Siri had a very big family (Ava Dieden, Stevie Early, Kaidin Jarjusey, Ruth Johnston, Jesse Ramsayer, Nadia Stodder, and Peter Stodder) and they all loved her very much but they were very poor so they had to give her away to a Giant White Bear (Liam F. Winchester) and they got richness in return. I liked that the relationship between Siri and the Great White Bear was not the usual for fairy tales. It would usually be the bear was a bad guy. He wasn't mean to Siri and he didn't want to crush her and eat her bones. They played Care Bear games together!
There were three senior citizens (Ava, Ruth, and Nadia) and each of them had a thing made out of gold. I thought it was really funny when Joseph Campbell said "Old woman" and they were like, "No, no, no! Call us senior citizens!" I thought that the senior citizens were very funny when they were like, "It's the wig, girl! That's what makes us all so similar!" They literally switched off the wig onstage!
There were a bunch of different winds: North Wind (Zeb Eaton), South Wind (Peter), East Wind (Stevie) and West Wind (Kaidin). They are important because they are the ones who get Siri to the Prince (Zeb) when he's been kidnapped. I thought that their costumes were really cool. (I also liked both of Siri's outfits.) When Siri gets on the winds' backs it is really heavy for them because she has all these magical golden objects. That was really really funny.
There was a princess with a foot for a nose (Auden Dieden) and I thought that she was hilarious! I loved how she acted like a valley girl; I thought that was really funny! The evil stepmother (Stevie) was also really funny because she acted like a very fancy mother. She was like, "How much do you want for that golden apple?" I liked how Siri was very nonchalant whenever the princess with a foot for a nose and the stepmother were asking how much did she want for that golden magical object.
When the Prince was asleep, a Magic Bee (Journey Early) came to him and started talking to him. I thought the magic bee was adorable. I liked how she didn't go over the top about being the bee. The Prince seemed to really like Care Bears. Because he used to be a bear, I thought that was funny. Maybe he liked Care Bears so much because he used to be a bear!
People who would like this show are people who like Bear Princes, Joseph Campbell, and magical golden objects. I thought that this was a really great show and I really liked it. Saturday is the last show, so go and see it!
Photo: Amy Eaton
This Joan was different from the Joan in The Lark. She was different because this one was not as good at going with whatever was thrown at her. She was very self confident and thought more about herself than other people. She didn't have as good relationships with the other characters. Shaw saw her as a very feminist person that could go a bit too far sometimes. Anouilh thinks that Joan is somebody people should remember as someone who went through a lot of bad things but she is more loving and kind than Shaw's Joan. Shaw's Joan doesn't care what other people think because she feels like God and her are the most important things. She isn't like any other women in her time, even though there were some other feminist women. The point is that Shaw thinks that people should be feminist but they are sometimes too feminist and people will want to stop that.
The Dauphin (Gary Alexander) is a very selfish character but also he couldn't hurt anything. I think he likes Joan but he doesn't feel like she should be respected more than he is. Sometimes when he is not nice to Joan you don't care because Joan is not very nice either. I think this actor did a good job at being this character. When he first met Joan, he was talking to her like he had known her for years. And then when he had known her for years he acted like he didn't know her! He told her a lot of things when he first met her, but he didn't tell her as much after he had known her.
Dunois was the name of Joan's friend but she calls him Jack. I think that Jack was the one who had the most friendly relationship with Joan because of how Joan talked to him. Jack was one of my favorite character because he was nicer than some of the other characters. When he came out at first he was like, "Oh my gosh, this Joan is magic." He said that because she changed the wind for him. He had tried to to do everything to get it to change. He prayed. He wrote poetry. But when Joan came on the ship the wind just started to blow the right way.
The epilogue was probably the strangest epilogue ever. It is strange because the Dauphin was having a dream and all the ghosts of Joan and Cauchon (Matt Penn) and even just other people who were dreaming were all there in that last scene. That was where Joan found out she'd become a saint. And also everybody just came on at different moments. And the guy who was a British soldier (Jack Hickey) and had held the cross for her and he went in heaven and was like a saint for the anniversary of that moment and then he had to go back to hell. I thought this was a strange ending like I'd never seen before. I don't really know what to think about it. It is called Saint Joan because it is a more important title and Shaw thinks that she left an important mark on history. But in the epilogue he shows that people don't want her to come back because she caused a lot of trouble. Shaw thinks they should have been like, "Yes! We want you to come back to life!" It is because he thought that she could have maybe been a little bit of a better person that she was before. She could have given hope all around the world.
