Cedar Point Live Entertainment 2023

https://www.cedarpoint.com/entertainment

New shows include the Summerbration! nighttime show and an updated Pep Rally.

The Palace theater and parade are conspicuously absent.

The small groups like Homegrown and Toes in the Sand Band aren't listed either, so it's possible they might still appear.

Doesn't the Palace show usually start deeper into the season?

Looks like it was the first show to start last year. The page is still up so maybe it's still planned and they just didn't link it yet. Copying and pasting it in case it gets removed.

https://www.cedarpoint.com/entertainment/lusty-lils-lil-abration

Lusty Lil's Lil-abration!
It’s a celebration of Cedar Point’s history, but done Lil’s way – it’s a Lil-abration! Music, comedy, cancan dancers and general hijinks await you at this action-packed party at the Palace Theatre.

Location: Palace Theatre

Dates & Times:

Wed - Mon
May 14 - June 9
1:30PM, 3:00PM, 4:30PM
June 10 - June 16
1:30PM, 3:00PM
June 17 - June 23
6:30PM
June 24 - Aug 14
1:00PM, 2:30PM, 4:00PM

As much as I enjoyed the parade, its earlier start time last year compressed the rest of the live entertainment schedule for the day. This year, with the parade apparently out of the picture, the showtimes are spread across the day more evenly.

I'm hopeful that Lusty Lil's will return but it is possible they took a long look at the numbers and decided not to dedicate a full cast and crew to one of the smallest indoor venues. Red Garter has considerable flow-through traffic along with food and beer sales to support a show. I can't quite remember the last time Lil's had active food service inside the theater.

In any case, it will be great to have Come See About Me return at Jack Aldrich. The show's mix of classic and contemporary is truly something special. Can't wait to see what this year's cast brings to the show!

Do they still call it "Lusty Lil's"?

I don't see it on the website, other than for the "Lil-abration" above, which looks like it's from 2014 given it references Wednesday May 14th. There's also this conversation from 2002. The sign on the building shows only "Palace Theater" on the Street View from 2011. And there's this mention of it in the context of Wild Frontier Nights in 2022, but WFN was geared toward adults. I get the impression they've been inching away from the "Lusty Lil's" branding over the years.

I will truly miss that parade. I'm glad we got to have it for two years.

The parade was a lot of fun. Hopefully Summerbration can bring some of that same energy.

As for Lusty Lil's, the name has come and gone a couple times during the early 2000s but it returned with Lusty Lil's Revue in 2014. Every year since (except 2020 when there were no Palace shows in any form) the main season show has been under the banner of "Lusty Lil's" with Wild West Revue and French Revue to Lil-abration (which was outdoors in 2021) and Rough & Rowdy Revue last season. Whistlin' Willie's Western Wake at HalloWeekends featured Lusty Lil as well.

Even if the main season show isn't a full production, I'd imagine we'll still see Wake the Dead return for HalloWeekends. It was probably as popular of a show as that venue has ever hosted.

I truly enjoyed the parade also. The floats were very creative and well liked.

No parade? Nuts. I really enjoyed the parade. I wonder what they'll do with all those cool floats?

The parade was fine, but as mentioned above, it condensed the rest of the live shows throughout the day, so that it was almost impossible to see all of them in a day. Plus, because the performers were recycled for the parade, there were less performances of each of the other shows during the day.

Last year the pep rally show only ran two times a day. It also ran so early in the day that it was often above the safe temperature for the full show. So they performed a short show. This year they have move the times back.

Speaking of the pep rally, I hope it’s an updated version of the same type of show. The show has feature some of the best choreography of any theme park show.

If this is the full schedule, however, they have definitely made budget cuts this year and cut back on the entertainment.

There doesn't seem to be any mention of Snake River Expedition on the show page. Last season it was listed along with the other live entertainment offerings. Perhaps the ride will still run but just a skipper?

Bands in Residence performers are scheduled throughout the summer at the Sand Bar by Hotel Breakers, so it appears that Toes in the Sand Band won't be coming back either.

Out of all of those, I'm really excited about summerbration. If it's an updated luminosity, SIGN ME UP. Luminosity was an awesome show, and it's a shame they had to get rid of it.

Snake River Expedition had a storyline and characters that were tied to Forbidden Frontier, so with that gone I guess it goes back to a regular old boat ride. At least there are nice new boats.

Never would have thought an attraction featuring characters offering to dig in an onion patch with guests would’ve been shut down… smh

I have seen online that the 2023 edition of Snake River Expedition is significantly trimmed down from the last two years. No more live preshow, no more interactive story or stopping for the boat to get "held up" by another performer. Admittedly, this could help capacity as the hourly capacity was ridiculously low with the way it was set up. But I also genuinely enjoyed the experience and am a little bummed it seems to have been significantly cut back this year.

The cuts aren't a surprise considering the fate of Forbidden Frontier. Hopefully the operators can still bring some personality as the season goes on.