Hairspray

Having tried to attend Hairspray in NYC with no success , we settled on tickets to the play at the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts in Louisville this past Saturday Night. The play is energetic, funny, and entertaining: pretty much what it was supposed to be.It takes place in the 60's in Baltimore and is about young people wanting to be stars on the local Saturday afternoon dance show. As predicted the show has a happy ending and we had another cultural adventure under our belts. Our party spent the night at a to -be- unnamed hotel on the banks of the Ohio which like always did not disappoint us with the shabby,ugly rooms looking out onto a tarred roof and the sneak of a peek of the Ohio River Bridges. The hotel workers did their usual impecible jobs of being totally arrogant and distant from the paying guests(us).It always reminds me of why New York City or Boston can charge you $400 a night and make you keep coming back, whereas Louisville charges you $109 a day and makes you feel unwanted. I have felt more warmth from Troopers giving me tickets than the pimply faced clerks at this overrated hotel. The last time the wing that we stayed in was redecorated was about the time Lyndon Johnson was President. Oh sure they're talking about their major renovation , but even the new lobby in the East Wing is pretty amateurishly done and cheaply decorated. I know because this is partly what I do for a living. The check- in counter is cheap birch veneer with a hideous stain and applied mouldings, something I would have designed about 1978 when I first started. We wanted dessert after the play but were told the restaurant closes at 11PM. This was on a Saturday Night! We were eating dessert at 2AM at O'Neils in NYC back in December. Talk about a world apart!I guess I'm asking or expecting too much for this self-absorbed hotel that only sees glory during the week of Derby, but come on , this is 2006 and you could at least have a fake smile for your paying guests! The parking garage was empty when we checked in, aqnd empty when we checked out, and you charged us $9 for the privilege of leaving the car overnight. At least I didn't have to search for the sedan in the glaring emptiness. In conclusion, Louisville has charm, some appeal, and a wonderful cultural atmosphere. It's a shame that this over-priced, overrated hotel has not learned something about hospitality in the past forty years. Maybe next time I'll cross the river and stay at the casino in Indiana. At least I can find something to eat at 11PM.