Review: High School Musical ON STAGE!

So yesterday, I saw the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of Disney's High School Musical with Monzi and some other people from my soccer team. It was really messed up. First of all, Troy (Chase Peacock) had spiky hair. Gabriella (Sydney Morton) looked like she was thirty, and she was kinda fat. Taylor (Krystal Joy Brown) had an afro, and (Justin Keyes) Chad didn't. Martha was an ugly midget. Jason was blonde. There was this announcer guy, Jack Scott (Joseph Morales) who wasn't in the original Disney version and he ended up going out with Kelsi (Stephanie Pam Roberts), instead of some basketball jock. The only people who looked like their characters were Bailey Hanks, playing Sharpay, and Logan Hart, playing Ryan. None of them could sing, especially not Troy and Gabriella! They changed most of the songs and costumes. Remember Sharpay's blue feathery Bop to the Top dress? It became a red tango dress. Kinda like this. And you know how Gabriella used to wear flowery dresses all the time? Well, not anymore! Also, Chad lost his basketball! Comparing it to Disney's original movie, it basically sucked. On its own, it was pretty good, if you overlook the horrible singers.
But don't just take my word for it. Listen to NJ.com's review, by Peter Filichia from the Star Ledger:

"David Simpatico adapted the script to the stage, added a joke about nose-picking, another about flatulence, and a new character. He's Jack Scott, who broadcasts meant-to-be-amusing announcements over the P.A. system: Joseph Morales is the unfortunate actor who squeezed very few laughs from the absolutely terrible material he was saddled with at Sunday's opening.

At least Morales didn't have to compete with the memory of anyone in the movie. "High School Musical" fans will probably not take to Chase Peacock, who has dared to replicate the role of Troy, originated by Zac Efron. Peacock is an accomplished performer, but his dissimilarity to Efron will automatically make him a distant second in young people's hearts.

No such problem for Sydney Morton, who does look like her forebear, Vanessa Hudgens. She's an adorable singer and dancer, but like so many in the cast, she appears to be too old. Granted, they're not as aged as the cast of that '50s high school musical on Broadway -- which really should be called "Ancient Grease" -- but another Broadway show, "13," proves there are talented kids who truly are kids out there. In this production, most cast members mention their college educations in the program bios.

That's probably why every performer is so accomplished. Each gets every step of Denis Jones' choreography (if it can be called that; calisthenics is a better description), and director Mark S. Hoebee has drilled them into a terrific company.

As Sharpay, Bailey Hanks knows how to be evil, and Logan Hart makes Ryan more three-dimensional than his character appears on the page. Stephanie Pam Roberts, as Kelsi, grows nicely from demure to backbone-strong.

The most hateful aspect of the show is the characterization of drama teacher Ms. Darbus -- a pretentious, silly, and oh-so-grahnd easy target who refers to "football diamonds" and "basketball touchdowns." Donna English keeps the degradation to a minimum.

While all is said and sung, adults might enjoy watching these young actors knock themselves out. And perhaps the sons and daughters who made them attend will like the Paper Mill Playhouse enough to return for the next musical: "1776." Now there's a show!"

Don't forget to click all the links!!!

SHOUTOUT: Monica--email me the pix!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!

"May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!"
~ Anonymous

Happy Turkey Day, everybody!!! I just finished my Thanksgiving Dinner about an hour ago: Roast turkey, chorizo and cornbread stuffing, smashed potatoes (mashed potatoes with skins on), gravy (made by me), cranberry sauce, Pillsbury Flaky Layers Buttermilk Biscuits, and green beans with garlic. Later I'll be having pumpkin pie. Gawd, I feel like such a fat pig! Anyway, how wuz your Thanksgiving??? I celebrated mine with just my family--Dad, Mom, and My Little Sister--so it wuz kinda boring, but I guess it wuz okay. I'm waking up at 6:30 tomorrow morning to go shopping. So go have a nice night, and get up early for Black Friday Early Bird Specials! Bye...

In My Ears: The Suite Life On Deck--they're learning about the International Date Line
On My Mind: Pumpkin Pie!!!

Daily Report: Livin' Brace-Free!!!

I finally got to take my stupid (though ahmayzingly attention-grabbing) brace off yesterday!!! So I could walk around like a normal person, cuz even celebs need vacayz!!! I also got to participate in the Boot Scootin' Boogie in Dance, tho. Me, Jewel, Rufus (Gyro's new name), and Nooran had to add arm movements for it, and we were ahmayzing (luv that word) !!! Even Ms. Murphy liked it!!! Also, my group won in the Slogan Competition during TV Studio, thanks to Zack, who got every slogan except for one (which no one had, anyway). Also thanks to me for remembering the Band-Aids Song. But uther than that, I gotz no newz and I gots to go, bye!

