Chanhassen Villager - Entertainment - Comments

"The Wealth of

olddog1800 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 09:45:29 -0500

"The Wealth of Nations"
I’m looking forward to seeing 42nd Street again. I saw it years ago on “The Great White Way as the theater district 42nd Street and Broadway was called. The first musical I ever saw on Broadway was “Hair”. Then Broadway was a place better known as “The Red Light District”, where many young ladies and their agents had self interests based not on selfishness but on what allowed them and others to live and flourish. Live and flourish, indeed. These girls were not greedy they had rent to pay , clothing to buy, eating and some other habits that needed monetary support. They were practicing Adams Smiths economic policies of free trade as he describes in “The Wealth of Nations”. I have enjoyed all of the shows I've attended at the Chanhassen Dinner Theater, they put on great shows. I have never had the experience that F. Adams writes about. A good dinner, wine, and pretty girls dancing have never set my mind to thinking about Adams Smiths economic policies.

Trip to ‘42nd Street’ an

FAdams — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:45:35 -0500

Trip to ‘42nd Street’
an economics lesson
By Forrest Adams
Maybe it was the merlot. Perhaps the coffee crowded out my cares. Against the canvas of a long workweek, I was one of many who witnessed the tap-dancing, full-throated cast of “42nd Street” last Friday night at the show’s public opening on the Chanhassen Dinner Theatres Main Stage.

And now I’ll tell you what I thought of it.

For the sake of full disclosure, I don’t know good directing from bad. And when it comes to the music, I’ve been told I couldn’t carry a tune in a bucket. I watched a couple shows on Broadway about a decade ago but didn’t pay much attention. I was more interested in other things. I’m not a professional critic. I’ve seen some stuff, but not enough to give me credibility.

That being the case, I know what entertains me, and 42nd Street gets the Adams endorsement. I approve of this show. I was thoroughly entertained. The cast of colorful characters danced up a storm, and they all seemed to be singing in tune. Then again, how would I know?

I quite enjoyed myself. The show was like alcohol and coffee. The singing and dancing lulled me into a fantasyland with happy endings for pure-hearted, wide-eyed youth who come into the sphere of bombastic, grisly, old power players.

But leave it to me- the somber beat reporter- to see an economics lesson in an otherwise perfectly grand musical.

Each class of person in the performance sought to fulfill their own economic self-interest, and with the specter of the Great Depression as their backdrop, that’s how they lifted up each other. By fulfilling their economic self interests, they in turn promoted the good of the group.

The dark, urban, moody setting told the story of economic woes in America during the Great Depression, and the metaphor I took away from the show was “the invisible hand,” a thought I’ll attribute to the economist Adam Smith (The Wealth of Nations). He argued that each individual that maximizes revenue for him or herself maximizes the total revenue of society as a whole. This is because the sum total of individual revenues is the revenue of society.

Our own self interest is based not on selfishness but on what allows us and others to live and flourish. Live and flourish, indeed. Enjoy the show, but for now it’s back to the beat.

See the rest in this week's edition of the newspaper.

Colfax fills in all the

eastj1 — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:59:32 -0500

Colfax fills in all the empty cracks of life....

Colfax!!!! All the way!!!

geocisme — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:27:56 -0600

Colfax!!!! All the way!!!

Are they the Lake Street

FAdams — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 09:46:07 -0600

Are they the Lake Street Boys?

The jazz/funk competition

ChanHawk — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 22:28:53 -0600

The jazz/funk competition takes place on Friday, Feb. 15 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
The Hawks compete in the Class 3A high kick/precision portion of the state meet, set for Saturday, Feb. 16.

Here's the schedule for the Hawks:
- Doors open to the public at 11:15 a.m.
- The Class 2A and 3A qualifying competition runs from 2:15 to 4:30 p.m.
- Class 2A finalists are announced at 4:45 p.m. and the Class 3A finalists are announced at 5 p.m.
- The welcome and National Anthem starts at 5:40 p.m., followed by the Class A finals and awards presentations.
- The Class 2A and 3A finals and awards presentations start at 7:15 p.m.

Tim McGovern, Chanhassen Villager Sports Editor

I think a lot of Groomsmen

molica — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 08:37:12 -0500

I think a lot of Groomsmen gifts can mean that their lucky.

Thanks! I try to make the

Leah — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 13:38:07 -0500

Thanks! I try to make the tone of narration smooth, like butter...

Wow, what a wise,

FAdams — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 13:58:23 -0500

Wow, what a wise, well-spoken narrator!