Sunday, January 19, 2025
Did you know the Andrews Sisters were from Minneapolis? I did not. It is very interesting to me that I didn’t know, because MN is usually very proud of their native sons and daughters and let everyone know as often as possible. The show we went to at the Phipps today was entitled The Andrews Sisters, but they mixed it up a bit by including several Judy Garland tunes. Did you know Judy Garland is from Minnesota? I do not think you can live here without knowing that. A pair of ruby slippers Judy wore in the Wizard of Oz were stolen twenty years ago from the museum in Grand Rapids, MN, her hometown. They found the slippers and the guy that took them (after he found out they were not really rubies, he stashed them in a trailer next to his house) a few years ago. The slippers had been returned to the original guy who loaned them to the museum and that guy was putting them up for auction. The state earmarked $100,000 to go toward bidding on the slippers, and the museum has been busy raising more money. I didn’t think it was a good idea. $100,000 seems like a lot for a pair of shoes in relation to how much a tiny Judy Garland museum in MN must bring in and even cost to run for a year. The auction happened and the shoes sold for a total of $32.5 million dollars. That just is a lot of money for a pair of shoes. I wonder what the little museum will do with the money they raised. I wonder where Grand Rapids is. Maybe we should go there.
Anyway, the show was good – the singers were good and the band was good and the arrangements were good. Win.
As we walked into the theater, on the opposite side from where we usually sit (why? we don’t know. It was very odd), Carla called my name. She goes to the Phipps often. We go to the Phipps often. We have never gone to the same show before. I was so glad she saw us walk in – I guess that is why we had seats on the wrong side.
