to see R.U.R at City Lit

 Margot and I went to see R.U.R at City Lit last Friday. Check out our Vlog/ YouTube review here:

to see THE SECRET GARDEN

Photo Credit: Time Stops Photography

On November 17th, 2024, we went to go to see theo’s masterpiece of a production of The Secret Garden. This show was directed by Christopher Pazdernik, and was based on the book by Frances Hodgson Burnett with music and lyrics by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon. 

The Secret Garden is a play about an orphan girl named Mary Lennox (Joryhebel Ginorio) sent to live with her uncle Archibald. Her aunt, Lily, (Brennan Martinez) who passed away, had a garden, (a SECRET garden) that was beautiful in every way. Mary was told about this garden by one of the groundskeepers, Dickon (Lincoln J. Skoien). Its entrance was hidden and so was the key. Her uncle had a secret son named Colin (Kailey Azure Green) with a strong sickness. Mary finds him in a bedroom and they bond. Mary finds the key and door to the garden, which reveals a dark, gloomy and unkept garden. Mary and her friends work together to restore the garden in time for spring. 

This is a beautiful play about discovering yourself and bonding with others. There were many differences from the book and the play. They added a character named neville, (the talented Jeffrey Charles) who is Archibald’s brother. He is a villain type who wants the estate for himself after Colin dies. Another difference was there were ghosts, like Mary’s deceased family (Rachel Guth, Nicholas Ian, and Maliha Sayed) and Lily. The ghosts were very interesting because they came in suddenly in all white to sing with angelic voices. The ghosts seemed stuck in their ghostly world  especially Lily, who seemed to always be floating and never spoke, only sang (with a heavenly voice like non-other). Joryhebel Ginorio who played Mary, the star of the show, was absolutely fantastic, not only did she look incredibly young (my sister thought she was actually a kid), she was also an incredible actor, so perfect for the role! Me and Margot especially liked the part where Mary absolutely PACKS the headmistress. 

Will Koski, who played Archibald, was one of my favorites, he was incredible. My sister and I have seen Will before in Into the Woods at Paramount Theater, but he was even more fantastic in this production because he was able to display his immense range in both acting and singing, hitting notes I never expected and showing a vast array of emotions depending on the given moment. We were so happy to see another one of our favorite Paramount actors from Into the Woods and Billy Elliott, Dakota Hughes, who played Martha in this production. It really is delightful to see an actor like Dakota playing such wildly different roles in so many productions over the last two years. We particularly enjoyed getting to see them break the 4th wall in this play, and nobody could do it better than Dakota, the true Deadpool. Martha’s scene partners included a massive chunk of the audience in this performance, which made Martha a very likable and funny character. 

I want to emphasize again that this play was an absolute masterpiece (and made my mom cry a bunch). Part of what made this play so good was the scenic design by Rose Johnson. There were minimal props or set aside from the permanent wall and door surrounding the audience. The minimal design was so impressive because so little  was needed to let you know where they are without even changing a single thing about the set. This has a lot to do with incredible direction by Christopher Pazdernik, his direction made me feel like I was watching a movie and I was the camera. Theo’s theatre is very small, so the seats are intertwined on and around the stage, allowing you to truly feel like you are a part of the play. Everything pieces together like a puzzle and fits perfectly, not a single piece was missed or out of place. I felt immersed in the music, like it was a part of me and flowing inside me. All of the storm songs were so dramatic and layered.  And the duets in this musical are all showstoppers, like ‘How Could I Ever Know’ and ‘Lily’s Eyes’, and’ Come to My Garden’.  A Bit of Earth was another stand out performance for me, Will Koski’s voice is unmatched. The Secret Garden is an absolute must see. Normally I would say who should see this play, and list some groups of people, but not now. Everyone should see this play because it’s a banger. I rate The Secret Garden 10 keys into 10 doors because it’s the Best Play of the Year.

Bye bye now, Gunnar

To see The Danish Play

 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. 

to see BILLY ELLIOT

We reviewed Paramount's current production of Billy Elliot. Check it out:

 

to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

 Gunnar Reviews Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Paramount Theatre with his sister, Margot, from Margot Muses. 

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 

to see The Three Penny Opera

 On Saturday, March 25th, I went to see Theo’s production of  Kurt Weil and Bertolt Brecht’s The Three Penny Opera. This play was directed by Fred Anzevino. The play takes place in Victorian London and is about a dude named Macheath who is a criminal and gets lots of women and cheats on them every time he sees someone else. UH OH because the police are after him and he has to run away. (but lucky for him, he's friends with the commissioner and he doesn't actually want him to go to jail or be hanged.) We follow him and his gang around all his troubles and wait to see if he will ever get caught.

