to see Knuffle Bunny at Emerald City Theatre

On March 25th, 2018 I went to see Knuffle Bunny at the Emerald City Theatre with Mommy and Margot. The show is based on the book by Mo Willems with music by Micahel Silversher and was directed by Aileen McGroddy.

The play was about a little girl named Trixie (played by Deanalís Resto) who takes a trip with her dad (played by Matt Miles) to the laundromat where she loses her stuffed animal, Knuffle Bunny. Poor Trixie is too young to explain to her daddy why she's sad and her daddy can't understand why she's so sad. It's a real problem. A problem Trixie's mom (played by Abby Murray Vachon) can help solve.

My two favorite elements were the puppets and the projections.  My favorite puppet was the pigeon puppet (the pigeon from Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus, another Mo Willems book, makes an appearance in the play) operated by Jar'Davion Brown.  I also loved the life-size Knuffle Bunny and the ginormous clothing puppets too, they were all awesome and designed by Angela McIlvain.
My favorite projections were the black and white slides when Trixie's dad was chasing her. I also love the projections of Knuffle Bunny and Trixie's Dad inside the washing machine. The black and white photos reminded me of the pictures from the book and the movie from inside the washing machine was really fun and all of it was designed by Michael Commendatore.

My favorite part was when Trixie's Dad said "I found it!" and Trixie's mom said "See honey I knew you could do it" and then Trixie's Dad pulled something out of the machine and held it up and Trixie's mom said "Some ladies Underwear?!?" That was so funny! I also liked the part where Trixie started to sing her sad song again and Trixie's dad yelled at the stage manager and said he wouldn't let that happen again!

This play was a good reminder to be mindful of important things you carry with you. I think that's why that's why it's called a "Cautionary Musical"...it's probably a good idea to keep your favorite things at home.

I give this play Infinity Million points and I hope infinity million people go see this show because it's so funny and awesome.


Love,
Gunnar

to see Magic Tree House "Showtime With Shakespeare" at Emerald City

On Saturday morning I went to go see Magic Tree House "Showtime with Shakespeare" at Emerald City Theatre with Mommy, Daddy and Margot. The play is based on the Magic Treehouse book but the book is called "Stage Fright on a Summer Night", the play is written by the author's husband Will Osborne along with Jenny Laird with music by Randy Courts and it was directed and choreographed by Jamal Howard.

The play is about Jack and Annie who have a magic tree house that makes people go back in time when they say "I wish to go there." In this story they went back in time to meet Will(iam) Shakespeare who is a famous playwright from a long time ago and they get a mission from Morgan le Fay that is to find a magic that can turn daytime into night.

My favorite characters were Jack (played by Nik Kmiecik), Annie (played by Emily Senkowsky), Will or William Shakespeare (played by Leon J Evans) and Dan the funny dancing bear (played by Miguel Long). I was impressed with how high Nik Kmiecik could jump and how he played Jack so well because he seemed really scared about going on stage in Will's play.

I really liked the set of the Magic Tree house that turned into Shakespeare's stage designed by Angela McIlvain and I liked the prop apple designed by Danielle Myerscough. I also loved the lights on the magic treehouse designed by Brian Elston because they made the tree house look like it was spinning and spinning.

Photos by Austin D Oie

I loved all of the songs but my favorite part was when Jack and Annie solved the puzzle. This play taught me that you can learn magic by performing in the theatre. Theatre is magic.

I think all of my friends should see this show because it is based on one of my favorite books. Everyone who sees this show will love it.

I give this show 1,000,000,000,000,000 points because this show is AWESOME!!

Love,
Gunnar

to see Twas the Night Before Christmas

On November 22nd I went to see Ken Ludwig's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" at Emerald City Theatre Directed by my favorite Artistic Director Jacqueline Stone, I went with mommy and Margot. The play was about a kid named Emily (played by Kirra Silver) and her friend mouse named Amos the funny mouse (played by Alejandro Tey) who saved Christmas.

