A nice night out

Donna and I ate at Peggy Kinnane's Irish Restaurant and Pub last night. I realize it has been a quarter century since I went to school in Ireland, but the only thing vaguely Irish about the restaurant were the fake newspapers in Gaelic. That is not necessarily a bad thing. For an appetizer, we had a basket o' rings. Thankfully they were not fried in lard as is the custom in Ireland. My American digestive system far prefers vegetable oil to lard. Our entrees were both salads. Ahi tuna on spinach with sesame oil dressing and a Cobb for Donna. Neither qualifies as Irish. The one time I saved money to eat at the Great Southern in Galway and ordered a green salad I was shocked to find out in Ireland that does not include lettuce or spinach. I do not remember of what it was composed but I can only think it was something like the lime Jell-O salad that always seemed to show up in Midwestern picnics. Despite, or perhaps because of, the lack of authenticity, dinner was superb.

After dinner we went across the street to Metropolis, a small community theater in Arlington Heights. We were a little anxious as roughly a quarter of the seats were not filled and this was the last performance. There was no reason to be anxious. Mid-Life!, The Crisis Musical, was entertaining and worth the ticket price. The show was performed by six regional actors; three women and three men. In a series of musical vignettes they went through the various aspects of middle age. Most were humorous and one, in particular, about the decline and care of parents, was poignant. The acting was good, singing good to excellent, and the changing displays on the flat screen monitors added to the production. A pit orchestra would have been nice, but the pianist did a decent job. Yes, a patron in front of me was wearing plaid shorts, referenced in one of the early numbers, so I did not feel too bad during the solo about a lost love - hair. It was not Broadway, but it was good entertainment and we will attend future Metropolis productions.