to Pinocchio A Folk Musical at Filament Theatre

Yesterday I went to a play called Pinocchio A Folk Musical, Adapted and Composed by Tyler Beattie at Filament Theatre, directed by Scott Ferguson.  When we walked in the theatre there was lots of things to do in the lobby like: games, coloring, chalk, popcorn and a piano.  I did coloring and I played a game and we had popcorn.

The actors were Felipe Carrasco (Geppetto /guitar), Mara Dale (3 consciences/piano), Kamile Dawkins (Fox/ upright bass), Nick Kmiecik (Lampwick/piano and banjo), Roberto Jonson (Pinocchio /guitar) and Maddy Low (Blue Fairy/saxophone and accordion). We first met them in the lobby where they gave us popcorn and showed us where the coloring sheets were and helped us play the games and took our tickets.  The actors were all amazing and good because they all could play several instruments, sing and act, even with puppets!

Mommy and me sat on pillows and blankets on the stage and that was comfortable. The stage
had a piano, a box, a banjo, a violin, a guitar, an accordion, an upright bass, a blue cart and on the floor there were blue circles. When the actors changed characters sometimes they wore different costumes (designed by Noel Huntzinger) and used interesting masks and puppets by Jeff Semmerling. When Pinocchio's nose grew they used a violin bow, that was funny and smart.  The music was pretty and my favorite song was the laughing wood song.
My favorite part was when the shark swallowed Pinocchio because they used a pennant banner as the sharks teeth and two umbrellas for the eyes. My favorite character was Pinocchio because he wore overalls, he grew ears and I liked him because he made mistakes but he learned the lesson to be good and he took care of Geppetto.

I really loved this show. I'm giving this show twelve points because I liked it the most and I think everyone would love it too! Everyone in the whole world!
By, Gunnar

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

to Newsies (National Broadway Tour)

On Friday we went to see a musical called Newsies directed by Jeff Calhoun.  Mommy, Aunt Kerry and I went to a gigantic theatre in Milwaukee called the Marcus Center to see it.  When we walked in we had to go up five sets of stairs and when we walked in we sat in seats and I noticed a railing in front of me and the stage was down below us. There was a screen like a tv and on it was the word "Newsies."

The tv screen could move forward and backward and the screen is actually 3 huge levels of steel with 9 boxes that each have screens that can disappear when the kids are dancing. There were also moveable steel stairs with a bridge on top that could make different shapes on stage.

When the play started the screen backs up and shows a new picture of New York City, the bridge comes in with Jack and Crutchie and clothes hanging on strings came down from above. Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro) and Crutchie (Zachary Sayle) are newsies who are kids that sell papes (or newspapers) for one cent per pape. The newsies buy 10 papes for 5 cents and hope to sell them all.  And one day Pulitzer (the chief and owner of 'The World' newspaper) said he wanted more money so he asked the newsies to spend 6 cents for 10 papes. The newsies were sad mad and they decided to STRIKE so they wouldn't give any of their money to Pulitzer (played by Steve Blanchard).  And a girl journalist named Katherine (Morgan Keene) helps them fight Pulitzer by writing a story about the newsies in a different paper.

Newsies is a musical with a lot of dancing. My favorite songs were "Carrying the Banner",  "The World Will Know" and "Seize the Day".  My favorite character is Jack Kelly who is the leader of the Newsies, and he wears a blue shirt. Davey (Stephen Michael Langton) and his brother Les (Ethan Steiner) are new newsies but they become selling partners with Jack and when the newsies go on strike Davey tells Jack all of the things to say and Jack says it in a way that make the newsies listen.

My favorite part is when Jack, Davey and Les go in the big door to talk to Pulitzer and then they get thrown out and Les and Jack Kelly are yelling at the door as its closing. I also liked any time they were dancing because the newsies could jump really high and leap in the air at the same time and do tricks and stuff. Mommy says dancing in musicals is called choreography and we should say that Christopher Gattelli did a really good job teaching the newsies how to dance.

The musical is different from the movie because in the movie there is a boy journalist and in the musical its a girl.  And there is more singing and dancing in the musical and some different songs.

I really liked the show but it was a little long and I was very sleepy because it was past my bedtime. People who would like the this show are Jordan, Jasper, Jacob, Jo and Wesley.  Other people who will like this show might be people who like really good dancing and great music and people who like history because this is based on a true story!

3 POINTS!


Gunnar's Point System: 
10 points: I loved Everything about it
  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

to Mr. Popper's Penguins at Lifeline Theatre

10 POINTS!!!!!

Yesterday mommy and me when to a play called Mr. Popper's Penguins at Lifeline Theatre (adapted by Robert Kauzlaric). It was directed by Paul S. Holmquist. When we sat in our seats I saw six ladders, I saw paint on the ladder, I saw the red curtains, a baby and a globe. We saw boats, a lantern, an old radio, a captain hat, and there was a big box made of wood. I liked the red light (designed by Jordan Kardasz) that was shining onto the curtains, it made me feel glad and warm.

