Day 1259: Tony Time

As a fan of musicals, I'm sure you can imagine how exciting a night like the Tony Awards is. After all, Hamilton was sure to have a sweep this year, and a Hamilton fan myself, I probably watched just as much for them as I did for everyone else (although Hamilton or no Hamilton I would have been on my couch either way). As we so often do on Sunday nights, we gathered together with food and a TV for three hours of wonderful performances, and it didn't disappoint.

Of course, Hamilton did sweep the awards, winning 11 throughout the night. While they were nominated for 16, the most ever in Tony Awards history, they only needed 13 wins to beat out the previous record holder, The Producers. In fact, they came really close to a tie with The Producers, but a much deserved award for Best Actress in a Musical went to Cynthia Erivo of The Color Purple.

Noticeably absent from the awards was Disney, although with no new musicals this year this isn't surprising. Frozen will appear soon, and I'm sure that will be a contender for several when it does finally make its Broadway debut. In the past, several Disney musicals have won Tony Awards. In fact, a lot of them have won Tony Awards. Beauty and the Beast was nominated for 9 in 1994 and won for Best Costume Design. The Lion King, in 1998, was nominated for 11 and won 6, including Best Musical. In 2008 The Little Mermaid was nominated for two, and in 2007 Mary Poppins was nominated for 7 (Mary Poppins would win Best Scenic Design).

More recently, Newsies was nominated for 8 in 2012 and won Best Choreography and Best Original Score, and Aladdin was nominated for 5 in 2014, bringing home one for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical for James Monroe Iglehart.

All in all, I think you could say that Disney has had a long relationship with the Tony Awards, and if that's not enough for you, just remember that Jake Gyllenhaal and Sean Hayes did an impromptu performance of A Whole New World during one of the commercial breaks.

Have a magical day! 

Day 1131: Santa Fe

I still remember the day I met my freshman roommate Megan and she told me that she loves the Disney Broadway Musical Newsies, which I had never heard of aside from discussion here and there and the memory of seeing the advertisement in Times Square when I visited New York back in 2012. From there, she got me completely hooked on the story of the newsies of 1899, and then I got my best friend into it, and now it's become a huge thing.

So, as you can imagine, when we found out that Newsies would be visiting our local performing arts center, we knew we had to get tickets ASAP, and we did! My parents, Megan (best friend Megan, freshman roommate Megan is in Ireland...too many Megans!), and I went to see Newsies, and when we left I was tap dancing along to "King of New York" and humming "Santa Fe" all the way home.

It's pretty easy to say that I love the musical much more than I love the movie, especially since it has one of my favorite songs from the soundtrack: "Watch What Happens," and features some extremely elaborate dance routines that keep you on the edge of your seat. As for everything else, I don't want to give away too much because I highly recommend you go see this amazing show for yourself as it continues its tour around the United States!

This does bring my Disney musical total up to four though too, as I've previously seen The Lion King, Mary Poppins, and Beauty and the Beast. I've actually seen The Lion King and Beauty and the Beast twice, and I'd love to catch another showing of Mary Poppins, my personal favorite Disney musical, at some point in the future. What I'd really love, however, is to someday see a performance of the discontinued Hunchback of Notre Dame, which features some of my all time favorite Disney music in addition to new songs created for the musical adaptation. As of right now, it's not showing anywhere and it's not headed to Broadway any time soon, but it's definitely on my Bucket List!

In summary, Newsies was amazing, and you need to seize the day and see it for yourself!

Have a magical day!

Day 899: Just a Spoonful of Sugar

I've seen two versions of Mary Poppins so far...well, now I've seen three...and I can't wait to see another production later this summer, but it all goes to prove just how much I love this musical. Mary Poppins has something special for me, and while I can't quite put on my finger on why, I would see a production of this one long before many other musicals out there. 