In My Ears: the rattling heater (spooky?)
On My Mind: nothing. I'm kinda brain dead rite now.

Souper Catch-Up, Part Two: Last Wednesday to Yesterday

Since this iz a Souper Catch-Up, I will do the Daily Report separately, Kay? This iz Part Two, look down at the last post for Part One, cuz that mite be helpful!!!

So Last Wednesday wuz *HORRIBLE*!!! It all started at around 4:30-ish...My coach--John--came to pick me up to take me to my indoor soccer practice. Well, it wuz really this "Speed and Agility" training thing, like sprints and plyometrics, but whatever. So he also had to pick up, like, 4 other girls on my team, so we were running *really* late. And Sports U--the place where we were training--was doing renovations on their entrance, so we had to go thru this temporary entrance, which wuzn't very well-lit. And we had to run in cuz we were so late. So we're all running in--JLo, Keppel, Winger, Sammy, and I--and my foot hits the curb, and I think I tripped or something, and I think I twisted my ankle. But then, I didn't think that, so I went thru the whole practice, but the pain didn't stop. So I'm sitting in John--excuse me, *Coach* John's car, for about 20 minutes, and my muscles got all cold, so it hurt a lot as I limped into the house. My loving father, on his way out to ShopRite, tells me to go shower, as if *that's* gonna make it better. "At least you won't smell so bad," he says. So I go shower and he goes to ShopRite, and it feels worse when I come out. I mean, I couldn't even limp. I wuz *hopping* around the house on one foot!!!
On Thursday, I wuz still hopping, so I stayed home from skool. Which I wuz ackshully kinda sad abowt cuz it wuz the first day uv the 2nd Marking Period, so I missed out on learning the class rules or wutever for TV Studio (Mrs. Matuzweski), Study Hall (Ms. Paolella--yes, there are rules for that, too!!!), and Dance (Ms. Murphy). So I basically sat home, watching iCarly, and Clueless, and Moesha. GAWD, it wuz *horibble*. However, by the end of the day, I could kinda limp, so my dad decided to CANCEL MY DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT.
My mom, who is an EMT, decided it wuz sprained, and gave me a brace that she had used when she had a stress fracture, so it wuz off to school for me on Friday. I wuz *the* center of attention, lil' ol' me with my sprained ankle cuz I tripped over a curb. I also got to sit out Dance while the rest of the class got to learn the Boot Scootin' Boogie. Ms. Murphy wuz kinda pissed, since I didn't have a medical note and I didn't know when I would get the brace off, but wutever.
On Saturday, I went to the doctor's to finally find out wut wuz *really* wrong and wut I should do and if I needed a medical note for Ms. Murphy. It wuz, actually, sprained, and he told me to keep the brace on until Monday. I also went to Paterson (or Parsippany, or Paramus?) for Arabic food. I ordered Shawarma, which is like the Arabic version of a burrito. My dad grew up in Saudi Arabia, so he taught me the Wonders of Shawarma. It is really good.
On Sunday, I went to my team's last soccer game to cheer them on in the almost-freezing cold. I brought my teammate, Claire, who had sprained her knee. So we were all standing on the sidelines, cheering, and talking to whoever wuz subbed out at the time. My socka chicka Emily made theze ahmayzing chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting and green sprinkles. On top of them, she put a frosted OREO and wrote "M" (for Montville) in icing. There is a difference between icing and frosting, people!! Her ahmayzing mom also brought hot cocoa for the whole team. Thank you, Emily's Mom!!!
Yesterday wuz Monday, and the last day that I had to wear my brace. Whoop-dee-doodle!!! But that's all that wuz special about Monday.

Souper Catch-Up, Part One: Two Wednesdayz ago to Last Tuesday.

This catch-up is so big, it haz to be 2 parts, cuz utherwiz, it wuld be one souper long post and I don't have the patience or attention span for that. Sorry, I haven't posted for, like, two weeks. But I have an excuse. My laptop has been dead. We sent it to HP to get it fixed on Monday, and they just received it yesterday. So I've been offline for awhile. Okay, so maybe I've been online for some time, but I've been too lazy to log in to Blogger, so I haven't posted. But, whatever, you forgive me, right? So I'll get on with the story.

