By Roz Rogoff
About this blog: In January 2002 I started writing my own online "newspaper" titled "The San Ramon Observer." I reported on City Council meetings and other happenings in San Ramon. I tried to be objective in my coverage of meetings and events, and...
(More)About this blog: In January 2002 I started writing my own online "newspaper" titled "The San Ramon Observer." I reported on City Council meetings and other happenings in San Ramon. I tried to be objective in my coverage of meetings and events, and saved my barbs for my Commentary page. I had some political differences with the City Council at that time and particularly with the majority dubbed "The Gang of Three," by the San Ramon Valley Times. In 2003 new Council members were elected and the Council was more balanced and fiscally conservative, but I continued to write the Observer until 2009. At that point I decided I wanted to concentrate on my commentaries. So I requested a meeting with the editor and publisher of the Danville Weekly about taking over the San Ramon Observer. My timing was very apropos since the parent company, Embarcadero Media, was planning to release an online San Ramon Express that April. I was offered a "blog" under the name "San Ramon Observer" for my commentaries. I like to inform residents about what is happening in San Ramon, especially on city government and local politics. When I don't have anything to write about on those topics, I just write about anything I am doing or thinking about.
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I attended
Vicki Lawrence's show at the San Ramon Performing Arts Center last night. Just like the
show I attended last year, this one was great. Vicki received a well-deserved standing ovation from the packed house.
My friend Sally drove us because I'm not allowed to drive again yet. I still need my Doctor's permission and then I will need to retake the Driving Test. I won't drive at night any more even if I pass; so Sally drove.
Our seats were in the first row to the right of the stage. We were over pretty far to the right, with only two seats left in the row, but the view was great and Vicki covered the stage moving from one side to the other to be accessible to everyone in the audience. She's a PRO!
I don't often see female comedians. She addressed a lot of jokes to the women in the audience, like visiting the Gynecologist and dating a football player. She's been married to makeup artist Al Schultz for 42 years!
She told the story about being cast in the Carol Burnett show and played a blooper reel from the show during her change from Vicki to Mama. There was no intermission. It was a 90 minute one-woman show.
The Mama character was spun off from the Carol Burnett show into the "Mama's Family" sitcom, which was on TV from 1983 to 1990, with the last four years in syndication. I was a regular fan of that show.
Vicki was in her mid-thirties when she started playing Mama in the show in 1983. Now at 66 she's closer to being the right age for that character. Her 67th birthday is coming up in less than two weeks, but she doesn't look close to it without Mama's gray wig and frumpy dress.
Vicki recorded a couple of hit songs back in the '80's. Her biggest hit was "The Night that the Lights went Out in Georgia," which I always liked. She sang that and some other songs during the show. It was a mix of nostalgia and contemporary fun, and it is really nice to have a venue like this so close to home.