This time, it wasn't on broadway and it wasn't put on by a high school, but rather a cast at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre in Minnesota, where I attended a performance on the band trip. Now, for those of you that don't know, the Chanhassen is an experience unlike most theatre shows, as you arrive roughly an hour or two before the show for a meal and then experience the show from your seat at your table. Dessert arrives during intermission as well, so it really is a complete dining experience mixed with a show. That being said, I was more impressed with my dessert than anything else. Don't get me wrong, the food was good, and I probably feel that way because with my lactose intolerance it was in my best interest to order the chicken tenders, but I was impressed with how everything else looked! And when it came to dessert I was thrilled to find a dairy-free option on the menu as well, which I promptly ordered. It was a lactose-free chocolate cake and it was 100% delicious. 

As for the show, however, I felt like it just fell a bit flat for me. Mary Poppins is an astonishing show, especially when it comes to the special effects that most productions include. However, due to the small size of the venue, which you can see in a picture below, many of those effects were impossible. Most noteworthy? Mary Poppins flying over the audience. Obviously it was pretty impossible to get a rig into such a small theater to do so, but it's just not quite the same without that extra element. 

There were other little things that bothered me too, but nothing to ruin the entire show. Overall, per usual, I loved it, and for the band members also on the trip who hadn't seen the musical before, I know for a fact that it was just as inspiring and heartwarning as the first time I saw it years ago. 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on June 25 due to Travel).

Day 874: Anything Is Possible

The beginning of the summer for a college student comes with all kinds of new possibilities. You suddenly have tons of free time (at least in comparison to the amount of time you usually have to spend doing homework or going to class), and at least in my experience, you have so many things you want to do that you can't figure out what to do first. This summer is no different, and if the fact that I'm currently typing this on my mom's iPad because she left it sitting on the table on our deck as we discuss new paint options for said deck has anything to say about how I'm kicking my summer off, then I would say things are going pretty well.

This summer is filled with tons of new adventures, Florida and California included, but that's not all I have to look forward to. I actually have gotten a great start on several of the projects I want to accomplish over the next few months, including a bucket list that seems to grow longer by the day. Oh yes, that bucket list is getting full, and as a matter of fact, there's several items on that list that are very Disney inspired!

For instance, and you may or may not see these items later in the summer, we've got fly a kite and sidewalk chalk art and feed the birds all on the list. Pretty Mary Poppins inspired, huh? And then there's a whole list inspired by the Disney Princesses, like read a book for Belle or paint a picture for Rapunzel, not to mention the gumbo for Tiana.

But that's not all the Disney inspired things I have ready for the summer. Oh no. There's plenty more to come. And while I'd really like to continue telling you about it all, mom's looking to have her iPad back, so I suppose I should comply. Either way, this summer is sure to be interesting and boy am I ready to experience everything it has to offer!

Have a magical day!

Day 803: Mary Poppins

I have a friend from high school that I get to see Once a year, although now I guess that'll all change because he's a senior and will be moving on to bigger and better things, and in reality, it's two friends, but the point is that I don't see them very often. They both transferred to a nearby school part-way through High School in an attempt to join a better music program, specifically music theater (and French for my friend Joey), but the good part about this is that it also means I get to go and see the spectacular productions they're a part of. Two years ago it was Les Mis, last year it was Shrek and this year it was one of my all time favorite musicals: Mary Poppins!

I saw the show in Chicago several years ago and it immediately gained a spot at the top of my Disney Musical list, beating out Lion King as my favorite (I guess I'm one of those weird people that prefer Mary Poppins to the Lion King, but they're both great shows...I just get more Mary Poppins stuck in my head I guess). I used Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious during my junior year (or was it senior?) to learn how to spell the word as a joke on an English test (and now I can't spell it without singing the song), and when I found out that my friends would be part of the production at their school, one of them portraying Bert, no less, it was pretty hard to contain my excitement.

