Review of Barrel of Monkeys’ That’s Weird, Grandma at the Neofuturarium

Once upon a time I went to see a show, and it was called Barrel of Monkeys. All their shows were written by big kids and little kids. They all come from a school. The actors in it are not kids; they are grownups, and they act the plays out.

There are lots of parts and lots of scenes. And now I can talk about some of the ones I wanted to talk about.

“Kool-Yummm” was good, but it wasn’t that exciting. It wasn’t my favorite. The kids just kind of got hot and that’s all. And then they sang a song. The only words in the song were Kool-Yummm, Kool-Yummm, Kool-Yummm.

“The Lady Who Loved the Library” was kind of a song—but dramatic and funny. There were like these police people who like to shut down libraries and keep them closed forever. And then she saved the library. It was funny because this guy named Tai was dressed up and he had a fake moustache on—and it was really kind of funny.

“Graffiti Argument” was about this little girl and she wished there was less graffiti in her life. Graffiti is like writing on things that shouldn’t be writed on. There was like a picture of a son and a mother and the kids in the class kept writing the names of their crews on the picture. That was very much trouble for the guy who painted the school. If you don’t know what graffiti is you can learn it from me--Ada Grey!

There was one called “The Kid Who Got Hit by a Rock” and it was about a kid played by Tom who got hit by a rock. It was super funny, like how he kept getting hit by more big and bigger and bigger rocks. Then he had to go to the doctor’s because there was a big bump on his head. And the guy who played him put his hand on his head to pretend like that was his bump. And then he had to go to the doctor. The doctor said, “you should watch out more carefully.”

“Magical Place” was about this little girl played by Dixie who had these mean brothers. She went to a place and it was called a magical place. And these little elves stood right outside and they sang right outside of Magical Place. And she said I want to stay here forever. And then they sang, “Magical Place, stay here forever; Magical Place, stay here forever; Magical Place, stay here forever; Magical Place, stay here forever.” And then she decided it wasn’t a magical place—it was a yelling place. She decided to live with her brothers. They said sorry but they didn’t really mean it. It was one of my favorites. We sing “Magical Place, stay here forever” at our house all week.

“Destroyer” was very scary. Destroyer was really destroying everybody in the world by putting his fingers out. He had a skull head, so I couldn’t tell which one he was. But I think I know it was the guy who played Eddie. Emjoy was one of the girls that got destroyed. She fell down.

“Beats” was all about beats of course—like a stomp or like clapping. It was like beats, boots, gym shoes. Clap clap clap. It was fun. Sarah was really good at that part.

The show is like Laugh Out Loud. That is a place where one of my friends Lillie works. She is the owner. Both the companies are funny. They get costumes and use the props that are already out to set the scene.

The acting was awesome and funny—in a good way. My mom calls me a kookamunga, so I think I would be good to be in Barrel of Monkeys--because they are funny! I want to be in Barrel of Monkeys when I am older and write a story for it. And it would be called “Superheroes Do Not Save Villains.” It would be about a superhero who liked to save villains, but the other superheroes thought that she was crazy. And then at the end she realizes she would like to save the world and not just villains.

I think all ages would like this play. You could just cover the little kids’ eyes at “Destroyer.” Grownups would like the play because grownups like funny. I think people would like it because it is very good and the acting is good and everything about it is thrilling. I think Barrel of Monkeys want to make everybody happy who comes to see the show. I think they think the kids who write the stories are smart and cool.

Review of A Night at the Opera

Once upon a time I saw a movie called A Night at the Opera. It’s a Marx Brothers movie. It is really funny. Three year olds or four year olds or two year olds would like it. I think everybody would like it because it is super super super super super super super hilarious.

It is about an opera. Like I said in the beginning it is called A Night at the Opera, so it is about an opera. There’s a guy and he likes a girl but she doesn’t like him. And she likes a different boy and he likes the girl. They sing at the opera.

The Marx Brothers are Groucho, Harpo, and Chico. Chico is my favorite. He has a very bad Italian accent. He wears kind of a funny hat. It looks like an egg, actually. Groucho always has a cigar. He has a moustache and he wears glasses. He says stuff like “I’ve been waiting for you” but he doesn’t really mean it. He’s says “I’ve been waiting for you,” but he really means, “I have not been waiting for you, I have been waiting for HELP!”

That is what he really means because all these people on the ship are in his room. Harpo—he can’t talk. He honks a horn. He has curly hair and he just does what he wants and not even asks. Because he can’t talk. So he is kind of rude but kind of funny.

