I started my birthday celebrations a little early this year with a trip to a wonderful outdoor musical experience put on by the Transcendence Theater Company. My sisters Lisa, Lori and I went to see the closing night performance of The Beat Goes On, which took place at Belos Cavalos Ranch in Kenwood. The company normally holds its summer performances at Jack London State Park, but was unable to get a permit there this year because of some work being done at the park. The ranch was a good alternative, not quite as scenic, but still had beautiful vineyards and gorgeous mountains to look at. It was a scorcher of a weekend in the Bay Area and Kenwood was no exception. When we arrived around 5:30 for our pre-show dinner, it was still in the high 80s. Luckily, we managed to secure a table with an umbrella so that helped us have our meal in relative comfort. Several wineries offered a variety of wines for purchase, Lori and I both enjoyed a delicious rosé from a winery in Cotati called Karah Vineyards. After dinner we wanted more cool refreshment so Lori and Lisa got Popsicles and I had an iced coffee from one of the vendors. That really helped to cool us down a bit.
Soon it was time to take our seats for the performance. The first half of the show were songs from the 60s – not just popular songs, but also TV theme show songs, and Mr. Rogers even put in an appearance, changing into his red cardigan and tennis shoes! There was such a wonderful energy from the performers, and the audience sang along with gusto.
After intermission and a long thank you to the many sponsors from the theater company’s Creative Director and Executive Director, who were dressed up like Sonny and Cher respectively, we were treated to songs from the 70s, again including some TV theme show songs, such as the Brady Bunch, and highlighting lots of women singers such as Gloria Gaynor and Donna Summer. The last part of the show was 80s music, the music that we knew the best, unfortunately it was the weakest part of the show. It seemed like the producers ran out of steam when they got to creating the end of the second act. Overall, though we had a fantastic time enjoying a beautiful evening outdoors, including a gorgeous full moon, singing along to many, many of the songs.
We laughed on the way home at the fact that most of the entertainers were probably not even born until the 90s!