My friend helped me make this. It's just a silly video of me spinning poi :) I didn't edit it at all so what you see is what you get. Enjoy!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Monday, February 21, 2011
Flash I Assignments
After much internet searching and help from friends, I finally figured out how to upload my flash assignments to here! *crosses fingers*. So here is the collection of all of my assignments from last semester. I'll do a brief explanation before each one so you can kind of see the progression of what I learned. The amazing thing is if you think about what the first one is versus what my final project or even my midterm is. There is a major difference :)
Some terms I will be using that you may not be familiar with:
stage - basically the window where all of the objects appear.
object - each individual shape on the stage.
This is our first assignment before we had learned how to animate anything and basically we were learning how to add objects to the stage.
This is all made using a single black circle sized 50x50 pixels. So it is made by changing the properties of the circle (like transparency or size).
This is one of the first things we did where we started to use buttons that actually do things when you roll over them or click them. We still hadn't learned how to actually make the buttons do anything except change color yet though. So in this one you can click on the buttons to make them change color and you can click where it says "lumos" to see a star! (There is also a scroll bar!)
This was remaking the previous webpage into something where things would actually happen when you clicked the buttons. Each button is a different spell from Harry Potter :) (Lumos makes the stars appear and if you roll over them they twinkle and Nox makes the stars go out)
For this next one we started to learn how to animate things. Other than that this webpage isn't all that exciting. But I do like Little Women!
This one I actually really like. You have to keep clicking on the butterfly. The assignment was to have the text change as you click on the object (in this case the butterfly) and after 3 or so clicks a filter was supposed to be applied (the red) and after a few more clicks the object was supposed to disappear.
This is my first actual "game". I say "game" because it's not really that fun haha. Use the start race button to get the game going and get the computer runner to start and then use the right arrow key on the keyboard to make the other runner go and see if you can beat it! There is both a win and a lose state and if you want to start over just click on restart runners.
The next two are my two biggest projects, my midterm and my final. This was my midterm. We were supposed to make a webpage that had roughly 6 pages of information (or rather 6 buttons that changed the text). So I did mine about the Elsinore! The buttons are all the ones with the rotating stars and it will give you some background info on the Elsinore, then there is a short quiz and also a game!
And finally, this was my final. We had to make a game like program that would also teach something. So I'm teaching (or really actually reinforcing) the colors in the rainbow. There are directions and if you need help (or more directions) click the winged guy in the corner of the page. Also I forgot! I was reminded by the lovely Kachina that yes, I cannot take credit for the winged guy as he was drawn by my amazingly talented friend Justin who so graciously let me borrow his artwork as my artwork only extends to the point of drawing clouds and shapes and re-appropriating things off of the internet. Thanks Justin!
And that is what I did last semester in Flash I :) I'm honestly pretty proud of myself since I was so terrible at learning Java (a different programming language).
Some terms I will be using that you may not be familiar with:
stage - basically the window where all of the objects appear.
object - each individual shape on the stage.
This is our first assignment before we had learned how to animate anything and basically we were learning how to add objects to the stage.
This is all made using a single black circle sized 50x50 pixels. So it is made by changing the properties of the circle (like transparency or size).
This is one of the first things we did where we started to use buttons that actually do things when you roll over them or click them. We still hadn't learned how to actually make the buttons do anything except change color yet though. So in this one you can click on the buttons to make them change color and you can click where it says "lumos" to see a star! (There is also a scroll bar!)
This was remaking the previous webpage into something where things would actually happen when you clicked the buttons. Each button is a different spell from Harry Potter :) (Lumos makes the stars appear and if you roll over them they twinkle and Nox makes the stars go out)
For this next one we started to learn how to animate things. Other than that this webpage isn't all that exciting. But I do like Little Women!
This one I actually really like. You have to keep clicking on the butterfly. The assignment was to have the text change as you click on the object (in this case the butterfly) and after 3 or so clicks a filter was supposed to be applied (the red) and after a few more clicks the object was supposed to disappear.
This is my first actual "game". I say "game" because it's not really that fun haha. Use the start race button to get the game going and get the computer runner to start and then use the right arrow key on the keyboard to make the other runner go and see if you can beat it! There is both a win and a lose state and if you want to start over just click on restart runners.
