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Alice Cooper's 'death' tour brings Clearfield alive

Alice Cooper's "Theatre of Death" tour, with its skeletons, magic tricks and outlandish costumes, captivated the stage last night at the Clearfield County Fair. Theatrics ruled the night as the rock legend appeared with on-stage guillotines, gallows and torture devices.

From beheadings and stabbings to strip teases and stranglings, Alice Cooper entertained the audience with both his vocal talent and dramatic flair. Despite a brief period of rain before the show, showers didn't dampen the spirit of his fans. It felt almost like Halloween as many fans appeared with heavily painted faces and costumes mimicking the iconic performer.

The show kicked off with some of Cooper's biggest hits like, "Eighteen" and "School's Out." During "Poison," another fan favorite, a sexy "Nurse Rozetta" injected the singer with a giant syringe on the stage. The nurse returned later, revealing black lingerie under her uniform, as Alice Cooper appeared in a wheelchair. She performed a suggestive strip tease behind a white screen, where Cooper then pretended to strangle her. With the woman's limp body draped across his lap, Cooper sang "Only Women Bleed."

The "Theatre of Death" played out throughout the show as Alice Cooper was hung in the gallows and stabbed in a torturous contraption.

After each death, he emerged onto the stage in over-the-top costumes and with oversized props.

During "Billion Dollar Baby," Cooper threw money from a sword into the crowd and also tossed out beads and necklaces from a treasure chest.

"No More Mr. Nice Guy," prompted a sing-a-long from the audience as Cooper threw his metallic baton into the audience.

After performing for nearly an hour and a half, Cooper ended the show the same way it began with a rendition of "School's Out." The encore performance featured the singer in a glittery silver top hat and tails that reflected the flashing lights of the stage.

Giant round balloons were thrown from the stage and were bounced back and forth throughout the crowd.

"That was my favorite part," said Danielle Haney of Grampian. "It was amazing!"

Ms. Haney met Alice Cooper Monday at the Eagles Ridge Golf Course and remarked that Cooper's on-stage persona was a bit different from the man she met.

"He's wild," she said. "He was very down to earth yesterday."

Christine Alexander, a long-time fan, came to Clearfield County from Bedford to see the show. She named "Frankenstein" as her favorite song, and many fans said they were disappointed that the song wasn't performed last night.

"We had lots of fun," said Jenny Lockey of Morrisdale. "It was really good."

Dan Kozak of Osceola Mills said the "School's Out" encore was his favorite part of the night. "It was great to see the original Alice Cooper."

(Originally appeared online on the Progress website, on August 5th, 2009.)