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 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 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.

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Love, Gunnar