The next two are my two biggest projects, my midterm and my final. This was my midterm. We were supposed to make a webpage that had roughly 6 pages of information (or rather 6 buttons that changed the text). So I did mine about the Elsinore! The buttons are all the ones with the rotating stars and it will give you some background info on the Elsinore, then there is a short quiz and also a game!
And finally, this was my final. We had to make a game like program that would also teach something. So I'm teaching (or really actually reinforcing) the colors in the rainbow. There are directions and if you need help (or more directions) click the winged guy in the corner of the page. Also I forgot! I was reminded by the lovely Kachina that yes, I cannot take credit for the winged guy as he was drawn by my amazingly talented friend Justin who so graciously let me borrow his artwork as my artwork only extends to the point of drawing clouds and shapes and re-appropriating things off of the internet. Thanks Justin!
And that is what I did last semester in Flash I :) I'm honestly pretty proud of myself since I was so terrible at learning Java (a different programming language).
Where I'm From
Well, I'm at it again!
The same class I created all those other videos for, I made another one. This one was supposed to be our own version of a Where I'm From poem written by George Ella Lyon. You can read the original poem at http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html. I guess there's not a huge amount of other back story necessary. Basically this is the story of where I am from :) I hope you enjoy!
The same class I created all those other videos for, I made another one. This one was supposed to be our own version of a Where I'm From poem written by George Ella Lyon. You can read the original poem at http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html. I guess there's not a huge amount of other back story necessary. Basically this is the story of where I am from :) I hope you enjoy!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Billy Elliot
2 posts in one day?! *gasp* What an amazing occurrence!
Last Saturday I bought tickets through TC to see the musical Billy Elliot. It was really good. Specifically, the dancing was spectacular and the little kids in the show were amazing. It reminds me when I saw Oliver on stage for the first time and I couldn't believe how talented all these little kids were who were running around and dancing and singing in sync with one another. The boy who played Billy couldn't have been older than 12!
There were a few annoyances during the show though. One, I think their accents were a little obnoxious at times...they definitely weren't all amazing accents and sometimes it made the dialogue hard to hear. The other obnoxious thing was that since I got the tickets through TC (and they were cheap) we were up in the back of the balcony. I expected this. What I didn't expect was to be surrounded by a high school class who clearly couldn't care less if they saw this show or not. They did not know how to behave in a theatre. They were texting, talking, kicking the seats, showed up late and so we couldn't see the first few minutes while they were fumbling about in the dark trying to find their seats. Ugh.
I know not everyone has had the same kind of theatre background as me. And I realize that probably the majority of the world have never been taught theatre manners. Fine. But don't sit next to me. On a similar note I think it's a little sad that I had to enter the word "theatre" into the dictionary on my computer so that it would stop trying to underline it in red and tell me it was spelled wrong. For reference, in my mind "theatre" is the stage and "theater" is movies. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but that is how I usually differentiate.
Anyway, back to Billy Elliot! Talented cast, beautiful story, amazing dancing :) I want to include a couple of videos in this post instead of my normal Tony Award performance one because there are some really fun moments associated with Billy Elliot.
Here is the normal performance from the Tony Awards:
This is the acceptance speech of the three boys who share the role of Billy when they won the Tony. This is the first time 3 people have won a Tony award for the same category so not only is it Tony history, but their acceptance speech is really cute!
And finally, this is the opening sequence from the 2009 Tony Awards where they perform a tiny snippet of each of the nominated shows for Best Musical that year. (Did I mention Billy Elliot won?). Billy Elliot is the first one and it really shows off how talented these kids are.
Last Saturday I bought tickets through TC to see the musical Billy Elliot. It was really good. Specifically, the dancing was spectacular and the little kids in the show were amazing. It reminds me when I saw Oliver on stage for the first time and I couldn't believe how talented all these little kids were who were running around and dancing and singing in sync with one another. The boy who played Billy couldn't have been older than 12!
There were a few annoyances during the show though. One, I think their accents were a little obnoxious at times...they definitely weren't all amazing accents and sometimes it made the dialogue hard to hear. The other obnoxious thing was that since I got the tickets through TC (and they were cheap) we were up in the back of the balcony. I expected this. What I didn't expect was to be surrounded by a high school class who clearly couldn't care less if they saw this show or not. They did not know how to behave in a theatre. They were texting, talking, kicking the seats, showed up late and so we couldn't see the first few minutes while they were fumbling about in the dark trying to find their seats. Ugh.
