Hallmark Stars Live

My wife, Jane, enjoys watching the films on the Hallmark Channel! From time to time, I will sit with her and watch a little to see exactly why many women absolutely love these films. From my point of view, they all seem very similar to each other, with a few changes here and there. I find it hard to believe that they have been doing this for 25 years, and now, several of the players are traveling the country to meet and greet with the audiences that adore them. Tonight, the Genesee in Waukegan ( the next-to-last stop on a two-week tour).

If one is to treat this as a performance, I would have to give it *****, but since this is an article, rather than a review, let me tell you about the evening. First, The Genesee is an amazing house with great seating and a decent cocktail lounge. I am not sure of the exact number of seats, but I think it is close to 2,000 and the house was probably at 90%. Of course, the audience was composed of a great number of females over males, as expected. One of the ladies sitting next to me congratulated Jane for her having a husband willing to spend 90-plus minutes in a theater filled with women who, for the most part, know almost every character of every movie shown on The Hallmark Channel.

The Host, Nikki Deloach greeted us and advised of what we might expect, and then introduced her fellow Hallmark stars, Andrew Walker, Ashley Williams, Kimberley Sustad and Paul Campbell. They came from different spots in the theater, and the audience was on its feet and clapping like crazy. The air was filled with the excitement that I anticipated we would see.

The five actors took their places on the furniture and got comfortable, removing shoes and generally kibitzing with each other and us. On the back wall, a giant TV screen that was used to show us some personal family shots as well as some actual footage from some upcoming films. We were told about the tour ( which ends tomorrow in Omaha, Nebraska) and got some personal information on each of the five actors. I am sure most of the asides were kind of ad-lib, but after being on the road together, I am sure they have learned even more about each other’s life, making it easy to jump in, unscripted, and have fun.

Audience members who came early had an opportunity to ask questions, and halfway through, Nikki read the questions and the cast members answered them. They also all went out to the audience to wish those who had a birthday ( today) a happy one. After that, they had the audience yell out answers to specific questions, so the ensemble could do a short film ( or a skit) with no script. It was both silly and funny, with the audience in stitches and the actors having a great time.

I know Jane had a ball ( as did the other almost 2,000 people in the house), calling her St. Louis bestie and letting her know how great this evening was. The Genesee Theatre, located at  203 N. Genesee is one of the beautiful restored theaters in our state. To see what they have on their schedule and to get on their mailing list, visit www.geneseetheatre.com. Based on the success of this evening, I would think that this will now become an annual event. In fact, perhaps more than one night in our area. Genesee box office 847-263-6300.