RE: Summer 2014 Entertainment Schedule
Quality definitely wins over quantity, but a high quantity of these shows sure beats a low quantity of them. While the singing talent brought by RWS & Associates this year is almost BGW caliber, some of the show productions still aren't.
I don't understand why the park can't seem to find anything other than pop music shows (Hit List) for the Grande Bandstand on International Street, considering the diverse and elegant theme of the area. I feel like they should better take advantage of the Bandstand's location in front of the fountain, and if they must have a pop music show, leave it to the Dominion At Dusk show (Ignite the Night). Maybe they could do a show focusing on European cultures and musical styles, with a more laid back and sophisticated tone, who knows.
I think Rockin' Country is an underrated show, with great singing talent and outstanding costumes. The live band makes it less generic than your average Cedar Fair country music show, although the guitar player isn't as unique as the fiddle player he replaced.
But, I'm just going to say it, the Grove Stage is absolute crap. All the way around. Total crap. I feel very sorry for such talented performers being stuck on such a terrible stage. It's located in a low-traffic corner of the park where nobody sees it. The stage was retrofitted into an old game tent, making it look awkward and blend in with the games. It's in the middle of the widest area of asphalt in the whole park, so nobody is going to want to sit in the blaring heat on the gross asphalt to watch the show. In fact, the only place to sit and watch the show are two landscape island placed at an angle to the sides of the stage, allowing no more than maybe two families to watch, at a very awkward angle. I feel like the poor build of the stage is really hurting the show's attendance, as I often see very few people watching it despite the fact Rockin' Country is a pretty good show.
If KD busted out the landscape island next to the stage, they could double its size, allowing for better performance options and maybe even some sets (which RC is seriously lacking in). In between the two landscape islands, the could but maybe three or four rows of benches for people to sit, possibly with the shade structures BGW installed this season by the Dragon's Tale theater. This all really couldn't cost much more than maybe $10 thousand, and it would be a vast improvement, especially if the park keeps making their shows of higher and higher caliber.
Don't get me started on Karaoke Superstars, though. No... just no.
Anyway, I would say the Clown Band is a fantastic street show and I wouldn't do it any differently. It's basically perfect for the park. All Wheel Sports is similarly a perfect addition to the park, and it serves as one of their "major" shows. I think KD40 On Stage is a very well produced show for Kings Dominion, though I don't love how many modern hits are in it. although I wouldn't mind seeing a show that combined the full-fledged production of KD40 On Stage with the musical style of last year's On Broadway, since in my opinion Broadway style music is a better fit for the Kings Dominion Theatre than modern hits.
This is going to sound silly, but I think more shows could benefit from being like Charlie Brown's All Stars, the "main" show at the Peanuts Playhouse stage. As far as I can tell, this is a Cedar Fair-produced show, but it hits all the main points that should be hit for KD's shows. It's mainly a music-centered show, but it has a "plot," or just something tying the songs together in some sort of a story, like Celtic Fyre's wedding reception (in this case it's a baseball game). It also has small props and good costumes to support this. Even though it's a kids' show, it has a very solid production for something that can't cost that much. Stuff like this, if spread to the other shows, could really help solidify the park's show lineup.
I mean, at BGW, some shows are more "major" than others (London Rocks and This Is Oktoberfest aren't really on the same level, at least in terms of scale), but for the most part they're all somewhat equal in scope and scale, more or less. But at KD, they have their basic average music revue show(s) on one level, their slightly larger country show with a band on the next level, the clown band on its own little level, then the Kings Dominion Theater show (KD40 On Stage) and All Wheel Sports dominating the "larger shows" lineup. By beefing up some of the lower-level shows, hopefully KD can smooth out the uneven-ness of their show lineup. This could really help improve their overall entertainment aspect of the park, by getting rid of the average music reviews and making each show in some way a mini-production of some sort. With a few years' time, I wouldn't be surprised if this happened in some way or another, and the park starts to get back on track with what they had back in the Golden Years.
They certainly can't just jump into things and all of the sudden put up a huge, BGW-level lineup of shows all at once. For one thing, Cedar Fair, whether you like it or not, IS a ride-focused company so even though they have a higher priority than they used to, shows still take a backseat in budget to rides and other things. But, if the park keeps gradually increasing their show quality, maybe they will regain a large enough audience that wants to pay to see KD's shows that they can get back to the Golden Years entertainment level.
Don't get me wrong, I think the talent and performance quality of the shows are top-notch, and I'm really happy to see the direction KD's entertainment department is headed, since shows are essential for providing the park with more reasons to be a great all-around experience and not just a rides park. Some shows couldn't be any better than they are, and are almost BGW level. But some, could still be worked on to really make the park's entertainment offerings fantastic. They're rocking away on the right track, though, especially when recalling that this is the same park that just four years ago only had three crappy, below-average shows.
Kings Dominion is promising big things from their entertainment department in the future, and I can't wait to see how the park does with these improvements in the future. Heck, maybe if they climb up high enough, they might scare Busch Gardens into getting their entertainment act back together. Who knows what the future has in store for us with Kings Dominion.
