LIVE FROM JACKSONVILLE! with Amadeus
99.9 Gator Country morning show host Amadeus shares stories that did not make it on the air, and he takes a deeper dive into those that did make the cut. Fans of Your Hometown Morning Show will enjoy a more behind the scenes look at what goes into the making of a country radio morning show. Listen daily for this PG-13 version of the top stories making pop culture headlines, artist interviews, and much , much more.
LIVE FROM JACKSONVILLE! with Amadeus
Spotlight on Jacksonville Entertainment: The McCartney Years and Alhambra Theatre Insider Tales
Jacksonville's vibrant entertainment scene comes alive as we explore two of the city's most fascinating live experiences. At the heart of our journey is an exclusive conversation with Yuri Pool, the visionary behind The McCartney Years – the longest-running Paul McCartney tribute production in the world. For 17 years, Poole has meticulously recreated McCartney's 1970s concert experience down to the original instruments, microphone placements, and stage design.
Hear why Yuri says "Everything that you see in our show is not a coincidence." This extraordinary dedication creates an immersive time capsule that transports audiences back to the 1970s before they even take their seats. Even more remarkable are the personal connections between Poole's wife and Linda McCartney, and with Paul and Linda's first baby.
The podcast also features Craig Smith, owner of Jacksonville's historic Alhambra Theatre and Dining, now entering its 59th year. Smith shares fascinating stories from the venue's past, and hid behind-the-scenes anecdotes offer charming glimpses into theatrical history. Looking forward, Smith previews an impressive 2023 season featuring shows from "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" to "Come From Away" and the interactive "Mystery of Edwin Drood," where audiences vote on the ending.
Whether you're drawn to McCartney's timeless music or Broadway classics, Jacksonville's entertainment calendar offers remarkable experiences that blend nostalgia with fresh energy. As Smith perfectly puts it, "We're not in the theater business; we're in the business of memory." Don't miss your chance to create unforgettable memories at these extraordinary performances – tickets for many shows are selling quickly!
Welcome to another episode of Live from Jacksonville. It has been a busy, busy couple of weeks for me. With the Clay Keone Fair in town, I got to go down to Universal and check out the new Epic Universe, which is amazing. Also, the Jumbo Shrimp and concerts are back in season. Let's talk about what's coming up over the next couple of weeks. At Vice Star Veterans Memorial Arena, kane Brown will be here on Friday April 25th and American Idol Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino will be at the arena on Saturday April 26th.
Speaker 1:The St Augustine Amphitheater has Warren Zyders on Saturday April 19th, travis Tritt on Thursday April 24th and Wilco on Wednesday April 30th. Theampcom is their website for tickets. Coming to the Florida Theater Moody Blues singer Justin Hayward on Monday April 21st. America will be there on Wednesday April 23rd, the Donna Summer Experience on Thursday April 24th and Amos Lee Sunday April 27th. Now this Wednesday there's a really great show coming to the Florida Theater called the McCartney Years. It is the ultimate tribute to Paul McCartney and I got a chance to talk with Uri Poole, the guy behind this band and tour.
Speaker 2:I think we're a pretty okay, band, you know Well from all the video that I saw, you're a little better than a pretty okay band. Well, I'll just say I'm okay and then the rest is up for people to decide what they like about it, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I did read that you had got a guitar at a very young age and started really getting into the Beatles. But John Lennon at first, right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was definitely John that got me into the Beatles at first, but really I mean it was because I just thought that the word rhythm sounded really cool. Really I mean it was because I just thought that word rhythm sounded really cool. And you know, on the early albums they were prints, you know what they were playing on the tracks or on the record and next to John it said rhythm guitar player and I thought that sounded really cool. So I was like, yeah, that's what I want to be.
Speaker 1:I kind of came to the Beatles a little late. When I was younger I was more into kind of R&B music, but then I worked at a record store from the time I was 18 until I was about 25, and I really got an education not just on the Beatles but also Wings in particular, who I fell in love with.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for me, I mean, I kind of progressed from, you know, obviously, John getting me into the Beatles and then, you know, eventually into Paul. And then, you know, I performed in a bunch of Beatles productions back in England because I'm originally from Europe. So you know I spent a lot of time there in my early years when I started making music and, you know, eventually took it across the ocean. But I've always been a big fan of Paul McCartney's solo career and you know more particularly Wings, you know, because I felt like that was a real band, you know, and they were pumping out a lot of records in the 70s and, yeah, just really great music. And obviously you know our show. You know there's still a wink to the Beatles, as much as Paul did in the 70s during his tours. So in that respect it's authentic in many ways.
