#If he didn't work in theatre he would have had a Disney princess moment and broke into song at some point

[askblueandviolet]

Hello!

I was wondering what got you into theater? And if I can possibly work with you or something since...I desperately need something to do.

:3

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[true--north]

I have finally watched Wish 2023.

Good things: A++ costuming. Medieval style of the movie is awesome, there is nothing to compare to it. Also, scenery is pretty impressive. I wish Arendelle and Northuldra costuming were that good.

I like the meta of Wish, they tried to make a prequel set up for other Disney fairy tales: Asha is the first Fairy Godmother, a woman from the town is that seamstress that created the fashion book from Sleeping Beauty, Magnifico is the face into the Evil Queen's mirror, the wishes floating up looked like the lanterns in Rapunzel, Asha's cart's transformation looked like Cinderella carriage's, etc. The classic fairytale book opening was beautiful and nostalgic.

That's all.

Bad things: where to start?

Animation Style. As I feared since the early gifs, this combination of styles is not my cup of tea. The combination of simple flat drawing and 3d models for me ruined the immersion and created a "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" weird effect. Even worse. Because in the Rabbit the drawn characters remained drawn. and the real actors remained actors. In Wish, the characters could be 3D one moment and flatly drawn the next. Or have 3d face but flat dress, 3d clothes but flat simplistic hands, etc. The way they acted against flat painted sets like at a theatre stage was just weird. Maybe Disney was trying to tribute their two eras of animation this way, but it didn't work for me. I kept noticing the changing styles and found it annoying.

Asha is uninteresting as a heroine. I wasn't moved by her at all, there's nothing special about her(except that she has a living mother, but still her father is dead and she's ready to talk about him right at the interview.) There are "no like other girls" heroines, but Asha is literally the opposite. Maybe they tried to make her generic on purpose, like she's a proto-princess as well: laughs like Rapunzel, is awkward like Anna, talks to animals like Snow White and Aurora, runs like Elsa in Let It Go, has the same colour palette like Isabella, has similar scenes with "Be our guest" and "Under the sea", but she didn't inspire me. And she is too adorkable. Her friends have more personality and coolness than she.

Her goat is just awful, I'm serious here. Not only is he ugly, but he talks in a weird for a baby goat manner and makes stupid jokes. In fact, the jokes in Wish are really cringe. The chickens and eggs, the goat's tail in Asha's face…no, thanks.

Magnifico. I absolutely do not miss "classic villains", especially if they are going to be like him now. I don't know how the old Disney did it but Queen Grimhilde and Maleficent were a way more understandable and "justified" in their hatred than Magnifico, even though we know nothing about them. They had something in them Magnifico doesn't. Lady Tremaine and Ursula are just geniuses, super bosses and icons in comparison to him.

He has no reason to be so paranoid and do what he does other than a mental illness he got as a child. He has no reason to fear being attacked by the citizens, he had no reason at all to fulfill/continue fulfilling anyone's wishes, what for?

What he was doing did nothing at all to prevent his fear of being attacked he developed when he was a boy. Holding wishes back doesn't protect the city from war that was not going to happen, actually. If Magnifico had been drinking energy from wishes from the beginning it would make much more sense, but no he started doing this only after he opened the book of forbidden magic. Although, he indeed had the right to decide what is worthy to fulfill because it was his magic, not everyone's.

He's ugly and yes as I've noticed before he looks like older Prince Hans.

I found the final moral that magic is unnecessary and we should do everything by themselves, that people can't live well with it and are asking too much, discouraging and too didactic rather than inspiring. If wishes are not going to be fulfilled in the end and it's painted as good, then why Asha was sad when she found out that Magnifico didn't want to fulfill all of them? Magnifico at least fulfilled a % of the wishes, now they have zero. The problem that sometimes wishes just can't come true and it will hurt you is not addressed as much as it should. Oh, and the collective wishes have magic and are good but individual wishes should be achieved by hard work thing...Idk.

What was that all about?

And all the songs are not catchy at all. "I'm a star" has some unpleasantness in its message I can't put my finger on.

⭐⭐⭐ experience. Only its aesthetic made the movie for me. Sorry, Lee, Buck and friends 😗 I just hope that F2 wasn't your last good piece of art and that you'll make better than this for F3 and 4(one of the Wish directors is a Frozen storyboard artist. Mark Smith, do better, please.)

[rndyounghowze]

"Into the Woods" with Off Broad Street Players at the Levoy Theater in Millville, NJ

By: Ricky Young-Howze

I wish more than anything, more than life that I could totally watch Off Broad Street Player's Production of "Into the Woods" at the Levoy Theatre again. This musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine co-directed by Domonic Barnes and Walter A. Webster brought us on a journey to many moments in the woods and a lifetime in our hearts!