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

to see An Inspector Calls

  On February 24th, I went to see the FSU/Asolo Conservatory production of An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestley, and the fun thing about this play is that my MOM directed it! (I think that she did an unbelievably fantastical job so thx mom 😀 ) This play is about a family celebrating their daughter's (Brielle Rivera) engagement with a rich guy (Jordan Rich - ‘Rich?’ that's funny haha) when suddenly an inspector (Mikhail Roberts) calls and tells everyone that a girl committed suicide and he came to investigate why she killed herself.  He asks them questions and they think that they have never heard of her before but no… they all actually know her really and they have some sort of mysterious connection with this girl. 

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

An Inspector Calls Runs Tues-Sunday - March 11th

Ticket information: Asolo/Conservatory Season

Photo Credit: Frank Artura

to see Into the Woods at Paramount

 On Friday, February 10th 2023, I went to Paramount Theater in the city of Aurora to go see the opening night of INTO The WOOOOOOODS with Margot and Dolph. I walked into the theater and it was BIG. Like, REALLY BIG. A couple years ago I saw the movie and I liked it. My mom showed it to me because she was in a play of Into the Woods and she played little red riding hood and she can't stop telling us about it! Anyway I thought the movie was pretty good but then when I heard we were going to into da woooooooods PLAY with live music, my brain went “:)” and I knew it would be better because it is live and it's no CGI like in the movie which makes the play better! And then I was very right because it was a whole lot better than the movie even if I had to stay awake until midnight! 

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

To See Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol

 

On December 3rd I went to see manual cinema’s production of Christmas Carol at Writer’s Theatre. This play is different than other plays because it is mostly all puppets! And I don't mean like marionettes but I mean kind of like shadow puppets or paper puppets. This play is also different because it has a second plot along with the classic Christmas Carol storyline, which I like because it adds more to the story. I don't think I need to tell you the summary of A Christmas carol because basically EVERYONE knows the story. But in case you don't, grunt guy Ebeneezer scrooge is very mean and lacks Christmas spirit. So he gets haunted by the 3 Christmas ghosts who take him through his past, present, and future from other Christmases to help him change his ways. But the plot of the side play is that uncle joe used to do a Christmas carol puppet show every year. But then he dies during covid, so his not-very Christmasy wife (played by LaKecia Harris) has to perform it on zoom. (This takes place in 2020) Then SHE gets haunted by the ghosts and has to keep serving the puppet show while sometimes pausing to talk about her relationship with Joe. 

The puppetry design (Drew Dir) and execution for this were INSANE. I don’t even understand how they could accomplish something that fast-paced! They had to run back and forth, get timing PERFECTLY, and craziest of all, it was all done by PAPER or something like that! They accomplished a FULL ANIMATION rank here because I can't believe how perfect it was! This play was AMAZING. The people who did the puppetry were Lizi Breit, Julia Miller, and Jeffrey Paschal. Jeffrey Paschal also played the delivery guy at the end. If these puppeteers don't do this as a full-time job, I think they could be aliens from another dimension because that is AWESOME! And also, all of their music and songs were ON STAGE STUFF, instead of being recorded or something on speakers! The music and singing were done by Ben Kauffman, Emily Meyer, and Kyle Vegter. A Christmas carol has a lot of adaptations, but this version of A Christmas Carol was COMPLETELY original, having a whole new take on the Christmas ghost tale. I recommend anyone who never says “BA HUMBUG!” should see this play. I rate this play 10 ghosts out of 10 because it was just phenomenal and funny and amazing! WATCH THIS PLAY NOW AND IF IT IS NOT PLAYING RIGHT AT THIS VERY SECOND THEN BUY TICKETS NOW! I really want you to see this play.

Peace, Gunnar

Photo Credits: Liz Lauren

To See ELF the Musical at Drury Lane

 On SUNDAY the 27th of the 11th month of the year I went to see ELF THE MUSICAL at the Drury Lane theater with my mom, her partner, and my sister. Lynn Kurdziel Formato directed and choreographed this play. Buddy the Elf was played by Ben Dow who is a VERY VERY good at portraying Buddy. He was probably the BEST actor in the show. He was AMAZING!