Speaker 1:It's really cool, though, just like Wings, your wife performs with you kind of as the Linda McCartney character.
Speaker 2:Yeah, not only that she shares the same birthday as Linda McCartney September 24th and not to get on top of that, but our first child was actually born hours apart from when Paul and Linda had their first child. Wow, Our daughter was born on August 27, and they had their first child August 28. So next level dedication, you know.
Speaker 1:Yeah, there's a lot of connection there, no doubt about it. Do you have certain songs that you really like playing live, or are they all like your favorites at the same time?
Speaker 2:I mean that kind of depends. I guess, you know, it depends on the day, the mood. I mean, obviously, every song that we play, we play, you know, as authentically as we can, you know. But I mean, if I'm going to have to say a song, I would say it probably Call Me Back Again, which is a great song because it kind of like it really shows off McCartney's voice and it's such a deep song. It's maybe not one of the more popular ones.
Speaker 2:You know that he wrote like Live and Let Die or Band on the Run, even though it's not really a deep cut personally speaking. But you know, the song really just sort of like amplifies everything that he is and the way we perform it. We perform it in much of the same way that he did during the 70s during his live tours. So it sort of pays tribute to him as a singer but also a performer, and that really sort of like encompasses our entire show.
Speaker 2:The McCartneyers is a show that not only pays tribute to McCartney as a singer and songwriter but also as a performer, which is something that we can do in a very authentic way, as opposed to, perhaps you know, a Beatles act, because, as you know, the Beatles stopped touring after 1966. So all these bands have to sort of like come up with a scenario in which the Beatles perform these songs live in order to perform them right. That's something that we don't do and don't have to do. You know, we just look at what McCartney did during the 1970s and we perform it note for note, in exactly the same way that he did it. So, you know, I'd like to say that the McCartneyers is a very authentic show that pays tribute to McCartney as a whole, as a singer, a songwriter, as a performer, and sort of gives the audience a real good idea of what it was like to see McCartney in the 1970s, you know, playing all those songs that he was doing at the time.
Speaker 1:So authentic, in fact, that you guys use instruments the same make and model as the ones that Paul's band used back in the 70s, right, yeah, you know, everything that you see in our show is not a coincidence, and with that I mean everything.
Speaker 2:It's that I've spent the last 17 years when I started the band and, by the way, we are the longest running production of Paul McCartney's music in the world today but I've spent that time really researching everything that they toured with.
Speaker 2:So, even if you look at the microphones and even the microphone stands, and even the positions of where these are placed across the stage and how the amplifiers are being amplified with or picked up with the microphones, and how everything is wired on stage, we're doing it in much of the same way that they did in the 1970s in order to really just sort of put extra credence to the authenticity of our show. And, yes, we have many of the original instruments that they toured with. One of the instruments that is probably one of the rarer ones is that of a double neck Ibanez guitar that my Denny Lane, as I will call him, hayden wonderful guy performs, and some other instruments. You know some of the keyboards. We hardly use any digital instruments. Everything is analog and in much of the same way that they did, and I think that's why we're in such good shape, because everything is so heavy.
Speaker 2:And we have to set it up and tear it down every night.
Speaker 1:And I know from being a music lover and I'm a massive concert goer it makes all the difference to hear those instruments versus, like you said, the digital stuff.
Speaker 2:Well, you know the thing is, at the end of the day, people want to come for more than just the music, because if it was just about the music they could have put on the record, you know at home, right? So you know, our job really as performers, and especially performing as music, is to give everything you know, to not only perform the music but to give the audience everything, the entire experience, to visualize the instruments that they were playing on. But not only that. We have all the original staging as well. I actually rebuilt Paul McCartney's entire set that they toured with in the 1970s to its original specifications, working very closely with some of the people that worked for and with McCartney during that time, some of the crew and whatnot and technicians.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, people really get immersed into the 1970s. The moment you walk into the theater is even before the show starts. You sort of get immersed into this like arena-like 1970s experience. You know, from the moment the doors open really, to the moments you walk out of the theater, and that's what we want to do. But I think you know, as musicians and artists, and especially as musicians performing the music of Paul McCartney, who undoubtedly is one of the most successful singer-songwriters, performers of our time is that you have to do it right, you know, you just want to put in the entire package, everything in it, and that's why I spent my last 17 years working on and I still am, you know Like I mean, there isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about some other stuff that I want to add to the show, because that's just part of what we do, you know.