I know not everyone has had the same kind of theatre background as me. And I realize that probably the majority of the world have never been taught theatre manners. Fine. But don't sit next to me. On a similar note I think it's a little sad that I had to enter the word "theatre" into the dictionary on my computer so that it would stop trying to underline it in red and tell me it was spelled wrong. For reference, in my mind "theatre" is the stage and "theater" is movies. I'm not sure if that's right or not, but that is how I usually differentiate.
Anyway, back to Billy Elliot! Talented cast, beautiful story, amazing dancing :) I want to include a couple of videos in this post instead of my normal Tony Award performance one because there are some really fun moments associated with Billy Elliot.
Here is the normal performance from the Tony Awards:
This is the acceptance speech of the three boys who share the role of Billy when they won the Tony. This is the first time 3 people have won a Tony award for the same category so not only is it Tony history, but their acceptance speech is really cute!
And finally, this is the opening sequence from the 2009 Tony Awards where they perform a tiny snippet of each of the nominated shows for Best Musical that year. (Did I mention Billy Elliot won?). Billy Elliot is the first one and it really shows off how talented these kids are.
A Tribute
A few days ago for class we had to do another video response kind of like the last one I did about my interaction in digital communities. This response had to be based on a book we read called The Magical Life of Long Tack Sam by Ann Marie Fleming. I definitely recommend this book. It's a short read and is set up in the form of a graphic novel. It's actually based on a movie that this woman made and is about her journey to find out more about her great grandfather who, it turns out, is a famous magician. Her book was really good and inspired me to talk about how I receive the stories of my own family. My response is not fabulous (I didn't have a lot of time to devote to it), but I think it isn't too bad and is a nice tribute to my family :). Also...the new version of iMovie is terrible and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to do something as simple as fade out audio. That is the reason the video ends sort of abruptly....I'll get those kinks worked out another day. So without further ado...
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Links and Things
I have a lot to do to prepare for class today so this will be quick, but here is some of the things I've been working on for my classes this semester.
For my TV & Youth Development class I have to keep a TV Journal in blog format about different shows and their educational value. If you're interested in reading head to:
http://allison4024class.blogspot.com/
Please DO NOT comment on that site since it's for class :)
Though speaking of commenting, feel free to comment on this site! I have it set up so you don't even need to be a member or sign up for anything you can post with whatever name you feel like or anonymously (but that's not as much fun as then I don't know who you are).
The other bit of work I wanted to share is a video I made as a discussion response in my Culture, Media, and Education class. I'm actually pretty proud of it.
The question I was answering is as follows:
How would you describe the nature of your participation in various digitally mediated communities? Put another way, in what ways are you from your communities in which you participate?
I hope you enjoy watching it :)
I'm off to class! I'll post soon about my internship :)
For my TV & Youth Development class I have to keep a TV Journal in blog format about different shows and their educational value. If you're interested in reading head to:
http://allison4024class.blogspot.com/
Please DO NOT comment on that site since it's for class :)
Though speaking of commenting, feel free to comment on this site! I have it set up so you don't even need to be a member or sign up for anything you can post with whatever name you feel like or anonymously (but that's not as much fun as then I don't know who you are).
The other bit of work I wanted to share is a video I made as a discussion response in my Culture, Media, and Education class. I'm actually pretty proud of it.
The question I was answering is as follows:
How would you describe the nature of your participation in various digitally mediated communities? Put another way, in what ways are you from your communities in which you participate?
I hope you enjoy watching it :)
I'm off to class! I'll post soon about my internship :)
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
La Cage aux Folles
So again...late update. But late is better than never, right?
In this edition of Allison's life...three weeks after it happens.....
*swooshy sound effects and a lot of fog*
Allison goes to the theatre! (I know it sounds strange, I mean after all I never go to the theatre.....)
A couple weeks ago there was a lot of snow in NYC. So much so that we actually got a snow day! That's right, TC closed its doors and I had one class canceled. Unfortunately the class that got canceled only meets every other week so my first class won't even be until two days from now. But oh well. That was the day I was planning on going to the orientation for my internship (more on that later) and that, however, was not canceled so I trekked down to Times Square and went to my orientation.