People who would like this show are people who like feminism, the suspense of war, and horse robbery. People should see this show because it is educational and at some points it can be scary and at some points it can be funny.
Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Dead Broads Yapping. It was directed by Stacey Smith. It was about Amelia Earhart (Caroline Nash), Joan of Arc (Courtney Crary), and Jackie Kennedy (Marie Maloney) doing a talk show with a bunch of people who were dead. I thought it was a great idea for a show, but I thought the characters could have been less on one note. You didn't have to think, "why is this character angry about this?" or "why is this character smiling?" because one character was angry about everything and one was always smiling. I understand that sketch comedy usually doesn't have a lot of dimensions, but I still think it would have been better to have more dimensions for the characters. Even if the characters didn't have many layers, there were still some funny parts!
I think it was a funny idea because you usually don't think of those people who were so different meeting in the afterlife. I think of Jackie Kennedy meeting her husband, not Joan of Arc and Amelia Earhart. You would never imagine them having a talk show; you wouldn't even imagine them meeting. It is a really funny concept. During the talk show there were different segments. They do interviews with different people that are dead but they also do individual segments. Like Amelia Earhart does things that are "flying off the shelves" literally and figuratively. My favorite one was Jackie Kennedy's Fashion Oh Nos. I like it because of how she only said oh no to things you see people walking around the street wearing today but she said oh yes for brooches and pea coats and hats and she didn't have pictures of just random people wearing those. She had pictures of her wearing them!
Eli Whitney (Ben Larrison), who invented the cotton gin, when they asked him questions because he was one of the guest stars, always replied "I invented the cotton gin." He always answered in the same way, just looking forward and stuttering. Then he always ended up saying the same thing, "I invented the cotton gin." I really liked it when Teddy Roosevelt (Keenan Camp) wrestled the wine bottle because it was really funny. I think that was the funniest part of the show. It was so funny because he basically tackled the wine bottle, and even though the bottle wasn't putting up any force, he acted like it was. Teddy Roosevelt was there as their manager. I thought that was a very clever idea.
I have been seeing a lot of Joan of Arc stuff. And my next review will be of St. Joan; so you have that to look forward to--more Joan of Arc stuff. This Joan of Arc was more angry and she was never sad, she was only angry. When Joan of Arc came on stage I knew she was different than the other Joans I've seen lately because she was less girly and the other two were always kind. This Joan was never kind. I think that the actress depicted Joan that way because she thought that she was a very manly woman because she went to war. She was always very serious because of her religion. In the other plays Joan was happy sometimes and she didn't wear her armor everywhere and she had a sense of humor and was not deadpan. In Dead Broads Yapping, they kind of made fun of Joan of Arc. I knew they would make fun of her, but I didn't know it would be in this way.
People who would like this show are people who like crazy depictions of historical characters, brooches attached to pea coats and hats, and Teddy Roosevelt wrestling a wine bottle. A lot of people will like this. I saw a lot of people having a good time!
Photo: Heather Scholl Photography
I really liked how they used the set (designed by Lewis). At first I was like, "How are they going to do it just with these grey blocks?" but they made it work and it was great. I thought they used them very well. The Spanish Inquisitor (Nick Lake), I thought that how he had a special seat was very cool because I think the Inquisitor would have a special seat. You didn't notice him at first but then during the second act, you're like, "Woah! I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition" because no one expects the Spanish Inquisition. (I borrowed that joke from Monty Python's Flying Circus.) He was suprising because you never glanced over into that corner because all the action was happening on other blocks. If he was in a giant fancy throne instead of sitting on those tall blocks, everyone would be looking at the the throne because it was so glittery.