Speaker 1:Yuri, I've been going to concerts since I was 18. That was 40 years ago, I hate to admit that, and I've seen just about everyone I've ever wanted to see live, except Paul McCartney, and he was actually in Jacksonville for the Super Bowl when it was here, but I wasn't able to get tickets.
Speaker 2:So I'm looking forward to seeing this show because I feel like I'm going to be like checking something off my bucket list seeing your show. No, absolutely, and I'm going to tell you right now you're going to have a wonderful time and, yeah, obviously we would love to hear from you if you thought it was better than just okay, you know, to hear from you.
Speaker 1:And I know from the videos that I've seen it's going to be. I'm so excited. I read somewhere that you love that. You know all generations come to this show and I was reminded I once saw Kiss and there was like a granddad and his grandkids and they were all in the Kiss makeup and I love that families can go to these shows and experience the same music in a different way together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, absolutely.
Speaker 2:In a different way together. Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean we even see it on, like when we post stuff on various platforms. We see a young generation, a new generation, sort of getting caught by the music really much in the same way that I was, because I mean I was born after the Beatles.
Speaker 2:I was born after Wings. I mean, I didn't know about any of Wings until the later years, you know, and I didn't know about the Beatles until my father pulled out the records, you know. So it's great to see yet a new generation sort of, you know, get touched by that music all over again in much of the same way that I did. And I understand, you know, and I'm totally like, I totally support that, and I love seeing younger kids at our shows. And a lot of these kids obviously only have seen or only have heard the music from the radio or, you know, online and perhaps you know video snippets left and right. So it's great for them to sort of experience how it was like back in the 70s seeing a band performing that live, the way it was done back then, you know. So it sort of gives them, you know, the feeling that they have experienced something from that era.
Speaker 1:I made a list of my top five songs that I hope to hear at the McCartney Year Show. Can I run them by you? All right, I hear all about it Because I love the Paul McCartney and Linda Love story. Silly Love Songs is at the top of my list.
Speaker 2:Yeah, we might just do that.
Speaker 1:To me, live and Let Die is one of the greatest songs ever and I feel like every time I hear Bohemian Rhapsody, I feel like they should acknowledge Live and Let Die, because without that they wouldn't have the other.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and the great thing about that song really was that obviously it was written, you know, for the Bond movie at the time. And they just casually asked Paul, like hey, we have this movie and it's called Live and Let Die, if you were on the right to song, and then you know he just wrote a song to the title, which is just very impressive. It's certainly one of my favorites and if you look at the way we're performing it, I won't say anything about it, you're just going to have to see it.
Speaker 1:Okay, Number three on my list is Maybe I'm Amazed going back to that whole love story. That song almost brings me to tears.
Speaker 2:Yeah, great song. And actually that song was meant for Abbey Road, it wasn't meant for McCartney One. Mccartney started writing that around the time that they were recording Abbey Road. But obviously you know, now we know the Beatles were no longer collaborating after Abbey Road anymore, so ended up on on his first album. I think it's a great, great song and again, you know, vocally and musically it's just, it's just all, paul mccartney.
Speaker 1:All right, the last two on my list are with a little luck and listen to what the man said. I'd love listen to what the man said. I think it's one of the most underappreciated songs.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, the fun thing about that song is that he performed it in two different ways. There's the album version of it, which is, you know, obviously you can hear it was recorded in the studio, which is the live version that he did for Wings of America in 76. And honestly, I so much prefer that because it swings, you know, like it really swings, the live version and obviously because we pay homage to McCartney's live touring years, people will get to enjoy that version. Love it, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, I can't wait to hear all those songs and more, and get a little more education on Paul and Wings. The McCartney Years is coming to the Florida Theater on Wednesday, April 16th. Tickets are available at thefloridatheatercom. Yuri Poole. Thank you so much for your time today.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, you're quite welcome. And hey, if people want to know what it's like to be with the band on the run, they should definitely follow us, the McCartney Years, on Facebook. They can find us on Instagram as well, and even TikTok, you know we post little videos on there. They can also go to the website themcartneyersnet for any tickets in case some of the shows that you're looking at are sold out. And yeah, we cannot wait for the concert. We're so much looking forward to coming to Florida.