In the middle, Groucho keeps saying “The party of the first part” and Chico says, “No, I don’t like that.” And then he keeps going over and over again like, “The party of the second part…” “No, I don’t like that.” The party of the eleventh part…” “No, I’m going to think about it.” They are tearing the contract apart.

There was a scene and it was about eggs. And Chico kept saying “And two hard-boiled eggs.” And the Harpo would honk a horn and Groucho would say “And make that three hard-boiled eggs.” It was hilarious. And clever—very, ver

y clever.

Margaret Dumont--she had a very high voice. I wish that I was her because then I would get to be with the Marx Brothers. Because she is really famous—that’s why she is in the Marx Brothers movies. She doesn’t get treated very well—but it was kind of funny. I think I would really rather play Chico because he is just so funny.

There was a scene and a policeman was chasing them around. The beds kept going everywhere. And at the end of the scene they dressed up like an old man and an old woman and Chico was just like a chair.

The music was great and funny. Harpo plays harp. Chico plays piano. They are funny musicians. In another movie—Animal Crackers—Chico plays a song and it has lots of dings, and it goes across dings, and it is really hilarious.

At the end, two people were singing at the opera. They were super excited because they had to sing. The Marx Brothers are about to go to jail, but then the policemen decided they won’t go to jail. Harpo was pulling these ropes and it kept changing the scene. And the background went up and down and up and down. And then when this old lady turned around, he wasn’t there--he was behind the scene! That was a really funny scene.

People should watch this movie because it is super fun to watch. I think everyone would like the Marx Brothers because they are funny and kind of smart and tricky. They say funny things and do funny things like pull down curtains and ask for hard-boiled eggs in a funny way. This is Ada Grey, and I hope that you enjoy my reviews. See you some other time. Good-bye!

Review of The Ghosts of Treasure Island at Adventure Stage Chicago

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called The Ghosts of Treasure Island. Sometimes it was funny; sometimes it was sad; sometimes it was scary. Sometimes I wished I wasn’t there because it was so scary, but now I wish I was there right now.

And there were some very funny parts. Like when Squire Trelawney said, “we will go there poor and we will come back RICH!” Which kind of gave the treasure away. I thought that was very funny. He didn’t say it high he said it low. And how Captain Silver was yelling and then he just talked light—he talked very light then and when he was mad he talked very LOUD. I thought he could talk as loud as a screaming rat—a screaming rat because he was a villain. But the guy who played him—JAZ—was not really a bad guy. A screaming mouse would mean if someone was screaming loud but he or she was really a good person. Mice don’t bite you, but rats do bite you—and it could really hurt.

The girl pirate who was on the crew—arrgh mateys—yes-a-mateys—she was really cool. I thought that this character could do really good karate moves if she wanted to. I thought she looked tough. She has a really fancy dress.

There was some pirates and they were in a band. And I thought that their music was really good. Misha composed very good music. Does anyone know Misha? If you do, you can go see him at Strawdog. And they taught us a song: it was called “Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum.” Rum is a kind of drink—I’m sure that everyone in the play knew that. Did you know that? If not, you can learn it from me—Ada Grey! I think it tastes bad because pirates like things that are bad.

There was a character in the play and he was called Ben Gunn. I have no idea why he was called Gunn, but I think I would guess and my guess is that it was because he was once a pirate and pirates have scary names. He had a very strange costume, but it wasn’t too strange. It was all torn because he’s lived there so long.

Jim was a little boy. He was older than me but a kid. I thought the guy who played Jim Hawkins was a great guy. He’s a good actor. I liked how dramatic everything he did was.

There were lots of pirates. Most of them were mean. Lots of the sailors were smart. Everyone in the play was smart—I just thought they looked smart. They did smart acting: they did lots of practicing. The fights were very scary and fun. I thought they moved very athletic. Does anyone know what athletic means? If not, you can learn it from me—Ada Grey! I thought that someone who delivers people to their graves should just carry the characters who died offstage instead of the dead people walking off because it felt like that gravedigger would never come if you didn’t see it.

The accents were very cool. I thought that they sounded very British. I thought that they were very cool as well when they talked.

The director I have met before. She is a very nice lady. I thought the direction was great. How she did the play was all in a straight line and not at all circled. (A circled play means nobody understood it.) She made everyone understand it.

I think everyone would like this play. But I think that people who are not very attached to plays shouldn’t go. But if you are attached to plays you should go. If you listen to plays but do not look at them, that would be fine. And if you just look at plays and do not listen to them, that would be fine too. You’ll understand it anyway.