These are the stories you've all seen before, or have you? Do you really know the story of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Jack and the Bean Stalk? Do you really think you have Prince Charming down pat? Into the Woods tells us what happens after "Ever After"? What happens after the fairy tale is done?

Directors Domonic Barnes and Walter A. Webster direction seemed to bend time that made us feel like we spent three midnights ourselves in this rich world of the stage but also seemed to make us feel that we had spent hardly any time in the theatre. This also meant that there were moments that seemed to drag on stage and I felt that pacing was off. Of course this was the Sunday Matinee after a powerhouse opening weekend so I'm sure that everyone was dragging a bit this afternoon. The great news is that when everyone was singing you never even dared to look away

Andrew Jarema as the Baker was toxic masculinity at its best. I don't always like the Baker because I don't get him. Then I saw the confusion and longing in his performance and I got it.

April Lindley as the Baker's Wife really made my day. I come to this show just to see her story sometimes because there's a lot of meat on the bone in Sondheim's lyrics. But what she does with them and how deftly she turns a phrase and lives in her moments really touched my heart. Great job!

Gabriella Prato as Little Red Riding Hood showed me things oh some beautiful things (I'm sorry I just had to) with her powerful voice that had my ears ringing all the way in the back row. If this is her as a Sophomore at ACIT I only see a very happy life in the theatre ahead of her.

They say a slotted spoon can catch the potato but Alex Manzo as Jack really served it up thick! I didn't know about him at first and then I heard him open up in "Giants in the Sky". And now I know a thing now that I never knew before (this is one of my favorite musicals I'm not going to stop) and that is that this young man has a voice like honey! I want to see and hear more from him!

Katie Hughes as the Witch is both icky and fascinating. She had such a sweet voice and a biting wit that made me smile.

David Fuzco as the Narrator gave us a balance to this fanciful world we are thrust into. His dry humor really made me and my wife laugh.

Shaun Laurencio as Rapunzel's Prince had a voice a smooth as velvet that made me melt. Then as the wolf he had a voice that made me cringe. Kudos to becoming a character that made me so happy when he got skinned but then a Prince that made me hate when he got blinded. Now if you want me I have to go home and take a shower to get that wolf voice off my skin.

My wife was a fan of a curvy and full voiced Cinderella! Krissy Joe Slough's Cinderella really gave me lots of joy with her power and vivaciousness.

Cheyenne Shaud as Rapunzel had a voice that was as free from imperfection as her hair was free from split ends and tangles. This is her first time with OBSP and I hope she really puts down roots (I know bad pun) on the Levoy Stage.

Can I just say that seeing April Johnson as shrewish Lucinda in that gawdy pink dress made my day! I miss her face so much and loved seeing her playing such a "heel".

Also a huge shout-out to the performance of Milky White who played herself. It's hard to give milk on command but that's just a sign of a bovine that's dedicated to her craft. Would really love to see her in future productions. A big shout out to her owner, Gabriel Productions, for letting OBSP rent her for the production. A special shout out to Cara May and all the wonderful work she did making the other props like beanstalks that grow to the clouds and golden harps from the sky.

Lighting Design by Tyler Daddario turned the woods into a primeval mystery full of shadows and beams of light that pierced the air.

Jason D. Smith's Scenic Design was a perfect counterpart to this lighting with dark greens and browns and tall gnarly trees. When these two designs merge we get a dark and spooky world forvourvshow to live in. Great job.

Music Direction by Walter A. Webster with Conductor Dominic Scalfero deserves a real loud shout-out! You have warm strings and horns with a dulcet reed section rounded out by lilting strings. This creates a dark sound that keeps the pace moving.

Movement Direction by Domonic Barnes gave me choreography so good that I had no clue I was looking at choreography. Let me explain. Everything was so seamless that I was just like "and this is the world now. This is how the universe moves now." It's the choreography that hacks your brain that's the best.

Costume Design by Shaun Laurencio is my life right now! There are beautiful flowing dresses and doublets and tunics. There are rich colors and vibrant hues! One thing I know about Shaun is that I couldn't think of anyone better to clothe these demented Disney princesses and princes.

Hair and Makeup Design by John Rattacasa just made me squeal with glee! You have wigs and curls and tresses by the plenty for him to work his magic! And then you have the sea of pretty made up faces. Each one of them is a masterpiece!

Now it's time to leave the Woods but I hope that you get to make your own journey this next weekend. This show has some great moments full of laughs, tears, and love. Just know that you're never the same coming out as you were coming in. But you just have to make the journey.