If you don’t know the plot of the original 2003 movie, Buddy, (played by Ben Dow) crawls into Santa's (played by A.D. Weaver) bag one night and accidentally brings him back to the north pole, where the elves raise him as one of their own. When he is old enough to know better, he finally finds out he is a human and travels to New York to meet his human family (played by Sean Fortunado, Melody A Betts, and Gabriel Solis). Elves make toys at the North Pole, but you never know what kind of mischief or magic could happen in the busy city of NYC. Buddy learns how to make it snow in his dad’s office, makes Macy's a wonderland, falls in love with the Macys worker Jovie, (Lydia Burke), and has some really crappy souvlaki. In ELF THE MUSICAL, Buddy will face fruit spray and non-believers but he will never stop smiling because smiling’s his FAVORITE!

  Drury Lanes' musical adaptation added some pretty funny bits, like Santa watching NFL or Buddy saying he’s like Annie. But, I will say that they left out SO many essential parts from the movie, like the part where he goes in the women's locker room or when he goes around new york doing silly things, and PLUS, they had a big screen, so they had so much potential. They could've made the awesome snowball fight scene! They could've had buddy decorate the Gimbels, or, in this case, Macy's! The screen could have made SO many instant scene changes. Plus they left out the great part at the end where they’re trying to put the engine on while being chased by the guys on horses, bUt I dOnT sEe WhY tHaT wOuLd Be ChAlLeNgInG iN aNy WaY!!1!!1 (by the way that's called sarcasm. 😅) I thought the acting was GREAT. Each actor portrayed the character in the movie PERFECTLY and they had such great acting skills. They made it seem like it was all real and not just a play but also real life (which I guess doesn't make much sense because it IS real life but it's all acting is what I meant.). I thought the lighting was pretty OK, but it could've been better. I did like it a lot in the scenes where the characters were on the right or left sides of the stage and the light was fully everywhere, which let you look at the set more, instead of all focus being on the characters. The lighting was done by Lindsey Lyddan and Anthony Churchill. The costumes were PERFECT. So shoutout to among us Rachel Boylan and Emily Young! The music was decent, not bad at all but not THE GREATEST. I thought the songs could have used a bit of work, but some of the songs were just in general REALLY NICE. So good job to Carey Deadman, Ray Nardelli^, Matthew Skylar, and Chad Beguelin. Like I said before, they had a projector, so there wasn’t AS much of a need for a set on stage, but I kinda feel like it would've been better iF there were more on stage, because there were a lot of moments that I feel could've been better if there was more set ON STAGE. But I also think the projector was nice because it added a cartoony feel to the play, kind of like how there was a cartoony feel in the movie. 

I think this play was a 7 out of 10 elf hats, because, you know, elves? I recommend this play to people who like ELF (the movie) if they really want to see this. Because the tickets are kinda overpriced. 100 dollars a ticket? I think ELF THE MUSICAL had great potential but just wasn’t good enough to make me love it.  So yeah bye, GUNNAR

To See Clue at The Mercury Theater Chicago

Sunday I went to the Mercury Theater to see their production of CLUE. You know, the one where they find out if Colonel Mustard killed the Maid in the greenhouse with the wrench. This play called Clue is based off of the movie called Clue based off the board game called Clue and is directed by L. Walter Stearns and written by Sandy Rustin. 

CLUE brings a bunch of people together that have been invited to a creepy mansion where they find out that a dude is blackmailing them. When they find out there is a murderer in the mansion, they try to find out who it is, who they killed, where they killed them, and with what they killed them with. Yes, like the game.

That is my summary and it seems short but just buy some tickets, watch the play, and you’ll see what I mean, trust me. The cast of this play is The maid, Yvette, who is played by Tiffany T. Taylor, The butler, Wadsworth, played by Mark David Kaplan, The Cook/Singing Telegram Girl, played by Honey West, Colonel Mustard, played by Jonah D. Winston, Mrs. White, played by Mckinley Carter, Mrs. Peacock, played by Nancy Wagner, Mr. Green, played by Kelvin Roston Jr., Professor Plum, played by Andrew Jessop, Miss Scarlet, played by Erica Stephan, Mr. Boddy/Motorist/Chief Of Police, played by Patrick Byrnes, And the Cop, played by Andrew McNaughton. My favorite actor was Jonah D. Winston, because he made so many funny jokes and wasn’t even laughing! And I think it was impressive how the rest of the cast didn’t laugh as well! Also, all of the acting was so good, that it almost made me think it was real! 

