to see Disney's Moana

On Saturday I saw a movie called Moana thanks to Auntie Kerry and Uncle Zach who bought my ticket for my 6th birthday (they also bought me the novel and the CD). I went with Auntie Kerry, Uncle Zach, Mommy, Daddy and Margot. Moana is the new Disney movie from the creators of Zootopia and Frozen with music by Lin Manuel Miranda (who wrote my favorite musical Hamilton), Opetaia Foa'i and Mark Mancina.

The story is about a girl named Moana (Auli'i Cravahlho) who lives on her island taking care of her people, and she really loves the water, but her father, Chief Tui (Temuera Morrison), who is the king of the island, would not let her go out on the water because it is not safe and no one goes beyond the reef. And then her friend the water, wanted her to go because the water chose Moana to go out and find Maui (Dwayne Johnson).

Maui is the semi mini demi-god who pulled up the islands from the sea so the water wouldn't rush it away but he also stole the heart of Moana's island. It was Gramma Tala (Rachel House) who showed Moana the boats that were hidden that told Moana that her people were voyagers. And gramma Tala begged Moana to go find Maui and bring him to the island to restore the heart.  And then she journeys out on her own and when she finds Maui they go try to fight the monsters from stealing the heart and keeping it forever but they face the monsters and stop them from taking the heart of Moana's island. The first monster they have to defeat is Kakamora, the coconut monsters and then the second monster is Tamatoa (Jemaine Clement), the giant crab monster who is a scorpion, and the third monster is Ta-kā, the queen of earth and fire.

I read the book all by myself before I saw the movie and listened to the music on the CD before I saw the movie.  When I read the book my imagination pictured the evil character Ta-kā as much smaller who could transform into a bigger human size but in the movie she was so so so much bigger than I could have imagined. I also didn't imagine a big mountain at the entrance to the realm of monsters, I was just picturing just a cave door with a hole in the bottom.

The background music was pretty scary. And the songs were amazing. My favorite songs were "Where You Are" (sung by Christopher Jackson who played George Washington in Hamilton), "How far I'll go",  "We know the Way", "How far I'll go (reprise)", "You're Welcome", "Shiny", "I am Moana",  "Know who you are" and "We know the way (Finale).

 I love the songs with drums in them because the drum is one of my favorite musical instruments. I think the most powerful song was called "Know who you are" because when she talks to Ta-Kā she wasn't afraid because she realized that Ta-kā was really her island hurting because she saw the spiral of her island on Ta-kā's heart.

The story teaches us to be brave and to not be afraid of bad things (evil) because there is no such thing as bad people only people who are hurting who need help. Moana sees through the evil of Ta-kā and she decides to bravely go through the water to show Ta-kā who she really is and to find her goodness. Instead of just finding Maui she chooses to face her fear and find goodness and get her island back on her own.

My favorite part was when Moana finds HeiHei (Moana's silly pet chicken) on her boat with a coconut on his head and she takes the coconut off and he looks around and all he sees is water and he screams every time. And my other favorite part was when HeiHei sticks one blow dart in Maui's butt cheeks and Maui says "Seriously? Blow dart in my butt cheek." That was sooo funny. I also loved the part where the Kakamora blew a blow dart in their chief's arm and he fell down.

Everybody in this whole wide world should see this movie because it would make them now know how to not be afraid of anything.

I give this movie 200 points because it shows powerfulness on people who are afraid of things.

Love,
Gunnar

THE END.

to see 'A Christmas Carol on the Air' at The University of Wisconsin-Parkside Theatre Arts Department

On Friday night I went with mommy all the way to Wisconsin to see 'A Christmas Carol on the Air' by Peter Church, directed by Jennifer Sassaman at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside Theatre Arts Department.  

The play was about a man named Ebenezer Scrooge who is always mad, one night he meets three ghosts.

 It was not a normal Christmas Carol because it was on the radio and we were watching actors tell the story as they were talking into microphones on the radio. And we watched my friend Madeleine Sassaman who played the younger daughter listening to the show on her radio in a home by the rocking chair. The story had breaks, they were commercials on the radio like for the JELLO family (which was one of my favorite parts) and Pass the Blue Ribbon (Pabst Blue Ribbon).

Gabby Ashlin played Belle and others, Cole Conrad played Ebenezer Scrooge, Quinn Didier played Tiny Tim and others, Alex Griffin played Announcer and others (and I also saw him in Spelling Bee), Catherine Kleinofen played Madam and others (she also was a scenic artist and I saw her in Spelling Bee too), Colin Kovarik played Charles Dickens and others, Shane Richlen played Bob Crachit and others and Jane Sekas played the older daughter.

The set, designed by Tayler Varney,  looked like an old radio and there were microphones and everyone was holding their lines because they were on the radio. The set was so beautiful the floors looked like diamonds and sparkly and the pictures on the walls were so pretty.  The lights were nice, designed by Michelle Housh, and when the APPLAUSE light was flashing that was so cool because I love when things flash.

