Hot August Night! A Tribute to Neil Diamond Starring Dean Colley

Dean Colley, Neil Diamond impersonator

A dear friend and Oma are huge Neil Diamond fans. Therefore, a girls outing to the “Hot August Night” Neil Diamond tribute seemed perfect.

Well not really perfect. Dean Colley, the Diamond impersonator was more like “diamond in the rough.” His raspy voice failed to capture the original’s smooth yet earthy tones.

Hot August Night

Nevertheless, the evening of Diamond music, from the 60’s on, proved to invoke many favorable memories. Particularly noteworthy was the audience participation in the song “Song Sung Blue.” Additionally, historical notes, like Diamond’s involvement in the Monkee’s song, “I’m a Believer” was enlightening.

Stacey and Oma started the night with a small pizza from Urbn Pizza (203 Main St, Vista, CA 92084). This ‘Back-to-Basics’ pizzeria chain serves coal-fired pies featuring a choose-your-own gourmet toppings options; A little pricey, but well worth it.  My small Red Sauce Eggplant with Bacon pizza was delicious! Hint: a small pizza pie will satisfy two people easily.

Oma had never been to the AVO Playhouse (303 Main Street, Vista, CA 92084) before and found it very picturesque. This Quonset hut-style theater was opened in December 1948 as a neighborhood movie house.

 It was designed by architect S. Charles Lee. It was purchased by the City of Vista and elegantly restored to accommodate live performances in 1995. The seats were comfortable and accommodates an audience of 382.

Photo Credit: Stacey Kuhns