I think that the costume designer, (Marquecia Jordan) really made it realistic, because the costumes matched the characters PERFECTLY! And it was SO similar to the movie! In the movie and play, they were able to PERFECTLY recreate what happened when Mrs. White walked in! It’s INCREDIBLE. Also, I should mention how efficient the set design was! (designers: Bob Knuth, Keith Ryan, and others) It could go from one room to another in, like, 2 SECONDS! I also liked how every single scene had a unique piece of lighting, (great job, Max!) There are also a bunch of people that I can't mention because this can’t be too long, like managers and sound creators, so thanks to you all! There was only 1 thing that I didn't like about it, and that was the funny music that played in the movie when Wadsworth was running around wasn’t there, but for that to be the ONLY thing I missed, that’s impressive!

I liked all the parts where they mentioned the game, like when they ask, “Who built this place?” and then the butler says, “The Parker Brothers!” and when they were using the board from the game as a map. I just basically liked any moment where there was comedy involved, (which was pretty much the whole play) because I like to laugh and make jokes!  I give this play 47 Wrenches out of 47.1 Wrenches because izza good play. I think that anyone who just wants to laugh or have a good time should see this play, because if that’s what you’re looking for, believe me, it is NOT a waste of money.

So long, Gunnar

photo credit: Liz Lauren

to see Annie Jr. at Chappell Elementary

 

On Tuesday, April 3, I went with my Mom, My Mom’s partner, and my sister to see my school production of Annie Jr. You see, I was supposed to buy tickets at school, but they were sold out. So, we still went, and waited and waited and finally people gave us free tickets. Annie, (played by Olivia Holden) is an orphan who wants to find her parents while the mean Miss Hannigan, (Massina Pettigrew) tries to stop her and steal money.

Oliver Warbucks, (played by Esai Gonzalez) a rich billionaire, and his secretary, Grace Farrell, (played by Imani Pettigrew) decide to take Annie into Mr. Warbucks’ home for Christmas. After a while, Mr. Warbucks wants to adopt Annie, but she says that she wants to find her parents. So Mr. Warbucks says that if Annie’s parents come, he will give them 50 GRAND! So Miss Hannigan, Rooster Hannigan, (played by Parker Sullivan) and Lily St. Regis, (played by Jocelyn Hayes) try to pretend to be Annie’s parents, but their evil plot gets foiled by the FBI and Oliver Warbucks. Then, Mr. Warbucks invites all the other kids at the orphanage over for Christmas, (played by Nia Gore Van Der Vort, Blaze Kujawinski, Saniyah Childs, Siena Hostetler, Alina Kujawinski, Dana Urbano, Valentina Kotvasz, Dena Page, and Isabella Shores.) Then, Miss Hannigan and her evil partners go to jail and everyone lives happily ever after.

Ted Nazerowski and Regina Wiethop both designed the set. It had 4 scene designs, the orphanage, the Mansion, outside, and the NBC radio broadcasting studio. I thought that the set design was really cool, so shoutout to Ms. Wiethop and Mr. N for deigning it!

Honestly, the best characters TO ME were Lt. Ward and UNNAMED SERVANT, both played by Zachary Bindas. Overall, I think this was an excellent production for an elementary school play. I give this play 4 and 999,999,999,999,999,999,999/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 out of 5 dogs, because there is a dog in the play named sandy. (player by Bryce reaven) 

BYE! 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

(P.S. sorry that I left that 0.0000000000000000000001/1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 of a dog out :(   )

to see EXIT STRATEGY

On March 25th, I went to see a play called EXIT STRATEGY, a play directed by Rachel Sledd Iannantuoni, and written by Ike Holter.  The show played at the Loop Player at Harold Washington College and it is DEFINITELY not for kids. On the front of the program, the summary is stated like this: The teachers of Tumbldn High School bring mousetraps from home, they make the toilet paper last, and they show up for the kids nobody else shows up for.SO when the school is slated for closure at the end of the year, and the weight of the inevitable bears down on the community, students and teachers alike discover their breaking points.

 The first scene is in Ricky, (Nick Page) the vice principal talking to Pam, (Abigail Bomher) about the school closing. Pam isn't surprised, and they get into an argument about life and school, and Pam says that the school is all she has ever had, and she loves it more than anything. She tries to teach the school anthem, and stops. She then proceeds to shoot herself.