The end. See you some other time! You can see more of my blogs. See you soon! Bye!

Review of Some Like It Hot

Once upon a time at my house I got to watch Some Like It Hot. If kids that are three really want to see it, tell them there is some shooting. And people do get killed. But not very many. All of the people who are killed are not nice, very mean and rude, and not athletic. Athletic means that people are very acrobatic. The boys are athletic because they can run on high heels—that’s pretty athletic.

And there is a character named Sugar Kane. Marilyn Monroe plays Sugar Kane. I think she is kind of hilarious. She waves her hand—I think it is funny because she says “just relax” to Junior who is really Joseph. I think she is a little bit athletic but not very athletic because she can run in high heels as well. Oh the dresses—they were very beautiful. They make her look very fancy.

Some of the music was very slow and some was very fast. Like the walking—it was fast and slow. Sometimes it was slow—but when the bad guys were there then, no, it was not slow. In the end they are going to hear some more about the bad guys.

The title comes from Joseph/Josephine/Junior who says “Some Like it Hot.” He’s talking about jazz. I adore jazz music. I prefer hot. He likes classical, but I like hot because I like dancing. Cha cha cha.

The maraca scene was really funny because he was like cha cha cha. The guy who owned the yacht proposed to the other man—Jerry/Daphne.

In one of the scenes there were roses--they keep getting passed from person to person from mouth to mouth. That means I should say now they did roses and roses and roses of them. Daphne and the man who owns the yacht are in it. They keep switching scenes between the yacht really (the kissing of Sugar and Josephine/Junior/and Joseph) and the dancing.

They were in a boat at the end and the bad guys were chasing them. And Sugar Kane was trying to catch up. Then this man who is actually in love with another man (at this time guys couldn’t marry guys) he says “nobody’s perfect.” That means no one is the goodest person in the whole world to marry. I think since she had the maracas and she looked excited then, that Daphne wanted to marry him. But I think in real life Jerry/Daphne had to marry one of the girls in the band. Because of the time that it is he had to marry one of the girls in the band. Or he might not even get married at all. It’s his choice so I guess he might marry the guy or he might not if it was in real life and they were still alive.

Tell your kids it is in black and white.

People who would like this would be people who like fighting, people who are athletic, and people who are funny. But just any person would like it—these are just my guesses.

The end.

Review of The Good Soul of Szechuan at Strawdog Theatre Company

Once upon a time I went to a play and it was called Good Soul of Szechuan. It was about this girl and her name was Shen Te. And she was in love with a pilot and she had a friend who was a water seller. And she was very kind to everyone. And she owned a tobacco shop, and she thought it was a present from the gods. The gods were actually her friends and so was the water seller. She almost got married to the pilot but he got mad at her at the wedding because the cousin wouldn’t come. She was actually the cousin! They both have black hair and looked the same—other people couldn’t tell because her hair was kind of put up because then everyone wouldn’t know who she was. She told the water seller that she was pregnant. She was very excited.

My dad in one of the scenes was very crumpled and dirty and torn. That’s because he was very poor. His song was about pigs and I really liked it because I thought it was funny and cool. And it went like this: “Pigs will fly! Pigs will fly! Oh yeah. Oh yeah yeah yeah.” I loved everything my dad did. An example of something that I liked was the dramatic talking when he had torn clothes—I thought that was cool. I thought that a scene with a rope was kind of scary because he was going to hang himself.

One of my favorite songs was with Shen Te. She got interrupted—that’s why it was so short—I thought that it was pretty hilarious. Her character was pretty funny too. Michaela is one of my friends. Shen Te and the cousin had different voices. I think that was a good decision because then she didn’t sound like she was a girl really. When she sounded like a girl she was a girl and when she sounded like the boy she was the boy. When she was pregnant and a boy she looked like she was pregnant. When she was a boy she walked more coolly. When she was a girl she walked more fancy. She was good because she helped everyone. She let people stay overnight. Shen Te liked it in the rain and then she is out of the scene. She sounded really cool.

Mrs. Shin--she was played by Shannon. Mrs. Shin, Shannon, those kind of sound the same, don’t they? She was the girl who interrupted the song which I was talking about. I thought she was really funny in that.

Shu fu wanted to marry Shen Te but that was not the man that she loved. Well, he walked with his hands kind of funny just so the play would be funnier.

I really liked the part where the family stays with Shen Te. I thought they were funny. They weren’t very good guests, but the actors were good. They teased and also one other thing—she got from the wife and the husband some poison. And Shen Te was like, “Poison!?”

