The group went to the Carolina Opry, a 1000-person theater. This is one of maybe a half-dozen theaters featuring tribute groups and country music with a bit of modern electronic flash.
The Carolina Opry had (1) a piano player comedian from England with kind of a tamed down Liberace act; (2) four whites in ghetto clothes doing a dance derivative of Stomp (which I also didn’t like); (3) a white woman belting out her best Aretha Franklin or maybe Tina Turner; (4) a mulleted singer looking at least 50 pounds heavier than his picture in the program; (5) a couple comedians that were actually pretty good if a bit corny; (6) the same comedians doing a total rip-off of the Abbot & Costello “who’s on first” routine; (7) a comedic country singing group called, I’ll admit amusingly, Run GMC; (8) a black guy singing a good black guy song of some sort with electronic assistance; (9) an emcee that also sang and acted as straight-man for the comedians; and (10) a large bloodhound that scratched and licked appropriately.
The program ended with a couple patriotic songs which brought everyone to their feet, and the firing of a confetti cannon.
Counting on stage and what I could see of the audience, there were three blacks.
At intermission several groups were acknowledged, including our group and lot of church groups, mostly Baptist.
The Carolina Opry is a Calvin Gilmore presentation, they never cease to remind you. His name and picture are everywhere, including in several puff pieces in the program. He is listed as producer and director and in the cast as “Vocals, Guitar”; the cast members are listed in the program alphabetically, formatted so that his name is at the top of the center column, and the center column is raised just a tad above the other columns. (As far as we know, Calvin was not here tonight. Probably at the bank.)
It was raining as we left. Since I drove it became my responsibility to get the truck and pick up Marcia and Ed and Susan. By the time I got back to the front of the theater, it was just pouring, and it poured most of the way to our camp.
Our trailer was a mess. The tiny bathroom fan was open and the WC area was soaked (my fault, Marcia warned me it leaks.) And during yesterday’s strong winds I manually closed the Fantastic Fan about half way, apparently disabling the rain sensor; Marcia’s art supplies and many paper items were soaked. The humidity makes it difficult to ever get things dry. The only good news: I closed the awning during the afternoon, so it was not damaged.
My sympathies to you, Cam and Marcia, as far as the rain and resulting dampness in your trailer...I guess we are spoiled in California, as far as rain is concerned, since we usually get some warning here! That rain feature on the Fantastic fans is sure nice...when it works! I hope none of Marcia's artwork was damaged...
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