To Wednesdayz ago was pretty event-less, so I won't even go there. Thursday--Day One of the 4-Day Weekend--I was just sitting at home doing absutootly nothing. My dad left that afternoon on a business trip to a convention in Orlando,Florida. Friday--Day Two of the 4-Day Weekend--I saw High School Musical 3: Senior Year (look down at the last post!!), which was really sucky--but I saw my Campee, Alex, there!
Saturday was Day Three of the 4-Day Weekend, and the fun finally kicked in. Saturday morning, I got an ahmayzing manicure. Pink with a little sparkly black diagonal stripey-thing. It's mostly chipped by now, though :-( . (<-- Ohemjay, that looks like a sad face with a mole!!!) After that, we went shopping until 5:30-ish, when we had to go pick up my baby cousin. Actually, he's not really a baby anymore--he's a little over a year. His name is Joseph (although I wanted it to be Dylan), but I call him "Goober". Ya know, like SpongeBob's Goofy Goober??? Well, *he* understands it! No, really--he does! I kept calling him Goober all of Saturday, and he was responding. But that's not all.
On Sunday--Day Four of the 4-Day Weekend--my sister asks him, "Where's the Goober?", and he points to himself and smiles!!! He's sooooooo adorable, and you are sooooooo jealous!!! Anyway, so we were hanging out with him until about 12-ish, when he had to leave, becuz his parents are getting divorced, and there's a custody battle, or something, so my uncle has to get him to his mom's house on time and prove that he is a responsible adult and can take care of Joseph. So we dropped him off, and then when we got back to my house, I think I fell asleep or something, cuz I didn't get any sleep on Saturday night with that Goober around.
But, wait!!! You haven't asked why we had a 4-Day Weekend yet!!! So I'll just tell you, cuz I know you're dying to know. There was an NJEA Teachers' Convention in Atlantic City, so we got Thursday and Friday off for the teachers to go gambling--I mean, conventioning.
On Monday, my mom had to get Gum Surgery to Prevent Gingivitis. So she stayed home and when she got back from surgery she couldn't talk.
On Tuesday, my daddy came back from Florida!!! I was up doing homework until about 9:30-ish, and at about 9:45-ish, my daddy called to say that he was gonna be here soon and to open the door for him. So I stayed up till 10 talking to my daddy, who got me a stuffed alligator, a snowglobe, and some freebies he picked up from his convention.
So, there you go, that wuz Part One of the Souper Catch-Up. Get ready for the next one, cuz it's cumin your way!!!

In My Ears: "Bellydancer" By Akon--kinda old, but it's still okay
On My Mind: Part Two of the Souper Catch-Up!!!

Review: High School Musical 3: Senior Year

Yeah, everyone saying it sucked and everything, you know you still *have* to see it. I mean, it's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL! Whether it sucked or not (which it did), you still gotta see it, just cuz. It's High School Musical. Word is, they're making more (kinda like Harry Potter), but probably with a different cast. Which you'll also have to see.
So, anyway, I did see it (Um, duh?). And it really sucked. It was so *sappy*. It was all about *saying good-bye* because they're all going to different colleges. Troy has to choose between theater and basketball. I'm not gonna tell you what he chooses. Gabriella might be moving again, and of course, Troy and Gabriella will be--gasp!--*separated*. Sharpay is still trying to win over Troy, *snore*. Kelsi and Ryan are going out. Kelsi has signed up the whole crew--Troy, Gabriella, Chad, Taylor, Jason, Martha, and Zeke--to be in the Musical (pronounced Myoo-zi-KAL, not Myoo-zi-KUL). Gabriella gets everyone into it with her idea to make it about their Senior Year. There's even a song, "A Night To Remember", about the Prom. Plus, there are 3 new characters: Matt Prokop, playing Jimmie "The Rocket" Zara (a freshman who idolizes Troy), Justin Martin, playing Donnie Dion (Jimmie's best friend/sidekick), and Jemma McKenzie-Brown, playing Tiara Gold (a transfer from London who starts out as Sharpay's innocent little personal assistant, but really wants to take over the East High Drama Department once Sharpay graduates). If you don't believe me, read fandango.com's synopsis:

"High School Musical 3: Senior Year continues the ongoing tune-filled love story between basketball player Troy Bolton (Zac Efron) and brainy beauty Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Anne Hudgens). As they head toward high-school graduation, the couple realizes that they'll be separated when they head to different colleges in the fall, so they join with their friends to produce a spring musical that will help them express their hopes and fears about the future."

You can also go to fandango.com for tickets, which you're gonna need!
Have fun!

In My Ears: "Crush" by David Archuleta (luv it, even though I don't like weepy guys!)
On My Mind: my stupid sprained ankle (I sprained it running into soccer practice, not actually during the practice!!!)

Double-Whammy: Saturday --> Today

For most of Saturday, I wuz finishing my Science Project on Lung Cancer and my sister had a soccer game, which she won. I got a 100 on my Science Project, by the way.
On Sunday I had a soccer game which wuz gonna be so close, but we lost, 1-0. So saaaadd.
On Monday wuz school, which wuzzzz sooooo borrrrriinnnng. With everyone being so used to half days, it wuz like a double day. The good thing is that Thursday and Friday are NJEA Convention days, which means *NO SCHOOL*. Which is great, but that doesn't help much right now.
And that brings us to Tuesday. More school. I have a science test tomorrow. This wasn't much of a Double-Whammy, I know, but it covered 4 boring days, so....bye?

