The Strip

Jersey Boys

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

According to giant billboards around Las Vegas, Jersey Boys is the number one show in Las Vegas (with a small note that this is from the Las Vegas Review Journal).  Since I first began seeing these billboards when we moved here, the advertisement has worked on me and I’ve been convinced that I needed to see Jersey Boys. The Husband and I had talked about going to see it for my birthday back in September, but that fell by the wayside.  The Husband wasn’t too keen on seeing the show, but a few weeks ago when planning his version of our Christmas date (for those that missed it, my planned date involved dinner at Rosemary’s and lights at the Springs Preserve) it was in a list of options for a show to see that night, depending on what was available at Half Price Tickets at Town Square.  Turned out the other shows weren’t available, so we got a deal on the tickets for the night (though we learned that tickets for locals would have been cheaper at the box office… oh well, next time!).  After a fun and tasty dinner exploring the Whole Foods buffet, we headed to the Strip to the Palazzo where Jersey Boys is based.  We arrived a bit early so we explored the Palazzo a bit and then headed into the theatre.

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Once inside the theatre itself, we weren’t permitted to take photos so I took some quick ones just outside in the entranceway.  First, there were photos of the cast…

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…and then names of the cast.

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Next to this sign was another one which said what understudies were performing in which role.  I was quite excited to see that the son of one of my high school social studies teachers (also my mock trial coach) was promoted from a Swing role to one of the Four Seasons.  Knowing that made the experience that much cooler for me :-)

Ticket prices generally range from $75 to $260, which is on the higher end in my opinion.  However, if you don’t want to spend the big bucks for the closer seats, as is the case in many Vegas shows, seats farther back are still pretty good.

As for the show itself, for the first 10-15 minutes or so, the Husband and I were a bit underwhelmed.  We just weren’t connecting with the show, but we were loving their use of the stage – just how the had the scenes laid out, how it flowed, how they used the space so well to tell the story.  And then… something clicked.  I’m not sure if it was more music or we just understood the characters better, but we loved it… every second after that click.  The singing was amazing and the storyline (keep in mind it’s a true story) was great.  Some of our favorite parts were when they would be in a scene as if they were performing at a concert or on a tv show like the Ed Sullivan show.  I won’t spoil what they did, but we loved it.

When we walked out at the end of the show, we were grinning ear to ear.  The billboard lived up to its claims and Jersey Boys is now one of our favorite shows in Las Vegas, making our list of recommended shows for friends, family, and you!

Dueling Pianos at Encore’s Eastside Lounge

Posted on by Amanda @ The Hungry Wanderers

About two weeks ago, you may remember that we celebrated our friend’s birthday at Pamplemousse. After our wonderful dinner, four of us headed to the Strip to continue the party with dueling pianos.  We headed over to the Encore’s Eastside Lounge where there are dueling pianos at night.

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The lounge is decently sized and is open to the casino floor so everyone could enjoy the music.  Hostesses seated us at a table for four with some comfy chairs (I was eyeing the couches at other tables which I guess we could’ve gotten if we got there earlier).

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Beautiful ceiling over the pianos :-)

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During performances after 9pm, the lounge has a 2 drink minimum (which we knew going into it) and the drinks of course are “Vegas prices.”  They offered up twists and their own unique concoctions though which I appreciated it.  Our wonderful cocktail waitress advised that they have a mixologist who comes up with their drink menu.  I spent a lot of time looking at the menu and found ingredients here and there that I didn’t like but I found one drink that intrigued me – the Spiced Apple Mule.  It was Moon Mountain Organic Citrus Vodkaa, Thatcher’s Apple Spice Ginger Organic Liqueur, fresh lemon juice, and Natural Fever-Tree Ginger Beer.  It was fun and interesting!

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The rest of the group went with less interesting drinks :-)

In terms of the dueling pianos, they were a bit underwhelming.  I would describe them more as “dual pianos” than “dueling pianos” – a giant two sided piano with the players acting more as a team.  The music also wasn’t energizing enough, although there were small groups here and there that got up to dance.  There wasn’t a lot of singing going on though. 

Each of the tables had notepads/cards where you could request songs.

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We requested a handful of songs but after not hearing any of them, we ended up leaving.  Not before the Husband playfully modeled the birthday girl’s tiara.  Always the joker :-)

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Overall, we were underwhelmed with the dueling piano aspect of the bar, but enjoyed the overall environment, the drinks, and our cocktail waitress.  However, we don’t expect we’ll be back.  The Strip has a handful of other dueling piano bars and we hope to check one out soon! Any recommendations??