I was supposed to meet my friend for lunch back up on campus, but the orientation ran late so I texted her to see if we could reschedule so I didn't have to make her wait. Instead, she came down to Times Square and we had lunch there.
As I was wandering down Broadway waiting for her to arrive I found myself looking at the half price ticket booth (or the TKTS booth as it is formally called). As I looked up at the sign that said it would open in a couple of hours a thought struck me....wouldn't it be awesome to see a show tonight? Usually I have at least a couple days of advanced warning when I see a show (so I can get cheaper tickets) so I don't usually do these spur of the moment types of things. When my friend arrived on the scene, I jokingly mentioned how it might be fun and crazy to drop everything and find a show to see that night. Her automatic response was, "Ok. What show?". And this is why my friend and I get along so well :)
So we had lunch and mulled the idea over. Seeing a show would be awesome of course, but did we want to spend the amount that it would be, even at half price? Finally, after, well not very much debate at all actually, we said, "oh heck with it, let's go see a show!". We spent the next couple hours wandering around Times Square going to all the box offices of shows we were interested in and asking about their rush or lottery ticket policies. Note: Wicked does a lottery 2 hrs before the show (tix $26), Spiderman is doing rush tix starting 10am the day of any show (tix $30), Lion King does NOTHING!, Other shows do things too but those were several that we were particularly interested in. This isn't counting shows that we knew we could find at TKTS.
So after, more debate this time, we decided on a course of action. At 5:30 (2 1/2 hours before showtime) we would get in line for the Wicked lottery. Basically you stand in a huge line with a gazillion of your new closest friends, you write your name on a piece of paper, then you wait until 6pm when they shout the names of 6 or 7 lucky individuals (they give away the first row which is 13 seats and each person is allowed to sign up for up to 2 tickets). Those individuals get to pay $26 for front row seats! It's pretty cool but I think you have to be really lucky to get your name picked out.
Our names were not, however, pulled...but no worries...we had a back up plan! We figured we probably wouldn't be lucky enough for Wicked tickets so...on to TKTS we went! The line (that is always huge right when it opens) had died down enough that it was, well, almost non existent. But the important thing is they still had tickets left for La Cage aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammar, which is what we wanted to see.
It was an amazing show. That about sums up that experience. The actors were incredible, Kelsey Grammar was incredible, Douglas Hodge (playing the other lead role) was incredible, the show itself is incredibly written. Basically a fun fun night for all involved.
Here is the basic storyline as posted on Broadway.com:
Georges is the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera. Partnered romantically with his high-strung star performer, Albin (who goes by the stage name Zaza), the pair live a charmed life—until Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, turns up engaged to the daughter of a conservative right-wing politician who’s coming to dinner.
Probably one of the most impressive feat were these guys....dressed as girls....doing flips and cartwheels and amazing dancing...all in 6 inch heels!
The story itself is also really sweet and all about love and family. So basically I had an amazing time and it was totally worth it!
In this edition of Allison's life...three weeks after it happens.....
*swooshy sound effects and a lot of fog*
Allison goes to the theatre! (I know it sounds strange, I mean after all I never go to the theatre.....)
A couple weeks ago there was a lot of snow in NYC. So much so that we actually got a snow day! That's right, TC closed its doors and I had one class canceled. Unfortunately the class that got canceled only meets every other week so my first class won't even be until two days from now. But oh well. That was the day I was planning on going to the orientation for my internship (more on that later) and that, however, was not canceled so I trekked down to Times Square and went to my orientation.
I was supposed to meet my friend for lunch back up on campus, but the orientation ran late so I texted her to see if we could reschedule so I didn't have to make her wait. Instead, she came down to Times Square and we had lunch there.
