StinkyLu's sister -- hereafter referred to as StinkySis -- had her birthday last monday, but StinkyLulu and MrStinky were still on their way back from the fabulosity of Palm Springs and the glamor, spectacle and sheer entertainment thrills of The Ramona Pageant (possibly more on that in a future blog). So, because StinkyLu & MrStinky missed the carnivore delight of StinkySis' birthday dinner -- they went to one of those South American Steak-On-A-Stick places -- MrStinky & Lulu made plans to treat StinkySis to sushi the next weekend...
THEN MrStinky discovers that Charo's playing at a casino between Santa Fe & ABQ.
The only night we can go is Saturday. Luckily, StinkySis is into adding some cuchi-cuchi to her sushi. (cuchi-sushi?) Ultimately, even the sushi gets chopped from the itinerary, as the whole Stinky gang go up to Santa Fe for a pre-mother's day brunch of pie (Frito & Diabetic Cool Whip Pie, respectively). Finally, MrStinky & StinkyLu whisked StinkySis off for a bit of KMart Blue-Light Special-ing -- breathe deep, that's the glamour of FantaSe -- before dinner at the amazing/incredible/delicious & quite cute Mu Du Noodles.
(Brief side note about dinner: MrStinky had the chicken special, StinkySis had the lamb special & StinkyLu had the duck special. All were f'n incredible. MrStinky noted that the meat -- all organic, farm-raised -- is consistently good at MuDu Noodles, perhaps suggesting that -- despite the restaurant's name -- the meat dishes are the real specialty at this noodle shop. StinkyLulu's dish -- described as a duck pizza (?!?!) -- was actually just a pile of really tasty slaw with shredded duck & mushrooms atop a flatbread, the whole thing slathered in hoisin sauce. The hoisin sauce was a touch rich when allowed to soak into the flatbread, but tasty. The hilarious owner lady -- in yoga pants, bedhead & really expensive specs -- even asked StinkyLu's thoughts on the dish, apparently appreciating StinkyLu's hoisin opinions enough to skidoo back to the kitchen promising to adjust the hoisin portion. StinkySis' lamb sate was garnished with a great steamed sweet stickyrice thing, which became a pre-dessert for the whole table. The actual dessert was basil ice cream, some other fancy strange chai ice cream & rice pudding cake. Boy howdy. Tasteeeeeeeee. Stinky Thumbs Up to MuDu Noodles!)
The Stinky Gang rolled down the highway to Casino Hollywood at San Felipe Pueblo, where for some reason tickets to the shows are FREE if you sign up for their players club thing & schlep all the way out to the middle of nowhere to pick them up in person. So, rolling in to the performance venue (just a teensy upgrade from a large black box set up, stackable chair seating, this place is surely available for your next wedding reception), the Stinky Gang's got seats in the 4th row. Viva la Casino Hollywood! The crowd is definitely AARP-eligible, 95% hispanic or Indian. The Stinky Gang appear to be the only people under 40 who came to this event entirely of their own accord, without parents, grandparents or in-laws to blame.
Finally: It's Charo Time!!!
The 80minute show has three acts -- aka 3 Outfits -- with two dance breaks -- aka 2 costume changes. Act/Outfit 1 -- a red, green & black mini-gown, with bugle beads in every cranny -- was a longish comedy set, with a couple musical numbers. Yes, Charo sings & Charo dances but Charo really brings on the funny. An astonishingly skilled comedian, Charo creates a stage persona whose charming naivete is belied by her savvy (and often quite "blue") malapropisms and commentary -- "Please don't misconscrue me when I saying..." -- which play off her basic schtick of a strange girl in a stranger land. It's really an effective persona & Charo's clearly figured out how to get an audience in the palm of her hand and to her substantial bosom.
Speaking of Charo's substantial bosom:
Act/Outfit 2 (pictured above) -- a pink & white jump suit -- was a more musical set, featuring Charo actually offering her vocal stylings of such latin-flavored classics as "Fernando", "Eres Tu" & -- of course -- "Livin' La Vida Loca." Charo lived her vida loca among the audience, salsa dancing among the crowd. At one point, not far from where the Stinky gang was seated, Charo executed what can only be called "The Booby Bop" -- holding the head of a male audience member still as she bopped her bosom repeatedly into his face. (No bugle bead lacerations were visible.) After the first & extended execution of the Booby Bop, Charo made her way down the row, eyed MrStinky's clear pate. Charo winked at StinkyLu as she grabbed MrStinky's bald head and squeezed it into her boobs, before moving down the row to embrace StinkyLu & StinkySis with her breasts. Quite a memorable encounter with a quite remarkable bosom.
And then Act/Outfit3 -- a sequined tuxedo, the only undeniably circus-y outfit of the evening -- for a set of some chatter, a teensy bit of singing, but mostly Charo playing flamenco and classical guitar sets. "For many years, the cuchi-cuchi was showing me the way to the bank. But this" -- she gestured to her guitar -- "is Charo." Charo played a sizable handful of fairly familiar songs -- "Bolero" & "Malaguena" and the like -- masterfully, at once impressive and satisfying, before rounding out the evening with some requisite encores, introductions of her dancers and band (each and every one "numero uno" and "a shtar"), and sending everyone home happy. A truly excellent set, showing her expertise at the cabaret/nightclub form. So much better than StinkyLu anticipated and all that StinkyLulu could have wished for from an evening with Charo.
1 comment:
Well, allow me to crassly bypass the critical issues of performance-identity-repression-resistance-replication phenomena...and focus upon an area requiring fewer brain cells and Big Words (as is my wont): thankyouthankyouthankyou for the excruciatingly delightful image of Mr. Stinky and StinkyLu with their heads smushed into Charo's worthy boobage. Priceless.
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