Girls Night Out

I think I enjoyed one of the best ladies nights of my life last night. While the drink specials were incredibly cheap, the company I kept was spectacular. Two days ago I was invited to go see The Secretaries by one of my friends in the play. The Secretaries is a quirky play with a lot of dark humor and five very talented actresses, which is currently running at the Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT). Thursday night is “Pay What You Can” night and you can’t beat a ticket half off to a show at CPT, so I was game. The play kept my interest the whole way through, which if you know anything about me, is hard to do, and it also starred my favorite actress in Cleveland, Meg Chamberlain so my evening would have been great had it ended there.

Enter the Highland Tavern. This quaint little dive bar is located right where Cleveland and Lakewood meet, and on Thursday nights, they offer two for one drink specials for ladies night and karaoke. Last night I experienced karaoke like I never have before. Sitting at a table with the whole cast and much of the crew from the show, the five women I had just watched in a dark comedy stole another show last night with their voices. Song after song, they blew everyone away at the tavern. From Pink Floyd to Alanis Morisette to the Counting Crows and many more, they made each song extraordinary. I sat there amazed by the talent in Cleveland that too few people know about. (I also sat there thinking I can’t believe I watched American Idol last night and how watching these five women perform was better than any performance I had ever seen on that show.) For four hours, they sang song after song and I got to see two shows last night for the price of one. They were just an incredible group of women, not only vocally talented but hilarious and so supportive of one another.

If there is a point to this entry, aside from the drink specials at the Highland Tavern, it is that everyone should give themselves the opportunity to experience the local talent in Cleveland by venturing out to a theatre such as Near West or CPT or catching a show produced by the Charenton Theatre Company (shameless plug for Mindy). I have never been disappointed, which says a lot because I have a lot of trouble sitting still for longer than 15 minutes.