As I was wandering down Broadway waiting for her to arrive I found myself looking at the half price ticket booth (or the TKTS booth as it is formally called). As I looked up at the sign that said it would open in a couple of hours a thought struck me....wouldn't it be awesome to see a show tonight? Usually I have at least a couple days of advanced warning when I see a show (so I can get cheaper tickets) so I don't usually do these spur of the moment types of things. When my friend arrived on the scene, I jokingly mentioned how it might be fun and crazy to drop everything and find a show to see that night. Her automatic response was, "Ok. What show?". And this is why my friend and I get along so well :)
So we had lunch and mulled the idea over. Seeing a show would be awesome of course, but did we want to spend the amount that it would be, even at half price? Finally, after, well not very much debate at all actually, we said, "oh heck with it, let's go see a show!". We spent the next couple hours wandering around Times Square going to all the box offices of shows we were interested in and asking about their rush or lottery ticket policies. Note: Wicked does a lottery 2 hrs before the show (tix $26), Spiderman is doing rush tix starting 10am the day of any show (tix $30), Lion King does NOTHING!, Other shows do things too but those were several that we were particularly interested in. This isn't counting shows that we knew we could find at TKTS.
So after, more debate this time, we decided on a course of action. At 5:30 (2 1/2 hours before showtime) we would get in line for the Wicked lottery. Basically you stand in a huge line with a gazillion of your new closest friends, you write your name on a piece of paper, then you wait until 6pm when they shout the names of 6 or 7 lucky individuals (they give away the first row which is 13 seats and each person is allowed to sign up for up to 2 tickets). Those individuals get to pay $26 for front row seats! It's pretty cool but I think you have to be really lucky to get your name picked out.
Our names were not, however, pulled...but no worries...we had a back up plan! We figured we probably wouldn't be lucky enough for Wicked tickets so...on to TKTS we went! The line (that is always huge right when it opens) had died down enough that it was, well, almost non existent. But the important thing is they still had tickets left for La Cage aux Folles starring Kelsey Grammar, which is what we wanted to see.
It was an amazing show. That about sums up that experience. The actors were incredible, Kelsey Grammar was incredible, Douglas Hodge (playing the other lead role) was incredible, the show itself is incredibly written. Basically a fun fun night for all involved.
Here is the basic storyline as posted on Broadway.com:
Georges is the suave owner of a glitzy drag club on the French Riviera. Partnered romantically with his high-strung star performer, Albin (who goes by the stage name Zaza), the pair live a charmed life—until Georges’ son, Jean-Michel, turns up engaged to the daughter of a conservative right-wing politician who’s coming to dinner.
Probably one of the most impressive feat were these guys....dressed as girls....doing flips and cartwheels and amazing dancing...all in 6 inch heels!
The story itself is also really sweet and all about love and family. So basically I had an amazing time and it was totally worth it!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Bragging
So this post is just because I feel like bragging...
I finally got all my grades back for the fall semester and received 2 A's, 2 A+'s, and 1 Pass. (The seminar class was graded as pass/fail). That's a whole lotta A's! :D
I finally got all my grades back for the fall semester and received 2 A's, 2 A+'s, and 1 Pass. (The seminar class was graded as pass/fail). That's a whole lotta A's! :D
Monday, January 24, 2011
A couple things I missed
So I realized I missed talking about a few other things that I did in past couple of weeks. They weren't a part of the conference exactly so I'll put them in here :)
On the first Friday that my parents were here we managed to get tickets to see a live taping of the Regis and Kelly talk show. That was really fun. It ended up being that that day Regis was on vacation so there was a guest co-host. And that co host was....NEIL PATRICK HARRIS! He is one of my favorite actors currently so both my mom and I were really excited to be able to see him close up. We were definitely not disappointed either :) Also, one of the guests on the show that day was Matt LeBlanc (of Friends fame). He was promoting his new show called Episodes which is playing on Showtime. I don't get that channel so I probably won't end up watching the show. But it was kind of cool to see him. It was a little bit strange though because I'm so used to seeing him as Joey (which of course was years and years ago) that when he walked out on stage I couldn't help but think he looked so old! But oh well, I guess that's just one of those things that everybody does ^_^
When our friends from PA were visiting my mom and I went with them to the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum. This is a really cool museum. I got in free with my Columbia ID (gotta love it!). The whole museum is dedicated to design and designers of anything you could possibly imagine. One of the designs I thought was really cool was this bicycle trailer that can be repositioned to be able to carry several different types of things (water, firewood, etc) and it was made with women in India in mind to help shave hours off of their everyday routine, leaving them more time to be with their families and to do other things. The other item I really thought was cool was called the XOXO Laptop. It is a laptop made entirely of touch screens and designed for kids around the world who don't have computers or books in their homes or schools. So if you set it up like a laptop then a touch screen keyboard appears on the flat portion and you can use it as a computer. If you lay it out flat then two kids can look at it at the same time as almost a large flat monitor. If you hold it a different direction it can become a book like device. There were tons and tons of items there, some were really cool, some seemed extremely pointless, but it was interesting to see all of the crazy things people can think up.