I thoroughly enjoyed the show, as I knew I would, and kind of want to see if there are any remaining seats left for this upcoming weekend so I can see it again. Alas, I don't know if I'll have time, nor do I know if there are any seats left, but yes, the show was that good. Long (almost three and a half hours), but really, really good. They even had a flying rig set up, so that was pretty entertaining, especially since the seats I bought up me directly under a flying Mary Poppins. Totally worth it.

So congratulations to Joey and Alex and the rest of the Cast of Mary Poppins! It was a spectacular show and I loved every second of it! 

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on March 16 due to Midterms).

Day 663: Alexander and the...

From time to time I do actually get to a movie theater to see a movie, believe it or not. Honestly, I'm fairly certain that the last film I actually saw at the movie theater was Saving Mr. Banks, and we all know that I saw that in like...December. It was definitely either that or Frozen. Regardless, it's been a REALLY long time since I saw anything there.

But for once I DID go to the theater, where I caught a showing of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day. I can never get that title right (and the only reason I did just now was because I looked it up), but I have to say that it was a pretty good movie. I mean, it wasn't exceptionally good, but it wasn't bad either. It was just...entertaining, as a movie should be.

What really freaked me out, however, was the apparent fact that I was meant to see this movie. And by "meant" to see this movie, I mean I was literally meant to see this movie. There were so many little references to my life that are just sort of...creepy to say the least. I mean, generally we find one little reference to our lives that doesn't make sense within a movie. Like a moment where a character says something that is like an inside joke we have with our friends, one of those kinds of things. But I didn't think it was possible for this many references to my life to appear within one movie.

First there was the yellow bug. I see these things everywhere and just kind of get used to it, although I still laughed a bit. But then the pirate jokes started. PIRATE JOKES. Because you know...Peter Pan...and Captain Hook...and Pirate Blouses. That's just how these things work I guess. There was also a marching band, because there just has to be one of those. And Dick Van Dyke was in the movie, odd because literally the night before I watched Mary Poppins with one of my friends, who'd never seen the film before. Oh, and one of the actors (the guy who plays the older brother), was recently on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, which just so happens to be one of the TV shows I love and adore.

But the creepiest thing? Melvin. There's a guinea pig named Melvin in the movie, and of all the names in the entire world to choose for the rodent, they picked Melvin? I have a Melvin in my life, who's also a rodent...or so to speak. We're not allowed to have pets in our dorms (aside from fish), so we have Melvin, our "pet gerbil." I won't go into too much detail about Melvin since he gets his own blog post later this week, but really? Melvin.

And therefore, I was absolutely meant to see this movie, which, as I said, was actually pretty good, even if I can't ever remember what the actual name of it is.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on October 27).

Day 591: Kids from Wisconsin

Tonight, or rather a few nights ago, I had the pleasure of heading to one of my favorite summer shows: Kids from Wisconsin. I saw the group a couple years ago when I went with my Camp and absolutely LOVED IT, so when one of my college friends became a part of the group this year, I was more than excited to go see it.

For those of you who aren't from Wisconsin or don't know what Kids from Wisconsin is, it's a group of basically college age kids who tour around our state every summer to perform a complete show filled with music of all kinds. There's 20 singers and then a band that backs them up (Go Jessica on Piano!!!), and they perform literally everything from musicals to jazz to current popular music.

So you can bet that there's always a couple of Disney moments in the show.

This year, and by far my favorite part of the show, they performed their today's hits section, which of course had to feature Let It Go from Frozen, because seriously, that song is everywhere. I think I've had the lyrics memorized since November or so and despite the fact that I do love Tangled more, I have a Frozen dress and am just totally pumped for the addition on OUAT.

But the Disney didn't end there.

Later on they were doing a tribute to the Tony's, featuring songs that were nominated or won there, and you can't have a musical montage without a little Mary Poppins and Newsies.

It's funny, actually. My roommate from this last year loved Newsies, or rather, she loves Newsies, and at some point during the school year I watched it for myself. Now, I don't really know all the words or anything, but I do love that musical, and now I have Megan hooked on it too. So from one Megan to another, the musicals go.