Speaker 1:And we cannot wait to see you. Thank you again for your time. Immediately after my conversation with Yuri, I went to floridatheatercom and bought tickets to this show. No-transcript Now. The Alhambra Dinner Theater has been a Jacksonville institution for nearly 60 years and we're joined right now by owner Craig Smith, who I've known for several decades, as you'll hear when he came in to chat with us last week. We're joined right now by Craig Smith from Alhambra Theater and Dining. How are you? I am good. Thanks so much for having me. I feel embarrassed that I haven't asked you to be on the podcast until now and I was telling Mark who's here with you. I was focusing kind of mainly on music venues and even though the Alhambra's been here forever, it didn't cross my mind to have you guys on.
Speaker 3:So welcome Do you realize how long forever is.
Speaker 1:Well, I know that when I was in fourth grade, we went to see something. I think it was.
Speaker 3:We all went in fourth grade. We had to go to the Alhambra, yeah, and we had to go to the Nutcracker.
Speaker 1:Yes, and also we had to go to St Augustine, to the Fountain of Youth. Yes, but I remember it was something that was a Julie Andrews film. It could have been Mary Poppins.
Speaker 3:Probably Sound of music. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we were like in fourth grade I went to Mayport Elementary, so we got in the bus and went to the theater. I was like, okay, this is kind of cool.
Speaker 3:So you fourth grade? Would that have been 79? 74. So the reason I ask is the original. Okay, so growing up everybody watched Beauty and the Beast, right, the original voice of Beauty and the Beast was played by a lady named Paige O'Hare, and Beauty and the Beast came out, I think, in 1984. Either in 79 or 74, paige O'Hare was on stage at the Alhambra in Sound of Music. Wow, I wonder if I saw her.
Speaker 3:That's what I'm wondering. And went on to be the voice of Belle. That's amazing. So they wrote a book on the 50 year history of the theater nine years ago, eight and a half years ago, and we had looked for her then and she was an artist in Vegas doing really well.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. So the theater opened. I believe was it 67? 65. 65, the year I was born. Yes, so, yeah. So by the time I was there, like in fourth grade, I was only like nine or 10 years old.
Speaker 3:It actually opened December 15th. Yeah, 67. You're right, 65, they started construction, or started the idea of wanting to do it. What's so funny is there's a picture in a field that's on the wall in July of 67. They moved in December 15th. So imagine building that building and moving in from July to December.
Speaker 1:Couldn't do that Today, to take that long just to get the permit. I was about to say the same thing.
Speaker 3:Oh my gosh. So it's so amazing. But he had the idea. Ted Johnson had the idea in 65, met a guy named Leon Simon out of North Carolina who was in the tuxedo business, and he and Ted Johnson partnered up and they built it in 67, and it's been blowing and going ever since.
Speaker 1:You mentioned Paige. Are there any other names that you can think of? That, at the time where nobody may went on to be who you, know, and I won't remember his name, the guy who created Will Grace. Oh, okay, wow.
Speaker 3:He was at the Alhambra in the mid-70s doing stage shows when he got the call to go to Hollywood and do his first sitcom. Just one episode.
Speaker 1:Like a pilot.
Speaker 3:Yep, but that's what got him to Hollywood. That's amazing. And he went on. Later in life he created Will and Grace, so that's a pretty big name. Heck yeah, that's huge. How Dinner Theater came into being was you know, prior to Alan Alda and MASH. When your show ended, your paycheck ended. Right, it didn't go on.
Speaker 1:There were no royalties back then.
Speaker 3:And Alan Alda's really the guy who kind of changed all that. And so Dinner Theater they called it the Dinner Theater Circuit and there were a couple hundred of them around the country. They would write a show for you, for mickey rooney, and it would kind of be your thing, and you would travel around to these 175 dinner theaters and do the same show on the circuit. Okay, if you were morgan fairchild, you had your show. Morgan fairchild had been here. You know, obviously we had her, yeah, seven, eight years ago, but they had her here in the 70s, that's similar to what comics do.