 It started when Uncle Brierly (Darren Hill) was reading Twas the Night Before Christmas and he said it was his favorite poem but when he got to the part "not a creature was stirring not even a mouse" Amos came out from his little house and he was stirring cookie dough to make cookies for Santa. And when he got to the part "while visions of sugar plums danced in their heads" Amos had the pigeon from "Don't let the Pigeon Drive the Bus" and was dancing with it because he thought Uncle Brierly said "while pigeons and sugar plums danced in their heads" which was so funny. And when Uncle Brierly left they did a dance party and then they saw a girl in the window who came into the house. The girl turned out to be a Jewish Elf named Calliope (played by Nora Lise Ulrey) from Santa's Workshop and she took them on an adventure on a plane to the North Pole where they found out that all the elves were locked in a dungeon by Sir Guy (also played by Darren Hill). Sir Guy wanted to sell the Naughty and Nice list so he could be in charge of Santa's workshop. But Calliope, Emily, Amos and Amos from Kansas found a way to save Christmas.  And Santa (played by Anthony Whitaker) gave Emily and Amos medals for saving Christmas.

The set designed William Boles was very creative. I loved how it seemed like there was just one thing on the stage, Uncle Brierly's house, but then all these little doors opened up and it transformed into Santa's Workshop. I love love loved the props designed by Letitia Guillaud especially the giant yummy candies and the amazing airplane that they flew in to get to the North Pole. I also liked the costumes designed by Rachel M. Sypniewski especially the mouse ears and tail on both Amos and Amos from Kansas.

My two favorite parts were: 1. when Amos was like "Ahhhhhh who's that? What's that?" and Emily was like "The stage Crew" and Amos said "The stage crew! Ahhhh!" and 2. When Amos said "When is this plane going to land?" and Emily said: "Amos the plane already landed you're the one still spinning."

This play taught me that the best gifts don't come in packages they come from being present and having fun.

I give this play One hundred thousand, million, billion, zillion to the infinity points because it was just so fun and funny.  And I think every animal and every person and everything in the whole wide world should see this play because it is the best play I have ever seen in my entire life.

Love,
Gunnar

to see Mother Goose's Garden

On June 10th I saw a play called Mother Goose's Garden at Emerald City Theatre with Margot and Mommy. The play was directed by my favorite Emerald City director, Jacqueline Stone. When we went into the Garden it was not like any other show I have seen before.
There was no stage, we got to be IN the play and we got a basket of objects so we could be a part of the play. I thought that was really weird but I really liked it because I got to talk to the characters and be a part of the play.

The characters were Jack and Jill, Little Bo Peep, Little Boy Blue, Mother Goose, the cow and the sheep.  Michele Stine played Jill, Little Bo Peep and Mother Goose, and Austin Ryan Hunt played Jack and Little Boy Blue. My favorite character part was when Jill made Jack play Little Miss Muffet because when he saw the spider he got so
silly scared and went "spider? Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" and ran everywhere but kind of quiet and silly. I also liked Little Bo Peep when she said "Oh Beaureguard there you are" in a southern accent, that made me laugh, that's a silly name for a sheep.

The set, designed by Brian Elston, was so colorful it looked like a garden. There were a lot of colorful flowers and a vegetable garden and berry trees. The berry trees could move and we got to pick berries off of them.  And when we watered the flowers with the watering cans from our baskets the set actually made them grow taller! I also love the sound, designed by Jeffrey Levin, because when the trees moved they sounded like an ice cream truck.

My favorite parts were when we got to be a part of the show. Margot and I got to put hay in the cows mouth, brush sheep's wool, water the plants, plant the seeds, shovel a hole and pick the berries.

Again, everybody in the whole wide world should see this show because then they'll know how to plant a beautiful Garden!

I give this play 1 MILLION and 99 points. That's the biggest number I can think of...because this show is AWESOME!!!

Love,
Gunnar

to see "THE WIZ" at Emerald City Theatre

On Saturday I went to "The Wiz" at Emerald City Theatre. The play was directed by Jamal Howard. I went with Daddy, Grandma and my friend Walter.

    The play was about a girl named, Dorothy, played by Isis Elizabeth,  who was in a tornado. The tornado took her to Oz. She met some friends. She met the Scarecrow, played by Leon Evans, the Tinman, played by Jar’Davion Brown, and Cowardly Lion, played by Miguel Long. They helped her see “the Wiz” who would help her get back to Kansas. The Scarecrow wanted brains, the Tinman wanted a heart, and the Lion wanted courage. The Wiz said he would grant their wishes if they killed the wicked witch Evilene. They killed her by pouring water on her. They went back to the Emerald City and the Wiz gave the Scarecrow a diploma, the Tinman got a heart and the Lion got a medal of courage, but Dorothy didn’t get back to Kansas.  The good witch told Dorothy she could use her magic silver shoes and she got back to Kansas.

