This weekend is all about Hair Spray, as the award winning musical returns to the Civic Center for three nights. The people of Des Moines will be swept away to 1960s Baltimore in this smash hit musical, piled bouffant-high with laughter and romance – and enough deliriously tuneful songs to fill a nonstop platter party.

If you missed it the last time it was here, make sure you check it out this time! It has a great story line, set in 1962—the ’50s are out and change is in the air. Baltimore’s Tracy Turnblad, a big girl with big hair and an even bigger heart, has only one passion—to dance. She wins a spot on the local TV dance program, “The Corny Collins Show” and, overnight, is transformed from outsider to irrepressible teen celebrity. But can a plus-size trendsetter in dance and fashion vanquish the program’s reigning princess, win the heart of heartthrob Link Larkin, and integrate a television show without denting her ‘do? Only in HAIRSPRAY! Welcome to the ’60s!

This got me wondering what life was like in Des Moines in the 1960′s. So doing a simple Google search, here’s what I found:

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Entertainment | History

Living downtown has it’s perks! One of them being that you are just a few blocks away from a night out on the town, Broadway Style. Don’t Google “Broadway Avenue” though on Google Maps, because Broadway Avenue in Des Moines is no where even near downtown, our very on “Broadway” is at the corner of Walnut and 3rd Street in the heart of downtown.

The Civic Center is the performing home of the Des Moines Symphony, Drama Workshop, Stage West, and the Civic Music Association. The Civic Center has also been host to major Broadway touring companies, performers and groups since it’s opening. Since I don’t get to New York City that often, I enjoy the Broadway shows right here in my neighborhood. 

This week I’m looking forward to the opening of Legally Blonde. I loved the movie and can’t wait to se the new smash hit musical. If you for some chance never saw the movie, Legally Blonde follows sorority star Elle Woods, an underestimated blonde who doesn’t take “no” for an answer.  When her boyfriend dumps her for someone more “serious,” Elle puts down the credit card, hits the books, and sets out to go where no Delta Nu has gone before: Harvard Law. Along the way, Elle proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style.

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Posted under Living Downtown
Tags: Entertainment