This beautiful image of Paula and what appears to be her moron husband was shot by Sean Capshaw http://www.resolusean.com/

Did you know that there are vineyards in San Marcos? I sure didn’t, but last Sunday night I found out that they do indeed exist when we had an amazing meal at a table set up between two vines under the night sky, awash with wine and candles and attended by lovely people and lively conversation. The setting was at the steps of the Vintner’s home overlooking a lovely valley of grapes and upscale homes. Paula and I got invited to this very mysterious dinner and we’d no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But we’d do just about anything that the very good friends that invited us told us to so, up we dressed and off we went. What it turned out to be was an opportunity for a caterer to show off what he can do for lots of current and potential clients and to do so in a very special location.

Talk about ambiance. I can’t imagine a more tranquil setting or a better atmosphere for an event such as this. Excellent service by some very good and very nice waiters that had to put up with an awful lot; there is not a lot of room between a couple of vine rows to put a table with chairs on both sides and still find a way to move in to serve and service, but these pros did it and did it well.

If only the stuff we were putting in our mouths was better. Don’t get me wrong, it was good. There were terrific words like watercress, quail egg, confite and sweetbread and there was a taste of wine for each course. The food was good but there was nothing I’d have again and the wines were, hmmm shall we say disappointing. You expect that getting served wines from a winery at the winery at a shwanky shindig like this that your high expectations would be fulfilled. The first three wines they served us were hardly drinkable, then they brought us a Cabernet that was good enough, and they ended with a Syrah that was quite wonderful; a great way to end the evening.

So I count the dining experience we had as a great success, mostly because the ambiance was so hugely and so unexpectedly wonderful that it made everything else less important. I would certainly do this again, and still hope for a more pleasant proffering for the palate.

Phantom, the longest running show on Broadway since . . .

April 10th, 2008 by Tim Heitman

Check this out. On December 2, 1979, FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (July 14-19, 2009) lost its title as the longest running show in Broadway history. It fell to the perennial favorite GREASE. GREASE (March 3-8, 2009) was the longest running show on Broadway till it was knocked out of the top spot by A CHORUS LINE (August 12-17, 2008) When CATS (June 3-8, 2008) hit 6138 performances, it overtook A CHORUS LINE as the longest running show in Broadway history–and on January 9, 2006, PHANTOM (July 16 – August 10 2008) became the undisputed king of Broadway, and it’s still running today.

In the next calendar year and a half, Broadway/San Diego and the San Diego Civic Theatre will house the top 5 record breaking Broadway shows of all time. So what makes PHANTOM so great? Romance, mystery, drama, and the aura of higher art ‘Opera’ are typical responses. Of course the great music is always the first and foremost reason. But then there’s that amazing set that transforms time and again, just when you think you’ve seen it all it does one more amazing thing. And the costumes? It’s a great period piece and the production takes full advantage of that fact – the costume designers put ALL the money on the stage. And what about the lighting? Or the props? Or the . . .

Because PHANTOM has such universal appeal, it has become somewhat of an entry experience to the theatre. Many people when asked “what was your first show” will reply “PHANTOM”. The show has been responsible for so many people getting ‘hooked’ on theatre. The numbers on this show in terms of attendance, dollars earned, performances worldwide et cetera are staggering. Its just such a phenomenon and I’m really looking forward to the return of the show to San Diego.


Oh and by the way, before FIDDLER it was HELLO DOLLY, and there’s no production of that on the horizon. Oh well, you can’t have everything.

And also by the way, there have been other shows that ran longer than those that I’ve mentioned above but they didn’t break previously set records. They ran or are running while another show was or is the title holder.

Click this link: Playbill for the list of longest runs in Broadway history as listed in Playbill. See where YOUR favorites fit in.