Last night I had so much fun at Odyssey Dance Theatre's Halloween-themed dance extravaganza Thriller. It is one my favorite Halloween traditions and, even though most of the dances are the same every year, I eagerly anticipate every one of them. My favorites include a group of the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller" (I love this because it incorporates the choreography from Michael Jackson's iconic music video), a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas at their first dance recital in "Miss Alli's Nightmare" (I love the one that slowly removes his costume and the once that sits down and refuses to dance), a Pas de Deux that goes horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein" (I love the inclusion of Gene Wilder's overwrought monologue about giving his creation life from Young Frankenstein), tap dancing skeletons that glow in the dark in "Dem Bones," a trio of serial killers who wield a variety of weapons in "Jason Jam" (this is a huge crowd favorite and they seemed even more deranged because they chased a victim through the aisles), scarecrows that terrorize a group of teens in a cornfield in "Children of the Corn" (I love that the cheerleaders' uniforms are from a different school every year), a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (this is my favorite number), demonic dolls that come to life in "Chucky-Rama" (this features a different youth cast from various dance schools around the valley every night and they are always fantastic), acrobatic vampires stalking an unsuspecting victim in "Lost Boys," and an elaborate costume parade in "Trick or Treat" (my favorite was the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man). There were also a few new dances and my favorite was a sexy tango in "Gomez & Morticia" (this was especially fun after seeing The Addams Family earlier in the week). I was happy that Bubbles the Clown once again appeared in between numbers because he is hilarious (I was equally happy that Giggle Girl did not appear this year) and I laughed out loud at a new short film by Scott Winn featuring a dance-off between the wizards from Harry Potter and the vampires from Twilight judged by Gandalf ("You shall not dance!"). There was a large and enthusiastic crowd (it was at the Grand Theatre once again) and I loved cheering along with them for every number! I highly recommend this for some Halloween fun (go here for tickets) but act quickly because there were very few empty seats last night. It runs at the Grand Theatre through October 25 and at Tuacahn from October 28-November 1.
Note: Every year I try to avoid eye contact with the undead who roam the aisles before the show but this did not save me last night because one of them kept sneaking up on me to hiss at me (at one point I jumped a mile out of my seat which made her laugh). It turns out I was sitting next to her parents.
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