Here is our Review of the Three Crows Theatre production of "The Danish Play" by Sonny Mills, directed by our mom, Kirstin Franklin, and featuring our step dad, Dolph Paulsen. This is our first review without any adult supervision or editing.
Gunnar Goes...
Gunnar started reviewing plays when he was 4 years old. He's been doing this here ever since. His mom used to type for him, now he does it all on his own. Gunnar is currently in 7th Grade and 13 years old.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
Saturday, February 24, 2024
to see BILLY ELLIOT
We reviewed Paramount's current production of Billy Elliot. Check it out:
Friday, November 24, 2023
to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
Gunnar Reviews Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Paramount Theatre with his sister, Margot, from Margot Muses.
Sunday, April 30, 2023
to see SCHOOL OF ROCK at Paramount
My sister and I are trying a new format and sharing the reviewing responsibility on a VLOG. Please comment to let us know if you like hearing our voices and seeing our faces.
Go see SCHOOL OF ROCK! Playing now through June 4th. Tickets available at www.paramountaurora.com
Monday, March 27, 2023
to see The Three Penny Opera
The main character, Macheath, was played by Carl Herzog and he did an outstanding job of acting this character out. He was sly and charming and very funny, I actually thought he was Macheath because he was so good. Thomas M Shea played Mr. Peachum, and I thought he did a very good job as well! I think that he fits the character of a penny pinching dad and boss really well. This was a very good debut for him. Mrs. Peachum was played by Megan Elk and I think they did a very good job. I loved their expression and acting they clearly didn't want their daughter marrying Macheath. Chamaya Moody played Polly Peachum, and I thought she had a beautiful singing voice and good acting too. Next up is Michael Mejia, and they played Tiger Brown (aka the Commissioner) and I thought they showed a lot of mixed emotion between trying to do their job and being a friend. Lucy Brown, played by Nathe Rowbotham, was a character that I really liked, they came out of no-where and you were like, woah another lady for Macheath??? and I loved how they had a lot of emotion in Barbara song. Liz Bollar played Jenny and she set the tone for the play with the opening number, she seemed like the one who really got things done around town, great acting. I am starting to notice a pattern here that every single actor was great. (Hmmmmmmmmm why do I think this though? You'll have to see for yourselves cuz I don't like to give things away) Grant Garriker played Filch and Rev. Kimball. I thought that he was maybe the funniest actor in the show. Next is the ensemble, which includes Tyler DeLoatch, Isabel Garcia, Peter Stielstra, and Luiza Vitucci all fantastic and adding a lot of flavor to this unsavory world.
The lighting was done by Maggie Fullilove-Nugent, it was super clever, and mostly all of these antique lampshades hanging from the ceiling, and honestly, they looked really cool. Or warm. Probably mostly warm. The super skimpy costumes were basically your average victorian bri’ish outfits with lots of slits and see-through parts and they were designed by Cincy Moon. The staging was fun in such a small space...though I couldn't see everything in my seat because I'm too small.
I think this play is about mostly about how when people are poor its because all the rich people like Jeff Bezos are hogging all of the money >:( and that’s capitalism. People have to be criminals to survive and that's fine because that’s the way it is in capitalist societies. (Boooo!) I think that people around the age of 12 or older should see this because they swear a bunch so little kids shouldn't see it. I rate this play 99 pennies out of 100 because ….REALLY good play.
Bye bye fellow theater lovers
Photo Credit: Time Stop Photography
Monday, March 6, 2023
to see An Inspector Calls
The lighting was spot on because it matched what was happening in the story, for example when they were having the party, it was all rosy and it was normal, but when the inspector arrives, it's bright white because the interrogation lights come on and it's like, they need that light not only because it was kind of hard to see with the rosy light but also because it made a lot of sense because it matched the intensity of the situation. The lighting was designed by Cristopher McVicker, who also designed the set. Ok so now we will talk about the set. Who designed the set again? Oh, right, the same guy who designed the lights! The set basically was set in a nondescript room with fancy furnishings. This room also had broken stuff, like broken floors and broken trims, and broken paintings and I think this symbolizes something like how this experience will break up how things were and create the realization of certain actions that some people may or may not have done.
The father was played by Brian Zane and I liked his moooooostache. It was very good. I also thought that he was very funny. One of his lines made me laugh out loud, it was like…“A friend of mine is going on the ‘titanic’. It's UNSINKABLE!” like… ummmm, wait til he learns it’s not!!! The mom was played by Brooke Turner and I thought it was funny how through most of the play she was like “I DIDN'T DO IT I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH IT” I believed her, but also, we all knew she must have done something and so it was also funny. I also think that one of the best actors was Brielle Rivera because she was the one who understood the situation best, I felt her sad scenes and they looked very very realistic. Jordan Rich was also good. The brother was played by Jackson Purdy and I thought he did a really good job at pretending to be funny, drunk and frustrated throughout the play, it seemed very truthful. AND FINALLY THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTER….. THE INSPECTOR; Mikhail Roberts did a very good job at being an inspector because even I felt like I was being interrogated even though HE WAS TALKING TO people on the stage. I think he did a very good job at sniffing out the squad.
I believe that this play is about how we are all connected in a way and taking a deeper look at what we do and how we impact others no matter how significant it is, and all of this makes it a very meaningful play, an important play. It should make us all think…how can we do better? I think that all people over the age of 9 should go see this play. I would give this play 17 inspector hats out of 18 because I really like this play.
Bye bye for now, Gunnar
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
to see Into the Woods at Paramount
This play was written originally by JAMES LAPINE and the music and lyrics were by STEPHEN SONDHEIM and here it was directed by Jim Corti and Trent Stork and I think the direction was the magic bean that made everything work like magic :) The set by Jeffrey D Kmiec was AMAZING and I loved all of the moving parts that made for really beautiful and clean scene changes.Way to go Jeffrey! I really liked how the lighting and projections changed to fit what was happening in the story, so I think that José Santiago and Paul Deziel are true storytellers with light and imagery! There were also PUPPETS! Yes, PUPPETS! There was the main one, which was the cow Milky White, but there was also others, like the pigeons, and the golden hen, and I'M NOT FORGETTING THE HORSE OK, no one could forget the horse. All of these puppets were super good and funny to watch and I loved how they looked. Shoutout to Jesse Mooney-Bullock (the designer) and Adam Fane, the Puppeteer!
Anyway, this play was about many different characters who have to go into the woods for different reasons, but the main reason is a baker (Steven Schellhardt) and his wife (Sarah Bockel) want to find several random objects so that a witch will help them get pregnant, and the witch needs these items so that she can make a potion to no longer look like a witch. The play is very exciting and entertaining and I was completely entertained for nearly all of three hours! Friends, this play is super good. This is definitely The best play of the year so far. I give this play.... 47 beans out of 48 because this play is about beans and it was really good. I think that anyone can enjoy this play although there is talk about BLOODY MURDER but asides from that it is goooooods. So my recommendation is to see this play! If you live in Australia or somewhere far away like that...well, then book the next flight to Aurora, Illinois and get to Paramount's Into the Woods, it's that good.Until Next time, Peace Out - Gunnar
Photo Credit: Liz Lauren