Day 1663: Greatest City in the World

It's been about five years since I last headed to the greatest city in the world, but there were still a million things I hadn't done there, and that meant that when my friend Kiera asked if I wanted to take a spontaneous trip to New York, I immediately checked my bank account to figure out if I could swing it financially, especially with moving to Florida in just a few weeks. Luckily, I did some budgeting and found enough leftover cash from various gigs I'd picked up and other awards from college to make a trip to New York City happen and we booked it soon after. 

Of course, there's a lot to talk about when it comes to New York City, which is why plenty of the posts from the last week which have yet to appear will absolutely be focused on my trip, but it seems fair to give an overall rundown of all the excitement we experienced on our adventures! 

As you can see from the above picture, we were lucky enough to see FIVE shows while in New York. Four were Broadway shows, including Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812, War Paint, Bandstand, and Chicago, and one Off-Broadway show: Avenue Q. We rushed all the shows, meaning we would sit outside the theatre's box office in the morning for an hour or two (or more) in hopes to get discount seats. The wait is frequently worth it though, as we had excellent seats for all five shows and basically saw four of the shows for the regular price of one, if you take into account where our seats were for some of the shows. 

But that's not all we did, as the subway system helped us get all around New York on the cheap. Since we invested in the 7-Day unlimited metro pass, we could use the subway as much or as little as we wanted over the course of the week for a flat rate of $33, and if you're heading to New York for a trip, note that you only have to use the pass about 11 times for it to pay for itself (a single ride ticket is $3), so if you're comfortable using the subway (and everyone should be, but that's a topic for another day) and you'll be there for a few days, it's absolutely worth the cost. In other words, in between rushing for tickets and the shows themselves, we also saw the following sights: 

Times Square, Rockefeller Center, New Museum [of Contemporary Art], South Street Seaport, Chelsea Market, The Bagel Store (Rainbow Bagels!), Heatonist (Hot Sauce Store), American Museum of Natural History, Columbia University, The Statue of Liberty (and Ellis Island), MET Cloisters, Harlem (and the apartment in The Last Five Years), Trinity Church, Alexander Hamilton's Grave, 9/11 Memorial, Central Park, Belvedere Castle, and Strawberry Fields (Imagine Mosaic). 

Coming soon right here on Everyday Disney I'll give you an inside look at Times Square, the NYC Subway System, The Bagel Store, the American Museum of Natural History, Hamilton's New York, The Statue of Liberty, MET Cloisters, Disney in New York, an inside look on each of the five shows we saw, and one final post with some of the other exciting things we discovered in the Big Apple! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1286: Off We Go

The above view was pretty much my view for endless hours on our trip to Colorado...only instead of a rest stop, it was actually just the road and the occasional changing landscape. Our first day consisted of around nine and a half hours of driving from Green Bay, Wisconsin out to Lincoln, Nebraska. It seemed like forever after we stopped for gas for the first time, and my legs cramped something fierce. After that first day, however, the driving seemed to get better. Where a two hour drive once seemed excessive, now it almost feels like just a few minutes. 

Our second day was the third longest driving day, from Lincoln out to Colorado Springs. It took about eight hours, and aside from a thirteen hour driving day back towards Missouri at the end of the trip, the longest we drove in one sitting was three hours. Much less than the original nine. 

The question, however, is how one keeps interested [and awake] during such long drives? It was just the two of us in the car, which was sort of nice because it gave us more space, so we looked both inside and outside the car for entertainment. As fans of musicals, we listened to a whole list of soundtracks, including Hamilton, Hercules, Chicago, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hairspray, and Finding Neverland, among many, many others. 

Looking out the windows, we kept a track of the various Disney references that popped up throughout the trip, yellow bugs we saw, and, of course, played the license plate game. We almost won the license plate game too, only missing Connecticut and Rhode Island. We also, of course, played a few good old rounds of "I Spy," a classic on long road trips like this. 

Let me know how you like to pass the time on long trips in the comments below! 

Have a magical day!