Speaker 1:Now, that's right. Or even bands, yeah, exactly, you put together a show and you go on tour.
Speaker 3:And then you go on tour with it. But what they tell me and of course we were too young to know what they tell me is most of those shows were not the best written, but you know best written. But people came because they want to see the stars. Just like now when we do a star and we haven't had one since COVID when we do a star, what we realized is the women love to come see Loretta Swit, barbara Eden, cindy Williams. They love to come see the female stars and see how they aged out. When the boys come they're not so interested. That's funny. But the women definitely sell better than the men. No ifs, ands or buts, except for BJ Honeycutt. We did on Golden Pond with him and it was. He's a manly man's man. He is a manly man and you know who? He's married to the gal that was in three or four of the Elvis. Now her hair's multi-colored. Um, she's 85 years old and a hoot.
Speaker 1:I remember when I was at WAPE you guys had and now I'm forgetting the name the guy that played radar on mash oh, yeah, uh, oh, my god.
Speaker 3:So Jimbo Martin, who's the sweetest guy you'll ever meet in your life? We lost him to cancer four years, five years ago. Jimbo's the greatest I mean very small dem, the sweetest guy. And keep things tight and straight. And so some of the kids are backstage, they were making some noise. Jimbo comes back and gets in their tail and sends them away. You know how dare you interrupt the show and be a nuisance to the act. At that moment, gary Bergdorf, radar O'Reilly, walks off stage, sees Jumbo there and assumes it was him making the noise and tears into his behind. And so to this day, until we lost him, and we still laugh about it that Jumbo Martin got his butt chewed by Radar O'Reilly.
Speaker 1:We also had Frank Gorshin was on our show promoting the show here. That was the Riddler from Batman.
Speaker 3:That was way back and what they tell me about Frank was after the shows. Obviously this is before I own the place, but they said after the the book show he would come out and sit down and do a little comic shtick right, do his comedian show. And what? Uh, ham Waddell told me who was the 30-something year set designer. He did that so that he could interact with guests in the building. Okay, and then maybe find some folks to go out with to have drinks that night.
Speaker 1:I remember when he came into our studio he was very adamant that he would only talk about the show at the Alhambra, do not bring up the Riddler, or he would walk out of the studio. We were like what, we've got the Riddler in here, we can't even bring up the Riddler. But he was very adamant and none of us did.
Speaker 3:Isn't that funny?
Speaker 1:We were very respectful.
Speaker 3:You know, back then I just figured Hoyle would have done it just to be a pain in the butt.
Speaker 1:I know right, but none of us did. I think we were all just kind of nervous. We don't want to piss off anybody it was fun, though Particularly Mark Schwartz. Exactly. Yeah, our GM was the guy. Let's fast forward to today, because I was just on the website checking out what you have coming for the rest of the year and you guys are stacked.
Speaker 3:We are. We're so lucky. We had a great season. It's selling really well. We just did West Side Story. Our PR guru and my dear friend and without him I wouldn't be where I am for five or six years let's do West Side Story. Let's do West Side Story. Uh, spielberg did it. Uh, two years ago remade it. One of the one of our cast members, sky Maddox, who did Seven Brides for Seven Brothers for us the first year I own the theater. She's gone on to be a huge Broadway dance star huge and now she's doing clinics and people come to learn to dance from her. Her grandfather was in the original movie.
Speaker 2:Seven Brides for Seven.
Speaker 3:Brothers. She was one of the dancers in Steven Spielberg's West Side Story.
Speaker 1:That's so cool so he's been on me.
Speaker 3:Love it, love it, love it. You know, helpless, romantic. And so I didn't want to do it. I didn't want to do it and I said, okay, we'll do it. We opened the show 90% sold out. Wow. So, of course I get I told you so a lot, but I noticed he's not made a pick this year.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 3:So, but I'm glad we did it and people really loved it.
Speaker 1:It's funny. On the last episode of the podcast I interviewed a guy named Connor Gallagher who was a choreographer for a show coming up at the FSCG Artist Series Broadway shows and he said the one show he would never choreograph is West Side Story, because it was his favorite when he was a boy. It's what made him want to dance, and so that's such a quintessential piece yeah it's on a pedestal. It's an amazing show, beautiful. The Carole King musical is running now.
