S%@tshow

June 7, 2019

 

 

S%@tshow

” A description of an event or situation which is characterized by an ridiculously inordinate amount of frenetic activity. Disorganization and chaos to an absurd degree. Often associated with extreme ineptitude/incompetence and or sudden and unexpected failure.”

We have always been big proponents and supporters of our friends in the very creative and exciting Key West Arts community. This small island is blessed with an out-sized amount of creative and talented artists who make living here a very special experience. We got out of our way to try and support their creative output, wherever their artistic talents are utilized.

Chris 

Elena and Brandon

We are seemingly constantly attending gallery openings, readings, theatrical and musical performances and really are almost always not just satisfied but impressed by what the artistic community here in Key West is doing. Every once in a Blue Moon however, there is something that just doesn’t work out and while I am loathe to criticize anyone involved with creative pursuits, the best laid plans can sometimes go awry.

Juliet 

What looked to be yet another case of creative genius (or at least fun silliness) was held recently at the Tropic Cinema, when the theater hosted a Drunken Reading of the Breakfast Club. The idea being to bring together many of the most creative, talented and funny people on the island and have them assume characters from the iconic 80s film “The Breakfast Club”, but only after gathering before the show at Mary Ellen’s bar and getting pretty toasted. What could possibly go wrong?

Liz and Mark

 

Mark

When I first heard the concept, I was excited, this was going to be yet another in an ongoing string of amazing, fun and creative events that many of our friends would make an unforgettable experience. It just sounded fun and wacky and actually delivered on that promise for about the first 30 minutes of the script reading. In fact it was working great, the cast was hysterically funny and while they stuck to the premise, it really, really worked.

Kathy and Landon 

The problem seemed to be that the drinks continued to flow freely among the cast and as it went on, any semblance of order was lost and it spun into complete chaos. The actors started to forget where they were in the script, forgetting what characters they were playing and eventually forgetting that there was a script. That was amusing for a brief time, but it soon became clear that we were in for a long, long evening.

  Landon

 

Now I love my friends and still think the concept has merit but my suggestion should they ever try anything like this in the future is to not start drinking until the actual reading starts thus we could watch as things devolved rather than starting with the players already trashed and it quickly becoming almost unwatchable. I may be in a minority as afterwards many of the audience were singing the praises of the show, but as I mentioned to Kathy that if I wanted to sit around and watch my friends drunkenly pontificate, I could just head downtown on the typical Saturday night.

Chris, Kathy and Landon

The other highlight of this week was at pretty much the opposite end of the spectrum as we joined many of our friends at Benihana restaurant to celebrate the fifth birthday of one of our favorite children, Meredith. Her parents Nadene and Trevor are great friends and we have had the good fortune to be able to watch Meredith growing up and we were thrilled to be part of her birthday along with a number of our good friends.

Susan and Meredith

Benihana remains a fun treat, one that we don’t experience nearly enough as the food and entertainment that they provide are just top notch. Our group filled the entire private back room at the restaurant and we enjoyed a terrific evening of good food and great friends. Meredith was, as always, just adorable and such a treat to spend some time with. It was really a wonderful night.

Fiona, Rob and Brenda 

Trevor and Graf 

Kathy