I though that the Dauphin (Peter Eli Johnson) wasn't nice to his wife the Little Queen (Meghann Tabor) because he was basically making his wife friends with the girl Agnes (Heather Smith) that he was having an affair with. Then the mistress was being very pushy about wanting to have these special hats for them at the party. When he started talking about how he thought his wife was okay but a little pushy but he didn't like his mistress and I'm just like, "Just break up with your mistress and just tell your wife that there is something you don't like her doing!" I thought the way he talked to Joan was really horrible; he was like "You are just a girl so I shouldn't listen to you." But Joan actually helped him to get rid of the people who were telling him what to do. We are not supposed to really like the Dauphin because he is mean to Joan sometimes, and Joan's the hero.
There are a lot of unfeminist people in this, including a drunk man Beaudricort (Brian Hurst), who thinks the only thing great about a woman is her body. But Joan ends up convincing him that she is not there because she thinks he's hot, but because she wants a horse, some armor, and a armed escort. I think Joan's Father (John Walski) was another not feminist person. He thought that women should just obey men and if they ran off with someone they should just be killed rather than be in love with a man. When the father tried to strangle Joan I was scared for her, and I wondered why does she have to be treated this way? The Mother (Kimberly Logan) is not as bad as the father because she is nicer to Joan but she is still not feminist. She doesn't think about going on giant adventures to go and save France; she thinks about cooking, plucking chickens and raising a family. That is all she thinks about.
The people in the trial were Cauchon (Brian Parry), The Spanish Inquisitor, Warwick (Brian Pastor) and Ladvenu (Brendan Hutt). Ladvenu was Joan's confessor and was the only nice person in the entire room. He wanted for Joan to be safe and not to be burned and was even happy that she had to go to jail instead of die. Warwick was a jerk but he was not as bad as the Spanish Inquisitor. I think he was nicer to Joan than some other people were because he actually liked Joan. I could tell because he said that to Joan when she was in prison. He couldn't say that in court because he would probably get killed for saying that. Cauchon was kind of nice to Joan but sometimes he could be a little harsh. He didn't yell at her all the time; when he told her she would have to spend the rest of her life in prison he wasn't happy. He seemed like he was having a hard time, but I think maybe he did sort of like running the trial.
When Joan was being burned I thought it was a good idea that they didn't put it on stage because it just wouldn't have worked on stage. I also really liked the ending; it was something along the lines of "Let's not remember Joan being burned at the stake; let's remember her in her finest moments." And that was after Joan was already dead, and I think that is right. She is known as the girl who was burned at the stake, but we should remember her as the girl who made France win the war. It made me feel very sad when Joan dies, even though I knew it was going to happen, because she is amazing and I feel like you really got to know the character and feel like she was a really brave character.
People who would like this show are people who like history, feminism, and surprising Spanish Inquisitions. People should definitely go and see this show because if you don't know a lot about Joan of Arc it will tell you a lot of stuff that you didn't know and the acting is great.
Photos: Tom McGrath
I thought that all of the ensemble (Kara Davidson, Sam Guinan-Nyhart, Brandon Markell Holmes, Christine Mayland Perkins, Ericka Ratcliffe, Michael E. Smith, Jeremy Sonkin, Dan Toot, and Tamara White) were really awesome and good at portraying the villagers and the rabbits and the wolves. The villagers were easy to tell apart. For example, there was the artist, the drunk, the mail person, the old lady, and the guy who like barbecues. For some of the story they like Rose and some of the story they don't. They are all trying to do what is right, but the villagers' sadness gets them angry at Rose because they think she is causing all their troubles.
I thought that everybody did a great job using the rabbit puppets and making them seem alive. Of course the puppeteers were right there, so I knew that the rabbits weren't actually real, but they seemed kind of alive if you didn't look at the puppeteers. I thought that the bunny puppets were really really cute. The wolves were sort of scary; I thought that the wolf masks (by costume designer Melissa Torchia) were really cool. And the tree trick was really cool. I was sort of scared that the tree was going to fall on me--in a good way. I thought the swinging was really fun but scary. I thought that the swing and the trees and the rest of the set (by Collette Pollard) was also really awesome.
I thought that when Rose went sledding it was so fun I wanted to get on the sled with her. It was awesome because even though it didn't look really like she was sledding, her facial expression showed that she was going sledding. The people holding her up seemed strong. When it started snowing all around and they blew the snow, it was really cool.