Speaker 3:So I can tell you this Again, we're same age or similar. I didn't realize how many songs Carole King touched that. I had no clue. No clue it is. The music of the show is probably the most that you'll ever see on our stage that you'll pat and sing and clap. You know so many of the movies that have been made, like you know Sister Act, it's not any of the songs that we knew or loved. So many of the shows, when they bring them to stage, they put new music to them, right, because of the rights and the pay and all that stuff. Well, obviously Carole King Beautiful is a story about her life. So to them, right, because of the rights and the pay and all that stuff. Well, obviously carol king beautiful is a story about her life.
Speaker 3:so it's the music that you know and love you're right, she wrote so many, so many, so many people and so, uh, everybody who's been to rehearsal and I normally don't go to rehearsal until uh dress rehearsal the night of, but everybody who's been has said it was amazing, the everly breath. So obviously within the show we have, all you know, little bands like the bands that she wrote music for, and so they said they're all amazing.
Speaker 1:By the way, I worked in a record store. Remember Turtles Records and Tastes yeah.
Speaker 3:I remember Turtles.
Speaker 1:All through the 80s before I got into radio. So I did, I had that education of Carole King and what she had done because I was just music is my life, and so I have seen that play before this show. And you're right, the entire thing is just a walk down memory lane, no matter what age you are, because these songs are so timeless.
Speaker 3:Quick side note. I grew up on the West side. My dad was a Navy chief. We didn't have a whole lot of money just to pee away, so I went to Turtles to listen to the music I wanted to listen to, because I couldn't spend the $8 to buy one.
Speaker 1:That was smart and I got a job. Actually, I was a manager at Publix, but I got a job part-time at Turtles so I could just buy music with my spare money. It's exactly what I did, so that Carole King musical runs through May 11th and then you have a one-night-only show. Is this sold out?
Speaker 3:the everly brothers oh yeah, everly brothers sold out within hours, then I'm not going to talk about it no, but the everly brothers experience is coming. You come to carol king and see some everly brothers songs though there you go absolutely.
Speaker 1:Uh, may 15th through june 22nd, my fair lady talk about another get married in the morning it's a good thing you just run the place.
Speaker 3:Yes, my daughter told me mary bear and I did a charity show one night. I was fred mertz, she was lucille ball. Uh, mary, if you listen to this, don't laugh too hard. Um, and so mary was amazing. I mean, she was like lucille ball, she was so perfect. I, on the other hand, my daughter, comes into me the next morning. She's 11 years old and she grabs my arm and she says daddy, you may want to stick to owning the theater and let the actors stick to the acting.
Speaker 1:I was in a Dancing with the Stars competition against her, and she came in first and I came in third and I was like urgh.
Speaker 3:Well, listen, I've seen you. You're a pretty fleet of foot yourself. I was. I can't believe you didn't win.
Speaker 1:I did the third year. I won, but it took me a while to get there. My Fair Lady, that's going to be a great show. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. June 26th through August 17th.
Speaker 3:You got to tell people Willy Wonka, willy Wonka. A lot of people are like what's Charlie? It's Willy Wonka.
Speaker 1:Yeah, but come on, timothee Chalamet really brought that character back to a younger audience yes absolutely, and is this the musical based on that movie? Yes, okay, so people should know the music yeah, again, like always.
Speaker 3:You know they, they always like to make some adjustments. But they'll love it. It's going to be so, such an immersive experience. You're going to walk into candy land and then you'll walk into a the candy factory and it'll be very immersive. You'll really feel like you're there you know what?
Speaker 1:I'm going to put a star by this one, because this is one I definitely want to see. I never saw that movie for some reason, and I'm a moviegoer, so I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 3:Only at the theater, though.
Speaker 1:Only at the theater.
Speaker 3:I used to say you're a moviegoer At the theater.
Speaker 1:Yeah, at the theater, oh yeah.
Speaker 3:I don't realize is planes were all over the globe and they had to land right all over the country. They had to land. Well, there was tons of flights on their way out of the country headed and they made them land too. And they all land in Newfoundland and I don't remember if it was 30 planes or 60 planes, but it was a lot of planes in a town that had one bar and no hotel Right. And so the community came together and literally came to the airport and started picking families up and taking them home for a slumber party.