 The next scene is based a month later, when the school is about to start, set in the teacher’s lounge. Only one teacher is in there, and that teacher is Arnold, (Marcus Saenez) the nerdy serious one. He is getting his coffee, when in walks Luce, (Alexis A. Tornez Martinez) another teacher. He is pretty funny. He kept trying to get Arnold to do a secret handshake-thing, and Arnold said no, and the second Arnold was like, “ok fine” Luce was like, “ya know what? never mind.” and that was kinda funny. And then in walks ANOTHER teacher, this teacher is Sadie, (Brittany Yvonne Stokes) and she walks in with stuff from ALDI. Yeah, there's a bunch of school stuff but also juice boxes, which is kinda funny because Luce is like, “NO WAY, JUICE BOXES???? WHAT FLAVORS???” And Arnold is practicing telling the students that the school is closing, when IN WALKS ANOTHER TEACHER, and this one is named Jania, (Lexi Acosta) who is kind of intimidating and talkative. She is complaining about a gang, and people make fun of her broken car. 

As the play continues, we find out a student named Donnie, (Robert Mosby Jr.) hacked into the school website and posted a link to help get the school to be saved. But Ricky decides not to suspend Donnie after a moving and difficult conversation about Donnie’s life. He then instead, recruits Donnie to the staff. 

Fast-Forward to spring, where Ricky and Donnie have hatched a plan. And also this was one of my favorite parts, all the teachers are in the lounge, and Sadie says “Hey, do you guys hear that?” And Donnie walks in with a boom-box playing Gangsta’s Paradise, along with Ricky, to talk about the plan. The plan is to parade north, where rich people are. Then, they will get more money to save the school! And everyone except Arnold thinks this is a good idea, so Ricky says “whoever wants to stay with Arnold go but join me and good stuff will happen!” Then everyone goes with Ricky.

Arnold is alone in the teacher’s lounge about to call the city to tell them about the plan, until PLOT TWIST ghost Pam walks in and reminds him that he did that sort of thing a while ago. Then he decides to let it go. 

Fast-Forward, the march happened, and now there’s news channels talking about them and stuff, and Donnie was watching it on FOX, and the teacher’s were like, “WE TAUGHT YOU BETTER THAN THAT! FOX, Donnie, Really FOX?!!!” and that was funny.

But then when Arnold and Ricky are alone, Arnold tells Ricky the bad news. Their plan didn’t work and the school was getting torn down. I think this was a really sad scene, because they did all the stuff for nothing. Then, it is the day of tearing down the school. They sing the tigers song, which goes like this:

Tigers hear us

Tigers fear us

Tigers Tigers We’re true blue

Tigers hear us

Don’t come near us

Tigers- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  BOOOM CRASH SMASH RUMBLE BOOOOOOOM and the school is destroyed the end. Boom the end. :( 

(Mom says I can give spoilers because the play closed on Saturday)

I really liked the play because it was very dramatic and it had many mixed emotions in  my head, like sad, funny, excited, and WHOA THERE LITTLE TIMMY! Which, by the way, is when there's inappropriate talk and cuss words.

I recommend this play to mature  people at least 13 but I'm very mature so I saw it. I give this play 4 and 99,999/100,0000  coffee mugs out of 5! Because teachers drink a lot of coffee, like whoa. 

 (And by the way I did go easy on you didn't I? I KNOW YOU’RE WATCHING I KNOW WHERE YOU LIVE ok just kidding about that last part.) 

 

to see Wake Up, Brother Bear!

On January 25th, me, mama and Margot went to see 'Wake Up, Brother Bear!' by Janet Stanford and Kathryn Chase Bryar, directed by Jamie Abelson at the Chicago Children's Theatre Company.

It was about 2 bears named Brother Bear and Sister Bear (performed by Jonah Winston and Allyce Torres) living their lives throughout the seasons. Each kid was given a bag filled with objects that they would take out at different moments during the play to interact with the characters and to better understand the season. 

The bears had us kids on our feet from the very beginning because Sister Bear needed help finding brother bear who was hiding under a giant pile of small blankets and she was too scared to look all by herself. And once she discovered Brother Bear together they taught us how to fold the blanket we removed. And from that moment on we learned something new with each object we got to touch. 

The bears both really looked like bears thanks to the unique costume design by Sully Ratke. All three bears (did I forget to mention Musician Bear played by Sonia Goldberg?) had a unique bear hat that fit their personality. Each bear had a suit that gave them a bearly shape with fur and a tail. Something interesting about the Bears is that Sister Bear was the only Bear who knew human English. Brother Bear communicated with grunts and sign language which Sister Bear translated for us, most of the time. It was pretty cool too because she was sort of teaching us how to sign when she would repeat the words he was saying and do the sign that goes along with it. Though Brother Bear was able to say one word, and it was pretty funny, I don't want give the whole moment away but I will tell you the one word he knows how to say is "Packers" which is pretty funny because he's a BEAR but is clearly a Packers Fan! Hahaha!

