REVIEWS: Quest & The Year I Didn't Go To School: Danzig Family Edition

This is the last weekend for two great shows with a circus theme:

Quest at The Actor's Gymnasium and The Year I Didn't Go To School This is the last weekend for two great shows with a circus theme:

These shows have a lot in common;

• They both have a literary component
  (based on books) 
• They both have circus at the center of them
• They both end March 19
• They both feature members of the Danzig family.
• Oh yes, and they are both great fun and worth seeing!

QUEST AT THE ACTOR'S GYMNASIUM

Quest is an original circus-theater production loosely based on Leo Tolstoy’s short story The Three Questions. The show starts as a kind of wacky game show, where the contestants, answer and ask questions, and then one of the contestants asks three simple (but huge) questions, setting in motion a whirlwind journey filled with circus to find the answers.

Quest is a student work, featuring the very talented teen ensemble of the Actor's Gymnasium, along with a few even younger kids from their training program.  As well, there are some professional circus artists/faculty members in the mix, leading the show as it goes through its various phases.  The hat juggling routine performed by pro Amanda Crockett is phenomenal!

The teens and kids of the show are equally phenomenal, and do a variety of aerial tricks, a juggling routine, play music, and of course, all sorts of acrobatics.  The kids are strong, flexible, and capable.  If you bring a child, prepare for them to ask if they can take class at the Acto's Gym (which is a worthwile endeavor!)

I mentioned the Danzig's above-- Leslie Danzig, who is a local circus/dance director and one of the co-founders of nationally acclaimed company 500 Clown, is the director/author of the piece, and her two children are part of the ensemble.

The show is performed at the Actor's Gymnasium (927 Noyes Street in Evanston) and runs Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm through March 19.   BUY TICKETS TO QUEST

THE YEAR I DIDN'T GO TO SCHOOL AT CHICAGO CHILDREN'S THEATRE

The Year I Didn't Go To School: A HomeMade Circus is based on the true life adventures of illustrator/author Giselle Potter.  When she was 7 her parents took her out of school and the whole family toured Italy for a year performing on streets, theatres, and at festivals with her Dad's puppet theatre company The Mystic Paper Beasts.

Peruse the book at Amazon.

This was one of my favorite books to read to my son,  especially considering my work as a performer.  I've always had a secret dream to bring my son and wife on a family tour, although no doubt my wife would balk, and my son would probably really like it until all of the audience members showed up!  

 The adventures of Giselle and her sister Chloe make a good and faithful transition to the stage.  They witness the wonder of eating spaghetti with a fried egg on it, getting chased by the police for not having a permit, getting their car stuck between two buildings and having to get some nuns to help push them out, and more.  The show is slightly more educational than the book, and features a couple of nice teachable moments about Italy and ways to cope with sudden change.

The acting in the show is wonderful, including Leslie Danzig (remember her?)'s husband Adrian, also of 500 Clown, who plays the Grandfather (and a number of other characters, including a crothety old Italian gentleman who sips his espresso as he watches the nuns help the family push their truck.)

The family performs their show in The Year I Didn't Go To School.

 Julie Greenberg (of the Midnight Circus) plays Giselle's grandmother, as well as other characters, and each of her and Adrian's characters are drawn deftly.

 There's a further family connection, as her daughter Samantha Jenkins (also of the Midnight Circus) shares the role of Giselle, (and was there the day I saw it).  She was terrific and brought a great tenderness to the role.  Her sister Chloe (and her parents, played by Mathew Yee and Lindsey Whiting, were also great.  Aerial Emery (of the Midnight Circus, and of the National Tour of Pippin) does a terrific Hula Hoop and aerial act, which Samantha also mirrors.

All in all, the show is a wonderful and moving hour of theatre, and is suitable for all ages.

The Year I Didn't Go To School is performed at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St, Chicago.  Shows this weekend are Friday at 10 am, Saturday at 10:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 7 pm, and Sunday at 10:30 am and 12:30 pm.  Running time is 60 minutes. Tickets are $28-$39 each.
To find out more or to purchase tickets, visit http://chicagochildrenstheatre.org/shows/the-year-i-didnt-go-to-school-a-homemade-circus/

The Well-Rounded Bear

Raising a well-rounded bear is a balancing act!


At school he's learning Chinese, digital music, and coding.  After school he's got gymnastics, piano, basketball, and skating starts up in a couple of weeks.  Not sure when, but we'll also get back into swim class, I'm pretty sure, and the bear is talking about his desire to take parkour class.

Despite all of this, it's important to bring the bear to a variety of cultural and social events.

Here's just a few of our extracurricular extravaganzas over the past few weeks.  (and I'm sure we've missed a few too!)

Nerf gun party-- A friend of his had a birthday party at POWkids! where he and his friends got to learn to be Nerf gun warriors.  It wouldn't have been my choice for a party, but the kids (predictably) loved it.  And the place that hosted it, the guys were amazing.  They also do a superhero party and a ninja party that look awesome!  POW KIDS CHICAGO

Movie Night- We went to his school on a Friday night to see the live action movie Cinderella with a couple of his pals.  It's a good live action movie, with well-drawn characters, no caricatures, and it moves along.  And they had dollar popcorn!   At the end I realized why I liked it so much-- it was directed by Kenneth Branagh.  That guy knows how to tell a classical story. BUY IT ON AMAZON.

Midnight Circus - we had a belated birthday party with my pals over at the Midnight Circus.  We brought 40+ people to the show, which featured cupcakes and juice with the cast at intermission.
The show is a family show (the main people in it are a family of 4) along with a bunch of other amazing performers.  I've seen a lot of circus, and just about all of this was amazing.  They have a few more shows coming up this fall in the parks, and they are definitely worth seeing.

Here's a video of one small part of the show, in which 10 year old Max Jenkins does a Rolla Bolla act while his dad Jeff looks on.  I didn't take the video.

A video posted by Midnight Circus (@mncircus) on Sep 5, 2015 at 5:37pm PDT

Find out more about the Midnight Circus 

Northwestern Football.  We took in  a classic battle between Wildcats and the Minnesota Gophers.  Suffice to say the Wildcats won 27-0.  We took the train there, And the bear sat next to the tubas, and loved it!

NU Sports

The Lyric Opera- The day after the football game we went to the Lyric Opera to see the bear's first full length opera in a different language.  It was a good choice- Cinderella.  He already knew the story (although they change the classic story a fair amount for the opera- her name is Angelina!)  The bear enjoyed it, didn't fall asleep, unlike his dad, who took a couple of catnaps during the production.  (But saw the best parts, including the rat costumes, and Dandini, the valet who pretends to be the prince, to great comic effect.)  Overall the show was great, and the perfect opera for a kid like my son to cut his teeth on.  Lyric Opera 

The Edgewater Arts Fest.  We walked around our neighborhood and saw a great variety of artists, a very wacky puppet show put on by Bob Anderson, masks made by Jeff Semmerling, (the bear really wanted the duck mask, but I had to demur) It won't happen again until next year, but in the meantime, put it in on your radar!  Edgewater Arts In Motion.