Speaker 1:First of all, this is a cool idea for a movie, but this really happened in real life it really happened right.
Speaker 3:I mean, I could see frank gorshin fitting in great there, but that's a whole nother story um but, but, and so the story is is about the, the community, coming together, and it's just about the best in humanity. On the worst day, day of human tragedy maybe ever in our country, you had this group of folks from Newfoundland that came together and attempted to make better a thousand people's lives, or maybe it was 3,000 people's lives.
Speaker 1:Have you seen this show yet?
Speaker 3:I saw it on Broadway.
Speaker 1:On Broadway.
Speaker 3:okay, oh, yeah it's a great show, great timing, very simple set, all original music and it is spectacular.
Speaker 1:I'm really, really looking forward to that one too. Again, that's come from away August 28th through October 5th. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I'm going to admit something I have no idea what that is.
Speaker 3:Okay, you get a mulligan, because a year ago today I probably didn't either. Okay, okay, charles Dickens writing the Mystery of edwin drood, and he dies right before he ever finishes what charles dickens dies. So the show's not finished. So you remember, the last time you were at the theater was a charitable. We did something for charity, yeah, so we'll announce here on your podcast edwin drood's going to be similar. We're going to pick charities and people can come make a donation to their charity through us and, uh, you're going to get to vote on how the show ends what so the?
Speaker 3:show is never finished I've never heard of that before live band, so the band's an integral part of the show. It's live music show, which are always my favorite, and so we're excited about that and so we'll collect everybody. You know, it's almost like a clue, you know yeah that you never know how it's going to end.
Speaker 1:That's amazing. I'm stoked by that. I'm super excited about that one. All right, and you're going to round out the year with just a classic Elf, the Musical. November 20th through Christmas Eve.
Speaker 3:Okay, you ready for this? So we're sitting on April Fool's Day, right which I should have pranked you, God, I can't believe I didn't.
Speaker 1:April Fool's.
Speaker 3:Day right, which I should have pranked you. God, I can't believe I didn't You've done. Hey, should we talk about the?
Speaker 1:Super Bowl. Let's not Because we got in so much trouble for that.
Speaker 3:That was the best. If you don't remember, amadeus told the entire world the Super Bowl was not coming to Jacksonville on April Fool's Day and I thought it was the funniest thing ever done. But I remember kelly didn't think yeah, we got so much him and wayne weaver.
Speaker 1:You know what happened. Someone from jacksonville knew an nfl referee that lived in california called them at like six in the morning our time, so it must have been like three in the morning. This guy in california gets up and start calling everyone all over the country. Within an hour everyone in the country knew the super bowl was not coming to jackville. They moved it to New York. But we wouldn't back down. Actually, mark Schwartz was gone, I believe by then. Whoever our GM was came in and said you've got to stop. We're like we're not stopping.
Speaker 3:This is April Fool's Day. We're taking this to the end and it was the best. You've got to read the press release. If you've never heard the shtick, you got to read the press. Yeah, we made the espn. Oh it. They literally said the super bowl's been canceled in jackson. They're moving it to new york because it was the best.
Speaker 3:So mark a couple years ago he puts out on april fool's, maybe six, seven years ago, brad pitt was coming to be a guest star in one of our shows smart. Well, it was real smart and funny until we had to give all the money back the next day.
Speaker 1:We said April Fool's Day, nice Well, okay, so let's talk about.
Speaker 3:Elf, the musical, so real quick April 1st. Elf is 70% sold.
Speaker 1:Oh, already Wow In April.
Speaker 3:So if you listen to this, in May you might not get to see and I'm being a little facetious We'll have some, but literally you might not get to see, and I'm being a little facetious, we'll have some, but literally we're 70% sold on April Fool's Day. We've done it. This will be our third time.
Speaker 1:It's such a great show.
Speaker 3:Such a great show. The cast has been amazing both times we've done it. We're so fortunate to get the level of talent that we get here. Typically the leads we all bring in from New York or Disney. We bring a lot of kids from Disney and then we have this amazing local group that most of them were equity and now they've retired and they live here, and so real talented people that have been all over the world and been on Broadway and they happen to live in Jacksonville, florida. So we get a talent pool that very few, which is probably the reason we've been around 59 years, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's locally sourced, yeah, and and so we're very fortunate elf will be an amazing show and it'll be a sold-out show. Do you guys normally run it through christmas eve?