Seriously though, although their tour is pretty much over for this summer, if you ever have a chance to go see Kids from Wisconsin, DO IT! It's sooooo worth it because they're one of the best musical groups I've seen, and it's different every single year!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on August 18).

Day 354: Mr. Banks

So I finally saw Saving Mr. Banks (since I'm not actually writing this on December 20...but December 29...meaning that I had to wait a week to actually go see it), and I LOVED IT.

Honestly there's not much I can say about this movie other than praise it and praise it again. And maybe one or two more times. The movie was everything I expected and more, and is certainly a must see for everyone, especially if you love Disney. The pairing of the flashbacks and the creation of the film Mary Poppins was perfect, working together through story and song to connect the two storylines.

And I only cried 7 times.

Yes, 7 times. I knew walking into the theater that I was going to cry, since a bunch of my friends told me that they cried, and honestly I'm probably way more obsessed with Disney than they are, so I figured it was going to be interesting. I honestly can't remember the first time I cried either, but once we got to that point I was just about done for anyway. I mean, I even cried during the credits.

But by far my favorite portion of the film was the scene where Walt walked in late to find the Sherman Brothers still there, Bob asleep and Dick playing on the piano. He happened to be playing the song Feed the Birds, which was quite influential in the creation of Mary Poppins, and important to Walt himself. So seeing that scene, where Walt walked in and sat down and they sang Feed the Birds, it reminded me of the story I read in How to Be Like Walt, about how that was one of his favorite songs, and how once a week Walt would walk into Richard's office and tell him to play Feed the Birds, a tradition that goes on long after his death.

I guess, overall, I really felt that Walt would be proud of the film, because there were so many little things that really were nods to him (such as the map of Florida in his office near the end), and it really was like he was there. I think that's half the reason I cried so much (other than for the parts that made everyone cry).

And of course, watching Saving Mr. Banks gives you a new appreciation for the classic Mary Poppins, which means that it makes total sense that these two films were Jennifer Morrison movies of the week! And I did watch both, and both made me a very happy Lizzard. =)

Seriously though: go see Saving Mr. Banks. Now.

Here's today's Disney History: 1908: Actor/singer Dennis Morgan, who in 1958 hosted Disneyland's very first evening Candlelight Processional Parade, is born in Prentice, Wisconsin. In 1961, he was the very first celebrity to narrate Disneyland's new Candlelight Processional event in Town Square. He continued Disneyland's holiday tradition through 1964, and then again in 1966.

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on December 29 due to time restrictions).

Day 235: A Room in a Dorm

College is a wonderful thing, and honestly one of my favorite things was having the ability to design and create stuff for my dorm room. Yes, I know. It won't be as glorious later on as getting to set up your desk and everything, but I'm still excited about it, and there's so many Disney things in my room that I HAVE to make a blog post about it too!

Sadly I was silly and didn't take a picture of the entire room (I'll have to get on that), but here's some of the Disney inspired pieces of the room. Nothing really jumps out to you as Disney other than the Vinylmation and my Han Solo in Carbonate Bank, but you'll see those below.

So here's a full picture of my desk, which is basically where I spend most of my time, and it's where most of my Disney stuff is. You can see that most of my desk is taken up by my printer, but I don't really mind. I shouldn't be doing all my homework at my desk anyway. I actually plan to do it in the library. Still, I love my desk. In the back there (or middle of the picture) you can see the shelf my dad and brother custom made for me. Luckily everything JUST fits on my desk, so I'm pretty happy about that.

 Now, down below you'll see numerous things. On the left I have a letter L, which represents Lizzie, obviously, and it's covered with an Epcot Park map. It's something I saw, again, on Pinterest. It was pretty easy to make. I just spray painted the outside and then modge podged the map on. Next to that I have my vinylmation collection. The shelf was actually specifically designed to fit these five little characters. It might get complicated trying to choose which one I want next year when I have a new one though...

