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 The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963 at Chicago Children's Theatre

On Sunday I went to see the World Premiere of a play called The Watsons go to Birmingham, 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis Adapted by Cheryl L. West, Directed by Wardell Julius Clark at the Chicago Children's Theatre, The Station. I went with mama and Margot. When we walked into the theatre it was really big and there were these big couches for us to sit on. The set, designed by Arnel Sancianco, was made up of a broken up/fake car that the actors moved with their feet and underneath the car was a large map that sloped up like a hill on the far wall, they used the sloped part for projections later in the play. There was also a big door for the houses and a couch on wheels.  I thought the set was really clever because it looked really hard to make and it helped tell the story of a road trip between two locations.

The play is based on a novel of the same name by Christopher Paul Curtis. It tells the story of a family named the Watsons who are from Flint, Michigan and their trip to Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. The family has five members, Daddy (Bear Bellinger), Mama (Sharriese Hamilton), Byron the oldest son (Stephen "Blu" Allen), Kenny (Jeremiah Ruwé on Sunday's performance) and Joey (Jillian-Giselle). At the beginning, Kenny is hiding under a couch and Byron is getting in trouble all the time. The family decides to take Byron to Birmingham to visit Grandma (Ti Nicole Danridge- on Sunday's performance) and help him be better.

I loved the use of the family car. They listened to records on the road trip thanks to a new record player and the family would sing along. The projections along the far wall helped us see the signs they would see along the way and as they got closer to Alabama the family seemed more scared. They seemed scared in the dark and they would sing songs.

Because the play takes place in 1963 it's important to know that Alabama was a segregated state and Michigan was not. When the family got to Alabama you could tell the family felt less comfortable because they kept seeing signs about segregation and met people who tried to scare them by saying "We don't like trouble-makers"

When they got to Grandma's house, the grandma told them about a boy who went swimming and got sucked up by a whirlpool and Kenny thought she said Wool Pooh and then Byron told a make-believe story about the Wool Pooh and said it was Winnie the Pooh's evil brother.  But Kenny didn't believe him until he was swimming and had a scary experience that brought more fear to his mind. Kenny thought he saw the Wool Pooh. This was a cool moment because they used a really big prop of fabric to represent the water and it made for an interesting stage picture. But you'll have to see the show to find out more.

I should also mention that this play is based around a Historical tragedy, the 16th Street Church bombing of 1963 which killed four innocent little girls and injured 17 more lives. There is a very sad moment in the play when this is mentioned. All of this was a part of the moment when blacks were fighting for rights to be treated like everyone else and it was the worst in the South because of the Ku Klux Klan. I think the Wool Pooh was meant to represent the Ku Klux Klan because they had the same badge and a similar hood/mask.

The actors were all very talented because they had strong voices and used their bodies and the space well. My favorite character was Byron, played by Stephen "Blu" Allen, because he was really funny when he kissed the car mirror and his lips were frozen. My favorite part was when the Dad (Bear Bellinger) said "put your hands out the window" of the car and Joey said "BUT I DON'T HAVE A WINDOW!" because she was in the middle of the back seat.

This play was really powerful because it taught me that the LOVE of a family tree has stronger roots than the Hate tree, as we hold each other up we are stronger together.  Hate has rotted roots with nothing to cling to.

I give this play FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND MILLION POINTS because it is a REALLY AWESOME PLAY and I think everyone in the whole wide dimension of the Universe should see it.

Love,
Gunnar

to see the World Inside Me at Chicago Children's Theatre

Last Saturday Margot, Daddy and I went to see The World Inside Me presented by Chicago Children's Theatre. It was a co-production presented by The Station and Spellbound Theatre. It was Directed by Lauren Jost who also Co-Created the show with Christine Dehne

The building where the play took place used to be a police station and it wasn't a normal theatre, there were seats but no stage. There were drawers next to a big screen where props were stored, these had ice packs and bandages and cells and body parts and things that the performers let the kids touch and feel and explore. There were videos of body parts playing that helped kids understand more about their bodies. The videos were talking about how our bodies digest, things I already knew but things little kids will learn a lot from.

The play mostly played out with songs sung by the actors WT McRae, Sarah Folkins, Melana Lloyd and one of the actor's Jono Waldman wrote the music and played guitar. My favorite part was when things that were supposed to be cells that looked like fidget spinners started falling out of the ceiling and we put them in different boxes that represented our Hands, Nose, and Mouth.

This play is for ages 2-5 so it was a little below my age and interests but my little sister Margot who is four was just right for this show. I could see that the toddlers and younger kids in the audience were having a lot of fun playing with a mirror ball that they pushed around on the floor. They talked a lot about blood and headaches and how to feel better. My sister Margot had so much fun.

I think ages 1-5 would really like this show because it was a fun and inventive way of teaching little kids more about their bodies in a short amount of time.