Speaker 3:always christmas eve is that packed.
Speaker 3:Uh, oh my gosh, 100, everything. So this year the way it worked was Christmas was Wednesday, I think it was Christmas was Wednesday. So we had two shows Saturday, two shows Sunday. We're normally dark on Monday, but when we keep them over for another week we have to pay them for the full week, right, whether they do one show or eight shows. So we go to them and say, hey, we'll, you know, we'll give you a little extra. And so we did two shows Saturday, two shows. Hey, we'll, you know, we'll give you a little extra. And so we did two shows Saturday, two shows Sunday, two shows Monday, two shows Tuesday and two shows, yeah, tuesday, tuesday, and then Wednesday was Christmas, wow. So we did eight shows in a row with no break, and everybody loved it. The kids, you know nobody, my, you know, most of them are young. Uh, unless we put Ken in a you know Becky, you will our 30 year box office. Her husband is does some shows with us and he's one of our most seasoned veteran actors and so even he could keep up.
Speaker 1:That's awesome. That is so cool. Well, now you know what's coming to the Alhambra for the rest of this year. And now you know it's April 1st when we recorded this and Elph is 70% sold out.
Speaker 3:Sold out.
Speaker 1:So get to your phone or your or your whatever, and buy some tickets. Alhambrajackscom is the uh is the website, and all the shows are there.
Speaker 3:Tickets for all of them are now available you know it's such a I I drive to work and I chuckle and I say, golly, this is what I do. It's the most fun you could ever have in your life. We're not in the theater business, we're in the business of memory, right you know, you know stephan, know Stephanie um uh Lynn from daily's place. Yeah, I don't know her well, but I know who she.
Speaker 1:I had her on recently and she said the same thing about her job. I feel the same way about my job. I don't even feel like I'm working. I left publics when I was about 30, which was work to get into this full time, and I feel like I've been on vacation since then my grandfather used to say if you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life.
Speaker 3:And I don't feel like now, yesterday, when we were renovating our new Dick's wings.
Speaker 2:I felt like I was working.
Speaker 3:But that was only a one day event.
Speaker 1:And I do have days because I'm also a promotions director where we work, work Like I was here Sunday working in my garage for six hours sweating getting things ready for spring. You have days, but for six hours sweating getting things ready for spring.
Speaker 3:You have days, but man, we're so lucky, we're so blessed, so blessed they're just beyond well.
Speaker 1:Craig, thank you so much for coming in here. I definitely want to um get with you on when, when these artists start coming to town for these shows, I'd like to have them on the podcast to talk about the show, maybe a week or so out yeah, I'd love to love to.
Speaker 3:They'd love it too. Listen, who doesn't love a microphone? Right?
Speaker 1:exactly oh and now, oh and now that you've mentioned Dick's Wings, can we let everyone know that?
Speaker 3:Yes, absolutely. The theater bought Dick's Wings at Atlantic and St John's Bluff, right across from drumroll Craig Field.
Speaker 1:Oh look, it's all tied in with another Craig All tied in right there.
Speaker 3:So we're right across. We're literally today's April Fool's Day. We started Sunday, we'll finish hopefully tomorrow, and we're doing a big renovation and it's going to be all nice and new. And the thing that I tell people they laugh we have great fried shrimp. Like, don't come get wings, come get fried shrimp and wings.
Speaker 1:Good to know they are amazing. And now we have a new place to go watch the Jags games.
Speaker 3:And now we have a new place and maybe a new home, yeah, absolutely a new place and maybe a new home, yeah absolutely, but yes, it's.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having us. We really appreciate it. Of course, I've loved watching you over the years, from a young buck and those of you remember when he used to do the CW stuff on the weekends we did one of those together forever ago and, if you can't tell it, if you've never had the chance to meet him just a wonderful guy and it's been fun to watch his career over the last 30 years.
Speaker 1:Thank you, man, I really appreciate that.
Speaker 3:I don't know about you, but I still got a lot of stuff to pay for, so let's keep going, me too.
Speaker 1:Absolutely Thanks. So much, man. Thank you, and thank you for listening. I know this was a really long show, but I had so much fun. I hope you did too. I'll be back with another episode soon to let you.