Beauty and the Beast Musical

Saturday, Sept 12th, Frank and I took Alex to see the musical Beauty and the Beast playing at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose.

Frank and I are season ticket holders. This year we moved our seats from Orchestra Right (odd numbers) to Orchestra Left (even numbers). We are now a few rows closer to the stage (Row 8 instead of Row 12) and nearer the end. The numbering system has seats 1 and 2 in each row being on the midline of the theatre. We have now have end seats 46 and 44; seat 42 was added especially for Alex for this particular show. Our previous season's seats Row 12 seats were 45 and 47. Our new aisle seats are great for restroom access and for making an early beeline to the concession stands at intermission. A drawback is that we have to get up — or everybody has to clamber over us — on their way to their more centered seats. Our angle of view to the stage is about the same as last season. 

The stage display before the show periodically had rose petals fluttering about. Hmmm ... is this some romantic reference like that TV show The Bachelor? Alex, as usual, intently peruses his program prior to the start of the show. 

Alex loved the appearance of Belle in her regal, flashy, classic yellow gown. He did loudly announce "Beast!" when he appeared in the light, but did not note the beast's presence in the dark shadows.

I was surprised to note the lack of overlap between songs from the 1991 animated Disney movie and the 1994 musical. (Wow! Has it been that long ago?) Alex was very much animated and engaged for songs he recognized. 

We have seen this musical once before, years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, I remembered the huge scene of plates and cutlery dancing to the song Be Our Guest to be much more flamboyant than this performance. People then were dressed as huge plates while dancing around in huge numbers. This show, each dancer held up a super-sized Frisbee type disk — not at all as awe-inspiring— and there were fewer dancers. The men carried lamppost type super big forks and spoon which they danced around in Singin' in the Rain fashion, instead of being costumed as cutlery. I had been looking forward to revisiting that scene from my memory and was a bit bummed when it had been dumbed down. Perhaps it was budget cuts or just the difficulty of maintenances on such elaborate costumes that forced the downgrade. 

On a more positive note though, the costume of Lumière was exciting, as he would periodically shoot flames from his arms — way higher than the following photo captures. At some points I think they would surge about two feet up into the air. I did wonder if the actress who played Mrs. Potts had a sore arm from keeping it uplifted the entire show. She certainly portrayed a teapot skillfully. The little boy who played her son Chip was adorable and his singing voice for a child his size and age impressed me.

Gaston was so well cast you just wanted to throttle him for his arrogant posture and utterances. I loved that Belle personified the Belle of the movie and did not play the part as some modernized interpretation. The transformation scene from Beast to Man near the end was so well done that Frank and I were scratching our heads on how they'd levitated the actor while morphing his form. Very well done.

As we exited the theatre, looking back and admiring the projected image on the stage, were we glad we had made the effort to assure that Alex saw this musical. The parts he recognized and enjoyed, he really got into. We are pleased with our seat upgrades and glad we renewed our season tickets for Frank and me.

The SpongeBob Musical

Sunday, August 2nd, Frank and I and Alex went to see The SpongeBob Musical at our local Bankhead Theatre in Livermore. The oceanic backdrop in the lobby helped to get us in the undersea mood. The stage was illuminated in the blues and greens you would expect for an underwater habitat.

We were sitting right behind the rail and there was a Pirate warming up the audience. He claimed to be SpongeBob's #1 fan. I was also bemused that the child in a lower row was wearing a yellow sponge costume.

Alex got comfortable  in his seat and settled in with his program. Frank had to climb over him to get to his adjacent seat.

I knew very little about SpongeBob SquarePants... other than that he "lives in a pineapple under the sea". I studied briefly (very briefly) the night before on Wikipedia. It is amazing how little I know about a series that is in its 17th season and has been renewed for an 18th and a 19th season. SpongeBob SquarePants is the longest-running American children's animated series. Only one song was vaguely familiar to me, the theme song. Lest you forget, (or maybe never knew) you can here it at this YouTube link to refresh your memory. Another quick scan of the musical summary on Wikipedia revealed that the plot is of a "save the world" intensity. An erupting volcano threatens to obliterate the neighborhood of Bikini Bottom but can SpongeBob SquarePants and his friends save the day? 

