Dinner Theater - A Night to Remember

Fifty years ago - in 1961 - 

• JKF was inaugurated as President of the United States
• Gasoline was 27 cents a gallon
• Alan Shepard made the first US space flight
• Roger Maris hit 61 home runs, breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record
• The Pontiac Tempest was Motor Trend Magazine's car of the year

and

• Ricky Nelson released his hit single Hello Mary Lou, Goodbye Heart.

Fifty years ago? Say it isn't so!! 

If you were a teenager during the 50s and early 60s and wish you could relive those Happy Days - or if you regret being Born to Late to wear those cool leather jackets or pink poodle skirts - now's your time for a do over. Friday night, September 23, VernalUTAH's Indian Summer dinner theater show will present Barbara McBride-Smith in Hello Ricky Nelson, Goodbye Heart.

During her one-woman show, award-winning storyteller Barbara McBride-Smith will take theatergoers back to the 50s as she remembers cherry Cokes, bobby socks, flattops, and falling in love with teen idol Ricky Nelson. According to Barbara, the show is a nostalgic look back at the life and times of a teenage idol and his influence on the Baby Boomer generation.

"Even though rock 'n' roll was considered scandalous in the mainstream in the 1950s, that nice Nelson boy smuggled it into American living rooms and made it acceptable to parents," says McBride-Smith. "For teens like me, Ricky Nelson was a blue-eyed, sweet-voiced heartthrob who could have lived next door."

But he didn't. 

Barbara's next door neighbor was Charlie D, who - as only Barbara can tell it - teased and taunted his way into her heart and became the closest thing to a brother she ever had.

McBride-Smith has received national recognition for her performances. Entertainer, historian, preacher, and storyteller all rolled into one, it's been said she serves up sweet truth with a side of southern grit.

"Thanks to Barbara McBride-Smith, I'm a storytelling convert," said a reporter the Troy Messenger. "Her performance of the Ricky Nelson story was a walk down memory lane. I laughed and I cried but, most of all, I remembered. I think all of us who grew up in the 1950s and 60s got to go back 'home' for a little while. It was wonderful to be there!"

Barbara McBride-Smith grew up in Texas, was educated in Massachusetts, discovered the ways of the world on the Jersey shore, and finally settled down in Oklahoma. She has been a school librarian for 44 years and a seminary professor for more than 20 years. As a performing storyteller, she has entertained audiences across the U.S. and is frequently featured at the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. She is a member of the National Storytelling Circle of Excellence and a recipient of the John Henry Faulk Award for Outstanding Contributions to Storytelling.

Tickets for Friday's dinner theater show are on sale at Bitter Creek Books and Davis Food and Drug. Seating is limited. So don't wait.

And remember - poodle skirts and leather jackets optional.