Mrs. Yang—she was kind of funny, as well. About everyone in this play was funny sometime. And she was also at the wedding and she watched for the cousin. She didn’t exactly say funny things but she did stuff funny. Like looking out the window for the longest amount of time. And then she was like slam and then everyone was like—what??!

The gods were also very funny. When he said, “one good soul will be enough,” he yelled and it was like a big gigantic speech. The gods were there for to find a person who didn’t turn bad. They got dirtier and dirtier and at the end they were the dirtiest of dirty. And they gave her a crown and the scepter. I have no idea why they did that. Just to be funny I think.

The water seller didn’t get paid. Because nobody wants the water because nobody thought that water was very healthy for you in Szechuan. I thought that he was sometimes pretty funny and sometimes pretty hilarious—which both mean the same thing. If all of you know that, that’s pretty good. If you don’t, that’s ok. You can learn it from me, Ada Grey!

I thought how they did the trial scene was very dramatic. It was still my favorite scene even though I don’t talk about it very much in my review.

And there is parts with lights in it and they blink blue and red and pink. Michael did like the lights blinking. He is also a stage manager. Michael let me kind of help—I snuck into one of the scenes in a rehearsal. I put pieces of tape under some chairs and benches.

There wasn’t really a set. It was just props that they used for scenes. I thought that it was cool. The costumes made me think certain things about the characters—like that they were very poor. The shawl was very beautiful and it was blue and had flowers on it. The gods’ costumes made me think of flags--because they are gods and gods are like presidents. I think Aly made the gods’ costumes look like flags on purpose.

I though it was really fun to have a band. If I was in a band I would want to play the guitar. I thought the guy who played the guitar was kind of funny. I thought that he kind of was funny because when it was intermission he strummed the guitar and said it and the lights went out. And I thought it was going to be a song!

The directing I thought was funny and cool. A particular scene that I liked was the end scene. What I liked about it was that they shook their fingers and then they looked like tigers. Well the director just made the play not as sad so the teenagers would like it. Teenagers might like it more than littler kids. If it wasn’t funny, then the teenagers might be kind of scared. If it was sad then they would be sad and they would cry a little. And if they cried a little and they liked to cry that would be okay. And if they didn’t want to cry then they wouldn’t have to because it would be funny enough.

Grownups, teenagers, kids would like it. (But not little ones—I think they would be a little scared because some parts are scarier than they would think. If the parents did tell them about the scary parts then it wouldn’t be as scary for them.) The people who would like it are people who are funny and smart and good to other people.

The end.

Photo: Chris Ocken

Review of Uncle Vanya at Strawdog Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Uncle Vanya by Chekhov. It was at Strawdog. Finding your seats is very easy. People tell you where to sit. I have a seat that has my name on it. I like the seats because they are comfortable. Before the show starts there were some people who I knew, and I talked to them at the intermission. If anyone gets hungry in the middle of the show, wait until the intermission.

Uncle Vanya is an uncle who is drunk. He is kind of mean sometimes. He adores a girl named Sonya. Why, do you ask? Because he loves his niece. Vanya really likes Yelena because he really just follows her around a lot because I think he loves her. I think he likes Astrov, but he doesn’t love him. When Astrov and Yelena kiss, Uncle Vanya drops the roses and is like “I guess that’s the end.” I think it is kind of funny how he says, “that is done, I guess I’d like to go,” and just leaves. There’s a scene where Vanya is insulting the professor and Sonya stops him. Then he says “I’m guilty, I’m guilty, I’m guilty.” I thought that was funny. I was kind of surprised that Uncle Vanya used the gun. I thought he was just going to pull it out and be about to, and someone would stop him. Or that there wasn’t going to be any sound. He didn’t like the professor. Vanya was kind of angry and sometimes kind of funny. I thought that he did a really good job at doing both of those things. Sometimes both at the same time!

I thought that Sonya was really smart because she stops someone from getting more drunk. I think she really liked Astrov. I think he liked her too, but she is sad because he doesn’t come there to see her. He comes to see Yelena. When she was sad I felt sorry for her. I knew she was sad because she was crying. I thought Michaela’s performance was really good.

I thought Astrov was really hilarious. Why, do you ask? Because he was drunk. I don’t know why he was drunk—he had a lot of alcohol. He liked to drink so much that he drank alcohol so much. Kyle was not drunk. He just tried to act drunk—he did a very good job.