My favorite interactive moment of the play was when we got to take out the LED fireflies in our bags and light up the night which was really pretty it really felt like I was outside at night surrounded by real stars or fireflies in the middle of summer. And then we got to put our fireflies in the moon and hang it up and it was so beautiful. My favorite moment in watching the Bears was when they dreamed they were ice skating bears competing at the Olympics or something. They were really good at skating without skates or ice!

The show started with the bears waking up from hibernation and ended with them going back to hibernation. But something special happened at the end. Sister Bear fell asleep and Brother Bear realized that he accidentally took the blanket  away from her and she was cold and shivering in her sleep, so he took the blanket off himself and gave it to her and went to sleep without one. His kindness to Sister Bear inspired me to put my blanket on Brother Bear and then something magical happened all the other little kids in the audience did the same and soon Brother Bear wasn't shivering anymore he was cozy and warm and ready for a long winters nap. 

Even though this was more of a little kid play than a big kid show (and by little kid I mean like six and under) and even though I was clearly the oldest kid there, still as a nine year old, I still enjoyed myself.  There were three takeaways from this play: 1. I learned a lot about the Seasons 2. Even though Brother Bear couldn't speak human English everyone treated him and loved him the same as Sister Bear and 3. Kindness and sharing feels good like a warm blanket. 

I think every kid in Chicago six and under should come see this play because it has great education and it is fun for all children at this age. And if you're my age and have a younger sibling you should see this play because you can enjoy yourself and help your sibling with some of the interactive parts. 

I give this play 2 paws up and 1 Gazillion points beclaws it's a BEARY GOOD PLAY!

PHOTO Credits: Charles Osgood

Wake Up, Brother Bear! at Chicago Children's Theatre, 100 S. Racine Ave., Chicago (at Monroe) playing now until March 1st, 2020.

( P.S. Brother Bear took a packers hat and put it on a little stuffed bear and said "packers!")

to See The Beatrix Potter Holiday Tea Party

On Saturday morning I went to go see The Beatrix Potter Holiday Tea Party at the Chicago Children’s Theatre with mama and Margot. The four stories were directed by Will Bishop and devised by Lara Carling, Kay Kron, Grace Needlman and Ray Rehberg. The play had four different stories put together and performed by three actors (Ray Rehberg, Kay Kron and Lara Carling) and they were The Tale of Mrs. Tittlemouse, The Tailor of Gloucester, The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher and the Tale of Peter Rabbit. 

All four stories were told with just three actors who told the tales through lots of wooden puppets, big movie boxes, live music, small projections and songs. The first story was about a mouse called Mrs. Tittlemouse who was preparing for her Holiday Party. Mrs. Tittlemouse had to deal with the mess of bugs from the cellar and Mr.Jackson the toad, because they made a mess of everything and although she tried to clean it, it was still messy when she went to bed the night before the party. So the actors told the AUDIENCE to clean the house with cleaning exercises like pretend sweeping, dusting, brushing, and other stuff like that. So when Mrs. Tittlemouse woke up the next morning, she was going to clean more (Like, a lot), but then she noticed that not only her house was clean, it was all ready for the party! Her friends arrived and the party worked out just fine, because we, the audience, helped!

All of the stories had the audience involved in some way. The puppets were all so clever I was wondering how they made them, some of the puppets worked like mechanics. The set (designed by Grace Needlman) was made of boxes and handles and lights and fabric.

The second play was called the Tailor of Gloucester, who had A cat named Simpkin who wanted to eat lots of mice and was a trouble maker. One time the tailor opened the cupboard with all of the mice in it and Simpkin was MAD, so he hid the yarn that he bought. Simpkin may have been naughty but he learns his lesson in the end. 

The third play was called The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher.  Mr. Jeremy Fisher was a frog, who couldn’t catch a fish. Many bad things happen to him but he does eventually catch some fish…just wait and see those puppets!! The last story was a popular one, called the Tale of Peter Rabbit, the famous naughty rabbit with a waistcoat and a love of Mr. McGreggor’s carrots. I should know, I was Peter Rabbit for Halloween one year and my sister was Mr. McGreggor’s carrot and she was the cutest carrot in the whole wide dimension (I’ll attach a picture to prove it). 