One of the showcases at the conference that I was really excited about seeing is an a capella group named The Blanks. If you've ever watched the tv show Scrubs then you're probably familiar with the character of Ted (the lawyer I think?). That actor who plays ted is the one 2nd from the left. Anyway, on the show he has a band but that band exists in real life and they pair a capella music with comedy. So I got to see about 15min or so of their performance and they were really amazing. They were so funny and of course amazingly talented singers. Plus it's always cool to be in the same room as someone you've seen on TV.
The day my parents left a bunch of my friends decided they wanted to head out to the MET Museum of Art so I tagged along. I've never been before and wow, is that an amazing museum. It's HUGE! I don't even think we saw the entire thing. I know we peeked at a couple of the newer exhibits, saw some of the famous pieces, and checked out the Egyptian ruins. There is just so much to take in however. I'm sure I'll be back again to see the things I missed. I did get to see their exhibit on musical instruments which I found pretty cool, but then I like musical instruments ^_^
TC put on a comedy show the other night as well. Several comedians performed. For the most part they were pretty funny but I think it's always hit or miss with most comedians.
Another showcase that was playing was "Almost Elton John". As you can probably guess he is an Elton John persona performer. He actually was quite good and as you can see in the picture, I also got to meet him :) He looks pretty good, don't you think? He sounded a lot like Elton John too and so it was fun hearing him perform and hearing so many songs that I like. See, you never know what kind of shows are out there!
On the first Friday that my parents were here we managed to get tickets to see a live taping of the Regis and Kelly talk show. That was really fun. It ended up being that that day Regis was on vacation so there was a guest co-host. And that co host was....NEIL PATRICK HARRIS! He is one of my favorite actors currently so both my mom and I were really excited to be able to see him close up. We were definitely not disappointed either :) Also, one of the guests on the show that day was Matt LeBlanc (of Friends fame). He was promoting his new show called Episodes which is playing on Showtime. I don't get that channel so I probably won't end up watching the show. But it was kind of cool to see him. It was a little bit strange though because I'm so used to seeing him as Joey (which of course was years and years ago) that when he walked out on stage I couldn't help but think he looked so old! But oh well, I guess that's just one of those things that everybody does ^_^
Sunday, January 23, 2011
All The World's A Stage
My crazy theatre week began on Thursday the 6th and ended the following Friday the 14th.
THURSDAY
Show: Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey
This is a really hard show to explain. I think the best way of describing it is a play about the apocalypse...with puppets. Basically the sun is dying and taking out every other planet with it. The heat is causing the earth to become a scorched shadow of what it was with barely any of the population surviving. The few survivors are trying to grow these "baby universes" that they are hoping will hold a planet where they can move and be saved from the sun's wrath. Here's a pretty good review of it from backstage.com: BACKSTAGE. All in all, it was an oddly entertaining show. The puppets were really interesting and the subject matter of the show had a lot of heart and you really felt for the characters.
One of the strange things about the show was before it started this robotic copy of Stephen Hawking drove out into the lobby and started talking to the audience. It's eyes blinked and moved and it's mouth move. Mostly it was really creepy. There were two people controlling it from the side of the room, they would type in what he would say and then the robot would say it. Like I said, it was pretty creepy but the funny thing is that the delay between the computer and the robot was substantial and so severely diminished the believability of the robot.
FRIDAY
Show: Imaginocean
This was a really fun kid's show that is currently playing Off Broadway. It was really really cute. The whole show is done in black light with puppets. I've never seen a show that did as good of a job at hiding the puppeteers as this show. Even when I was looking for them, I tended to forget they were there and focused on the puppets instead. The main plot of the show is that three fish friends go on a musical adventure, following a map they found in order to find three medallions that will help them find the final treasure. As I said, both the puppets and the story are really cute. While it is definitely geared towards younger kids, there are a fair number of jokes geared towards the adults as well. The show was created by John Tartaglia who is one of the masterminds behind Avenue Q and also the TV show Johnny and the Sprites.