 Down below you can see one of my park map coasters. This one, specifically, is Epcot, and it's the one that sits on my desk. I think I have Hollywood Studios out up on my bunk shelf and Magic Kingdom on the counter, but I'm not positive on that one. And next to that is the picture frame I made that somewhat matches my best friends. Speaking of that, this blog reminds me I must send a picture of that frame to someone!

There you can see my Han Solo in Carbonate Bank, which does, indeed, have some change in it. I forgot to empty my wallet before I came so I just threw it in there. And then I have a whole bunch of Disney themed magnets...including the Attraction Poster ones I bought in Florida. I have the It's a Small World one as well, along with the A-E Ticket Magnets. 

And finally, moving away from my desk, you can see a view of my bunk, which has a bunch of bullatin boards alongside it with a ton of pictures. Those are the instagram photostrips I made. It honestly looks really awesome. And then our room is basically lined with lights. Finally there's the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious pillow I got in Florida, which fits in perfectly with our futon!

Like I said, I'll have to try and remember to take a picture of the whole dorm room sometime, but this is what the Disney stuff all looks like and how I tied it in with the room. Like I said, it doesn't scream Disney at all. It's just little hints of it here and there. I love it! 

Here's today's Disney History: 1989: In Florida, the Ewok Village opens at the entrance to the Star Tours attraction at the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. 

Have a magical day!

Day 201: Saving Mr. Banks

Now, I know this isn't exactly brand new news, because it first came out about a week ago, but I swear this is the first chance I've had to actually blog about it. Going away for a week really puts you behind schedule! I tell you, I'm pretty sure I didn't have all this work when I left! That's probably because I didn't have half this work when I left...but hey!

So this is a blog post I've been waiting for for the past few days. It just happened that there were other things I needed to blog about too. In fact, there's so many things I want to blog about that I should probably write down so I remember them all.

Anyways, last week the trailer for the new Disney movie "Saving Mr. Banks" finally premiered. Now, I admit, when I first heard about the movie and saw some first pictures of filming at Disneyland I was like "WHAT? That will never work." But now that I've seen the trailer...I can't stop watching it. I honestly think I might go to see it ASAP when it comes out too, because I am REALLY excited. Yesterday alone I watched the trailer 12 times.

Since I keep talking...you might as well watch it for yourself if you haven't already...I think I'll watch it again too.

Initial reactions (From the first time I watched it):

1. Tom Hanks as Walt Disney? I love Tom Hanks. I love Walt Disney. Will it work to put the two together? 

2. DISNEYLAND. 

And that's about it. 

My reactions after watching it about 50 times: 

1. Tom Hanks works as Walt Disney. If anyone is going to play him, I'm glad it's Tom Hanks. 

2. I love the music...and how Disney puts trailers together in general. 

3. Did anyone else notice that odd cut with the Sherman brothers? I did...seems they were wearing different clothing in the one shot. Oh well. LOL

4. My favorite parts are when she's all "No no no no" and Walt is like "Well when does anybody get to go to Disneyland with Walt Disney himself?" and then the driver is "There he is!" and Walt does that little wave thing. AND the part with the Chinese theater at the end that's paired with "I swear everytime a person walks into a movie house...they will rejoice." Although the supercalifragilisticexpialidocious thing was pretty funny too. Oh...and the ending. 

5. I think, based on what I've seen so far, they really brought a lot of who Walt was into Hank's portrayal of him, which is great. I mean, the slight swear word, and the thing near the beginning about how she has to call him Walt...brilliant and so Walt Disney. 

Other than that I really just love the whole thing. The more I watch it the more it grows on me (As if it could grow on me more than it already has). And so, I am eagerly awaiting December. Be sure to get more updates as they come through, because I am certain I'll be following everything that happens with this movie from now forward. 

Here's today's Disney History: 1969: The historic Apollo 11 moon landing is televised on Disneyland's Tomorrowland Stage. Neil Armstrong (who in July 2005 will take part in the re-opening of Disneyland's Space Mountain) becomes the very first human to set foot on the moon. 