One of the coolest parts was the live music played by one actor (Ray Rehberg) who played an electric violin (I play violin too), an electric mandolin, and a toy piano. The electric instruments were hooked up to a foot pedal and whenever he played something it recorded and then could repeat so he could play a new line on top of what he already played. Without the music the plays wouldn’t have been as entertaining, the music told us how to feel and Mr. Rehberg is incredibly talented I only hope I can play the violin like him someday. He let me play his electric violin after the show and it was so heavy!

After the show there was a part where we could all go up on stage and touch the puppets and try them out and see how they moved which was really fun. And after the play there was chocolate party in the lobby, hot chocolate, chocolate pretzels and chocolate cookies, chocolate coins and chocolate kisses. How cool to see a show and have an actual chocolate party afterwards? 

I would give this play 1 MILLION points because I think that little kids (mostly ages 1-5) would really enjoy it because they will be really entertained by something you don’t see everyday and they get to be a part of it too! Also, they get to end the experience with a lot of sugar…and who doesn’t want that?!!!!

Love, GUNNAR

I TOLD YOU SHE WAS THE CUTEST CARROT!

to see Beauty and the Beast at Paramount

On Saturday afternoon me,  Mama and Margot went to see Beauty and the Beast at Paramount Theatre, Music by Alan Menken, Lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice, Book by Linda Woolverton, directed by Amber Mak.

The first thing I noticed was this theatre was gigantic, much bigger than a lot of the theaters that I've been to. The next thing I noticed was that the scenery walls were made of ginormous books that seemed to be a hundred feet tall.  I really liked this choice by scenic designer Jeffrey D. Kmeic because it show's Belle's love of books before the play even begins and it also reminds me that this play is based on a book that most people love. I also noticed that when the set pieces moved to create a new scene it moved so smoothly into a new shape and the background changed to create a beautiful picture and it wasn't until Act II that I realized the back wall was projections, it just all blended together so beautifully. I also loved that things fell from the sky like a duck, confetti, petals and a bunch of other stuff and it made me curious as to how it all happened at the exact right time, it felt like magic.

The play was quite different from the animated and live action movies I've seen because they spoke different lines and sang some different songs. It's interesting that all three versions of this Disney story have different songs. I wouldn't say that I prefer one over the other.  I really liked the new songs I heard in the musical and I really liked hearing new lines and seeing new things because it made me feel like I was hearing or seeing the story for the first time and I didn't know what to expect. I really liked Gaston's song "ME" which isn't in the movies, it just was so silly that he was singing about all these things that Belle obviously didn't want. I would say that this musical looked more like the live action movie than the animated movie, especially because of the costumes by Theresa Ham. I particularly liked the Lumiere costume which lit up just like a candle and anytime he blew on one of his arms the lights actually went out. I also liked the Cogsworth costume because his mustache actually looked like the hands of a clock, one was short and one was long. My sister's favorite costume was the yellow Belle costume, but she also loved all the dresses Belle wore.

My favorite character was definitely Lumiere played by Jackson Evans because he had all the funny lines. The Beast played by Paul-Jordan Jansen made incredible sounds just like a monster whenever he was angry and it made me wonder how he made those sounds with his voice, because I'm trying and I can't do it.  Belle played by Beth Stafford Laird is the one person that made me forget I was watching a play because I could really feel her emotions throughout the play. I could tell she was really sad when her dad left and she was left alone in her room for the first time. I could also tell she was really laughing.

The best song of the whole show was definitely BE OUR GUEST.  I don't know how they made all the lights of the candles light up at the same time and the dancing napkins were so twirly. I kept wondering how Chips cart was moving. But the best part of all was the confetti cannon at the end of the song. But I was very disappointed that none of the confetti reached us because we were in the middle.

The props (designed by Jesse Gaffney) in this show were INCREDIBLE. I've been wondering how the Rose dropped its petals when no one was near it. And I also was wondering how the book opened at the beginning of the show. There was just SO MUCH MAGIC in this show. The Beast's transformation happened so fast at the end and I just wonder how it happened.

I think that everybody should see this play because it will show them the story that they all like but in real life AND with ACTUAL MAGIC Happening!

I give this play ONE GAZILLION points because it was so funny and beautiful and I have a lot of questions when I left which is the best part of going to theatre.

.

Love, Gunnar

to see FAMILY DRAMA: 2 Norwegian Plays at Akvavit Theatre

On Sunday I went with mama to see FAMILY DRAMA: 2 Norwegian Plays at Akvavit Theatre. And it was super mega funny. 