Show: You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up
This was a workshop performance of a play based on a book written by Annabelle Gurwitch and Jeff Kahn. The premise is that the couple are in therapy after 14 years of marriage. They discuss the ups and downs (mostly the downs) of their relationship. Since it was a workshop performance it isn't a finished play...and it showed. To be fair, the demographic I'm in is not the demographic this play is geared towards but I think I should have at least not been bored out of my mind. There were a couple of laughs but mostly it needs a lot of editing. It was interesting the way they went back and forth between the couple talking to "the therapist" aka the audience, which melts into sort of a flash back of the event they are discussing. It was also, I think, unnecessarily vulgar as far as the language goes and if it were to go on tour, especially for the audience it is geared towards, that needs to change.
Show: The Flying Karamazov Brothers
This was an incredible show. I want to say it's kind of like if you took juggling plus comedy plus music and threw them into a pot. The Flying Karamazov Brothers would be the result. It was hysterical and the performers were amazingly talented. Juggling is not always that exciting and I think with the amount of jugglers that appear on shows like America's Got Talent etc it's hard to find juggling that really captures your attention. But this is the answer to that problem. They use a lot of slapstick and wordplay comedy as well as involving music with everything from trumpets to a piano onstage. If you have a chance to see this show, it's definitely a great evening.
SATURDAY
Show: Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company
This is another kid's show. The description I saw in an ad describes it as the following. "Costumes, props, and set pieces expand, deflate and roll, in this funny, mesmerizing, and colorful theatrical event." The props are all made out of nylon and so are tossed around, inflated, or sometimes deflated onstage. The show is a lot of fun and the kids at the show seemed to really enjoy the antics of the two performers. The interesting thing about this show for me is that I actually saw them perform in Colorado when I was little. I want to say it was probably around 15 years ago that I saw them perform. So...they've been around a while haha. A lot of their act I even remember and I've always remembered their performance very fondly. I think I might have his autograph somewhere even from back then. Actually what amazed me is that this guy when he walks out onstage doesn't seem like the youngest performer...but the way he somersaults and jumps around the stage you'd think he was just as young and spry as he was 15 years ago!
Show: Rockapella
Rockapella is an a capella group that made their fame mostly through doing television jingles. You might recognize their work from the Folgers commercial ("the best part of waking up...") and also the theme song for Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego. They were very good but unfortunately the tech of the show was terrible. The lights and projection looked poorly controlled and the sound was so bad that it was hard to enjoy the music and not cringe and plug my ears anytime someone belted a note. Also because of technical issues the show also started about 15 min late and they didn't let us into the building until about 10 min before the show was supposed to start....and it was cold outside!
Show: Chicago City Limits Improv
I've never actually been to a show in a comedy club before so this was an interesting experience to say the least. It was in a teeny tiny room with chairs crammed into every space possible. I really enjoyed myself though. The improv was funny and interspersed between the improvised scenes were little skits and musical bits that while not improvised were really funny to watch. They even did a little song about the Spiderman musical which I found hilarious :) Oh, food at a comedy club is really not that good. Just a word of warning ^_^
SUNDAY
Show: Baby Wants Candy
Baby Wants Candy is a another improv show but a little different than Chicago City Limits. Instead of a lot of short skits, they do a musical! The audience shouts out the title of a musical that has never been performed before and the cast takes the first suggestion they hear. When I saw it the title was "Kirstie Alley Will Rise Again The Musical!" The plot ended up being based that angry Cheers fans crucify Kirstie Alley when they find out that Cheers has been cancelled...20 years ago. Apparently they weren't keeping up with the news. Several Cheers actors made "appearances" in the show and then someone else was impersonating Kirstie Alley and then finally she came back and everyone was happy. It was a strange show but the cool thing is that it is different everytime you go. It plays at 10pm on Saturday nights at the Soho Playhouse. Some of the past musicals they've performed (written in the playbill) are: The Department of Redundancy Department The Musical! Sarah Palin The Musical! Meat Loaf is My Best Friend The Musical! My Left Foot...Looks Like a Dinosaur The Musical! and Revenge of Thomas Jefferson The Musical! Plus numerous others. I would definitely like to go again and see how the show changes.
