You have to admit that Fr. Jim is full of good ideas, and this month he has given me permission to write about one of them….so…. Spotlight
On
The St. Thomas Road Trip to see:

The Radio City Christmas Spectacular

Starring

The Rockettes

Twenty merry members of our parish family gathered in the church parking lot at 9:15 a.m. on the 12th of November. Having checked to make sure that:

• Someone had the tickets
• Everyone had a ride
• Everyone had visited the ba…..well, maybe that's too much detail All twenty clambered into five vehicles. With ignitions on, motors revved, the St. Thomas convoy was on its' way to Myrtle Beach. One mile later, we came to a sizzling halt at the railroad tracks….where most of us sat and grumbled (one of us got out and paced a bit) while a very long, wood-chip laden train rumbled its' way to West Vaco. As the last wheel rolled in front of us, we were on our way.

    A convoy is subject to prevailing conditions, and a lot depends on your position in the queue as to how well everyone can get through lights and stay in sight of the lead car. "Lane dodgers" don't make things any easier…cars not of our group dodging in and out of traffic lanes and obscuring sight of the convoy. All in all, we thought we did quite well until we discovered that Myrtle Beach has, hands-down, the worst road-signage system…..mainly that you can't see it until you are past it.. if there is any in the first place!!!
    Needless to say, we missed our turn, which led to an 'up close and personal' look at the parking lot of a rather lovely Greek Orthodox church as, a few yards later, we turned around. It was at this point that we discovered that our convoy of five cars had shrunk to two. Cars 1 & 3 were present, car 2 having stopped at a petrol station…and cars 4 & 5 having disappeared completely. Cars 1 & 3 regrouped, retraced their way to the turn and continued on their way to Ocean boulevard where car 1 turned left, and car 3 turned right. Car 3 realizing that there had been a slight communication error, 'hung a U-ie' and went the other way… where the driver of car 1 was discovered in the parking lot of the Sea Captain's House restaurant….waving his arms and grinning. Resisting the urge to run him over, car 3 parked.     Cars 1 & 3 containing half of the St. Thomas contingent, and confident that cars 2,4 & 5 couldn't be far behind us, we checked in with the restaurant staff who showed us to the Chart Room. We had time to spare so some of us looked around the room, while the rest of us walked outside to see the ocean.
    Meanwhile cars 2, 4 & 5 were having their own adventure with Myrtle Beach road signs (one quote: "When I saw the "Welcome to South Carolina" sign, I knew we had to turn around) but eventually arrived safe and sound. Although one of the waitresses had very little sympathy for first time visitors who get lost, a good lunch followed. Then, armed with directions from the same waitress announcing "I don't want any of you getting lost… again!" (& you'll be glad to hear that we did leave the sarky baggage a tip… albeit reluctantly) it was time to travel the short distance to the Palace Theatre.
    The drivers, noticing that the parking lots were already packed, dropped their riders off at the foot of the steps to the front entrance (guarded by golden lion statues), then had a long, brisk walk back to the theatre …effectively walking off their lunch-time calories.
    Inside the theatre, we found our seats…we were all together in row five, with overflow in row six. The stage was lit to reveal the gauzy curtain, painted with Christmas scenes, Currier and Ives-style.
    Overture…and our holiday treat had started. On stage came the ensemble, dancing and singing….then, the Rockettes….a very long line of lovely ladies, with long-long legs, very flat tummies, and tiny tiny bottoms….
sigh…
..so I sat up straighter, sucked-in as many fat ripples as I could, and prepared to enjoy the show…confident in the fact that I would never be one of the dancers!!
    But wait! What was this? On stage danced a very plump, pear-shaped teddy bear, dressed in a very pink tutu, jewel in its' belly-button, & carrying a wand…..well, maybe I could be a dancer after all! : (Needless to say, I kept my plump self securely in my seat.)
    The show continued on its' joyful way, with beautiful costumes and scenery. I thought that the road show might not be as spectacular as the home version, but you couldn't fault this one. The painted backdrop scenery was amazing….such as a Christmas tree so lifelike, and made more so by clever lighting. An almost 3-D effect.
    The costumes were extremely well made. For example, the aforementioned teddy bear was just one of a series of bears of all kinds, exquisitely put-together. A favourite was the Panda bears dressed in Oriental clothes.
    The Rockettes had different costumes for each scene. They danced divinely, keeping smiles on their faces at all times. Even when one suffered a barely-noticed slip during a routine, in the space of two seconds she had recovered her step in the dance.. and the smile was firmly in place. Watching them, one couldn't help wondering about the stories behind the smiles, but one thing was sure: they certainly entertained us well, and made us all happy to be there.
    I don't want to tell all about each scene as I don't want to ruin the experience for anyone else seeing it for the first time, but I have to say just a little about the living Nativity scene. It had real animals: a donkey, sheep and camels…each very well behaved and with good control (i.e. no 'potty moments' on stage)..it seemed as if we went back in time.
    The Nativity scene was simple, beautiful and very moving. It has stayed in my mind eversince, as have the words of the narrator telling the story of One Solitary Life.
    What a wonderful way to send the audience home, with minds fixed on the real Christmas spirit.If you have the chance to see it, I hope your experience was the same as ours. I think everyone had a wonderful time, and most of us are ready for the next St. Thomas road trip…
in a bus!