Traversing the Cultural Diameter

Less than 24 hours after enjoying a rare night out with a bunch of guys, I found myself herding women. My wife, mother-in-law, daughter and two of her friends sat on the same row with me for the Shreveport Symphony's presentation of "Broadway Today." Yes, I went from Friday's blue jeans and beer crowd laughing hysterically at scatological humor to the Saturday blue blood set getting goosebumps from show tunes.
You may question my manhood for attending such an event, but I will tell you I went enthusiatically. The wife and I go to this show every year and it never disappoints. The headliner is Craig Schulman. If you want to talk about manhood, this guy has it. He is the only person to perform on Broadway in the lead roles of Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserables and Jekyll & Hyde. Dude has talent...buckets of talent. He always brings beautiful women to perform with him, and this year was no exception. My 16-year-old said to me during one episode of thunderous applause that Collen Hawks took her breath away singing "Defying Gravity" from "Wicked." When Tamra Hayden emotionally offered "On my Own" from Les Mis, patrons young and old were crying. When Schulman hit us with "Bring Him Home" and "Music of the Night," the crowd was simply awed. The 16 and 17-year-old girls hung around Riverview Theater to buy CD's and get autographs, and that tells me they know the've seen something special.
The Shreveport Symphony is celebrating its 60th season, but it remains one of the most underappreciated enterprises in the area. Talk about big-time, Shreveport had it again Saturday night. Those of us fortunate enough to be there know what we heard. We had the goosebumps to prove it.

Sphere: Related Content