MONDAY
Show: OPUS 3 Showcase
Opus 3 is the name of an agency and they did a showcase of 5 different acts. I saw Patti LuPone (the Broadway legend), SF JAZZ Collective (Good jazz music), The Step Crew (interesting combination tap and riverdance), Gabriela Montero (pianist), and Stuffed and Unstrung (Muppets behaving badly with improv). The little snippets were all pretty interesting. Hearing Patti LuPone was incredible. She is definitely an amazing performer. The other one I enjoyed was the puppets one, mostly because I got to see Brian Henson perform (Jim Henson's son who is now in charge of the whole Henson/Muppet company). The show itself was alright but I didn't think it was amazing. It might have been the setting though.
TUESDAY
No Shows...gasp!
WEDNESDAY
Show: The Addams Family
This was a really fun show. It's not one that I would have been super excited for if not for the two starring actors. Starring as Gomez and Morticia Addams were Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth. I've always wanted to see Nathan Lane in a show and he was every bit as amazing as I thought he would be. The show was pretty cute and I was especially impressed with the actress that played Wednesday Addams. There were a lot of cool special effects and they especially seemed to use a lot of puppet effects which were quite cool.
Show: The 39 Steps
This play was hysterical and I'm soo glad I was able to see it. It is basically a parody of the Alfred Hitchcock film of the same name. Only this is done by only 4 actors. One guy plays the main character, the girl plays all of the romantic entanglement parts, and the last two guys play everything else...including some inanimate objects. Because of all of the costume changes the play doesn't take itself very seriously and so on the whole is really really funny. I honestly can't say enough good things about it. The actors had amazing timing and the direction was awesome. All in all a fantastic play.
THURSDAY
Show: Mary Poppins
This was a really cute musical. I was a little bit wary because I had heard that they changed up some of the classic songs from the movie and I wasn't sure I was okay with that. The movie is amazing, why would they want to change it? I ended up being pleasantly surprised. Even where they changed the songs I found that I still liked them and they added quite a number of new songs. The plot is not the same as the movie, which I think is better. I don't think they would have been able to recreate the movie so I'm glad they didn't try. There was some amazing special effects (it is Disney after all) like Bert tap dancing on the ceiling and Mary Poppins flying right out into the audience at the end of the show.
FRIDAY
Show: Colin Quinn's Long Story Short
This one man play (well basically a monologue) was directed by Jerry Seinfeld and is basically a 75 minute look at the history of the world. I thought it was really really funny but the humor definitely is not for everyone. All in all it is basically a stand up routine, but a little bit better choreographed I guess. Colin Quinn was pretty funny and the whole show was entertaining enough that it was never boring. I'm not sure how else to describe this particular show, I think it is one of those you just have to see to know what it is about.
And that brings us to the end of my week of theatre and this is probably one of the longest blog posts I've ever written. I'm sure there are more experiences I'm missing but this is about all I can do for one day :)
THURSDAY
Show: Baby Universe: A Puppet Odyssey
 |
| It's a really dark picture but this is the robotic Stephen Hawking |
FRIDAY
Show: Imaginocean
Show: You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up
Show: The Flying Karamazov Brothers
SATURDAY
Show: Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company
Show: Rockapella
Show: Chicago City Limits Improv
SUNDAY
Show: Baby Wants Candy
MONDAY
Show: OPUS 3 Showcase
Opus 3 is the name of an agency and they did a showcase of 5 different acts. I saw Patti LuPone (the Broadway legend), SF JAZZ Collective (Good jazz music), The Step Crew (interesting combination tap and riverdance), Gabriela Montero (pianist), and Stuffed and Unstrung (Muppets behaving badly with improv). The little snippets were all pretty interesting. Hearing Patti LuPone was incredible. She is definitely an amazing performer. The other one I enjoyed was the puppets one, mostly because I got to see Brian Henson perform (Jim Henson's son who is now in charge of the whole Henson/Muppet company). The show itself was alright but I didn't think it was amazing. It might have been the setting though.
TUESDAY
No Shows...gasp!
WEDNESDAY
Show: The Addams Family
Show: The 39 Steps
THURSDAY
Show: Mary Poppins
FRIDAY
Show: Colin Quinn's Long Story Short
And that brings us to the end of my week of theatre and this is probably one of the longest blog posts I've ever written. I'm sure there are more experiences I'm missing but this is about all I can do for one day :)
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