How was the show? The costumes were super colorful, creative, funny, tongue-in-cheek, and widely varied. The action was non-stop, hectic, acrobatic, and chaotic in a sea of splashes and crashes of extremely clever sound effects amid boisterous singing. The sardines was a half dozen kids in shocking neon pink moving in perfect unison, crammed together. What a crack-up! The science was awesome; only a brilliant scientific mind could invent an eruptor interrupter. There were many musical numbers, both melodious and cantankerous. The only problem was that Frank and I understood only about 10% of the lyrics at best. Alex laughed and clapped his enjoyment throughout; he could not have cared less about the absence of diction. His reaction made our going a complete success. Here is the list of songs. I suppose I could research them but why? I get the gist from the titles alone.

Once out in the lobby after the show we looked at two posters of cast photos. I was looking to capture a good picture of the squid character, but I could not succeed from either of the posters. I offer these images I pulled off the internet instead. The way the performer danced and cavorted around on his four legs tentacles was a hoot! 

Before we left, I had Alex and Frank pose for an under the sea photo. If you look near the bottom by Frank's knee you can see SpongeBub SquarePants' pineapple home. We did not know what to expect from this show but it did not disappoint. Successful outing accomplished!

Sound of Music

Saturday afternoon, July 25th, Frank and I went to a 2:00 matinee performance of The Sound of Music at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. We left in plenty of time but some sort of incident or hazard on the freeway ahead of us really backed up the traffic. It was like a domino effect. Although we'd been to this theatre many, many times, I got off at the wrong exit and had to navigate a different route to our parking garage. Once there later than usual, we had to settle for a spot farther away. Huffing and puffing, we ran (as much as folks our age can run, especially with a rollater), and reached the exterior door of the building right at 2:00 on the nose. Fortunately other patrons must have been late, too because we plopped into our seats, sweaty and breathless, for a show that did not start until 2:10. Whew!

I had brought snacks and so, other than a moderately-paced dash to the bathroom at intermission, we were golden. The fact that this particular musical was The Sound of Music was fortuitous, since we were familiar with the storyline and the songs from the movie. There was no stress with straining to hear or understand... just pure tuneful bliss helping us to relax. There were only two songs that were new to me: How Can Love Survive and No Way To Stop It. We enjoyed the staging and the music.

The casting was extremely well done. The children were talented and excruciatingly adorable. Mother Abbess's voice and her singing truly did justice to the classic Climb Every Mountain. A rough start certainly turned out to be a fantastic outing.

Back to the Future

Saturday, June 6th, Frank and I went to the matinee performance of the musical Back to the Future at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts.  The night before we watched the movie to refresh our memories and get more out of the stage production. For the plot of the musical see this Wikipedia article. We collected our programs and settled in to our seats, our usual Row 12 seats 45,47 on house right.

The show was great! The costumes were colorful, the dancing energetic, and the lead did an excellent job that I could almost believe it was Michael J Fox up there playing the role of Marty McFly. Biff and the Doc also gave talented performances, just as I remembered those characters to be - dumb and eccentric respectively. But I think the real star of the show though, was the Delorean that appeared majestically and magically during a thunderous blackout and subsequent blinding lightning bolt.

The staging was also awesome with an added engaging feature. Some of the backdrop was three-dimensional and some was projected, and you could not tell which was which. At one point Frank was certain the Delorean was projected — until the driver door lifted up and Marty stepped out of it. The speed scenes of the car racing through the town of Hill Valley were artistically and flawlessly achieved with a real 3-D and projected blend. How they spun around and maneuvered that car within the confined rotating space of the stage was truly impressive. 