Uncle Roger (Smith) was an interesting character because of how he was a part of the story because he was the guardian of Rose and not the mother or father. He was a fatherly figure and Rose thought of him as sort of a father, but he wasn't the father. In the end you are surprised about what you learn about Uncle Roger and how he doesn't have just one relationship with her family. I really liked when he was talking about where babies came from, but he talked about it in the strangest way: he said "They come from the oven." And when Rose said, "Why don't you make one now?" he said, "I can't make it. It is a very difficult recipe."
After Rose rescues the town and makes it summer, there are these two brothers who come along Charlie (Guinan-Nyhart) and Jimmy (Holmes). And they come from a regular place and they don't know about any curses or stuff like that. I thought that these characters provided a change in the show because of how they influenced Rose. The first half is Rose as a kid and the second half was about her being more grown up. Because of them you find out that she's growing up.
One of the cool but scary parts was when the Witch (Ratcliff) came on and starts talking to Rose and starts flying about with her giant ice claws. You don't really hate her because she is scary and attacks Rose but she doesn't actually hurt her. Even if she is an evil witch she is capable of loving people. You don't usually expect that from a witch, but it is true; the Witch actually loves people.
People who would like this show are people who like nice-evil witches, rabbits, and babies that come from the oven. This show is funny, suspenseful, and good to take your friends to. I took my friend Lana and we had a blast!
Photos: Michael Brosilow
Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called Mr. Chickee's Funny Money. It was based on the book by Christopher Paul Curtis and written by David Inger and the music and lyrics were by Lamont Dozier and Paris Dozier. It was directed by Derrick Sanders who also directed Bud, Not Buddy.It was about a kid named Steven (Jonathan Butler-Duplessis) and his two friends Richelle (Ashley Elizabeth Honore)and Russell (Travis Turner) and their dog friend Zoopy (Sam Deutsch). They have a club called the Flint Future Detectives and they are trying to solve the mystery of a quadrillion dollar bill and if it is real. People should go and see this show. It is a fun show even though it is not exactly like the book.
In the show they made a few changes from the book. I had one that I did like and one that I didn't like. The one that I didn't like was how they made Zoopy Mr. Chickee's dog instead of Russell's. I didn't like that because then Steven couldn't have Zoopy at the end. I thought the "Zoop! Zoop! Zoopy!" call didn't work either. It was too cheesy. They get Zoopy back in the book when he is thought to be a bear in the circus and he ate all of Steven's food. It made it more sad because you thought Steven was dreaming and Zoopy is really dead. And they don't just call him in the book. I liked how they put Richelle in to the club because she is actually in the book, but she didn't have as big a role. I liked it in the play because I thought there should be more girls in the story that have bigger parts. I think she was a cool character.
I thought that it was really funny how Russell was obsessed with peanut butter and was eating it every moment. When they were walking around, Richelle had a calculator (she called it a gal-culator), Steven had a magnifying glass, and Russell, you guessed it, peanut butter. The rap battle between Richelle and Steven was crazy in a good way. They were rapping and one of the biggest things Richelle said was, "You make Kanye look like Martin Luther King." That is one of the reasons that she won, because the audience went ooooh! Steven didn't have as many good rap lines, but he was a great rapper. It wasn't about how good you were but about how many good slams you had. So in the end Richelle won and walked away with her gal-culator.
There were three agents: Agent Fondoo (Brian Grey), Agent 3 (Travis Turner), and Agent 2 (Elena Marisa Flores). I thought that they were really hilarious and I liked it when Agent Fondoo started dancing because it was weird to have that at that moment, and it happened, and that was really funny. When the agents were doing their dance to "I'm on the Case," Agent 2 and Agent 3 were basically like the background dancers, and that was really funny. I liked it when at the end they were running around in and out of the market without noticing that the kids were just standing there staring at them.
The Zoopy puppet I thought was really big and really cool and really cute. The person who played Zoopy was also the puppet designer. He had to get in his own puppet! It didn't really seem like a real dog, but it was so cool. It was cool that it seemed like it was basically made out of mops. You could tell that he was really crazy because of his appearance.