    The set design by Michael Lewis had a door, clothespins, flowers and a giant block that became lots of things. Some of the costumes were sparkly. When the Tinman was wearing his costume, it really looked like a tin man and it was sparkly. The lions costume looked like a lion. They all wore green glasses in the Emerald City and green costumes. The costumes were designed by Kate Kamphausen.

    There were lots of great songs. I liked “Ease on Down the Road” the best. The actors had great voices and were good dancers.

    My favorite part was the gatekeeper of the Emerald City,  played by Frankie Leo Bennett.  I liked how he was being so sneaky.

    Everybody in the whole wide world should see this show because I think they would like it.

    I would give this play 100 points. It was Awesome!

to see The Snowy Day at Emerald City Theatre

On Saturday I got to see The Snowy Day and other stories by Ezra Jack Keats, adapted for the stage by Jerome Hairston. I saw it with mommy, daddy and Margot. It was at Emerald City Theatre and the Director was Jacqueline Stone. This was the 100th production at Emerald City...that's a lot of shows!

The play was about a boy named Peter played by Terry Bell. The characters were Peter (Terry Bell) Mom/Female player (Sydney Charles), Amy/Female Player (Kirra Silver) and Dad/Archie/Male Player (Felix Mayes).

The stories they performed by Ezra Jack Keats were: The Snowy Day, Whistle for Willie, Goggles and A Letter for Amy.  My favorite story was Goggles because it was so cool when they found goggles and pretended they were astronauts, that was my favorite part of the whole play. After the play there was a bookstore and mommy and daddy bought me the book Goggles and I wish I could read it to you right now, but you should look for it at the library.

I loved the white parachute that represented snow. When they lifted it up it look like a blanket of snow and light shined through it. The lighting design, by Rachel Levy, was very colorful. The lights helped make shadows behind the snow and rain. The shadows they showed were: Willie (the dog), a tree, a parrot, a snow angel, a snowman and Peter doing things, like -brushing his tongue. The shadows were a really good idea for how to tell the story.

The costume design by Branimira Ivanova was so cool because the snowsuit looked exactly like the one from The Snowy Day, and the flower shirt and the rocket ship shirt looked just like the shirts from Goggles.  I also liked the set, designed by Martin Andrew, it looked like giant wooden blocks that you use to build castles.

One of my favorite parts was when Peter would slide down the snow slope and he kept saying "Again! Again! Again!" That part reminded me of when my sister Margot (she's 2 years old) goes down the slide, she always says that too!

One thing I learned from the show was, whenever you write a letter to someone, you should really hold on tight to your letter when you're carrying it to the mailbox...so that it doesn't fly away. Oh and don't bump into people when you're going to the mailbox either.

Everybody in the whole wide world should see this show because it's so much fun and based on stories you can read and buy or checkout from the library.

I give this show 2,095 points because it's the

... BEST SHOW EVER!!!!
Love,
Gunnar

to Junie B. Jones in...Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!

Today I went to see Junie B. Jones in....Jingle Bells, Batman Smells! (Adapted by Barbara Park) at Emerald City Theatre, directed Jacqueline Stone. I went with Mommy, Margot and Daddy.

The play was about Junie B. Jones. And Junie B. Jones is very funny, she's in first grade. Elizabeth Stenholt plays Junie B. Jones and she is a really good actor because it was really good to see her be like Junie B. Jones and I know a lot about Junie B. Jones because I read the book Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus by Allison Gregory and I read it all by myself.  One thing about Junie B. Jones is that she doesn't like it when people forget her B.

In the play May forgot Junie's B. May called her just Junie Jones and that made Junie B. angry. Junie B. spends the whole play fighting with May.  Junie B. Jones has a hard time following rules and May likes to follow the rules and that's why they don't get along. I'm kind of like May because I like to follow rules. May was played by Jaclyn Hennell and I really like her as an actress because I've seen her before in the Nutcracker.