Christopher Donaldson, Daniel Stewart and Karla A Rennhofer in The Returning

C.Donaldson, Karla A. Rennhofer, Daniel Stewart in The Returning

The first play was called The Returning by Frederik Brattberg (translated by Henning Hegland) directed by Lee Peters and it was super funny because it was about a kid named Gustav (played by Daniel Stewart) who kept disappearing (or dying) and then returning, which at first brought his parents (played by Karla A. Rennhofer and Christopher Donaldson) a lot of sadness (when he was missing) and then joy (when he returned) but it keeps happening and the more it happens the less his parents seem to care about his return. One of the funniest parts is when Gustav is tossed on the floor and treated like a rug and it seems like his parents are more sad about someone else who has died, than they are about their own son who is dead on the floor. 

Jordan McGinnis, Madelyn Loehr and Samuel Pate in Goliath

Jordan McGinnis and Madelyn Loehr in Goliath

The second play was called Goliath by Maria Trytti Vennerød (translated by May-Brit Akerholt) directed by my mom, Kirstin Franklin. This play is about two brothers named David (Samuel Pate) and Goliath (Jordan McGinnis) (yes just like the bible story) who have come together again to celebrate their mom's fiftieth birthday and to celebrate the soon birth of a new sister named Anette (Madelyn Loehr) who is still  inside her mom's tummy, but also living outside at the party, confusing I know but FUNNY! The mother (Borgny, played by Kelly Levander) tells a story about when David was eight and Goliath was twelve and David defeated his brother and his big bully friends. But Goliath doesn't like the way the story has been told and told again and he is really angry and seeks revenge in a fight scene (choreographed by R&D choreography) that looks really cool and violent but is done only with rhythm and motion. Wait and see what they use for blood, it is pretty funny.  My favorite part is when David puts himself in an ambulance and makes himself the ambulance out of objects from the party and puts the siren on his chest and it sings the ice cream truck song. 

Kelly Levander and Samuel Pate in Goliath

Madelyn Loehr, Samuel Pate and Kelly Levander in Goliath

Both plays are similar because the parents in both stories struggle staying kind to their kids and eventually cause harm, even if it was or wasn't intended. These plays have dark humor because there is actually a lot of intended violence in these plays and it's okay if you find it funny, cause it really is funny. 

I really thought the set (designed by Milo Bue, built by Harrison Ornelas) was interesting because they had the same structure for both plays but things just moved around to create a whole different set with a different feel.  For example the chairs that were used for the dining table in The Returning were used as party chairs for Goliath.  And the counter and oven unit used for The Returning just turned around and the sink was removed and a white table cloth was placed over it and it became a party table and then later an ambulance, hospital bed and coffin for Goliath. My favorite costume (designed by Lily Walls) was the Mother in Goliath who was pregnant and she really looked pregnant but she wasn't.  Just wait til you see what was actually under her dress! I'll give you a hint it's not a ball.  I really liked what Tony Adams did with the lighting design. I wonder how he made it look purple sometimes and green and yellow at the same time. The music (designed by Timothy McNulty) was funny especially in Goliath when the party was happening and it was weird disco music and another song that roared like a lion and death metal and when mother told the story about David and Goliath there was this funny Egyptian music. 

But the most impressive design element had to be the props designed by Letitia Guillaud. There was a huge turkey that looked really real in The Returning and in Goliath there were lots of beautiful cakes and a kransekake (krahn-seh-cock-ah---that's a special Norwegian cake). There was also a "Happy Birthday" banner that flipped around for the funeral that said "Happy DeathDay." 

Kelly Levander and Samuel Pate in Goliath

My favorite character in The Returning was the Dad played by Christopher Donaldson because he kept forgetting things about his own son and he tried to turn his son's room into a gym. My favorite character in Goliath was Anette because she's an unborn kid she told funny poems and she made other people feed her ice cream and cake because she didn't know how to eat and she sometimes even ate her own hat. I also liked Goliath (McGinnis) because he and Anette did funny things together like putting cups on party hats and funny things like that. 

Samuel Pate, Kelly Levander and Jordan McGinnis in Goliath

I think that both of these plays were interesting because they both had a theme of family and make us think about how we sometimes can be mean to our own family members, and the truth of that is what makes both plays super funny. 

I think that probably anyone who speaks English and all of my friends should see this play because its super funny but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone under the age of eight because they might be scared at the violence. I give these plays each INFINITY STARS because they are mega super amazingly awesomely funny.   

photos by Karl Clifton-Soderstrom