My favorite part was the really loud sounds designed by Eamonn Higgins, most of the sounds were done live with different objects like an accordion that made wind and ghosts sounds and the crank machine that made the sound of wind, and candy wrappers made the sound of fire. The two guys who made the sounds on stage were Jordan Stanek and Matthew Rangel.

My other favorite part was when they were playing the guessing game and they said Ebeneezer was an animal, that was funny because that was totally a lie.

I didn't understand why Scrooge was happy at the end but mommy told me why. He was happy because the ghosts taught him to be nice by showing him how others saw him. The lesson I learned from this show is that you have to be kind to one another.

Everybody in this whole wide world should see this show because it shows everybody kindness.

I give this play 200 points because I like when people show kindness to others.

Love,
Gunnar

THE END.

to see Nevermore at JPAC

Last Sunday I saw a play called 'Nevermore' by Grace Barnes and Matt Conner, directed by Steve Calzaretta at Jedlicka Performing Arts Center.  I went with mommy.

The play was about someone name Edgar Alan Poe who was a famous poet. The characters were Edgar (Justin Stevens), Elmira (Laura Martino), Virginia (Sophia Vitello), Whore (Alli Braun), Muddy (Margaret Garofalo), and Mother (Lauren Miller). These characters were ghosts that were haunting Edgar while he was writing.

The set (designed by Michael Nedza) looked like a graveyard and the Orchestra was behind a fence in the grave yard and there were three houses and some benches. I liked the moon on the back wall and the trees. One of my very favorite parts was when the fog was coming off the stage into the audience and into me, because that was so cool and I caught some cloudy things.

The music (directed by Daniel Brottman) was very pretty. there was a full orchestra with violins (Kyle Walcott, Kevie Yu), a Viola (Elizabeth Bellisario), a Cello ( Wilson Smith) a Bass (Ben Krege), a Harp (May Im), and Percussion by Scott Simon.

I didn't understand why I could see everybody on stage when they were all ghosts, that confused me.

Everybody in the whole wide world should see this show because maybe they all like Halloween and this show made me think of Halloween.

I give this play 100 points because it's about Halloween and that's the best.

Love,
Gunnar

to see 'Annie' at the Cadillac Palace Theatre

Mommy's friend Micah gave us tickets to see the Broadway in Chicago production of 'Annie' at the Cadillac Palace Theatre in downtown Chicago, directed by Martin Charnin. Micah gave the tickets to us because he knew that we were sad that Trump won the election. It made my family happy because I love to see plays. I went with mommy, Margot and Daddy and I got to meet Micah at the theatre.

Tori Bates (as Annie) and Macy (as Sandy)

The play was about a little red head girl named Annie (Tori Bates) who is an orphan. An orphan is someone who does not have any parents. Annie lived with other orphans at an orphanage. Ms. Hannigan (Erin Fish) lived with the orphans and she was mean to them. One day Grace Ferrell (Casie Prins) came to the orphanage and took Annie to Oliver Warbucks' house. Oliver Warbucks (Gilgamesh Taggett) is a rich man who has a lot of money and people who work for him. When she got to his house Annie really liked his chair because she kept touching it. Then she met Mr. Warbucks and he told her to sit and then he took her to the movies. Mr. Warbucks loved Annie and wanted to be her daddy but Annie wanted to find her parents. So Mr. Warbucks tried to help her find them.

I loved all the funny dancing choreographed by Liza Gennaro. One of the funny dancing parts was in the song "EASY STREET" when Lily (Mallory King) did the Chicken dance. Another part I thought was funny was  in "YOU'RE NEVER FULLY DRESSED WITHOUT A SMILE (Reprise)" and the orphans kicked their legs up really high.

The one thing I didn't understand was what they were doing when they were singing "EASY STREET". But mommy told me they were trying to come up with a way to take Mr. Warbucks $50,000.

I thought the set designed by Beowulf Boritt was really cool because it could change into other scenes really fast. There was an orphanage, the Bert Healy Radio show, Oliver Warbucks' office, The President's office, streets of New York City, a New York shanty and the big staircase in Oliver Warbucks' house with the Christmas tree. My favorite settings were the ones at Oliver Warbucks' house because the Christmas tree and the giant staircase looked really cool and his office was super big.

My favorite parts of the show were 'EASY STREET' and whenever Sandy (Macy/Sunny) the dog came on stage. My favorite song was 'THE SUN WILL COME OUT TOMORROW" because it made me happy and hopeful after a sad day. It made me hopeful that our next president after Trump will be good like Roosevelt!

I had a lot of fun. People who should see this show are Johanna, and everybody in the whole wide world because everyone should have some HOPE!

I give this show100 POINTS because it will give everybody Hope when they need it!!!!

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 see the SpongeBob Musical

Yesterday I went with mommy to go see Nickelodean presents The SpongeBob Musical at the Oriental Theatre in downtown Chicago, directed by Tina Landau.

