“When Your Rooster Crows at the Break of Dawn….”

February 23, 2012

Gospel Concert



Kathy & Jasmine

Suenalo

“When Your Rooster Crows at the Break of Dawn….”

It has been a strange week for us here in Key West, filled with a mixture of surprises, set-backs and an unusual vibe that has had me busy over-thinking about every occurrence large and small. We have had some surprise visitors and still kept an every increasingly busy schedule as the cavalcade of Key West functions marches onward through the busy season.





It is not unusual to have visitors this time of year, it is the high season and we almost always have people we know visit at some point during the season. This year for example, Kathy’s Uncle Al & Aunt Kathy are here visiting from Massachusetts as expected. We were not sure if Kathy’s father would be making his annual trek down this year until we were somewhat surprised when he called earlier this week and said he would be here in a few days. And finally we were totally surprised by the arrival of our good friend Kerry and her new beau Matt from Colorado. Sadly they are here for a memorial service, which is never a good reason for a visit, though it was great to see them.





Josh White Jr.

Noel Paul Stookey

With all this going on, Kathy & I have still managed to maintain our active life here on the island. This week alone, we attended a gospel concert at the Studios of Key West, a birthday bash out on the town on Saturday night, and a high school basketball play-off game between the hometown fighting Conchs and Doral Academy.



The concert was a repeat of the amazing multi-faith gospel celebration that was once again part of the Studios, “Old Town/ New Folk” music series and featured the amazing Noel Paul Stookey (Paul of Peter, Paul & Mary) and Josh White Jr. along with the Reverend Betty Stookey, and the Voices of Praise Choir! The show was a mix of gospel and classic folk music with inspirational readings from a multitude of faiths interspersed throughout. It was stunningly good and highly entertaining.



Reverend Betty Stookey

I was really proud of the local Voices of Praise choir who more than held their own with the seasoned professionals, in fact in my mind they were the highlight of a fantastic show. Hopefully they will be back next year and if the raucously positive reaction of the sold out crowd is any indication, this will be an annual event.





Later in the week, we were part of another packed community event as the Key West High School basketball team, fresh off their district tournament championship and first ever undefeated season hosted Doral Academy in a FHSAA play-off game. The gym was packed to the rafters with a crazed and excited hometown crowd and the Conchs did not disappoint, romping to a 25 point victory.

Elliott



Donjae

The game and team has sort of a special meaning for me as two of the players, cousins Donjae & Elliot Valdez both played for the police athletic league team that I coached over ten years ago when they were just little kids. It has been great to watch them grow and develop into great players and people, and we got a kick out of their success this season.

Karen



Tara & Johnny

Saturday night found us meeting a group of friends at the Porch to kick off a fun night of celebrating the birthday of our friend Jasmine. After a few drinks at the Porch, it was off to the Green Parrot to party in the company of our favorite Miami funky dance band Suenalo. We ran in to two other friends celebrating their birthdays as well and the party swelled and the crowd spilled out onto the street in typical parrot fashion.







It was a fun and funky way to enjoy the company of good friends as well as some amazing music, and a terrific way to cap off a bizarre week. I must say that I am ready to go out again already.







Finally I just want to put a quick plug in for ladybugs. What does that have to do with anything you may wonder? Not much really, but Kathy & I have been ordering thousands of live ladybugs to release in our yard to combat the invasive and destructive white flies that have been decimating the island. They love munching the tiny flies and we have let thousands go in hopes of reversing the damage. It is too early to judge the rate of success, but it is a lot more fun and interesting that pesticides.

Fabuloso!

February 16, 2011





Marci, Chad & Kathy

Fabuloso!

In honor of Valentine’s Day, Key West Burlesque & WonderDog Productions hosted a single night only performance of their annual Burlesque Comedy & Variety Carnival at the Tennessee Williams Fine Arts Center on the campus of Florida Keys Community College last week. Kathy & I waited until the last minute to decide to go and we almost missed out because the show was a massive success and was a sell-out with more than 500 seats sold.







There was no particular reason that we waited so long, we just had other things going on and thought maybe it would be ok to actually miss a performance by the local burlesque troupe. We are so glad that we decided to go, it was yet another in a series of stellar triumphs for Marky P and everyone associated with Key West Burlesque.

Chris, Michael & David

Liz & Chad



We figured out pretty quickly upon entering the theatre lobby that this was the place to be in Key West as the place with packed with the unique mix of Key West hipsters, TWFAC snowbirds and a who’s who of the artsy crowd. It was jam packed and the mood was full of excitement and anticipation.



Rock & Pinky



We had not made it to any of the shows in the large main auditorium and when we took our seats, I really wondered if the performers would not be lost on the massive stage with a huge crowd in attendance. We are way more used to seeing the shows in the intimate confines of much, much smaller spaces and I wasn’t sure if it would hold the same magic in such a large space. I really had no reason to worry, as from the first opening monologue by the fantastic MC and host Frankie, the show grabbed a hold of the crowd and didn’t let go until the last sprinkle of glitter and twirl of a tassel some ninety fantastic minutes of show later.









The show featured a mix of old favorites, out of town special guest performers and new faces that meshed incredibly well. The diversity in styles and types of acts was something akin to classic vaudeville and rather than seeming disjointed and separate came across as unique ingredients in one spectacular dish, served up with the sexiness, comedic fun and irreverence that we have come to expect from Key West Burlesque.







Trying to pick favorites would be impossible as all of the performers were excellent and the show as a whole was wonderful. A number of our friends performed, which is always fun to see. Rock Solomon & Pinky Starlight were awesome as were regulars Rocky Bottom, Moana Amour, Hunny Bunz and Marquee VonPhister. Melody Cooper was superb as well and the incredible Dark N Stormy just about blew the roof off with a sizzling Etta James number.







Now we can’t wait until March 10th for the next Key West Burlesque installment, the Soul & Motown Burlesque Cabaret which will be held in the small cabaret theatre at Tennessee Williams. Tix are on-sale now at KeysTix.com and are sure to sell out. If I were you, I would lock them in as soon as you read this- you will not be disappointed.