Promising, but still not sold

The newly renovated and freshly hyped Majestic Theatre had its grand opening this weekend, with headliners Mandy Moore and Ben Lee taking the stage in front of adoring fans, ironic hipsters and friends of the theatre's owners. According to the write-up given over at dane101, there are a number of promising signs and developments in the space, but also a few minor kinks yet to work out. I still have to make it over to check it out for myself, but I am glad that it sounds like they've done a good job of making a great old theatre classy again.

Still, I'd like to see some greater variety in their line-up. Mandy Moore's all well and good, but a slate full of equally "innocuous and pleasant" acts doesn't do much to inspire decent turn-outs at their shows. If they want to draw in good sized crowds, they'll have to look beyond American Idol finalists and former teen movie stars. But I wish them well, and I applaud their efforts so far to make the space more welcoming (even to the city's under-21 population!) and interesting.

In other news, word has "leaked" that another Zombie Lurch is in the offing:

The Coalition Of the Living Dead (COLD) will gather on Saturday October 20th at 2:00 pm at the state capitol in Madison Wisconsin and lurch for our rights as zombies. COLD encourages zombies and zombie supporters to come equipped with signs and slogans to make our point. We will raise our voices and we will not be ignored. We will lurch from the capitol down State Street to the Memorial Union.

And thank goodness, because the political and social climate for zombies in Madison has been growing more and more oppressive as of late. They're being given a bad name by a few, renegade zombies up at the capitol who, after 3 months, still can't agree on a state budget. Most Joe-Sixpack zombies on the street know when it's time to drop the demands for fresh, UW scientist brains delivered to their door and to instead reach a compromise that will make the living and the dead happy. God forbid the budget impasse will still be an issue come October 20, but regardless, the Lurch should shed much needed light on zombie rights.


(photo credit: Madolan)