SpongeBob is a sponge who has a tv show and a movie he lives in a pineapple under the sea. He hangs out with his friends Patrick Star and Squidward Tentacles in their town Bikini Bottom. On this day there was a volcano that was trying to destroy the world. Sheldon Plankton was trying to hypnotize everybody and wasn't helping and Mr. Krabs just wanted to make more money. But Patrick Star, Sandy Cheeks (the squirrel) and SpongeBob decided to help the world and save the day and be heroes and be brave.

All the actors were very talented and they sounded and looked and walked just like their characters on TV.  Ethan Slater played Spongebob and he was so funny and cool because because he was a really good singer and gymnast because he could climb on ladders while he was singing and he could talk really loud. Patrick Star was played by Danny Skinner and he was cool and he could fly with Sandy's jetpack. The person who played Squidward Tentacles was Gavin Lee and he looked like him because he had four legs like Squidward and he could tap dance with all four legs he was really good at being grumpy like Squidward. The person who play Sandy Cheeks (the squirrel) was Lilli Cooper and she could talk really fast and she kinda sounded like Sandy too. Pearl Krabs was played by Emmy Raver-Lampman she had a really really good singing voice and I think its really cool that she was in Hamilton (I recognized her from pictures in our Hamilton book.) I also LOVED Jason Michael Snow who played Patchy the Pirate because he was so funny and he made jokes about Chicago and my favorite was when he slid down a rope and said "See I told you I'd be back!"

The music was great. We sat close to the conductor and music director Julie McBride who was so funny, she wore a pirates hat to help Patchy hide, conducted with a spatula and she played fighting with mini characters in a doll house size version of Bikini Bottom. My favorite songs were "BFF" (by Plain White Tees), "No Control" (by David Bowie and Brian Eno) "(Just A) Simple Sponge" (by Panic! At the Disco), "Hero is my Middle Name" (by Cyndi Lauper), "Chop to the Top" (by Lady Antebellum) "(I Guess I) Miss you" (by John Legend) and "Best Day Ever" (by Andy Paley and Tom Kenny).  And the dancing was cool my favorite dance was "I am not a loser" when Squidward tap danced with four legs (choreography by Christopher Gattelli).  I also loved the foley design by Mike Dobson who made squishy sounds when Squidward and Spongebob walked.

 The lighting design by Kevin Adams was awesome especially during "(Just A) Simple Sponge" because the sponges were glowing. The set designed by David Zinn was HUGE there were blue bubbles and giant boulders and tv screens and the houses that SpongeBob, Squidward and Patrick live in. The giant volcano was made out of boxes and ladders. But my favorite part of the set were the Rube Goldberg Machines that shot the giant boulders onto the stage, one of them used a bike that flipped upside down! (Note: A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine that has a lot of silly steps to do a simple task...mommy showed me some cool videos on You Tube) The costumes (also designed by David Zinn) were really fun! I loved the costume for Mr Krabs because he had huge red boxing gloves for claws and it looked cool. Squidward had four legs and Pearl had a P on her shirt and I liked SpongeBob's costume because he looked like SpongeBob without the sponge part. Sandy the Squirrel didn't have a tail but I didn't care. Everybody just looked like human characters and I liked that.

My favorite part of the whole show was when Patrick Star was flying in on Sandy's jetpack and the confetti streamers and beachballs that landed on us at the end of the show.


Everyone in the whole world should see this show because I think everyone would love it as much as I did.
I give it 100 Points because WOAH!!!

LOVE, Gunnar

Me by Patchy's #1 Fan Seat

Me with all of the streamers I caught at the end of the show.

To The Lion King Jr. at Chappell Elementary

Last night I went to see Disney's The Lion King Jr.  I went with Daddy and Margot. It was at Chappell Elementary School which is my school where I go to Pre-K. The show was performed by the 7th and 8th graders at my school in the gym. With music and lyrics by Elton John and Tim Rice, it was Directed by Ted Nazarowski. It was based on the Broadway production directed by Julie Taymor.

The play was about a kid lion named Simba (played by Aryhys Ocupe) who wanted to be King. The King was Mufasa (Joshua Burns) his dad. But one day Mufasa died when he rescued Simba and Scar (Suchith Karri) pushed him off a cliff. When Mufasa died Simba ran away because Scar told him to. He ran away and met Pumba (Erick Brito) and Timon (Nino Ocupe) who brought him into their creature home.

The puppets were really good and I liked them. They were shadow puppets of Scar and Mufasa and Mufasa falling down the cliff. The costumes were good they looked like animals one looked like a zebra. There were some masks that looked like Lions on top of their heads. Timon was a puppet.
The music was good I liked the drums and the singing was good.

There was a silly part where Pumba said something like "He's not going to eat us" and Timon said "You're talking about a Lion!" I laughed at that part. I liked the silly part where Zazu (Amir Sehwail) was singing "It's a Small World After All." My favorite songs were "Can You Feel The Love Tonight" and "Hakuna Matata."

My friend Jo should see this show and all my friends and school should see it because its like the movie and people like the movie.

I give this show 10 points because I liked it a lot.