The music numbers were peppy and enjoyable, although understanding the lyrics was not a strong point for either Frank me. Reading the lyrics the night before the show would have been beneficial, but then that would have seemed like homework. Watching the movie was enough prep. Although may words were not clear I got the gist of the song's meaning and could soak up the enthusiasm of each. The songs were all new, so not familiar, except for one. When Marty plays his guitar and sings Johnny B. Goode I recognized that musical number and relished his performance of it. 

At the end of the show an image quoting the mutilated brilliance of Bif was projected."Make like a tree and get outta here!" We crept along with the exiting crowd way to the lobby,  not at the precise speed of 88 mph but we got there eventually, and finished off our outing with some poster photos in the lobby.

OKC 1 of 5: Arrival & Legally Blonde Jr. May 8-10

Frank and I visited Oklahoma City and Robin's family May 8th-14th. A driving factor for our particular timing was our 13 year old granddaughter's Autumn's appearance in the musical Legally Blonde, Jr., but we had other plans, also. Our two flights out were uneventful, but kept us on our toes learning Southwest Airline's new seating protocols. We actually had assigned seats. We paid a bit extra for each of them, but we wanted peace of mind that we could deplane soon enough to make our connection... which we did.

Friday, May 8th

The flight was fairly smooth with just the usual amount of turbulence in the Denver vicinity. The landing at OKC Will Rogers airport was routine and it was not raining. However, when we reached the luggage carousel, we were notified that there was a lightning alert and that airport personnel were not allowed to be out on the field to unload our luggage. We had to cool our heels an hour and a half waiting for the alert to finish and for our bags to come. Apparently this situation in becoming more normal for Oklahoma.

We had amusement while waiting. A roaming vacuuming robot seemed to home in on Frank and press forward for the attack. R2D2's "brother from another mother" did a last-minute turnaround and did not carry out on his threatened approach. Frank survived!

We took an UBER from the aitport to our hotel, the Hampton Inn & Suites Moore by Hilton, about 30 minutes southeast from the airport. Robin's home was about 12 minutes (less than 5 miles west) away from our hotel, but we would not see her and her family until the next morning. Friday was the opening night of Autumn's play and timing was such we could not go until the following day.

Our room on the fourth floor was pleasing and quite spacious. I was bemused that each room had a image as well as a number on the ID plate for the room. I guess this visual hint is to help the rooming clients find their room since all look alike from the outside. Our plaque showed license plates which was kind of neat because both Frank and Jeremy hang a collection of plates in their garage.

 

After checking in and dropping off our bags, we sought out a place for dinner. A Braum's store was within walking distance and we went there to grab a bite. I had a Strawberry Poppyseed Chicken Salad and it was one of the best salads I have had in a while. It had strawberries, blueberries, and pineapple chunks on a bed of spinach with moist chicken. Braums' is known for its ice cream and dairy products and is local to Oklahoma. I found this Wikipedia article about Braum's interesting. I learned about A1 and A2 milk. After we walked back to our hotel we found a freezer section and snack area near the front desk. We each got a container of Dibb's ice cream nuggets for the room. We enjoyed these tasty tidy nibbles so much, we treated ourselves nightly before bed each of our six nights at the hotel.

Saturday & Sunday, May 9-10

Jeremy had to work Saturday because there was a concert at The University of Oklahoma's Gaylord Family – Oklahoma Memorial Stadium. The stadium currently has an official seating capacity of 80,126. Nicknamed the "Palace on the Prairie," it is one of the largest on-campus college football stadiums in the country. In his role as Assistant Fire Marshall of OU, Jeremy must be at all large events in the football stadium, such as sports events and concerts, for crowd control and safety. Saturday's concert featured featuring country music star Luke Combs. I am not familiar with this artist but his number one song is Beautiful Crazy. There were some tense moments that night because the concert was at risk of being cancelled due to lightning alerts. Fortunately the threat passed; Jeremy and crew did not need to deal with an angry crowd. Jeremy had to miss Autumn's Saturday performance but he was able to be at the opening and closing performances on Friday and Sunday.