The other characters in the play were Jose and Mr. Toot (played by Johann George), Lucille and Elf Ellen (played by Kaitlyn Griggs), Mr. Scary (played by Darren Hill), Herb (played by Aaron Lawson), and Sheldon (played by Jerome Riley Jr.) I liked all of the characters they were excellent actors and very funny.

The lights (designed by Keith Parham) were blue and pretty and my favorite light was the Rudolph nose that was always glowing. The costumes (designed by Katherin Pavlovna Goldberg) were all really cool and colorful, my favorite costume piece was the purple glasses on Junie B. Jones. The sounds (designed by Jeffrey Levin) were really loud and totally awesome. The best sound EVER was the BURP!!!!!!!!!! All the BURPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Set was designed by William Boles, I know his work because he designed Hotel Cassiopeia and Jabari Dreams of Freedom (two other plays I've reviewed) the set was very very cool and amazing and astonishing! It looked like the whole classroom but everything was gigantic big! I loved the desks because they were so colorful, I wish they had desks that colorful in room 112 in Kindergarten.

My favorite part was the BURP!!!!!! I also really liked the slow motion parts like when May was singing Frosty the Snowman really slow and when Sheldon got spat on and fell down really really slow and then he was freaking out because he couldn't swim but there wasn't really any water it was just paper. There were so many slow motion parts and they were the funniest, especially the sounds!!

Everyone in the whole wide world should see this show because they will learn about Junie B. Jones and how to be a giver and a friend.

I give this play 100 Points because it was soooooo good and "wowie wow wow"!!!!

LOVE, 

Gunnar

Margot, "Herb", Me and "Junie B. Jones"

Me and "May" (look at my cool Elf hat!)

I can't wait to Read my new Junie B. Jones Book!

Margot, "Sheldon", "Jose" and Me!

To Dragons Love Tacos at Emerald City Theatre

10 POINTS!!!

Today I went with Mommy, Daddy, Margot, Auntie Kerry, Uncle Zach, Wesley, Jordan and Jo to see a play called "Dragons Love Tacos" at Emerald City Theatre, Co-directed with Chicago Repertory Ballet (there was lots of dancing) Adapted by Ernie Nolan, and directed by Morgan Ashley Madison. We went there with everybody because it was my birthday party, because I turned 5 years old on Sunday! I wanted to see this play because I have the book by Adam Rubin and Illustrated by Daniel Salmieri and I really like it.

When I walked in the theatre I saw a little house. The roof was red it was made out of bricks. The curtain behind the house was purple. The curtains covering the windows were blue. The bench was red. The chimney was red. There was a big tv in the middle that was black. There was a fence next to the house that was brown. And under a window there were pink flowers in a box.

The play didn't start the way I expected. When it started the boy (Liam Dahlborn) and his dog (Erik Streibig) were doing homework. And then the boys mom left and they were sad, they tried to play fetch but then there was lightening so it was raining so they couldn't go outside. They came back inside to play fetch. They did that for a while but they got bored so they watched tv. They watched silly things like when the man was trying to kiss the girl she was like "no! no!" But then a man (Andrew Goetten) was on tv and he was telling them about dragons and then suddenly he came out of the tv to tell them all about what dragons could do.

And the dragons came to the house by coming out of the hallway. There were four dragons, the Red Dragon (Christina Chen), the Yellow Dragon (Lucy Zukaitis), the Blue Dragon (Jon Martinez) and the White Dragon (Michelle Reid). The Dragons don't know how to talk but they did know how to dance and they did a LLLLLLL-AAAAAHHHHHHT (a lot) of dancing! The Red dragon was my favorite because Red is my favorite color, she had little wings. The yellow dragon had a tail and no wings, the blue dragon had claws and the white dragon had spikes. When the tacos came out they had a taco party, because dragons like parties and they like tacos.

My favorite part was when they were breathing fire and the white dragon took off a piece of the house! The one part I didn't like was the Thunder because it was too loud.

I liked the show a lot, 10 points. My friends like this show. I think Jaspar should see this show because he never saw it before. Girls and Boys who like dancing would like this show because there is lots of dancing.

The END.  

Love, Gunnar.