Review of Sinbad, The Untold Tale at Adventure Stage

Once upon a time, I went to a show and it was called (whisper) Sinbad, The Untold Tale. And it was a cool play. It was about a genie and a porter and a beautiful lady that fell in love with the porter--kind of. That porter was actually the main character. That was cool because a porter is not usually a main character. I thought he would just bring the box to Sinbad the Sailor, and then you would never see the porter again. It was very adventurous. Bum bum bum! If you don't know what adventurous means, you can learn it from me--ADA GREY! It means like falling down a waterfall with nobody catching you. Adventurous means like maybe you would survive. It means dangerous but fun.

There were two Sinbads. One of them was Sinbad the Sailor, and the other was Sinbad the Porter. One of them was really rich, and one of them was really poor. One of them was really older than the other. Adam El-Sharkawi played Sinbad the Sailor. He did a good job pretending that he was older than he actually was. The character really wanted to get people's attention to the story. He made it really exciting by telling us about his own adventures--like there was this one where he fought a kind of creature that was terrible. Edgar Miguel Sanchez played Sinbad the Porter. And I saw him in Wilson Wants It All, and he did a great job in that. He did a great job in this too! You were supposed to feel sorry for him because he's very poor and is bossed around a lot and gets threatened a lot. He was really hilarious. There was this funny part where Ittifaq said "What else can't you do?" Response from Sinbad the Porter: "I cannot think of a reason to like you!" That is a really hilarious answer because that is exactly what she did not want to hear. Edgar was awesome.

Mike Ooi was the Silent Genie. I thought that was a great character because he was another bad guy that helped the sorceress; he was really funny. And here is a part where he was funny: Sinbad the Porter was arguing with Ittifaq, and then the Silent Genie is smiling, and Sinbad the Porter says "Stop Smiling," and then the Silent Genie just starts smiling again. I thought that was hilarious. He was sometimes kind of scary but funny at the same time.

Abu Nuwas was a good genie. He was played by Esteban Andres Cruz. In the genies' fight he did not just go up to the Silent Genie and defeat him. He had to go through a lot of damage. He like jumped and shooted things out of his hands. He moved dramatically like he was about to do something cool and dramatic. Here is how you do a genie fight. You pick an opponent. You make a movement. And then you jump when they shoot at you. And then you have to go back. If you miss the shot that means you are losing. If you get him every single time, and he only got you once, then you would be winning.

Mildred Marie Langford, she played the Sorceress Jan Shah. I thought she was a good actor because every time she tried to make up scary things to do--like scary kinds of laughs. She said you can die or be with me. And the "be with me" part is better than dying, but the girl Ittifaq chose dying because I don't think she wanted to live with her because she was bad. There was this really creepy part where the sorceress dissolved into ashes. If you were a super villain and came to the play (and it would be very easy, because you could just break through a window) then you would feel very sad for the sorceress because she died. And superheroes would feel great that the bad guy died.

Ittifaq was played by Dana Dajani. Ittifaq was the daughter of Sinbad the Sailor. She was kind of mean at the beginning, but then she turned nice because then she actually liked the porter. She like really wanted to fight because she really wanted to have an adventure. Her father needed her and thought she was too young, so she could not go on any adventures. Then she dresses up like a pirate and goes on the ship. She couldn't go on any adventures until her father was sick, and I felt very sad for her. There was this part where she gets captured by this snake that comes in when she tries to get the flower, which is the only way to save her father. That scene was a good scene because it was creepy--the snake came up to her and it was just so sudden. At the end, all the people in the audience got to ask questions. And one of them was "was it hard not to laugh at the funny parts?" And Dana said, "Yes it was very hard not to laugh when the snake laughs." I did not think it was funny; I thought it was creepy. She looked terrified when the snake comes out. I think that is good for the actor and the play.

The magic carpet was cool. They like put their feet in it and they walked around so it looked like they were actually flying. The carpet flies when Ittifaq tells Sinbad the Porter the instructions. She says only love will make the carpet fly. And then he instantly fell in love with her.

They had people dressed in black to help them change clothes and take off pieces of the set that weren't supposed to be there. They lifted the genies up to dodge things in the scene where there was a genie fight. That was a kabuki style thing. I recognized it because I saw another thing that was kabuki, and I saw people in black behind them. I think it was a good idea because it taught the kids that were there what kabuki was. I think it was a great idea because then when people go to Japan they will know what they are seeing when they go to a theatre in Japan.

I think people that like stories that have snakes trying to hurt people and genies and sorceresses would like this play. The audience was not very rowdy because people were really paying attention to the play. 5 to 10 year olds would like this play. I recommend that kids go see it because the actors are funny and the fights are cool.

Photos by: Johnny Knight