Before the curtain went up on night two of the play, I got to watch the hilarious escapades of Paul Blart: Mall Cop. The film finds officer wannabe and quite agile mall security man Paul Blart (Kevin James of “The King of Queens”) up against a group of high-tech robbers on Black Friday. I must congratulate the writers of the piece for setting the action at the end of the busiest shopping day of the year… what a coup that would be! The bad guys take a number of hostages including the object of Paul’s affection. The security officer takes it upon himself to not only defend and protect his mall but also rescue the hostages. Several laugh out loud moments abound. I also loved the use of 80s tunes throughout, including “I Can’t Hold Back” by Survivor. I also found Paul’s “Detroit Rock City” on Guitar Hero very entertaining. A hilarious movie that was a much more family oriented take on Die Hard.
Night two It’s a Wonderful Life was great! Dan and Carla were up from Sandusky. After the show, Dan told me that I rivaled Lionel Barrymore (who originated the role in the classic movie). Quite a compliment from someone who watches the film annually. Over 100 people were in the audience so while only filling about a third of the seats, a great turnout. For some reason, I got more boos at curtain call that night one. And several audience members told me how evil my performance was.
After intermission, there was a drawing for a free ticket to a show next year (something that was forgotten Friday night… sorry). I could have sworn that the name ShelBY Shaffer was announced. However, two things are wrong with that. One, I don’t think she could win since she is part of the show. Two, she did not sign up for the draw. The winner was ShelLY Shaffer (no relation).
So for a good time… check out Paul Blart: Mall Cop and come to one of the final four productions of It’s a Wonderful Life. Incidentally, I did watch the last half hour of the movie after returning from the performance.
BOTH movies are on my list to watch during this holiday season. I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen Mall Cop – I fell asleep all three times we saw it. Nothing to do with the movie; I guess I was just tired when that came out!