A Night Out On The Town

Last night was our second annual night out on the town to see Christmas on the Rocks. The ads for the play said that the play had new characters from last year’s play, well it did but there was only one new character in the play.

I left the Hartford Gay and Lesbian Health Collective, where I volunteer two days a week, early and I got home a little before Stana came over to my house. I drove up to Hartford; the problem was it was rush hour but at least everyone was leaving Hartford and we were heading in to Hartford so I wound around the streets avoiding the traffic. From all of the meetings that I go to in Hartford I know my way around the city, when I interned in the city I learned fast the best way to avoid the traffic jams on I-84 and I-91. After parking we went to Max Downtown to meet our other three friends.

If you haven’t been to Max Downtown, it is a 5-star restaurant and it’s price lives up to its reputation but so does the food. I had a glass of Chardonnay and the Grilled Berkshire Pork Chop (Brown sugar sweet potato souffle, brussels sprouts, bacon & apple slaw, sticky bourbon bbq sauce), the pork chop was divine! My share of the bill was just under $60.

After dinner we went over to Theater Works which is only a block away from the restaurant , the play is set in a bar and the bartender meets all these offbeat characters from Christmas stories and movies who stop by on Christmas Eve. Their website says,

Your favorite kids from Christmas stories—all grown up, shaken, stirred and served with a twist.

It's Christmas Eve in a rundown local bar. Expecting a silent night, the bartender finds himself mixing drinks for a parade of surprising guests - children from your favorite Christmas specials and movies - now all grown up. Join them as they pour out their Christmas woes in this delightful parody.

And the Hartford Courant writes,

It keeps on rockin' in the Christmas world: TheaterWorks' soused seasonal hit "Christmas on the Rocks" is back for another round.

The jolly, juiced-up comedy anthology, stocked with familiar (if fallen) faces from classic holiday stories, is a proven crowd-pleaser. TheaterWorks created it in 2013 and has nurtured it like a scrawny tree outside Snoopy's doghouse. Soon the script will be published and available to other theaters around the country. "Christmas on the Rocks" is the gift that keeps on giving, as long as the booze doesn't run out.

One of the characters who stops by the bar a Christmas Elf who is flaming over-the-top gay and one of the jokes is when Hermey dances into the bar and says “Guess where I just came from?” and the bartender replies “Provincetown?”

This year’s play they took out “Cindy Lou Who” and added "Frosty the Snowman" who ended up as a bucket of water.

This time after the play we knew how to get out of the parking garage, last year we wandered around trying to find a way into the garage after hours. It was nice to get out again with some old friends.