Tag Archives: Aimee Kennedy

Review: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear’s Cinnamon Bear

Show: THE CINNAMON BEAR
Produced by: Transco
Location: Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear
Director: Ben Dooley

Just around the holiday season “Those Thrilling Days of Yesteryear“ does a radio show and this past year is no different. In fact what was on hand in the repetoire of 2012 was a condensed version of The Cinnamon Bear… from what I understand there were 26 episodes of programming (or approximately five hours) to wade through and trim into a 90 minute live radio show. And did they succeed… Although I am not familiar with the original programming I thoroughly enjoyed what I was able to listen to in what was available.

According to the website:

Since 1938, Chicago families have gathered around the radio and delighted in the holiday adventures of Judy, Jimmy and the lovable Paddy O’Cinnamon as they traveled through the weird and wonderful Maybeland in search of their missing silver star to adorn their Christmas tree–the clock ticking as Christmas Day comes closer and closer. On their magical journey they meet all sorts of exciting characters. Some of them are friendly, like Queen Melissa, while others are not so nice, like the Wintergreen Witch. But all of them are memorable.

[…]

So join us as Judy and Jimmy discover their silver start is missing and they embark on their wondrous journey into Maybeland to bring it back. Along the way, we’ll meet the Crazy Quilt Dragon, Nicky Frudle, Jack Frost, and we’ll even head up to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus himself.
Fun for the whole family (perfect for children of all ages) here’s your chance to see and hear this show come to new life, packed with delightful music, wonderful characters, and exciting adventures that every child will enjoy.

But really what is there to say about it?
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Review: Geneva Underground Playhouse’s Assassins

Show: ASSASSINS
Music and Lyrics: Stephen Sondheim
Book: John Weidman
Location: Geneva Underground Playhouse
Director: Craig Gustafson
Music Director: Kathleen Dooley

Not long ago I went with a friend to see Geneva Underground Playhouse’s latest foray into musical theatre: Stephan Sondheim’s Assassins.

Set up as a revue-style show placed in a carnival style game of “Shoot a President”, this musical goes through the motivations of a fraction of the men and women how have either successfully or attempted to assassinate a President of the United States.

The musical being written in the 1980s/1990s, the most recent of the assassination attempts in the musical would be that of Gerald Ford, while the first would be that of Abraham Lincoln. Below is a list of the assassins whose motivations are explored in the show:
Successful Assassins
– John Wilkes Booth: assassin of President Abraham Lincoln
– Charles Guiteau: assassin of President James Garfield
– Leon Czolgosz: assassin of President William McKinley
– Lee Harvey Oswald: assassin of President John F. Kennedy
Failed Assassination Attempts
– Giuseppe Zangara: attempted assassin of President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt
– Samuel Byck: attempted assassin of President Richard Nixon
– John Hinckley: attempted assassin of President Ronald Reagan
– Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme: attempted assassin of President Gerald Ford
– Sara Jane Moore: attempted assassin of President Gerald Ford

Anyway… enough of the history-ish lesson. Let’s get to the show…
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