Yelena—I thought that she was very nice and very cute. I though that she was nice a lot of the time, but she was angry some of the time. She talked in a very stern language. She was angry because her husband was acting kind of weird in one of the scenes. Sonya, she got along with. Astrov she didn’t get along with—neither with Uncle Vanya. I understand her position—she wants people to do things which she wants them to do. When they don’t, she feels really angry. I think she did a really good job pretending to be angry.

The funniest scene was one where Astrov, he was with Sonya, and she says no more drinking and he asks: “May I? Can I drink it?” and then she says “No!”

It always took place in a house. It reminded me of my grammy and grandpa’s house because it was very fancy like my grammy and grandpa’s house. They had a window and they had flowers on it. You could see through some parts of it. It was supposed to look like Joseph Cornell boxes, and I thought that was cool because usually people don’t have Cornell boxes in their houses. It was a bright and dark play.

The costumes looked a lot like they were from sometime which wasn’t very long ago. I think it took place in New York or in Paris because one of them had a parasol. And one of them had an outfit that looked like it was from Paris. Yelena’s dress was my favorite. It was really fancy. They looked very fancy—all of them.

The music was sometimes very dramatic and sometimes very cheerful. And in one scene there was a boy named Waffles who was singing a song and they were like “Holy Moly. What? Is? Happening?” And that was the end of the play. It was hilarious. It was not sad because the guy Yelena married didn’t die.

People who like to be surprised would like this show. People who have a very good taste for entertainment would like this play. I think younger kids could see it as long as someone reminds them that someone gets out a gun and uses it. I think the age would be 4 and up.

(Photo by Chris Ocken)

Review of Wilson Wants It All at the House Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a play—it was called Wilson Wants It All and it was played at The House. If you would like any instructions on how to get to The House, just call us and we will give you directions. How they treat you is very nice, and if you want to talk to anyone, ask me and I will ask one of my friends if they can get you into the backstage. The actors come out of the backstage and come up and talk to people before the show starts. I liked that. If you ever get hungry we might have something we can eat together. Someone gave me chocolate and they might give you chocolate some time. If you like you might go to the café and they might have something you would like.

My friend was in the first movie. She played a baby and she really was a baby. And she played a girl named Hope. That is one of the sisters; their names are Ruth and Hope.

The sisters traded places and you see them trade places but the good thing is that they are not really naked—they have an underdress on under it. I could tell them apart so I knew they were not really twin sisters. I loved their performances—they did have funny conversations sometimes.

The guy who played Remy is really funny. Remy is kind of funny but the other characters in the play don’t think he is funny in the play. One of my favorite lines was “Hey, I think I got this straight now!”

Wilson thought that everything would be all right if he lied, and at the end something bad happens to him. His performance was very good because he did a very good job at playing mean. I loved his character. It was the best character in all the play. I liked that sometimes he was nice and sometimes he was mean—I thought that was really cool.

I liked the mom. She was very nice. I do know kind of why she was nice all the time—because she wanted to be very nice to Wilson, but when she found out he was lying all the time she got mad. She got mad because Wilson lied to her, but she didn’t know why he lied.

Bryan is very nice. He helps Wilson. And he likes the sisters.

Abu plays a news reporter and so did Emjoy and Maria and Joey and Elana and Michael. They were really funny. The part of Greg was really funny too. There is a part where he keeps going back and forth and then just stands there and Abu says you have to go back and he goes back. Maria’s news reporter was really enthusiastic. I liked all the news reporter scenes. Why, do you ask? Because all of them are funny because almost every news reporter is funny. They moved around very funny and Greg just goes around back and forth, back and forth and it was very funny. And I think you would think it was funny too.

Almost every costume had a button on it to show their love for the government. I think the star is the chip. The chip keeps them from having babies. The costumes were red and black and white and yellow. They looked very realistic. They looked like they were from a different time.

One of my favorite scenes was a scene where Hope was at work and Remy gave her flowers. In the scenes there was something I think you would think is funny but it wasn’t funny to me. It was the ad that Remy made. I agreed with Ruth—she didn’t like it. She says that is what someone did before he killed Lincoln.

They put in a part where they said, “What shall we do?” “I don’t know.” and that was the end of the play. It made a better ending than in previews because if they didn’t know what to do, there might be a sequel. That’s what the director might say: “I think there might be a sequel.”

It is supposed to be teary, so it is okay if you cry, but you have to hold it in until the play is over. I would like this play even more if there was less violence. People who like to cry would like this play. And if they are nice they would like it. If you are interested in culture you would like the play. I loved it!

The end.

(Photo by John Taflan)