Monday Evening Randomness: Theater, food, and Southern Belles

Not that that last post about vacationing downtown wasn't random, but here's a little more Monday Evening randomness for you.

• Pandora Productions' The Kathy and Mo Show has been getting super good reviews. Both officially and via hearsay. Tickets sold out a couple of nights this weekend. There are still a few shows left. I plan on going on Wednesday, "Singles Night." Because, well, why the hell not.
  
  
• Speaking of hearsay, rumor has it that this weekend's Dashboard Confessional with the Louisville Orchestra Concert was fabulous but WAY under-attended. A friend said that the entire balcony was empty. The next big shindig of this sort is Airborne Toxic Event and Calexico on Jan 10.... or is it?? Hey, why isn't it on the Louisville Orchestra Calendar? Airborne Toxic Event just blogged about it not that long ago. I assume it's still a go.
  
  
• The lovely Michelle, at Consuming Louisville, invited me to join her and some friends at the JCC's production of La Cage Aux Folles last week, part of the Center Stage series. A TON of fun! La Cage has closed, but there are four plays coming up: Cabaret - Jan. 14-31; The Last Five Years - Feb. 11 - 21; The Wizard of Oz - Mar. 11-28; Curtains - May 6-16. I'll be checking a few out for sure.
  
  
• Did you know Southern Belles is now available on Hulu? I'm pretty sure it's all the episodes! O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! (she chortled in her joy)
  
  
• And a big ol' Loueyville raspberry to the folks at Cracked who insulted Kentucky cuisine with their illustration. Check out the "7 Secrets Only Two People Know (for some reason)" post-- they talk about the spices in KFC. Hot Browns? Derby Pie? Burgoo? Benedictine? The Mint Friggin Julep? Sheesh, some people.
  

Correction: Wet Willy's turned Dublin Cellar now Renbarger's "Southern Belles" Brewhaus

Silly me.

Turns out the newest incarnation of Wet Willy's-- Renbarger's Brewhaus, set to officially open this weekend-- is not (necessarily) a German-themed beer garden as I previously suggested. Metromix reports that that the Brewhaus is actually the baby of Russ Renbarger of "Southern Belles: Louisville" fame.

Russ is the womanizing "bad boy" who, as of last week's episode, finally hooked up with Hadley-- the one woman who might be able to put an end to his hound dog ways. No mention of the couple's current status in the Metromix articles, but it does pitch him as the most popular guy in Louisville based on his astronomical "friend" counts on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

If Real Russ is anything like his SoapNet persona, he's a good fit for the Wet Willy's/Dublin Cellar enterprise which, in every incarnation, has been a bar with a great beer selection and a seriously meat-markety/sleezy vibe.

Do you think Real Russ can class up the joint?

Southern Belles: Louisville, premiere. Our Fair City!

A blue million years ago, a friend and I road-tripped cross-country from NYC to Phoenix. While we were in Phoenix, we went to this crazy faux-diner chain restaurant called Ed Debevic's (little did we know that there was one in NYC at the time). It was one of those places where the wait staff is purposely rude to you and the line chefs hop up on the counter and danced to "YMCA" whenever the juke box played it. At Ed Debevic's (there are still two in Illinois), I purchased a bumper sticker that said, "Who Hired All These Crazy People?"

Then a couple years later, I hung it up in my office because it was suddenly funny. "Who Hired All These Crazy People?" Because I hired all those crazy people. Get it?

Right.

So I'm thinking that the producer of "Southern Belles: Louisville" has that bumper sticker hanging in his/her office. Heck, I'm thinking every reality show producer needs that bumper sticker. "Southern Belles" doesn't stray from the formula.

"Southern Belles: Louisville" premiered on SoapNet on Thu, May 21. It follows Emily, Hadley, Julie, Kellie, and Shea-- five friends from Louisville. The tagline is: "Southern tradition meets modern ambition."

I don't know where to begin except to thank the producers of the show for making our fair city look super good. Seriously. And not only does Louisville look good, it's the Louisville I know, for the most part. (Okay, all the high society stuff, not so much). Good job, location scouts! Good job. (One day last fall, Roommate & I were at Jenicca's-- sniff, still miss that place-- as they were getting ready to shoot there.)

The five friends... they probably shouldn't be thanking the producers. I'll just leave it at that.

Of course I'm going to keep watching it. Though I'm not a fan (quite the opposite) of reality TV, I can't not watch. But rather than comment on the plot, I'll stick to the city. Next week, I'll make notes on Louisville locales featured in the show. I didn't think to do it with the premier. Off the top of my head, familiar sites included:

• O'Shea's (where they held the premiere party last Thursday)
• Heine Brothers (I think the Eastern Parkway/Bardstown one)
  
• Kentucky Derby Museum (where they held a fundraiser for the Susan G. Komen fund and raised a paltry $3K)
• Clodhoppers
• Audubon Country Club
  
• A skating rink-- I think it's Alpine on Gardiner Lane
• The pawn shop across from the now-defunct Karma Cafe (exterior only)