Theatre, etc.
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Cirque du Soleil: OVO
10/10
Okay, to start off; this goes under the "et cetera" part of this section. I just had to get that out of the way before saying; this was so. Freaking. Awesome. It really was. I really like how they were able to set up different things for different routines in the background of the current routine, where nobody is supposed to be looking (but apparently I do) and make it look like a background dance. It went from beautiful dancing to random comedy in a short amount of time, in order to disguise their purpose of getting ready for the next one of either. That, too, was pretty impressive, although the comedy was a bit childish. There were small little stories throughout, mainly in the comedic bits, which was pretty interesting. I have to say, though; the people were inhuman. No pun intended. I mean, seriously- should people really bend that way? It was kind of freaking me out. There was one part where two insect-people (not sure what kind) were flying around from a rope, looking sleek and smooth and stuff, but... But, honestly, most of the "moves" they were doing were sex positions. It was more than a bit strange. My favorite parts were when you see a girl inside of a giant thing that looks like a pair of tights, and she turns into a butterfly, and the routine with the trampolines. ... Oh. Sorry. I won't spoil it all if you somehow see it. But, again, I have to say... It. Was. Just. Epic. (The butterfly-girl for the win.)
Okay, to start off; this goes under the "et cetera" part of this section. I just had to get that out of the way before saying; this was so. Freaking. Awesome. It really was. I really like how they were able to set up different things for different routines in the background of the current routine, where nobody is supposed to be looking (but apparently I do) and make it look like a background dance. It went from beautiful dancing to random comedy in a short amount of time, in order to disguise their purpose of getting ready for the next one of either. That, too, was pretty impressive, although the comedy was a bit childish. There were small little stories throughout, mainly in the comedic bits, which was pretty interesting. I have to say, though; the people were inhuman. No pun intended. I mean, seriously- should people really bend that way? It was kind of freaking me out. There was one part where two insect-people (not sure what kind) were flying around from a rope, looking sleek and smooth and stuff, but... But, honestly, most of the "moves" they were doing were sex positions. It was more than a bit strange. My favorite parts were when you see a girl inside of a giant thing that looks like a pair of tights, and she turns into a butterfly, and the routine with the trampolines. ... Oh. Sorry. I won't spoil it all if you somehow see it. But, again, I have to say... It. Was. Just. Epic. (The butterfly-girl for the win.)
D
Drum Corps International—"DCI Austin presented by Demoulin Bros. & Co."—June 19th, 2011—Round Rock, TX
7/10
A pretty darn epic array of shows. There were people hanging off of other people and playing the bottom of tenors, a battle between angels and demons, the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, flame patterns on drum heads in a classic rock-themed corps, and one based entirely on music from the Bourne movies and The Matrix. Pretty flipping epic. My favorite was Carolina Crown, but the Blue Devils' outfits are definitely the best. I just love tailcoat-esque things like that. (Carolina Crown for the win.)
A pretty darn epic array of shows. There were people hanging off of other people and playing the bottom of tenors, a battle between angels and demons, the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, flame patterns on drum heads in a classic rock-themed corps, and one based entirely on music from the Bourne movies and The Matrix. Pretty flipping epic. My favorite was Carolina Crown, but the Blue Devils' outfits are definitely the best. I just love tailcoat-esque things like that. (Carolina Crown for the win.)
Drum Corps International—"Soaring Sounds 32"—July 6th, 2011—Centerville, OH
8/10
Well, once again--Drum Corps International, 2011. This one was good, and as before, it was a pretty darn epic performance. ... Most of the time. The first few corps--Cincinnati Tradition, Blue Saints, and Legends--were pretty mediocre. It sort of made me want to leave--but luckily, I decided against it. By the time the next corps--Teal Sound--finished, I was thinking that it was almost as good as the drum corps performance I saw before this--it's the review just above this one. But then, my mind was blown--as every corps after that finished, and I was amazed by them, the next corps got onto the field and they were better then all the ones that preceded them! It was unbelievable. Somehow (they probably did it on purpose) the organizers made it so that each group was slightly better than the one before, making it a worst-to-best kind of thing. The Cavaliers and the Blue Stars have improved since the last time I saw them perform, and their performances were no less stunning. The Colts and Troopers were pretty well-kept as well, and I must say that the Troopers were vying with the Cavaliers for being my favorite performers of the season for a bit there--but after thinking it through, I decided that my favorite act had to be a tie between the Cavaliers and the Glassmen. The Glassmens' performance was most certainly my favorite, because it was just really cool--I really love the uniforms they had for their guard, and the way the two main guard members moved made the story easy to follow and understand. The dances and et cetera were beautiful, and so was the music. And although it was my favorite, I still have to admit that the Blue Stars with "ReBourne" definitely takes a very close second.
Well, once again--Drum Corps International, 2011. This one was good, and as before, it was a pretty darn epic performance. ... Most of the time. The first few corps--Cincinnati Tradition, Blue Saints, and Legends--were pretty mediocre. It sort of made me want to leave--but luckily, I decided against it. By the time the next corps--Teal Sound--finished, I was thinking that it was almost as good as the drum corps performance I saw before this--it's the review just above this one. But then, my mind was blown--as every corps after that finished, and I was amazed by them, the next corps got onto the field and they were better then all the ones that preceded them! It was unbelievable. Somehow (they probably did it on purpose) the organizers made it so that each group was slightly better than the one before, making it a worst-to-best kind of thing. The Cavaliers and the Blue Stars have improved since the last time I saw them perform, and their performances were no less stunning. The Colts and Troopers were pretty well-kept as well, and I must say that the Troopers were vying with the Cavaliers for being my favorite performers of the season for a bit there--but after thinking it through, I decided that my favorite act had to be a tie between the Cavaliers and the Glassmen. The Glassmens' performance was most certainly my favorite, because it was just really cool--I really love the uniforms they had for their guard, and the way the two main guard members moved made the story easy to follow and understand. The dances and et cetera were beautiful, and so was the music. And although it was my favorite, I still have to admit that the Blue Stars with "ReBourne" definitely takes a very close second.
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Keely and Du (read)
by Jane Martin
7/10
A very well-written drama. I'm probably too young to read it, but oh well.
7/10
A very well-written drama. I'm probably too young to read it, but oh well.
Keely and Du (watch)
9/10
This was amazing. It must have taken a LOT of work to summon up all those emotions from all the actors...
Since this version didn't have a website, I can't link any information for it, but it was great. Trust me.
Did I mention my grandma played Du? My grandma played Du, and SPOILER ALERT had a stroke after being arrested. I almost cried.
Anyway, it was amazing.
This was amazing. It must have taken a LOT of work to summon up all those emotions from all the actors...
Since this version didn't have a website, I can't link any information for it, but it was great. Trust me.
Did I mention my grandma played Du? My grandma played Du, and SPOILER ALERT had a stroke after being arrested. I almost cried.
Anyway, it was amazing.
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Romeo and Juliet (read)
by William Shakespeare
10/10
This was so amazing. Amazing. A really great classic that can be enjoyed by anyone. There's light humor, romance, friendship, swordfights, (although it only says "they fight" in brackets at those times because it's a play) warring families, et cetera. The ending was a bit depressing, (because you all know what happens— if you don't, I'm ashamed) but I loved it anyway. (Juliet for the win.)
10/10
This was so amazing. Amazing. A really great classic that can be enjoyed by anyone. There's light humor, romance, friendship, swordfights, (although it only says "they fight" in brackets at those times because it's a play) warring families, et cetera. The ending was a bit depressing, (because you all know what happens— if you don't, I'm ashamed) but I loved it anyway. (Juliet for the win.)
Ruckcrock of the Wolf Tribe (read)
by Colin Thornton
3/10
Well, since this guy wrote this in a period between 5:30am and 9:00am in one day, we can probably forgive him for any errors or mistakes he made writing it... Right? Right. Keeping that in mind, let's get on with the review.
Okay, so, this is a script written for a kids' drama summer-camp that I'm reviewing just for the heck of it. It's about an average guy who happens to be from a magical wolf tribe thing and he saves the work from an evil tribe. Standard b-movie plot, right?
Well, to start, let me get through what I don't like. First off would be the dialogue. Particularly for the main character, RC, or Ruckcrock. I mean, what it seems like the writer was trying to do was to make “RC” hip and cool or whatever, but to me, it sounds half-assed. For example, at one point they're trying to turn him back into a wolf, and he sarcastically says “Great, just what I've always wanted—to look like Taylor Lautner.” Well, this is 1) pretty much the only pop-culture reference he makes, ever; 2) the only remotely humorous line in the entire play. Not just that—he also tries to be comic relief, in a “cool” way, even though he's the hero. You'd think he'd want to be cool and suave, not make lame karate poses and noises while THREATENING A TRIBAL WARRIOR.
Then, there's the actual plot. It seems sound enough, but there's just a couple things in there that are just too silly mistakes to pass up on. First is the second-to-last scene. There seems to be some sort of fail in the psychology of the princess character, Anesa. At first, she proposes to the main character, Ruckcrock—but when Ruckcrock BRUTALLY REJECTS HER, she doesn't cry, or anything like that; she IMMEDIATELY CONFESSES HER LOVE TO ANOTHER CHARACTER. Um, what? Okay, propose to the man of your dreams—but then just go with it as he shoots you down and confess your love for someone else. I believe children today would call that “a whore”. Also, she doesn't even propose to the character she was supposed to—she proposes to a DIFFERENT CHARACTER because the actors are all homophobes. You see, originally, the princess proposed to a character who had his face disfigured by a face-melting mask of terror or whatever. However, they changed it to a different character because the face-melted character was also played by a girl. Um, really, guys? REALLY? This is acting. ... Oh, and not just that—they also had a line at that point where the disfigured-face guy says “But she could never love me... My face is disfigured.” However, since they changed the character she proposes to, the line was changed to “But I'm so ugly...” What the hell. Does it REALLY matter that it's a girl? No. It doesn't. So there. The revision was stupid and pointless to make.
Secondly, I'll say something about Ruckcrock's (or RC's) memories of the wolf tribe. So, first off—this guy was in the wolf tribe for who knows how long. Possibly hundreds of years, because I'd assume these guys don't die of age since they sealed a barrier, like, a thousand years ago and still remember it without scientists or anything. Maybe the shamans passed down the story? I don't know. ... But anyway. Ruckcrock, even after seeing someone's face that has been melted off with the mask, DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ITS POWER. Um, excuse me? He has proof that it works, and if he was in the wolf tribe for HUNDREDS OF YEARS, I would assume that he knows all about this face-melting mask. HOWEVER, even after regaining his memories thanks to a shaman chant, he still has NO idea about the mask or history of the clan and stuff. That doesn't make sense. He JUST regained his memories, right? But somehow, he DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF A HUGE CULTURAL ARTIFACT. I just don't see that happening.
All-in-all, I'd say this play is an unfortunate compilation of efforts (the children in camp provided the ideas and premise and such) that turned out a childish, mediocrely-written mess of a play with underdeveloped, stereotypical characters and a b-grade plot, And even with the fact that this guy wrote it in less than four hours in mind, I have no choice but to give it a three.
(If you click on the title, instead of having more information of the play, it'll just have a link to a page on this website where you can read the script. You know, because... Well, it's not ever going to be published or anything. I'm not making money from it and I'm giving Colin his rightful credit. ... But anyway. I have made notes on it because I was acting in it, so please ignore most of them. The highlighted lines and the things in less-than or greater-than symbols you can ignore, those were notes for me. Same with E:SL or E:SR or Ex:SL or Ex:SR and stuff like that. However, if I have crossed out a word and written a word under it, or written in an entire line, or changed what people say in any way, that is a revision of the script because there were spelling errors or something was typed out wrong or whatever. Those should be taken into account. … But you probably don't want to read it anyway. And that's okay. At least you read my review.)
3/10
Well, since this guy wrote this in a period between 5:30am and 9:00am in one day, we can probably forgive him for any errors or mistakes he made writing it... Right? Right. Keeping that in mind, let's get on with the review.
Okay, so, this is a script written for a kids' drama summer-camp that I'm reviewing just for the heck of it. It's about an average guy who happens to be from a magical wolf tribe thing and he saves the work from an evil tribe. Standard b-movie plot, right?
Well, to start, let me get through what I don't like. First off would be the dialogue. Particularly for the main character, RC, or Ruckcrock. I mean, what it seems like the writer was trying to do was to make “RC” hip and cool or whatever, but to me, it sounds half-assed. For example, at one point they're trying to turn him back into a wolf, and he sarcastically says “Great, just what I've always wanted—to look like Taylor Lautner.” Well, this is 1) pretty much the only pop-culture reference he makes, ever; 2) the only remotely humorous line in the entire play. Not just that—he also tries to be comic relief, in a “cool” way, even though he's the hero. You'd think he'd want to be cool and suave, not make lame karate poses and noises while THREATENING A TRIBAL WARRIOR.
Then, there's the actual plot. It seems sound enough, but there's just a couple things in there that are just too silly mistakes to pass up on. First is the second-to-last scene. There seems to be some sort of fail in the psychology of the princess character, Anesa. At first, she proposes to the main character, Ruckcrock—but when Ruckcrock BRUTALLY REJECTS HER, she doesn't cry, or anything like that; she IMMEDIATELY CONFESSES HER LOVE TO ANOTHER CHARACTER. Um, what? Okay, propose to the man of your dreams—but then just go with it as he shoots you down and confess your love for someone else. I believe children today would call that “a whore”. Also, she doesn't even propose to the character she was supposed to—she proposes to a DIFFERENT CHARACTER because the actors are all homophobes. You see, originally, the princess proposed to a character who had his face disfigured by a face-melting mask of terror or whatever. However, they changed it to a different character because the face-melted character was also played by a girl. Um, really, guys? REALLY? This is acting. ... Oh, and not just that—they also had a line at that point where the disfigured-face guy says “But she could never love me... My face is disfigured.” However, since they changed the character she proposes to, the line was changed to “But I'm so ugly...” What the hell. Does it REALLY matter that it's a girl? No. It doesn't. So there. The revision was stupid and pointless to make.
Secondly, I'll say something about Ruckcrock's (or RC's) memories of the wolf tribe. So, first off—this guy was in the wolf tribe for who knows how long. Possibly hundreds of years, because I'd assume these guys don't die of age since they sealed a barrier, like, a thousand years ago and still remember it without scientists or anything. Maybe the shamans passed down the story? I don't know. ... But anyway. Ruckcrock, even after seeing someone's face that has been melted off with the mask, DOESN'T BELIEVE IN ITS POWER. Um, excuse me? He has proof that it works, and if he was in the wolf tribe for HUNDREDS OF YEARS, I would assume that he knows all about this face-melting mask. HOWEVER, even after regaining his memories thanks to a shaman chant, he still has NO idea about the mask or history of the clan and stuff. That doesn't make sense. He JUST regained his memories, right? But somehow, he DOESN'T BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF A HUGE CULTURAL ARTIFACT. I just don't see that happening.
All-in-all, I'd say this play is an unfortunate compilation of efforts (the children in camp provided the ideas and premise and such) that turned out a childish, mediocrely-written mess of a play with underdeveloped, stereotypical characters and a b-grade plot, And even with the fact that this guy wrote it in less than four hours in mind, I have no choice but to give it a three.
(If you click on the title, instead of having more information of the play, it'll just have a link to a page on this website where you can read the script. You know, because... Well, it's not ever going to be published or anything. I'm not making money from it and I'm giving Colin his rightful credit. ... But anyway. I have made notes on it because I was acting in it, so please ignore most of them. The highlighted lines and the things in less-than or greater-than symbols you can ignore, those were notes for me. Same with E:SL or E:SR or Ex:SL or Ex:SR and stuff like that. However, if I have crossed out a word and written a word under it, or written in an entire line, or changed what people say in any way, that is a revision of the script because there were spelling errors or something was typed out wrong or whatever. Those should be taken into account. … But you probably don't want to read it anyway. And that's okay. At least you read my review.)
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The Tempest (read)
by William Shakespeare
7/10
This was an involved play. I do like the plot, and the premise, and the characters.
It was also written rather nicely.
But my favorite element was the characters, because they were very inventive and diverse, with vastly different personalities than one-another.
There are also some plots within the plot in this play, making for an Inception feel what with people conspiring against someone during the time when a conspiracy centered around the same someone is going down in the same place. It's not really confusing, but as I said, it is a bit involved.
However, though I liked it, I read it during a time where I was reading quite a few things at once, which made it not really pop out at me as much as it should have.
Whatever. At any rate, "The Tempest" is still a genius classic piece of literature written by one of the greatest literary artists in history. That's gotta count for something, right?
7/10
This was an involved play. I do like the plot, and the premise, and the characters.
It was also written rather nicely.
But my favorite element was the characters, because they were very inventive and diverse, with vastly different personalities than one-another.
There are also some plots within the plot in this play, making for an Inception feel what with people conspiring against someone during the time when a conspiracy centered around the same someone is going down in the same place. It's not really confusing, but as I said, it is a bit involved.
However, though I liked it, I read it during a time where I was reading quite a few things at once, which made it not really pop out at me as much as it should have.
Whatever. At any rate, "The Tempest" is still a genius classic piece of literature written by one of the greatest literary artists in history. That's gotta count for something, right?
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Weird Al Yankovic—2010 Summer Tour—July 2nd, 2010
9/10
An epic, epic performance. Of course, the songs performances were flawless—not only did Weird Al manage to do something fun or crazy each time, but he also managed to have a different outfit for nearly EVERY SONG. Show business just doesn't get better then that.
This performance also featured the music videos for whatever he was performing in the background on a TV screen—and before the performance, it showed a montage of clips from the Weird Al Show and times people mentioned him on TV, including clips from The Simpsons and Transformers: Animated, among others.
Along with all that amazingness, one of the people I went with was flirted with by him during the song "Wanna B Ur Lovr", because I was in the fifth row. I mean, come on. In total, this was just an epic performance by the master himself—not that I'd expect anything less from Weird Al Yankovic.
An epic, epic performance. Of course, the songs performances were flawless—not only did Weird Al manage to do something fun or crazy each time, but he also managed to have a different outfit for nearly EVERY SONG. Show business just doesn't get better then that.
This performance also featured the music videos for whatever he was performing in the background on a TV screen—and before the performance, it showed a montage of clips from the Weird Al Show and times people mentioned him on TV, including clips from The Simpsons and Transformers: Animated, among others.
Along with all that amazingness, one of the people I went with was flirted with by him during the song "Wanna B Ur Lovr", because I was in the fifth row. I mean, come on. In total, this was just an epic performance by the master himself—not that I'd expect anything less from Weird Al Yankovic.