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 "That's Weird Grandma"

Yesterday me and mommy and auntie Kerry went to see a play called "That's Weird Grandma" by the Barrel of Monkeys. This was my second time seeing the show but it was different because it didn't have the same stories, that's because the show is different every week. Barrel of Monkeys is a theatre company that does classes with kids and helps them write their own plays and stories and then the grown-ups (Barrel of Monkeys actors) perform some of the plays every week.

The stories this week were: Once Upon a Princess, The Game, My Holiday (Ice Cream Candy Sugar rush day!!!!!) the best Holiday Event, The Dumb Chicken, The Crazy Old People,  Love in Heaven, Where do People Come from?, The Day I drive a car, The Kid with the Donut Suite, UNTITLED (Cross the border), Running in the Snow, The Worst Zoo, The Football Player, Zyra, Day in the Life of Bacon, Buffalo Joe's Argument, and A Dinosaur that Came to Life.

My favorite stories were "The Worst Zoo" and "Where do People Come From?" I loved "Where do People Come From?" because the story was about a girl who didn't know where people came from so she asked her mom and her mom was giving her silly answers because she didn't know either so she said things like..."They come from cats hairballs, They come from chocolate and vanilla, The people come from Money, and People come from flowers" Every time the mom said a different reason where people came from a baby came out but he was a grown-up wearing a bib hat and a diaper and he'd say "MAMA! MAMA!" and it was soooooo funny!!!  "The Worst Zoo" was so funny because there was a girl who didn't like the zoo because there was hay everywhere and the animals are out of their cages which is so silly because every zoo has hay, that's what animals eat and if the animals were in cages you couldn't see them! I also liked the Dumb Chicken because the chicken died but he didn't fall down he was drowning in the toilet and praying in the toilet then he died, died, died! And it was so silly because they put a halo on his head and he looked silly. I also liked the game one because the dog was like "Hide! Hide! Hide! Flora! Hide" and Flora couldn't hide because she was a flower stuck in the ground!!

I think this play was good because it had funny stories. People who like funny things would like this show, if you like laughing this is the show for you. I think my friend Jo likes this show because I saw it with her before, but she should come back because the stories are different. I also think Jordan would like it.

I give this play 12 points because I liked it the Most!

Love,
Gunnar

The End.

Gunnar's Point System:
12 points: I LOVED IT THE MOST!
10 points: I loved it a LOT
  3 points: I liked some and didn't like some
  1 point:   I only liked a little
  0 points: I didn't like it at all