Thriller 2019

It has been a long and stressful week so I was really happy to be able to relax and attend Odyssey Dance Theatre's production of Thriller last night.  This Halloween themed dance extravaganza is one of my favorite traditions and I look forward to it all year.  Sometimes I think that maybe I don't need to see it every year because I've seen it so many times but, as I sit in the audience anticipating each dance, I know that I would feel really sad if I missed it.  It seems like everyone in the audience feels the same way that I do because they cheered out loud at the beginning of all the old favorites, including the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nighmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of chainsaw wielding Jasons in "Jason Jam" (an audience favorite), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number), demonic dolls in "Chucky-Rama," and acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys."  It is always really fun to see subtle differences in the choreography or in the staging year after year and I love seeing returning members of the company.  This year there were also some new dances including a dance-off between dinosaurs in "Dino Dance," demonic possession in "Annabelle of the Ball," a tap dancer at odds with himself in "Jekyll & Hyde," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  For the past several years there have also been performances by the artists of Aeris Aerial Arts in between the dance numbers.  They were all spectacular but my favorites were "Full Moon," with seven aerialists performing on a spinning globe, and "Phantom of the Opera," with two aerialists performing as the Phantom and Christine Daae on silks.  I really don't know how they can make their bodies do what they do!  I had so much fun last night and I highly recommend getting a ticket to one of the few remaining shows (go here).  Whether you have never seen the show before or whether you go every year like me, you are sure to be impressed by the talented dancers of ODT!