Tag Archives: the wiz

Oct24

A Night At The Theater OOTD Bloopers

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A Night At The Theater OOTD Bloopers

Hello everyone and welcome to the blooper reel from my Night At The Theater OOTD! Yesterday, you saw the look I created for an evening at Playhouse Square to see The Wiz. The show was absolutely wonderful, but the picture taking experience? Yeah… Not so much. Yesterday, I told you to stay tuned to find out why the amount of OOTD pictures was severely lacking and that is what we’re going to discuss today. Not until we look at these blurry yikes shots, of course! Let’s get to it:

Closing my eyes to block out the haters

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This picture cracks me up because I literally blend into the wall and rug lol

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I LOOK BLURRY!!! I MEAN… GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 😉

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My hands were clearly moving faster than the speed of light

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This is such a “duhhh” face lol

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Drawing everyone in with my seductive gaze

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Normally when Johnny and I go to a Playhouse Square show, we make a whole event of it. We’ll go out to dinner, get a drink at our favorite bar in the area, then head to the main attraction. Having this time out before we’re even at the theater gives the perfect opportunity to take pictures away from a huge crowd. And, of course, it’s so much fun! Seeing The Wiz, however, was different because Johnny and I felt like taking it easy for the day and going straight to the show.

This was totally fine with me because we were both wiped out from a long work week. However, I had forgotten how difficult it is to take pictures at Playhouse Square! It basically sucks. We arrived at the theater with about forty-five minutes to spare to hit up the bathroom, take pictures, and get drinks. Had I planned better, we would have taken pictures at any old place beforehand. But, alas, I didn’t and it was a mad dash because everyone was arriving at the theater when we were.

Taking pictures at Playhouse Square is a delicate dance. You have to stake out a spot and pray that you have thirty or so seconds without anyone walking by. Much easier said than done! Not only is it hard to take the pictures to begin with, but they never turn out good anyways. The lighting outside of the Connor Palace is so low and yellowy and it isn’t what is needed for a quality shot. Not to mention that every single picture turns out blurry AF and I’m not sure why. I was lucky to get three pics that I was somewhat happy with!

Next time Johnny and I don’t have a pre-date before the actual date of seeing a show, I know better than to think we will be able to take pictures at the theater. This was a massive, epic failure for OOTD shots. A huge win for bloopers, though! 😀

Where is your favorite place to take pictures? How early do you arrive for an event you are attending? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct23

A Night At The Theater OOTD

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A Night At The Theater OOTD

Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new OOTD here on lifewithlilred! Last weekend, Johnny and I enjoyed a fantastic evening at Playhouse Square where we saw The Wiz. Like TJMaxx, Playhouse Square is my happy place. I love attending the excellent plays and musicals that are put on and, of course, I love the fashion. Getting dressed to the nines for A Night At The Theater brings me great joy and it is such fun to see other people’s interpretation of a night out look. This is mine:

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^^^ Wondering why there are so few pictures? Find out during the blooper reel tomorrow!

Who? What? Wear?

Topper Jacket: Happily Grey, TJMaxx

Sweater Dress: Forever 21

Lace Cami Top: mittoshop, French Rooster

Snakeskin Pattern Boots: Marc Fisher, TJMaxx

Hoop Earrings: Argentino Vivo, TJMaxx

The necklace was my grandma’s ❤

A few days before attending The Wiz, I purchased my new Happily Grey topper jacket from TJMaxx and I knew that I wanted to wear it to the show. Playhouse Square is the fanciest place that Johnny and I go to and the topper jacket screams luxury to me, making it a perfect choice. The look that I styled for our date night is actually what I pictured in my head when I first tried the jacket on. I am pleased to report that it turned out exactly how I envisioned and I felt like the belle of the ball!

To start, I put on my burnt orange sweater dress from Forever 21. This dress is literally old as dirt, but I wasn’t concerned about it because I kept my jacket on all night. It was also a strategic decision to wear it. The color was just what I needed for the rich fall palette I was establishing and most importantly, it had length. While the jacket would have been fine over jeans and a top, I wanted something more than that. The sweater dress was high low, hitting at the bottom of my knees and down to my ankles and it gave the peek a boo pop I pictured underneath the jacket. (It is worth mentioning that for the sake of being warm, I did wear jeans under the dress. It was freaking freezing the night of the show! This dress was also quite low cut, but that is nothing a lace trimmed cami top can’t fix.)

