In an odd combination of fandoms, we saw Heartbreak Hotel and attended the Bristol Renaissance Faire in the same weekend. And for bonus points, I noticed that Dirk and Guido’s opening act that day included a reference to Heartbreak Hotel (as “love poetry”… before they got into the obligatory sword fighting).
We took the train downtown to see Heartbreak Hotel; I’m not a fan of driving in Chicago. It’s the prequel to Million Dollar Quartet, which we had seen (twice) at the Paramount in the fall. As could be expected from the title, it delves into the history of Elvis Presley. While we both enjoyed it, we agreed that we liked Million Dollar Quartet more, both because of the style and the songs that were played.
As I mentioned in last year’s post about Bristol, we always try to catch at least one classic and one new act. Obviously, we watched Dirk & Guido again; the Swordsmen are always a delight. This year’s new act was a The Lynx Show, swordswallower and magician with a great sense of humor. We stumbled upon it because I had seen someone walking by with frybread, and then I found the frybread booth (also new, I think), which was directly across from the show stage minutes before the show. (I first tried frybread on our big road trip in 2013; I’m hooked, but don’t really like deep frying at home.)
Somehow, I went to Faire this year without eating garlic mushrooms. I may need to go back.