One Night In Chelsea: Chelsea is one city west of my home of Dexter, which is in turn one city west of Ann Arbor. Whereas Dexter is essentially a rural town making a graceful transition to a bedroom community for Ann Arbor, Chelsea has chosen to take a more stylish and trendy path. There are two truly exceptional things that Chelsea has going for it. One is The Common Grill, which is quite probably the best restaurant in the world. The name comes from the founder and head chef Craig Common, and specializing in fish but with more varied menu, I would put the food up against any place in the world. In the couple dozen times I've been there the service has always been swift and professional. Reasonably priced. Astounding fresh-cooked bread with every meal. If I have any criticism at all, it's that the beer list could benefit from a little imagination. If you are within 100 miles or so of Chelsea, it's worth the trip.
The other thing Chelsea has is The Purple Rose Theatre. Founded by Jeff Daniels and named for Woody Allen's Purple Rose of Cairo, in which he starred. The other night I went there for the first time ever. The name of the play was Months on End. At this point you are expecting me to trash it. I won't. It was a lighthearted romantic comedy with the usual themes - love, loss, infidelity, marriage, divorce, death. There were some slow moments and some funny moments. I'd be remiss if I didn't point that was also a bit of Deus Ex Machina, too. There were twelve vignettes representing the months of the year, but sometimes it was as if that theme was all that was binding the otherwise somewhat disjunct scenes -- there I go again. I'll stop now except to say that it was very well acted and enjoyable.
What stands out about the Purple Rose that you are right on top of the action. It is a small and exceedingly intimate venue. If you are in the first row the actors are often within arms reach. I would think that would be somewhat unnerving to the actors, but it certainly gets you feeling involved.
I do hope to see more plays there in the future. And eat more at the Common Grill. Lucky it's all only fifteen minutes away.