When the play started the actors were singing all the time and the music (by George Howe) was pretty when they were singing together in harmony. We met Mr. Popper (Johnathan Schwart) and Mrs. Popper (Heather Currie). Mr. Popper was a painter and they didn't have enough money to buy food. Mr. Popper loved reading Antarctic Adventures. He read about the penguins in Antarctica and he said they'd make a good pet.
Then Admiral Drake (Josh Bernaski) sent Mr. Popper a penguin in a box. And then the penguin came out of the box and he was big and funny and cute. And the penguin kept saying "Ork! Ork! Ork!" So they called him Captain Cook because it kind of sounded like he said "Cook" when he talked. Then Mr. Popper took Captain Cook on an Adventure downtown and they went to every single place. Someone thought he was a pelican and someone that he was an ant eater.

Mrs. Popper said "What is that?" when she met Captain Cook but she loved him anyway. They put him in the fridge because it was cold in there and penguins live in the cold. Then they helped him make a nest and they put lots of stuff in the nest, and they put a banana in the nest which doesn't belong in a nest cause that's funny to put a banana in the nest because its just food. Then the zoo sent Mr. Popper another penguin because Captain Cook wanted a girlfriend, her name was Greta. And then they loved each other and had ten babies that were just cute. Then Mr. and Mrs. Popper taught the penguins to do an obstacle course and took it to a theatre so Mr. Greenbaum (Amanda Roeder) could help them feed all the penguins.

I loved the show a lot!!! My favorite parts were the banana, the seal chase, the baby and the globe.  I thought they (design by Joe Schermoly and Elyse Balogh) did a really good job with the ladders and I really like how they made a bus, a jail, the obstacle course, and a boat with the ladders. After seeing the play I really liked it and wanted to buy the book so I could read it!

I took the autographs from all the actors after the show and mommy got me a Captain Cook stuffed animal penguin.

Everyone should see this play because its really good. Jordan, Jaspar, Jacob and Jo would like this show. If you like penguins, ladders, music, painters, bananas, Captain Cook, puppets, or seals, you'd like this show.

The End. I Love you. Love, Gunnar 

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. 

To see "The Nutcracker" at the House Theatre of Chicago

Last night I went to a play called "The Nutcracker." My ticket looked like a bell and it was an ornament for our Christmas tree.  In the theatre it looked like a Christmas tree. When I walked in the theatre Hugo (Andrew Lund) was talking to me and told me and mommy to sit in the black seats because they were the best seats in the theatre.  The stage had a Christmas tree in the middle of the theater. There were presents under the tree and five white window doors and I saw pictures hanging on the walls. The pictures were of the whole family: Mom and Dad, Clara and her brother Fritz.

At the beginning of the play the officer came and told everyone that Fritz had died. And everyone was very sad because when they saw the flag and the sword they took it and then they were crying and they took the Christmas tree away. And I saw them put the Christmas tree behind me off the stage.  Then I think it was another year when Drosselmyer (James Houton) came back for the party but they didn't have a Christmas party. The mommy  (Marika Mashburn) and daddy (Abu Ansari) didn't want to have a party because they were still sad because Fritz died. But Clara (Jaclyn Hennell) was sad that there wasn't a party.  And then Drosselmyer gave Clara the nutcracker that looked like Fritz.  And then Fritz (Desmond Gray) came ALIVE to help Clara and her family celebrate Christmas and get the RATS!

I really loved the part when Chris Matthews played the monkey and they were in line and he was screaming and going "Ahh Ahh Ahh Ahh!!!!!" and everyone else was saying "Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhhh! Shhh!" That part was really funny! And  when the rats were done singing their song The Really Quite Scary Rat (Houton) screamed HI!!!! And that was funny. And I really loved playing in snow on the stage after the first act.

There was one really scary part with really really really big Rats and when they looked at mommy and me I thought I might be scared but then I thought "you don't want to eat me because I'm not in the play!" And then it was good. When the Rat king was coming the doors and the pictures and the walls broke apart and I don't know why they were still like that at the very end of the play. I wanted them to get fixed again.

I think kids like my friend Jo should go see this play because its fun to see scary things sometimes. I think Jordan and Jaspar might like this play because they are excited about Christmas just like me, and this play has a lot of Christmas in it.  Don't go to this show if you get scared of things because there are scary parts.

-Love Gunnar

To See "New Kid"

Last night I went to a play called "New Kid" it was at a theatre in Chicago at mommy's school (North Park University).  It was about a New Kid named Nick (Seanna Wong), she came from a land called Homeland to the United States and she brought her favorite bowl.

When she moved she went to school. She met some girls at school. One girl was not nice (Mog- played by Annemarie Giordano). One girl was nice (Mencha- played by Christiane Schaldemose). One girl was not nice because Nick told one of the girls to take a little bite of her food and when she didn't like it, she fell down. And then the not nice girl played zombie after she fell down and she took Nick's bowl and she dropped it down the stairs and it broke. And that was a school fight. And Nick was sad.

Then a little later the not nice girl came and wrote on the window. It said "Sgak" which is a mean word. And then the not nice girl brought her bat to school there was another school fight later. And the bad girl hurt Mencha but Mencha didn't let the bad girl play or hurt Nick. Mencha kept throwing the ball to Nick.

And then Nick and Mencha (the nice girl) played ball. And at the end of the play they played ball again.

I liked when the bad girl wrote on the window because you're not supposed to write on the windows, sometimes that's silly. I liked it when they wore Superman and Green Lantern shirts. I also liked the part when Mencha ate the pudding because she at it way too fast and it was SOOO Green!

This play is saying you should be nice to everybody.

I think my friends Jordan, Jo and Jaspar would like "The New Kid" And that's all. That's all I have to say. The End.

-Love Gunnar