The parents, Elmwood (Bear Bellinger) and Lynetta (Alexis J. Rogers), I thought were really funny. So the mom is doing yoga and the dad is like, sniff! "Someone is touching my records!" Like he can smell when someone is touching his records. And I thought that was really funny because people can't smell if someone is touching his records. I thought the mom was really funny because of how nice she was but when the dad said no to something she got really uptight and said, "Did you think this was a conversation? You are taking that boy out tomorrow!"
I think that Mr. Chickee (Yaw Agyeman) did a really good job at seeming old. I really liked the song "It's in the Music" where he talked about how much he liked music. I really like how he took off his coat and under that was the purple tuxedo. I thought that his singing seemed like an old man singing, but in a really good way. I think his character in the play was better than how he was in the book. Because here he seemed more part of the story rather than being like, "Here's the money. Goodbye" and walks away into the shadows mysteriously.
I loved how they made so many references to James Brown. I really liked it when Elmwood, Steven's dad, when they touched his James Brown records, he spun around and landed on one knee and put his hand on his head like he was trying to keep on a hat. And then when Steven got a few more of his records, his mom came on with a red sparkly cape and patted the dad on the back while he was pretend crying. That's like James Brown because that is like his biggest routine--the cape routine--and one of his most famous too. I thought that guy was good at doing the dance moves. He did it so fast that he did it almost as fast as James Brown!
People who would like this show are people who like James Brown, giant dogs, and peanut butter. People should go see this show because it is funny, makes you want to dance, and is good to go to with your family. This show makes you feel nice. Like sugar and spice! Aooow!
Photos: Chuck Osgood
The set (by Elyse Balogh) was really cool. When you walk in, you think it might be for a grownup show, but it's not! I loved how the background was made out of chairs. I also liked how all the sets were rolled out and it was very silent rolling. That is something I like to see in a show. I liked how they had music on stage before the show. It accomplished keeping the school kids quiet. I thought that it was also cool to have it during the show. It was there when they were changing the set to keep people interested. It made whatever they were doing, going on a train or going outside, more interesting. And at one point they sing a song in the town about wanting to be free from the soldiers.
I thought that the part where Ellen and Annemarie were talking about how Annemarie's sister Lise (Fiona Garretson) died was a very sad part. Like if I had an older sister and she died I would feel very sad that I wouldn't be able to see her ever again. They didn't really know how she died, so that was really scary and sad. Annemarie was trying to keep the secret that she had been peeking at her sister's stuff from her parents because she thought they might get angry at her. I think she peeked because she wanted to remind herself of her sister because she missed her. This scene shows you that Ellen and Annemarie are best friends because of the things they tell each other.
There was a girl named Kirstie (Erinn Fredin) who was the little sister of Annemarie. She really likes princesses and pink cupcakes. She would have loved the story of Pinkalicious who ate too many cupcakes and turned pink. (It was like King Midas who wanted everything he touched to turn into gold.) I knew why she really liked to think about pink cupcakes: because she hadn't had a single sweet for a long time because of the war and all the soldiers were taking all their sugar and butter. I really feel like I am like the girls in the story because I like some of the things that kids at that time liked, like stories and cupcakes and Tivoli, which is an amusement park. Tivoli. I feel like it makes me understand the history of the story and the characters more.
The mom of Annemarie (Laura A. Harrison) seemed like a mom; not everybody can play a mom without being like, "I'm a mom! I'm a mom!" which is something people sometimes do. I liked how she seemed very like she was part of that world and she didn't seem like she was just acting like she was. I thought that the uncle (Brian Rife) wasn't very nice to the sister, but I think the actors did a good job convincing you that they were actually brother and sister.
There was this soldier (Nathan Simpson) who tried to stop Annemarie from getting her uncle's "lunch" to his boat. And then they were making these comments about women and they also ate his lunch just right in front of her like she was nothing. That scene is in the play to show you that the Nazis were not nice to anybody, not even little girls. It shows you that Annemarie is very brave and that is when she finds out that she is stronger than she thought she was. This scene made you worry for her, that she might get taken away. The soldier was frightening but also he was drunk; that makes you think that he's not a very good soldier.
People who would like this show are people who like learning about history, friendship, and pink cupcakes. People should go see this show because it doesn't seem like a regular kids' show. People die and there is a lot of talk of people putting their lives in danger. But you still could identify with the characters and what the characters were feeling, and I really liked this show.
Photos: Anna Ables
