'Be Our Guest'

Date: Aug,21,2009
Event: 'Beauty and the Beast' At Hale Center Theater.

I have been looking forward to this for about a year since I found out Hale was doing it. My parents were kind enough to get me a ticket and so I waited for it to start and tonight I finally got the chance to go.

Now I got the chance to go see it at the Gammage Theater when it came like forever ago. And I only remember bits and pieces of it. And I was up in the balcony so it was kind of hard to see from where I sat.

But in the close audience feeling of the Hale Theater. The experience was so much better.

Now I love Hale performances, they are always enjoyable. But this was enjoyable for several reasons.

One: The acting. Several people really stood out for the show.

'Lumiere'(Thomas Brower): With his dynamic character, he really made the character stand out and was amusing. He was fantastic and a joy to watch.
'Gaston'(Gary Caswell): First of all is an amusing character to begin with. With the Broadway version of the classic Disney movie. They have extended the character well into the stage. The actor portrayed him very well.

Now for the main leads: Belle(Linsey Maxson), was good. With a great singing voice and a sweet personality.
But without a doubt, the one character who stole the show, at least for me, was Beast played by Tyler Maxson.

Tyler Maxson is a superb actor with a strong singing voice that always manages to portray all the passion and pain his character is going through. I also had the chance to see his role as "Percy," in "The Scarlet Pimpernel" another strong role where he was amazing. And I am glad I got the chance to see him in this one.

Two: The costumes and Choreography.

Were imaginative and fun. The costumes were especially great in "Be Our Guest" with the dancing silverware and plates, with several bright colors that caught the eye. My personal favorite was the spatula. Another great number was "Gaston" in the bar where the whole ensemble broke into a dance involving the banging of cups together.
That they were so choreographed and together was amazing to watch.

Only one thing bothered me about the choreography, was when Geston ever beat up on 'Lefou'. After a while it became a little to slapstick and a little over done. Making it seem cheesy and out of place.

The wolves during the moments were the Beast fights them off to save Belle, or when they attacked Maurice was nifty. Frightening creatures with red eyes as they came down the stairs to attack their pray. With the darkened lights of the theater their eyes stood out the more giving a really nice effect. Which brings me to my next point.

Three: Lighting, Sets and Effects.

I happened to take Stage Craft while in High school and spent most of my time either on or behind stage. Helping build the sets and figure out lighting was something that I still enjoy. Seeing how Hale does their sets with such plays is always something that I look forward too. With it's theater in the round layout it's always interesting to see. For this production, they pulled it off beautifully. And used their space well.

The lighting was great and the effects they pulled off with the transformation at the end was very well done. The bright lights during 'Be Our Guest' made it even more enjoyable.

At the end the night was ended with a shower of streamers that shot across the room over the actors and the audience as they made their bows. All in all a very enjoyable experience and one I would gladly do again.

Other things that made the experience enjoyable: Being Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast' naturally several parents brought their children. Little girls were dressed in princess dresses that made you smile, and during intermission, some of them were dancing in the middle of the floor on the painted ballroom scene that was there. It was all very sweet.

During 'Tale as old as Time' I got to watch one little girl dressed in a yellow type Belle dress. As she scooted forward in her seat as Belle came down dressed in her own. That moment watching them dance, made me feel like a little girl again and made me cry. I am not ashamed to admit it. It was the same feeling one gets when going to Disneyland.

All in all, It was an enjoyable experience that I would recommend to anyone in a heartbeat.

Ya Got to Love It!

This, is the latest google.com creation for their always changing logo. This is brilliant for a couple of reasons.

Number 1: It is a subtle tribute to some of the great comic characters of the time.
If you can't tell who they are, here the characters are as follows.
G: Batman
O: Fantastic four (I think)
O: Wonder Woman
G: Fantastic four again (I think)
L: The green flash
E: Part of the first o and the g.

Number 2: It is there ONLY because this week end happens to be Comic-Con in San Diego California. (Where one of my good friends happens to be right now. She goes every year.)

And Number 3: It proves once and for all the people working for google.com especially the people who create the logo are in fact, complete nerds. Which is brilliant.

Sorry, saw it, loved it, had to share it.

LOL, Brilliant!

'Star Trek' , 'Angels & Demons' & "Night at the Museum 2' ( A Review )

Lately I have been taking time to go see a lot of movies, mostly by myself because I can't find someone to go with me and also because ever since I went to go see 'Twilight' alone. I have decided that I really like seeing movies by myself every once in a while. You don't have to wait for anyone else to be ready, and I like to spend the time by myself. It's actually a really pleasurable experience. I still like seeing movies with other people though, because you can just sit there and laugh with them.

But Anyway:

I have seen three movies recently by myself in theaters. There was 'Star Trek', then 'Angel's & Demons' the sequel to 'The Divinci Code' and then just this last week-end there was 'Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian.'

'Star Trek' was a BLAST to see. I actually ended up seeing it two times in one day. Once because I went by myself in the morning. And then again at night with my family, but I didn't pay so why not. It was very well done. The acting was great and the special effects were fun and the story was good.
I grew up watching Star Trek: Next Generation with my father almost every night. So I have some very fond memories of watching it with my dad. So in a way I am a very mild Trekkie. And before the movie came out my dad had me watch some of the old movies. I loved those.
It was a good movie and I easily think all Trekkies and non-trekkies will find it a blast and a joy to watch. There were so many little things that just match up to the original series that it made me laugh. Great movie, go see it if you haven't.

