhere. But coming home and finding a package on the front porch is so fun. I admit it, I'm a food geek.

I love all things to do with food or the cooking of it. I love going into Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma, or getting new cooking magazines and cookbooks. When you go to new cities you find all these wonderful little shops that just call out for you to see all the wonderful things they have. It's really all about the possibilities and the joy of the creation.

Anyway, I received this package from Sotto Voce in Seattle. They have all these wonderful infused oils and vinegars and they sample them in their store at Pike's Place Market. The bottles are corked and each one comes with its on plastic pour spout. They also ship, so I did not have to worry about packing those bottles in my suitcase.

It was hard to choose which flavors I wanted from all the choices they offer. I ended up with an Olio Basilico, which is their garlic olive oil infused with basil and white and black peppercorns. I also chose the Olio Buon Gustaio, another garlic olive oil infused with habaneras, horseradish and red chili peppers, WOW! The vinegar i ordered was the Aceto Balsimico, a nice spicy balsamic vinegar with garlic cloves, crushed red peppers and whole chilis. I can't wait to start cooking with these.

You can check out their website at www. sottovoce.com.

Julia's on Broadway - Seattle WA

Of all the places we ate at in Seattle, only two were disappointing. One of those was Julia's on Broadway. We had made our way to the Capitol Hill area of Seattle and decided to eat lunch there. We should have eaten at Dick's, we had heard it was good, but I picked this loser from the bunch.
I won't go into all the details of the bad food, other than to say that Dan's crab cakes were not even edible, they tasted like lemon cakes and my hummus plate was bland and boring. The service was also very bad and was the only time we experienced this in Seattle. The bartender poured our beers and they sat on the bar for 10 minutes until we asked another waiter to please bring them to us. It wasn't like they busy or anything, it's just that our waitress preferred sitting on her butt in the back.
Needless to say, I would not recommend this place. I'm not even going to bother giving their address or phone number, it's not worth the effort.

Serious Pie - Seattle, WA

Well, I am back from Seattle and a little sad for the fact. Seattle is such a great city, it's like being in New York, without the attitude. The people are very friendly and in restaurants you find yourself conversing with people at the tables next to you. There are some incredible places to eat at in Seattle, too. One of our favorites was Serious Pie. It is a wood fired pizza place that has 6 starters, 7 pizzas and 4 desserts on the menu. The place is small and you will find yourself sharing a table with strangers, just like in Italy.
I started my meal with a plate of seedless watermelon wedges, thinly sliced purplette onions, ricotta salata and a dusting of cayenne($10). This was such a simple dish and so full of flavor, I hope that I can recreate this at home. Dan had crenshaw melon, prosciutto and santo steffani cheese($13), which was another winner. For my pizza , I chose the cherry bomb pepper and sweet fennel sausage($15). Two people could actually share one pizza, they come out about 11" long and are an oblong shape. This was also very good, the crust was very light and the toppings were perfect. Dan had the mozzarella di bufala and san marzano tomato pizza which was incredible and so simple.
We were way to full to try the desserts like the lemoncello tiramisu with bing cherries or the buttermilk pannacotta with figs and balsamic vinegar. I guess we will have to go back and try them in the future.
The restaurant is one of the many that are owned and operated by Tom Douglas and they all have great reputations for serving some of the finest food in Seattle. Serious Pie is located at 316 Virginia Street Seattle WA 206-838-7388 http://www.tomdouglas.com/.

Anthony's Pier 66 Seattle,WA

We arrived in beautiful Seattle,WA yesterday and I was amazed at the shear beauty of this place. It is so lush and green and a far cry from the heat and humidity of Kansas City. We are fortunate to arrive to sunny skies and day time temps in the 70's. Our hotel balcony looks out into Puget Sound and we can see the majestic snow covered Mt. Rainier. This is so awesome!

We crossed the street and headed over to Anthony's Pier 66 for beers and appetizers before doing some exploring. We sat outside and enjoyed great views of the water and distant mountains. Dan ordered a Mac & Jacks Amber Ale and I had Manny's Pale Ale, both local brews that were excellent and $4.75 a pint. We ordered the Crab Cocktail($14.95),lumps of fresh crab meat served over shredded lettuce with a light dressing. I have never tasted such fresh crab meat. We also ordered the Calamari($8.95) which was fried to crispy bite without being rubbery. The service was also great!

They are located at 2201 Alaskan Way Seattle WA. 98121 206-448-6688.