Robin, Frank, Isaiah and I went to Autumn's matinee performance of Legally Blonde, Jr. She did great and it was so fun to see her so animated and happy. This was her first theatre performance; she'd tried out for ensemble, not wanting to be more ambitious initially. She wound up playing voice and dance contributions in the general ensemble as a Harvard fraternity guy and a DeltaNu sorority sister, in addition to an individual role as the bailiff in the court scene.

For this production Autumn took classes and studied with the Thelma Gaylord Academy in Oklahoma City. Per their website:

Lyric’s Thelma Gaylord Academy is the premiere musical theatre academy in the state of Oklahoma. Having served thousands of students since our founding in 2001, we have former students succeeding in all walks of life – from lawyers to doctors to educators, moms, dads, and yes – actors. Many of our alumni have gone on to careers in Hollywood, on television, and Broadway. However, our proudest accomplishment is knowing that each and every student who goes through our program exits with a strong sense of self, their place in the community, and their responsibility to make a world that is accepting of their differences.

Legally Blonde Jr. was performed at the Lyric's Plaza Theatre, a 281-seat venue, located in the Plaza District. It is about a 12.6 mile / 18 minute drive from Autumn's home. Rehearsals and classes put quite a few miles on the car during the preparation. I counted nine round trips from home to the theatre on the weekend we were there. Each performance — Friday evening, Saturday matinee and evening, and Sunday matinee — Autumn had to be there early so every performance entailed two round trips. On Sunday we had to take to cars, hence NINE round trips. I cannot even begin to count the trips for rehearsal and classes. I am sure that there had to have been some carpooling among fellow cast members, but still — this was true parental dedication at work. A small silver lining however, is that the gas prices in Oklahoma (~$3/gal) are about half of what they are currently in California ($6/gal). 

The theatre was intimate, well lit, and the sound was definitely good. We enjoyed the skill and talent, as well as the enthusiasm, of the young performers. We carefully watched for Autumn's appearance, first as a frat guy, then later several times in the ensemble as of one of the Delta Nu sorority sisters. Although not a speaking part, Autumn acted in an individual role as the bailiff in the court scene, holding the bible for oaths during the trial and escorting out a convicted prisoner. She had multiple costume changes and subsequently developed an aversion to buttons, silently cussing them. Her dad Jeremy quietly joked that he could tell she was in costume, because it was the only time he ever saw her in a skirt.

The singing during the show was awesome — bright, loud, enthusiastic, high tempo, and energetic besides also being marvelously on pitch! We delighted in it during the show but also around the house when at home and blaring from the speakers in the car to and from the theatre (and also during other trips about town). This is a sample of the song Omigod from Youtube. After the Saturday matinee that Robin, Isaiah, Frank and I attended, we had silk flowers for Autumn. Her mom and dad had presented her with real flowers the previous evening on opening night. Frank went again with Robin to the Saturday evening performance. At the Sunday matinee, Autumn had Robin, Jeremy, Isaiah, Frank and me in the audience cheering her on and clapping enthusiastically.  After the final performance, Autumn joined her newly made friends and the other cast members, across the street to celebrate with ice cream.

Autumn was given a pink T-shirt commemorating the show. The front has the show title and logo. The back has a list of all the performers and tech crew with their role(s). Autumn's name is sixth from the top with Bailiff, Ensemble listed after it.

After all was said and done sung, Legally Blonde Jr. was most definitely a worthwhile endeavor.  The parental input into the time driving to and from the classes, rehearsals, and performances was rewarded by the smiles, dancing, excitement, and joyful singing that abounded during and afterward. Frank and I were so glad we were able to be a small part of it.

  ♬ Omigod! ♬♬ Omigod you guys!