Next, it was onto shoes and accessories and I had just the pair in mind. For shoes, I selected my gorgeous pair of cobalt blue snakeskin pattern heeled boots by Marc Fisher. I am so enamored with them! I love the more burnished hues of fall like the gold in the jacket and orange of the dress. However, I wanted to perk things up by adding in a jewel tone and these boots gave me that opportunity. Their length was also ideal because they hit right where the “high” portion of the sweater dress ended. This allowed for the jeans I had on to be fully covered and kept the outfit moving seamlessly from piece to piece.

Finally, it was time to wrap things up with accessories. Because a more delicate pair of earrings would have gotten lost amidst the faux fur jacket collar, I went bold with a huge pair of gold hoop earrings. These babies by Argentino Vivo are my favorite! I thought that the earrings would be enough, but the outfit felt like it was missing something. To fill the open real estate on my neck, I chose a beautiful necklace from my grandma of forest green. It tied the outfit together perfectly and added another color to my All Fall Everything palette.

I felt like a star in this OOTD and it’s always nice when an outfit I dreamed up turns out the way I wanted without making any tweaks. Johnny and I had a fabulous Night At The Theater and here’s to many more!

What is the fanciest place that you go to? Do you go to the theater often? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Oct18

The Wiz At Playhouse Square Review

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The Wiz At Playhouse Square Review

Hello! This past Saturday, Johnny and I spent a rousing evening at Playhouse Square to see The Wiz. Nothing pleases me more than a night out at one of my favorite places with my favorite guy! I admit that I have never seen The Wizard of Oz in its entirety or have seen The Wiz. However, I knew the story line and a few songs from The Wiz and with a plot and music that fun, it was sure to be a great show. And, it was. The Wiz was a celebration of Black excellence from start to finish and I am so thankful for the opportunity to have seen it! Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss:

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^^^ Lol, Johnny had way more fun than these pictures lead you to believe! 😀

We all know the basic plot of The Wizard of Oz and The Wiz stayed true to this. Dorothy gets swept away to the land of Oz after a tornado hits her Kansas home. To return back to the life she knew and her beloved Aunt Em, she must travel to the Emerald City to meet The Wiz. Along the way, she meets new friends that could also use some help from The Wiz. A scarecrow who needs a brain, a tinman who needs a heart, and a lion who needs some courage. The quartet makes their way to the Emerald City together, but must be wary of the Wicked Witch who wants to foil their plans. During their journey, the foursome learns that what they wanted can be found within themselves – they just need to know where to look!

The cast of The Wiz was absolutely divine and there was no weak link to be found. Nichelle Lewis was stunning as Dorothy and her voice was pure magic. Dorothy was spunky and brave and it was impossible to look away from her. And when she sang those high notes? Wow! It was such a joy to see Dorothy’s interactions with her newfound friends and they all worked together so beautifully. Avery Wilson as the Scarecrow, Phillip Johnson Richardson as the Tinman, and Kyle Ramar Freeman as the Lion were perfectly cast and their physicality as the characters were sublime. When the foursome was all together, it was like watching a movie come to life onstage and it was so neat to see the real deal happening before my eyes.

Of course, a shout out needs to be given to Melody A. Betts who played Aunt Em and Evillene. She was so lovely as sweet Aunt Em who took Dorothy in after her parents passed and a force to be reckoned with as Evillene. Her song as Evillene “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News” was mine and Johnny’s favorite from the entire show. Deborah Cox as Glinda also gave a very strong performance and her glittering gowns were everything. She blew us away during her number “He’s The Wiz”.

The Wiz featured a very creative set with moving parts and huge projections set on a screen. Rather than a different set for each location, they used the images and lighting to bring the space to life. The woods had a projection of the woods, the poppy field was a projection of a field of poppies and… you get the point! I thought that this was such a good idea for the set of The Wiz because it’s a play about a journey. The location of the characters changed frequently and using images instead of full set changes helped keep the show moving along seamlessly.

Finally, let’s talk about some of my favorite songs! The soundtrack of The Wiz is rooted in soul, gospel, and R&B and it was jam packed with bangers. From upbeat to ballads, the hits just kept on coming with The Wiz. As I mentioned before, our favorite number was “Don’t Nobody Bring Me No Bad News” which was a gorgeous tip of the cap to Aretha Franklin. “You Can’t Win” sung by the Scarecrow gave us all of the James Brown vibes and we loved the Tinman’s smooth rendition of “Slide Some Oil To Me”. Every actor brought their own special flavor to each song and paid homage to the greats. Don’t even get me started on the dance numbers which tied the show together perfectly. “The Emerald City” dance which began Act II was fabulous!

If The Wiz is coming to your neck of the woods, then I cannot recommend seeing it enough. It was a celebration, it was a joy, and it is not one that should be missed. You will love it!!

What is your favorite song from The Wiz? What is the last musical you have seen? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah