REVIEW: Aladdin in Chicago!

We saw Aladdin last week as part of my son's perfect day.   Since then, I realized I haven't reviewed it!

To make a long story short:  It's awesome and you should definitely see it!

And here's the rest of the story.

Aladdin the musical has a pretty hard job-- it has to take a beloved animated musical, full of all kinds of crazy special effects, cartoon animals, pitch perfect and very distinctive songs (Hello, Robin Williams as the Genie!), and a pretty strong love story, and turn it into a live in front of you Broadway Musical.

 It does it, and more. I think it does a great job of transforming the movie into a Broadway show, and a Broadway show that is appealing to lots of different people.

Here's a clip to give you an idea of the all out Broadway glitziness of the show. (This clip is from the musical's website, and contains some of the New York actors)

In Chicago, the lead actor Aladdin is played by Adam Jacobs, the same person who opened the show on Broadway.  He is fabulous, as are all of the actors in the Chicago production.

I'd be remiss not to mention four of the actors by name:

Jonathan Weir as Jafar. The perfect villain!

• Isabella McCalla, who does an amazing job as Princess Jasmine, managing to be sexy, childlike, brash, and spunky all at the same time.  We can see why Aladdin falls in love with her.
•Jonathan Weir as Jafar, who has a thundering voice, and can turn on a dime to be overly obsequious and imperious.
•Reggie DeLeon as Iago, who absolutely kills it as Iago, the bloodthirsty henchman.  He is hilarious, and didn't quite steal every scene he was in, but made me want to see a whole play just about Iago.
•Anthony Murphy as the Genie, who also kills every scene he was in.  He had particularly big shoes to fill, both substituting for Robin Williams (the movie Genie) and James Monroe Iglehart, who won the Tony for his original portrayal of the Genie and is now moving to Hamilton to become Lafayette/Jefferson.  Murphy does stuff his own way, and it works!  He's funny, real, and makes the part his own.

Here's a video clip of the end of the knockout song Friend Like Me.  After this number there was a standing ovation for about a minute before people sat down.  In fact, that might be my one quibble, after this song, they should have just had the intermission, but instead there's a a finale song that does nothing but simmer down the audience.

I mentioned earlier that they made some adaptations to make it better and more suitable for Broadway

In the movie, Aladdin has a pet monkey Abu, and Jafar has his pet parrot Iago.   Rather than mess around with animatronics, or try to match the movie note for note, the musical wisely casts Iago the parrot as a person and the monkey as three people, Aladdin's best friends.

As I mentioned above, Iago is fantastic, and the three friends and Aladdin get a buddy song "Babkak, Omar, Aladdin, Kassim" (to introduce themselves to us (and it's where Jasmine and Aladdin meet for the first time)  During the song they sing about their unbreakable friendship, as well as repeating their names a bunch of times for people who might be saying "But they are not in the movie!" . (As Princess Jasmine later notes in the show, "I know your name, you sang it like 50 times!")

Aladdin and Jasmine together for the first time.

From the musical/ story perspective, this works out better than the monkey, both because there's a lot of opportunity for comedy and jokes (I especially liked Babkak, who made a number of funny puns about food during the show) and because it sets up Aladdin not as a weird creepy thief/loner, but as someone with a community who is loved.  I think one of the essential problems for Aladdin is always, "He's a criminal, but he's the hero."
By giving him a community to fit into, that makes it easier for us to accept his criminality.  It also gives  a bigger storyline when Aladdin becomes a Prince, and seems to forget his friends. More is at risk.

There are some special effects including a flying carpet that is nice, but no great shakes.  It does give the actors the opportunity to sing their love song "A Whole New World" up in the air, and that was pretty spectacular.

All in all, you should definitely see this show. The show has been extended at least until September 10.  This is the first leg of the national tour, so you should see it before it must move.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets for Aladdin at the Cadillac Palace Theatre range from $44 – $153. In Chicago, tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000, all Ticketmaster retail locations and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

 A select number of Premium Ticket Packages, which include a prime seat location, a commemorative souvenir program and an exclusive merchandise item, are also available for many performances.

For a complete performance schedule for Aladdin, please visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Ticket buyers are reminded that Broadway In Chicago theatres and http://www.BroadwayInChicago.com are the only official retail ticket outlets for all performances at the Cadillac Palace Theatre.

Ticket buyers who purchase tickets from a ticket broker or any third party should be aware that Broadway In Chicago is unable to reprint or replace lost or stolen tickets and is unable to contact patrons with information regarding time changes or other pertinent updates regarding the performance.

REVIEW: Beauty and the Beast- what gay controversy? #nobigdeal

We saw the new version of Beauty and the Beast about a week ago, and it was really great.  I can highly recommend it to everyone I know.  (And of course, if you haven't seen it, I also highly recommend the animated version, which is pretty fantastic.)

And I'm glad to say that America seems to concur.  It's been breaking all kinds of box office records.

I had been skeptical when I heard they were going to remake it as live action-- I am a fan of the cartoon, and was not sure what they could bring to it by redoing it. I'm happy to admit that I was wrong- they tightened the story a little bit, made it a little more believable,  added a little bit of romance, and gave the characters a more realistic and complex sheen.  Overall, this was a great remake, and I recommend it highly.

For example, in the live action movie, Belle (played by Emma Watson) is not just a pretty girl who likes to read- she's a family girl, an inventor who is taking after her father, and has quite a bit of pluck. We also see her as a real person- wanting to be liked, and at least considering whether or not she should ditch her dad and be more like everybody else.  She ends up making the noble choice, but this makes her more likable and less generic as a heroine.  And for the first time, we see the Prince before he becomes the Beast, and it seems like maybe he's got some kind of come-uppance coming to him. His story is more fleshed out, as are the stories of nearly all of his enchanted courtiers as well.

As for the villain, in the animated version, Gaston is a buffoonish villain, but they've added some guile and a bit of cruelty to him in the live action version.

A great example of this is in the song Gaston, where LeFou and the townspeople are bolstering the spirit of Gaston, who has been rejected by Belle, they added a portion of the song to show off Gaston as cruel:

GASTON: When I hunt I sneak up with my quiver
And beasts of the field say a prayer
First I carefully aim for the liver
Then I shoot from behind
LEFOU: Is that fair?
GASTON: I don't care.

There's been a large controversy about the "Gay" LeFou.  Lefou is Gaston's sidekick.   In the cartoon, he's just a dumb but lovable sidekick, a direct ripoff of Captain Hook's Smee.  In the remake, LeFou (played by Josh Gad) is being billed as "Disney's first openly gay character." Gad is great- rather foppish, and funny, and he has some ethical dilemmas about Gaston's lying and cruelty.  But for some reason, the focus has been on his gayness, and the fact that he's the first gay Disney character.

 I find that hard to believe (here's a list of possibly gay characters in the Disney lexicon, which includes Hades from Hercules, Ursula from the Little Mermaid, and (not listed) Cruela DeVille from 101 Dalmations.)

Having seen the movie, I was surprised that there was any controversy at all.  If they didn't say "This character is gay."  I think you'd be hard-pressed to know it.  Yes, he does seem infatuated with Gaston (although weirdly can't spell his name) and massages him at one point, but everything is pretty innocent.  The one moment that people seem to object to is at the end during a dance, when Lefou ends up dancing with a male character.  (That character by the way, during the battle, was dressed up like a woman by the enchanted wardrobe, and seemed to like it.)  This is not explicit at all, there's no same sex people hugging or kissing.  I think there's been much more explicit stuff in other movies.

At any rate, if you happen to be afraid that your kids will be exposed to something gay, you have nothing to fear from LeFou.  As Randy Rainbow says in this incredibly funny parody song.

"When I bring my young children to a lavish musical with fabulous costumes starring the hot guy from Downton Abbey and featuring 6 time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald, it isn’t to make them gay- it’s to make them extra straight. I say we Kill The Release! "

Disneyworld: The Four Park Challenge

We are in Disney World for a few days, as it is my wife and my son's happy place, and a place that I really really like.  We became DVC members last year, which means we will be vacationing at the Most Magical Place On Earth for years to come.

We've got some time to roam and explore, now that we know that we will be here for a while, and so, on a random Tuesday, we embarked on a mad mad adventure: a quest to "do" all 4 parks in a single day.  The Four Park Challenge. It's kind of like a Disney Bucket list.

What does it mean to "do" a park?
Well, everybody has a theory, and here's ours.  Seeing every ride is right out of the question (You could do it in one park, maybe, and many people have, but I know you couldn't in all 4 parks on the same day.  Doing all 4 parks every ride in 4 straight days is another bucket list we might take on another time.  That would be like a Disneyworld Ironman!

For us, we decided that for our park to count, we would have to do the following.

• Go on at least 3 rides or shows..
• Have a photo taken at one iconic area.
• Eat something in every park.
• Trade a pin in every park (we are inveterate pin traders) (at least one of us)
• Use the restroom in every park. (at least one of us)

We did it!  Although our feet and backs were sore by the end of the day (by the time my day ended at midnight, I'd walked 24000+ steps (over 11 miles!), been on 17 rides, and had a great day with the family.

I highly recommend this for your family, especially if you've been to Disney before, and want to see it in a new light/push your boundaries kind of way.  I also recommend that you make up the rules to fulfill the challenge what feels right for you and your family!  It's your vacation, spend it how you please!

Here's our itinerary for our bucketlist day.

MAGIC KINGDOM

Us in front of the Magic Kingdom Castle

 We took our picture on the way in in front of the castle.
8 AM:  Visit Be Our Guest for an early breakfast.
8:40 AM: Get in line for early rides on 7 Dwarves Mine Train.  We rode it 3 times!
9:10 AM: Walk over to TomorrowLand. While here we rode TomorrowLand Speedway, Astro-Orbital Launcher, the Laugh Floor, the PeopleMover, and Buzz Lightyear.

This took us until about 10:30 AM.  We then took the Express bus over to  Hollywood Studios.  The Express bus is a new bus service that allows you travel backstage between all 4 parks.  It's brand new, and its advantage is that you don't have to go through security again.  The disadvantage is that it costs extra.  Right now in the trial phase it's $24 per person for one week of usage.  That's a pretty good deal!

HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS  

Us in front of the Bauman Chinese Theatre
in Hollywood Studios

We took our picture on the way in in front of Rockin' Roller Coaster,
11 AM:   We got in around 11 am.  It drops you off right at Rockin' Roller Coaster but my wife and child couldn't be convinced to get on.  So we took another picture in front of the Movie Ride/Main Street.   Then we rode the following three rides:
Star Tours
Muppets in 3D
Toy Story Midway Mania

We then stopped for lunch at 1:15 at the ABC Commissary, neither of us had been there before,  And then caught the bus over to Animal Kingdom for our third park of the day.

ANIMAL KINGDOM  

Us in front of the Tree of Life at
Animal Kingdom

We arrived at Animal Kingdom at around 2:30.  It took us a while to get our bearings.  We couldn't find a photographer right away, and we were trying to hook up with a friend who was in that park on that day (unfortunately, we arrived a little late, and they left a little early, so we missed them)

We ended up going on Everest (which both my wife and son were scared about, but ended up doing just fine on.  My son said Never Again.  But at least he conquered his fear about getting on.    After that we had a snack at the local shop.

After Everest we rode
•Bugs Life in the big tree of Life.  (where we finally found a photographer)
• Dinosaur

We  then had to walk back around the park to get to the Backstage Express to get to our final park of the day:  Epcot.

EPCOT

Last park of the day!  Us in front of the "Golf Ball" at Epcot.

By this time we were pretty sore and not sure if we could continue.  But we did anyway!
We rode 3 rides here as well.

Spaceship Earth (which had a fault as were were getting started, and was halted for about 10 minutes)
Nemo at the Seas
Imagination with Figment

We walked back over to eat dinner at the Electric Umbrella, and then slowly made our way back to our hotel (Beach Club)  My wife and son went back to the room, and I met up with a friend who performs on the Boardwalk (Coney Island Chris)

 It was cold by then, so Chris was inside the Boardwalk Hotel.  After that, I had drinks with Chris and his wife, and then went back to the hotel to try to get some shuteye so that we could be back in the parks the next day!  I got to sleep around midnight!  Long day!


Over all, trying the challenge was a great and different way to see the parks.  I'd definitely recommend it, if you have already been to the parks once, and want to see if you can do it!

Our VIP Universal Orlando weekend at Family Forward

As reported previously, we spent a few days at Disneyworld and Universal Orlando.  It was truly a magical, Last Hurrah type of vacation, and we now officially need a vacation after our vacation.  And now we are back home at the mundane muggle school, where they don't teach Potions, but Science.

It was our first time at Family Forward and Universal Orlando, and because of that, I'll write about/review Universal and Family Forward in this post, and I'll go back and talk about our Disney experience in another post.

DISCLOSURE:  As part of the Family Forward Conference Experience, I received discounted and free VIP experiences, food vouchers, and souvenirs from the conference and its sponsors as an enticement to write about them. My opinions and ideas about those experiences, and the decision to write about them remain my own.  I value my integrity, and you should too.


First things first-- this is the video when AA found out he was not going to his grandmother's but instead going to Universal.  Pretty awesome!  And talk about your #universalmoments!

PRIVATE THURSDAY PARTY ON MARVEL SUPERHERO ISLAND

The arcade at the corner of Stan Lee Blvd
and Yancy Street (where The Thing grew up)
The signage at Universal was in general excellent!

One of the best things about the Family Forward Conference was the VIP treatment we received.  As part of the conference, we had two private parties in the parks.

On Thursday night, to kick off the conference, we had a private after-hours dessert party on Marvel SuperHero Island, with free access to 4 or 5 different Marvel rides, including The Incredible Hulk Rollercoaster, Spiderman, Dr. Doom, and a couple of other attractions.

We were able to do a few rides before the threat of Tornados/Bad weather drove us inside the cafe where the party was.  Inside we had some fabulous desserts, and there was an attached arcade. where we played lots of video games while waiting for the weather to abate. (Strangely, the arcade had a KISS pinball game, not the Incredible Hulk or Spiderman or Xmen, which is what I would have expected.)

The pinball machine I expected to
see at Marvel Superhero Island

The Bear meets Cap at Universal Orlando

There were also photo opportunities with costumed characters, including Spidey, Rogue, Captain America, and Wolverine.  Those were all lots of fun to do.

All in all a great first foray into the world of Universal.  The only thing other than the weather that marred it a little is that I was dissuaded from riding the new Hulk Coaster by the sample seats on the outside of the ride.  I sat in one of them, and I couldn't buckle it.  So it seemed it would just be futile to go on it.  Fortunately all was not lost, because on Saturday, we took a VIP tour, and I learned that there were some modified seats on the inside.  I was able to fit in the modified seat no problem!  (And overall, there was only one ride that I was not able to go on.)

Here's me sad with the warning:

#toomuchbulkforthehulk I'm sad to say that it doesn't look like I'll be able to fit on the Hulk ride. I am the wrong shape for it. I'll try again when I get the VIP tour on Saturday And see if I can ( apparently a couple of the seats are actually larger than others ). On the plus side, I ate much healthier than I normally would have at the dessert party. #superherofamily #familyforward #thehulk

Me at the 1950's themed Continental resort.

The next day (Friday) we had a delicious Honey Bunches of Oats breakfast, along with some Minion characters that came for the ride.  We then did a Family Forward workshop in the morning (mostly geared around building family and community) and  then after that-- we had a pool party at the Universal Cabana Beach Bay Resort.  They have two pools and a lazy river with a great 1950's theme.  It was a little bit like stepping into a dream of 1950's style Las Vegas.  We had some fun family time in the lazy river, and on the water slides and the pools.

While there we got a special blogger preview about the still being built water park  that is coming to Universal Orlando, Volcano Bay.  It's going to be a doozy!

There are going to be two 108 foot straight down water drops  a giant wave pool, water slides, and lots more.

Here's a view of the Volcano being built along with the plan below.  It is expected to open Summer 2017!

And here's the promo video:


That night we spent having dinner with some new found friends at the Hard Rock Cafe. The Kitchen restaurant. The dinner was spectacular, as were a couple of the roaming magicians.  One in particular really knocked the socks off the kids.  He was great.

The next day we had a special breakfast at Antojito's, followed by our VIP tour.  At Universal, you can purchase a VIP tour that basically lets you skip almost all of the lines.  It's expensive, it's an add-on of about $190 per person.  But for that, you get special behind the scenes access, almost no wait on rides (some of which can have an hour plus wait normally) and more.  Find out more about the VIP Experience

We had never been to Universal before, and I was blown away by the technology that they use for their rides.  A lot of them have 3D simulations that make Disney rides seem positively quaint.  And the speedy and adventurous rides are great, and much faster than either typical amusement park rides or Disney rides.  As mentioned above, for a bigger guy like me, I was always worried about getting into the seats.  There were really only two rides I couldn't go on despite wanting to.  But it was a downside, especially since one of them was the Harry Potter castle ride.  Hopefully next time we go, I'll have lost a little weight or they'll have modified the rides so that I can go on them.  My family reported they were amazing.

My son channeling The Boy Who Lived.

We absolutely loved the theming at many of the areas, but the Simpson's Springfield, the Dr. Seuss land, and Harry Potter's World (both London and Hogsmead) were spectacular.   I also really liked Comics World, where Dick Tracy, Betty Boop, and lots of other people from the Funny Pages were on display.

Being selected at Olivanders

My son is particularly into Harry Potter, and we spent a lot of time in both worlds.  They sell interactive wands that allow you to do magic at various windows, and that was something we both had a great time at.  Perhaps my favorite attraction of all was Olivander's Wand shop, where they do a 10 minute interactive presentation (using a variety of live actor's playing Olivander)  One lucky Wizard gets selected, and then gets to try out a wand, and gets "Fitted" for a wand by the man himself.  It's really an intimate moment for 10-15 people, and it felt really special.

It only took four tries (and 3 Olivanders) for my son to get selected.  It was truly a memorable moment.  Afterwards, you have to buy the wand (and anybody can always buy a wand)  They have over 50 styles of wands available!)

Blue Man Group

We spent the next two days exploring the parks, and hanging out with the Family Forward crew.  There were lots more great moments, including fine dining (The sushi and food at The CowFish was amazing!), a fantastic show experience at Blue Man Group, and meeting so many other great bloggers and their families.

They have tons of hotels onsite.  Our hotel was the Loews Royal Pacific, and it was so convenient to the parks, and to the dining.  There were free water taxis that you took you everywhere you wanted to go, or you could also walk.  Although we only used it the very last day, our hotel had a very nice pool as well!

 I highly recommend Universal as a family destination, and if you are a blogger,  I think that Family Forward is a great way to see it.

Let me know your favorite parts in the comments!

Universal Orlando and Family Forward gave us a  truly beautiful outlook.

Can You Keep a Secret? We Are Going to Universal Orlando!

For the last four months my wife and I have been keeping a pretty big secret from my son.
Do you promise you won't tell? Shhhh....

For his eighth birthday we are going to Universal Orlando!  (And he doesn't know!  So don't tell him!)

We are going as part of Family Forward Conference.  It's run by two friends of ours, (the guys who own MomItForward)  and basically it's a conference for social media influencers where the family of the influencer is specifically invited and encouraged to come.

It's held at Universal Orlando every year, (this is the fourth year)  and features VIP tours of the parks, social media topics, time at the pool, a trip to see Blue Man Group, discount hotel, and bonding with other families just like ours, and more importantly lots of vacation time!

Here's what they say:

Join 70 digital families for 4 nights and 5 days of hands-on activities the whole family can enjoy, theme-park entertainment, and fun in the sun by the pool.

 ​Family Forward gives families experiences, ideas, and skills to embrace bonding in the digital age through workshops centered on topics like charity, communication, creativity, team building, and trust. Our premise is that whether you are unplugged or are plugged in, you can maximize opportunities to create connections with your family.

THANKS TO THE SPONSORS OF FAMILY FORWARD!

A big part of any conference is sponsors (believe me, I ran a conference, I know!)  So I want to give an extra big shout out to the Sponsors of Family Forward.

• Universal Orlando Resort  #UniversalMoments
•  Mom It Forward, #familyforward
• Blue Man Group #Universal Moments
•  CityWalk     #UniversalCityWalk
• Honey Bunches of Oats  #HBOisEverything
• Loews Royal Pacific Resort  #LowesRoyalPacific #TravelForReal
•  Mobicip  #InternetSafety
• Play-Doh. #PlayDoh60

You can find out more about each of these sponsors on the Family Forward Sponsor page.


So I can hear you asking:  But how did you keep such a big secret from your son? And more importantly, why?  (Go ahead, ask.  I'll wait!)

The why is the harder question to answer, and so I'll answer that first.  As a professional clown, it should come as no surprise to you that I am a bit of a joker. My family has a tradition of surprises (my wife surprised me with a 50th birthday party 6 weeks late!  I surprised my brother on his 40th birthday by flying to Bogota Colombia.  (and he had surprised me by appearing at my doorstep 3 days before I was scheduled to depart.  Great minds think alike!)  And I have a series of April Fools Pranks on my son that have so far have been quite good.

It's fun to give stuff to people, especially when they aren't expecting it.

The how is easier to explain-- we snuck in a grain of truth.  We were already planning to go to DisneyWorld (as you probably know, we are rabid fans, recently became owners of a Disney Time share, and we've gone there a bunch of times.)
My wife is a guru about when the park will be empty, and according to historical data, the last week of August is one of the slowest weeks for the parks.

So we told him we were going to Disney for 5 days, and as a special treat, we organized with our friends in New York  the McGills (note: not their real name) for Aaron and his best New York friend to meet at Disney.  (You can read about some more of our adventures with the McGills here.)

We are actually taking all the kids to Disney, while the parent McGills have an adults only vacation, because the parent McGills can't stand amusement parks, and we want their kids to grow up relatively normal. (And because the Bear would love it!  We're basically renting siblings for him!)  We are spending 5 days at Disney with the McGill kids, and then my son thinks we are going to visit Grandma who also lives in Florida.  But in reality Grandma is coming to visit us!

Click the image (or this link) to get a Gryffindor robe of your own.

To prepare for this event, I did have to do some devilish preparation, including having my son read all of the Harry Potter books, see most of the Harry Potter Films (we have finished 6, we have both Deathly Hallows movies to watch, which hopefully will happen tomorrow or Friday (we leave on Saturday!))  And we have had to studiously avoid him noticing all of the preparations, including buying him Harry Potter robes, not letting him look at all the emails we've been getting from Family Forward, etc.  It's been hard, but it's been manageable

In the end it will all be worth it. My son gets the best birthday present ever, (two parks, hanging out with his friend, seeing his grandma) we get to hang out with the McGill's (who will spend a day on either end with us at a water park and a dinner before going off to have a lovely adults only vacation).

We are big fans of Disney, but have never been to Universal, so this is the perfect time.  My son is not much of a roller coaster kid, but he loves Harry Potter, he loves having fun, and he loves to swim.

Personally, I'm excited about The Wizarding World of Harry Potter and all the rides (which are supposed to be awesome!) but I'm perhaps most excited about Blue Man Group-- amazingly, I've never seen their show live, and it seems like such a natural for me.  When I lived in NY (and now in Chicago) I have just never gotten around to it!

Here's a video/ad of Blue Man Group:

And they lived Happily Ever After.  (at least until the credit card bill comes in.)

May the Sith Be With You! - The Evil Star Wars Day

A couple of days ago was May 4, which seems to have universally been picked up by Star Wars aficionados (as well as electronics and comic book stores everywhere, not to mention the President) as Star Wars Day.

Here's a list of all the deals that happened on May 4:  http://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-day-2016-deals

How Star Wars day started is chronicled in a very interesting article on the Verge.

It was originally a fan-based event that people lauded for its cleverness.  Once Disney bought Star Wars, they cemented the day as a commercial holiday and then it has been co-opted and completely embraced by our culture.  What's next?  Red Wedding Day? Vote Off The Island Day?  Celebrity Apprentice Day?  (my deep fear is that will make it into Trump's 100 day plan!)

Image from Starwars.com

"May The Fourth Be With You"

Not sure why devotees of the Dark Side haven't taken May 6 as their alternative holiday.  The pun is about the same.


Force is to fourth as Sith is to sixth.

In case you were wondering (and you somehow haven't absorbed this information) The Sith are the villains in the Star Wars saga.  It wasn't quite spelled out in the first couple of movies, but the Star Wars legend and lore (as well as the very complete website) make it clear.

From: http://www.starwars.com/databank/sith

SITH

An ancient order of Force-wielders devoted to the dark side, the Sith practice hate, deception, and greed. Notable for their red-bladed lightsabers, black dress, and use of their aggressive feelings, the Sith look to amass power at all costs. The evil Darth Sidious, along with his apprentice Darth Vader, achieved the Sith goal of galactic conquest after a millennia of plotting.

Practicing hate, deception, and greed.  Sounds like a corporate American holiday to me!

Fantasia at Ravinia July 12 at 7 pm

Ravinia is the oldest outdoor musical festival in the US.  It's been going since 1904, and each year it attracts nearly 600,000 visitors to listen to world-class music.  My wife has been raving about Ravinia since I've known her.  Now that we live in Chicago, a trip to Ravinia has become a must.  So on Sunday our family is off to Highland Park for our first trip there, an afternoon of fun, music, and Disney.

Fantasia & Fantasia 2000 available on
Amazon.com

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will play the soundtrack for Walt Disney's classic movie Fantasia, and sections of Fantasia 2000. (which was a continuation of Fantasia, with the idea of giving more classical music the Disney Fantasia treatment)

The history of Fantasia is pretty fascinating and covered thoroughly (along with the CSO connection to Fantasia 2000) on the Ravinia blog.

We've got lawn tickets, which means that we'll be bringing a blanket and some chairs, as well as picnic stuff.  (according to the Ravinia Firsttimers guide, photographic/video equipment is NOT ALLOWED inside Ravinia, so don't bring your expensive cameras.)  There are restaurants, bars, gift shops, and other shopping available at Ravinia, as well as chair rental.  There's also a Pavilion which is under cover.  You see, at Ravinia, the rain falls mainly on the plain. (sorry, I couldn't resist!)

At most concerts at Ravinia, the stage is not actually viewable from the Lawn, but there will be a lawn-screen for this concert. Ravinia also will have fun stuff for kids to do on the North lawn, their "KidsLawn", with interactive exhibits, including a classic "instrument petting zoo." Sounds like a blast!

It's going to be an afternoon of lots of fun, and an evening of lots of great music.  Here's the program:

Disney’s Fantasia and Fantasia 2000
Beethoven:		Movement 1 from Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67   Movements 3–5 from Symphony No. 6 in F Major, Op. 68
Tchaikovsky:		The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a
Debussy (orch. Stokowski):		Clair de lune from Suite bergamasque
Stravinsky:		Suite from The Firebird (1919 version)
Ponchielli:		“Dance of the Hours” from La Gioconda
Dukas:		The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
Elgar (adapt. Schickele):		Marches Nos. 1–4 from Pomp and Circumstance, Op. 39
Respighi:		Pines of Rome, P. 141

To find out more and purchase tickets for Fantasia, visit the Ravinia site online.

Ravinia has a number of other upcoming concerts suitable for families, including Laurie Berkner, the Ko-Thi Dance Company, and a production of  Beauty and the Beast.  See their kid's concert page.

New Disney Infinity Sets-- Star Wars! Inside Out!

My son has been going crazy for Disney Infinity.  First we had to get it.  So for Chanukkah last year we got Infinity 2.0.  Then we had to get all the Avengers guys. When we got a lot of Avengers, he suddenly changed focus.  Then it was Spiderman.  Then he wanted the Lone Ranger, so we got it.  But that means that we had to find a Disney 1.0 game (because 2.0 (which plays the Avengers/Marvel guys won't play the 1.0 playsets)  So we found 1.0 on ebay, and he was happy for a brief moment.  Then he was on to the Incredibles (still 1.0.)

Just to be clear from above-- all characters will play in the ToyBox area.  It's just the specialized adventures (playsets) that require specific versions of the game, depending on when they came out.

Now if he isn't playing Disney Infinity, he's watching videos of guys like Stampy Cat playing Minecraft or Disney Infinity (or his newest obsession Terraria.)

I just got two press releases in the last few days announcing playsets for Disney Infinity 3.0 timed to the release of two new Disney movies, Inside Out and the upcoming Star Wars The Force Awakens releases.

If I were a Magic 8 Ball I'd be pointing to the message "All Signs Point To Yes."

Inside Out, which you probably already know is a movie about emotions inside a young girl named Riley, will have a number of emotion/characters with special powers.  The characters (Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust, and Sadness) will each have special powers related to their emotion.

In the game, players will have to find Riley's displaced memories and return them to their rightful place, while battling Broccoli, swamp creatures, and all other kinds of things running rampant through Riley's imagination.

Star Wars will have 3 separate play sets that come out, including Twilight of the Republic (set in the latter part of the Clone Wars) Rise Against The Empire, and (of course) The Force Awakens.  I've only seen the photos for Twilight of the Republic, but they look awesome.  If they are any indication, I already know what's charting top of the Birthday/Chanukkah Wish List this year!

Here is a screenshot from Star Wars Twilight of the Republic:

And here are the actual figures:

Here's the figures from "Inside Out":

And here's the promo video for the Inside Out Playset:



Overall, this looks like it will be a must get for this year.

What do you think?