'Angels & Demons' was not as spectacular as 'Star Trek' but they did a very good job of it. There was of course a couple things that I would have changed having read the book before the movie came out. But considering what they had to work with and a time limit they did a good job. If you have seen 'The Divinci Code' I liked 'Angels & Demons' better.

'Night at the Museum: 2' was in short okay. Not entirely spectacular but decent. It was as good as the first one in other words. Still has charmingly funny as the first but not awe inspiring. Amy Adams was cute in it as 'Amelia Earhart' so I liked it. If you liked the first one, you'll like the second.
The only thing that bothered me about the second movie was the singing cherubs that were totally the Jonus Brothers. Their gag was funny, but the fact that they were the Jonas Brothers was a little dumb frankly. I don't even know the Jonas brothers well as singers. But I was still knew it was them in a matter of seconds.

The next movie I'm trying to go see is Disney's 'Up' Still looking for someone to go with me. Not that I have money to go regardless. Aw well, its a work in progress.

Simply Amazing!

I found a new Hobby!

I'm going to start making little music video's and such of family and what not. I was bored one day so I made this. It's fun and I enjoyed makeing it and really was pleased with the outcome of how it turned out. Sometimes I might do Slideshows, some times mixes of video and pictures, sometimes just video. It all deponds on what I have on my camera. Check it out.

Ren Faire & Moliere

Date: Sat, 21

In all it was a good day, but a LONG one. So putting aside the longitude, soreness and tiredness that I now feel, I had fun!

I spent the better part of the day at the 'Arizona Renaissance Festival' that they hold every year about this time. The gates open at Ten am, it takes about forty five minutes to get there, so I was up at eight to get ready before my friend who was driving came to pick me up.

Wearing;
Pants & belt - I would wear a skirt to be more authentic, but when you are dealing with a day of walking around, its more important to be comfortable and practical.
Shoes - As close to authentication as I can get, although not as comfortable as I would like for walking around all day, but their the only ones I have.
Two shirts - An under sage green shirt (Long Sleeve), and a white button top one over that. Not entirely ideal in the Arizona sun, but again, as close to garb as I can get.
Gauntlets - Which go on the arms over the undershirt, and require to be tight to stay in place, and actually restricts the arm movement's quite a bit.
Other Belt - Which had on it, a leather bag to carry an assortment of things, a metal tankard and a dagger near the back.
Also I was carrying around a cloak folded and tied with a strap to make carrying easier.
Also a hat that my friend provided to help with the sun. Which was too small but I made due.

The drive there was spent catching up as we don't hang out as much as I would like anymore. But we actually got there just as the gate was opening. Going through the gate, I have to get my dagger peace tied. Which means they tie a red ribbon around it and the sheath to keep it there, as a promise that I wont pull it out on anyone. In the process I get my butt checked out by two guys, it was funny.

The rest of the day is spent walking around looking at shops and bobbles, and watching the shows. Not actually having the money to buy anything kind of sucks, and the only thing I did buy was water so I didn't die. But you start making plans on what to buy next year. Part of the Dead Bob show was watched while my friend was getting her hair braided. We listened to Cast in Bronze from a distance while we ate lunch and got off our feet by laying down in a small patch of grass. And there were two shows of Tartantic, where my hands got red from clapping. The second one was better then the first, we're going to catch the Three o'clock showing more often.

We didn't see any of the joust this year, and we usually stay all day until the gates close at Six. But I had to be home early to get ready to go see a play with my dad and brother. And my friend had to be across town later. So we left at four and I was back home at about Five Thirty. The ride home was spent listening to music and talking about role playing (Yes I'm a nerd.)

When I got home, it was time for a quick, cold shower which felt good after the days heat. And then I got dressed for the play and got off my feet until it was time to go.

Tartuffe, by Moliere: Is about a French family, and the father takes in a 'humble' pauper by the name of Tartuffe. When he sees him praying at church. The father lavishes him with gifts and money, and is totally convinced that his is a humble and pious man. And the family has started to complain that he is foolish enough to praise Tartuffe.

As the play goes on, Tartuffe has convinced the father that to cancel the marriage of the daughter to her betrothed. And the father does and then insists that the daughter marries Tartuffe. Determined to stop this. The wife asks Tartuffe to come talk to her.

When he first came out on stage, you could literally hear everyone in the audience go 'Ew'. He's dressed from head to toe in complete black, wearing a crucifix. With long greasy black hair, the whites pale face and then his feet were bare but covered in dirt and just gross. He even looked sleazy.

But anyway, coming in to talk to the wife you realize there are different reasons that he's all to happy to talk to her alone. And he starts trying to convince her to have an affair with him. After all 'a sin is no sin, when it's a sin done in secret'. Seriously just Ew.

I won't go into the whole play, but it was very funny, and very well done by the Southwest Shakespearian Company. Their characters were great, even though Tartuffe made you cringe, but he's supposed to. It was a great day and a great week-end. I really had fun.

Abbreviated: Joys of Christmas.

I know I said that there would be a post about my week/month with my family over Christmas vacation.

But now it's to far away and I've been sick with this cough that won't go away and now I'm not in the mood. But Christmas was fun, crowded and loud. But fun.

I got a lot of art stuff, a DVD "Labyrinth" Awsome. I got sick and yeah. Abbreviated Joys of Christmas.

I get the house to myself again, a joy I'm always thankful for. I get my room another blessing. And the quite, except for Fridays when my brother doesn't have school and I have to share the house. Which is depressing.

I don't have much to write about this time around so Later.