Have a magical day!

Day 111: The Lion King

Last night I was lucky enough to see a performance of The Lion King: The Musical. It was, as always, amazing!!!!

I've been fortunate to see multiple Disney musicals throughout my life. This was the second time I saw The Lion King (I saw it for the first time when I was about 5 or 6 in Chicago), and I've seen Beauty and the Beast twice as well. A couple of years ago I saw Mary Poppins, which is probably my favorite of those I've seen, although I'd really like to see the others I've missed, especially Tarzan because I'd like to see how they did it, and the same goes for The Little Mermaid. And Aida, since I haven't seen that either...and of course Aladdin will be starting this year too! So many shows to see, so little time!

I loved the movie the Lion King as a kid, so the musical is just an awesome experience for me...and here is my short list of thoughts from throughout the show.

My favorite song is "He Lives in You." 

Everyone says that Circle of Life takes their breath away, but as amazing as it was, it just didn't do that for me. The reprise of He Lives in You though...did very much take my breath away. Maybe it's because it's a song that wasn't in the original movie (although it's in Lion King 2), and was unique to the musical, or possibly because it's just different from anything else that's really there. It's a slower song and it has a lot of meaning if you ask me. =)

I can really see how much the costumes are inspired by African heritage. 

I noticed it much more this time, and the thought that actually came to mind was Animal Kingdom lodge, and how every single costume could be a piece of amazing artwork displayed there. I think that's one of the greatest accomplishments of The Lion King on broadway....the costuming is just spectacular.

My only criticism is how much Nala moves her arms. 

Maybe it was just my cast, or maybe it's there entire time, but I think the arm movements could have been toned down just a little bit. There are times when those arm movements are nice, but constantly is just kind of distracting.

And that's what I thought...or at least that I could think of at the moment. It was, and is, a great show that I suggest everyone goes to see because it's truly magical in it's own unique way, which makes it even better.

Here's today's Disney History: 2008: In a press release, Disney announces the launching of Disneynature; " a prestigious new production banner that will literally go to the ends of the earth to produce major big screen nature documentaries." In the tradition of the old" True-Life Adventures" series, the first film to be released domestically under Disneynature will be "Earth" in April 2009.

Have a magical day!

Day 94: Prematurely

Originally I was going to write about doughnuts in today's post...but I decided that wasn't going to work since I didn't have a doughnut handy. It's a long story that does in fact relate to Disney, so just stick with me here.

Because of my lack of doughnut, I figured that now would be a great time to talk about my two favorite words...both inspired by Disney of course.

First, any Disney fan must like Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. I'm not sure why it's a requirement other than its a great song and it's super fun to spell. I actually learned how to spell it last year. Each week we had a set of vocab words that we needed to know how to spell and know the definition of. At the end of the year we also had to know prefixes. Of course one of them was "super," and since we needed an example on our final, I made the decision to spell out supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. It worked well...although I have to sing the song from the musical every time to spell it.

But by far, my favorite word HAS to be prematurely. I decided this just the other day when I was reading "The Fault in our Stars" by John Green and this word came up. And then it appeared again this morning at Jazz rehearsal, and every time the same thing runs through my head.

"Oh, I didn't mean to frighten you prematurely."

Anyone know where that's from? Let me give you a hint...

It's kind of funny actually, since I absolutely hated this attraction as a child, but I can't help but whisper the words along with our ghost host into my brother's ear. He always tries to swat me away and punch me in the face, but it never really works...I still say the lines anyway. 

MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

Here's today's Disney History: 1928: Poet, educator, author, actress and activist Maya Angelou, one of the original voice of Walt Disney World's The Hall of Presidents attraction, is born Marguerite Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri. 

Have a magical day!

P.S. Indiana Jones just came up in my Accounting Class for some odd reason...and then I got very distracted about the fact that I do not own the Indiana Jones LEGO game for Wii...or Star Wars for the same matter. This needs to be fixed.