Friday Night Date

Last night, Todd & I had tickets for It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play at the Riffe Center in downtown Columbus so we decided to make it a date night and go to dinner beforehand too. We went to Third & Hollywood in Grandview. Todd took me here for my birthday in May and we haven't been back since.

We started with Cheddar Herb Biscuits in a skillet which are to die for. Seriously, these things are amazing. We ordered the full order of six thinking we would take a couple home but we ended up eating them all. Don't judge us until you've tried them.

Cheddar Herb Biscuits

Close up with the garlic butter on top

Todd ordered one of the nightly specials, the mussels, and said it some of the best he'd ever had. I'm not a big fan of mussels but I had a bite and must admit that they were pretty tasty. I'm guessing it had something to do with all the butter sauce they were soaked in.

Todd's mussels

I ordered the Avocado & Chicken Caesar Salad. It had roasted chicken, corn, avocado, homemade croutons, and homemade dressing. It was different than a typical caesar salad and delicious.

My Avocado & Chicken Caesar Salad

After our meals, they gave us hot towels to wipe our hands with

We finished with dinner a little earlier than expected and headed downtown. The play was held at the Riffe Center, which is across the street from the State House. This is also a block away from where the Columbus Marathon starts so anytime I'm down here, I always think of the marathon.

State House

I had bought tickets last month for It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play and was very excited to see it. My favorite Christmas movie is It's a Wonderful Life and I was intrigued by this play. It takes place on Christmas Eve in 1946 at a radio station in Manhattan & is performed as a live radio broadcast.

Play poster outside the Riffe Center

Todd & I before the play

There were five actors that performed the dozens of characters in the radio play as well as produce the sound effects. One of the actors was the voice of George Bailey, one was the voice of Mary, and the other three did all the other voices (Clarence the Angel, Uncle Billy, Old Man Gower, etc.). Since you weren't actually watching the actors act out the play, I tended to watch them perform the sound effects, which helped create the mood and add detail to the play.

The 5 actors we saw during the performance

Two of the actors at the sound effects table (Both pictures are from The Columbus Dispatch)

Since I've seen this movie dozens of times, I absolutely loved this play since it was a twist of the original. The story line was the same but it gave you the creativity to picture in your head what was going on. Apparently, a lot of older people also enjoyed the aspect of a live radio play because Todd & I were one of the youngest people there by about 30 years or so. I highly recommend seeing this before Christmas!