In My Ears: "Just Dance" by Lady GaGa (freaky name, but I love this song!!!), The SpongeBob Squarepants Movie (Go SpongeBob!!! He *has* to get King Neptune's crown)
On My Mind: Science Test Tomorrow, I can't think of much else cuz SpongeBob and Patrick are turning into *MEN*!!!

Halloween: Part 2

Kay, so Part 2 of Halloween wuz trick-or-treating with Monzi, Monica (AKA, Sharma or Gyro), Lauren, Reena, Steph, Alex, and Christina. I got to Monzi's house at like 4. She wuz the Devil Wearing Prada, Gyro wuz a Hippie, Lauren wuz a Midnight Fairy or something, and Reena wuz a bat. We took some randumb pix and then Steph came. She wuz like a rocker or something and she had like three different colors in her hair. So we went trick-or-treating and then we saw Alex and Christina. Alex wuz a Racecar Driver or something, and Christina wuz a Bumblebee. So we did some more trick-or-treating and then Alex and Christina had to leave, so they left. And Lauren and Reena also had to leave, so they left. And then it wuz just Monzi, Sharma, Steph, and Me. And we kept trick-or-treating. Then we cut thru the woods behind Monzi's across-the-street neighbor's house and we were in the Changebridge Condos, and we went trick-or-treating there. There wuz this freaky old lady who wuz taking pictures of everything and she had a pumpkin named George. No, I'm not kidding. She wuz like asking us wut our costumes were, and when we crossed the street, she came outside with her camera and took a picture of us. Creepy, much? So we were like hiding our heads with our trick-or-treat bags/pillowcases, and Creepy Grandma starts taking pictures of George. And so we ran to the next house, and she went back inside. So apparently, like, no one comes to that end of the Condos, so all the people in the houses were giving us a lot of candy, which of course wuz not a problem. And when we were done with the Condos, we went back thru the woods, but it wuz all dark so I think Gyro walked into a tree, and Monzi fell, and we had all linked arms, so she pulled Me and Steph and Gyro down with her. And then when we got into the person's driveway, their Motion-Sensor Garage Light came on and we all freaked out (Okay, so maybe it wuz just me...). And we went back to Monzi's house and her parents were having a party. By the way, her mom wuz dressed up as Sarah Palin, and she really looked like her. So we had cupcakes and hot dogs and Coke and then we were hanging out for a little. Then, Monzi's cousin came. Her name is Audrey and she iz like 2 and she wuz dressed up as Supergirl and she wuz adddorrrubbble!!! So we were playing with her, and she wuz all smiley and stuff. Then, Monzi's neighbors The Macstudys came and we were gonna go out trick-or-treating and so we had to take 6th-Grader Danielle, who wuz dressed as Raggedy Ann. And by now all the high school people were out, and one of the guys called Danielle Wendy (you know, like the fast food), and she sed she wuz gonna hurt them and we sed how and she sed she wuz gonna curse. As if they would like run away and cry if she did that. So we told her to shut up. And then these big fat guys in black sweatsuits and hockey masks started surrounding us, and I sed Happy Halloween, and Steph asked them if they knew her brother, and The Black Sweatsuit Hockey Mask Leader sed yes and to tell him that he wuz a faggot. So then The Black Sweatsuit Hockey Mask Dudes left and Monica wuz all freaked out, and she called her dad, and he sed to wait for her 4th grade neighbor Katie who wuz supposed to meet us and then we shuld go back to her house. So then Katie showed up and we walked her back to Monica's house. Then, we were hanging out, and Monica's Dad told us to go around the cul-de-sack of potatoes with Danielle and Katie so we did. Then we went back and my mom wuz gonna come pick me up and we all started watching Paris Hilton's My New BFF, and my mom picked me up and I went to hang out with my neighbors Sarah and Abby (who r sisters but not twins) whoze birthday iz on Halloween. I met them rite after they had had an *Incident* with the Old Man who lives in what my sister and I call the Haunted House on the Hill (cuz the shutter designs look like bones and the sprinklers are always on but there r nevr any people there). Apparently they knocked a couple times on his door and he came out screaming and cursing and Sarah's dad Kenny went to try to talk to him but their Hyper Dog Fiona jumped on Old Man and Kenny fell on top of them and they all went down and the other dads had to help him up and Old Man called the cops. So all the little kids came running away crying and when I got there the cops were talking to the dads and one of the kids, Matt wuz all scared and he thought he wuz in big trouble and Sarah's sister Emma thought she wuz gonna go to jail, so it wuz pretty crazy. One of the cops came to the kids and explained wut happened and why the Old Man wuz all freaking out and everything, so then we went back to Sarah's house and everyone left. So that wuz Halloween.