Day 1277: Anyone Can Cook

Our new apartment definitely has more walls than places we've lived previously, so I've been working to make sure our place doesn't look to bare. Many of the other canvas creations I've made have already been featured on Everyday Disney, but I thought I might throw in an introduction to the newest additions!

The first, as you can see above, is inspired by the hit Broadway Musical, Hamilton, which I've really been digging into lately. It sits above my bed in our bedroom, and is actually the largest canvas work I've done to date. It's also the first I did entirely my hand, as to keep things consistent or get the exact look I want, I'll usually do a digital design and use print outs to make sure everything is exact. I didn't do that here, and instead went entirely from a sketch I drew up quickly. I knew when I started plotting for the bedroom that I wanted a quote that would encourage me to keep moving forward and look to the future, and that's exactly what this one does!

The other canvas, as seen below, is now hanging in our kitchen on a wall above our countertop. It was an awkward space, between the cabinets from the kitchen and a door to the bathroom, and it just screamed for a canvas, so it was priority #1. Unlike some of the other canvases, the "Hamilcanvas" included, this one took a while to plan, since we had multiple ideas and had to find the one that was going to fit the best for the spot. We've been calling our apartment "The Cozy Cone," so for a long while we seriously considered something inspired by Cars, but ultimately we went with Ratatouille because it's in our kitchen area.

Keep an eye out over the next month or so for other exciting updates that are somewhat focused on paintings like these! I've got some work to catch up on, but then it'll be full steam ahead before the end of the summer, and I can't wait to get going! 

If you had a canvas, what would you paint on it? 

Have a magical day! 

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 1251: Flowers at Home

This year, the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival really inspired me. Despite the fact that the last plant I had was about two years ago (and I killed it...), I wanted to try some gardening again. I mean, how can you not want to be good at gardening after looking at all of those amazing topiaries? To inspire the urge to garden further, our new apartment has an expansive balcony perfect for housing some plants over the summer.

So when my parents told me they were going to a local flower and gardening festival at the nearby Green Bay Botanical Garden I pretty quickly decided that I wanted to go too, and I knew that I would be coming home with some plants of my own. However, at the festival I saw plenty of things that reminded me of the Epcot Flower and Garden Festival, including these Cinnamon Roasted Almonds (which is literally one of my favorite Disney World snacks).

I didn't just walk around eating almonds the whole time though, because I definitely saw a lot of plants! 

My dad and I had multiple conversations about how much we liked the ones on the left, but the one of the right just had to be shared. It's actually an umbrella topiary, and I can only imagine that it's formed and created similar to the ones we see around World Showcase and Future World! Oh, and I couldn't pass up a picture of the little Kermit the Frog below.

As for the plants I brought home for our apartment, we have a whole bunch of them, and of course we named them all too. The three below sit inside our apartment and will stay with us throughout the winter as well. We decided to go with a musical theme to name all of our plants, so here we have (from the left): Eponine (Les Mis), Liesl (The Sound of Music), and Elphaba (Wicked). 

To add some color to our balcony, we had to find plants that were good in shade, since we get very little direct sunlight due to the fact that our apartment faces the North. Still, these begonias brighten things up the same way Angelica, Eliza, and Peggy do in Hamilton. And that's what we named them. Angelica (the red/orange), Eliza (white), and Peggy (yellow). 

And finally we have these two, also out on the balcony. The mint plant on the right is named Crutchie (Newsies) and the hosta on the right was the first one we named: King George (Hamilton). We named him King George partly because, well, we love Jonathan Groff's character in Hamilton, and partly because we bought him on the King's birthday.  

Whether or not I'll be able to keep these plants alive I have no idea, but I'm certainly going to try (and I'm really going to miss King George when he has to leave for the winter). For now, I'm excited to try out some of the basic techniques that I learned at the Epcot International Flower and Garden Festival! 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1211: So Far

Every so often I have this overwhelming feeling of "Wow, we've been here a long time." It's Day 1211. It's been three and a half years almost. That's insane. I never expected this to last beyond year one, and now we're in Year Four. Just...where did all the time go? And what in the world actually filled up three years of blog posts? So let's take a look back at what we've talked about so far: 

We've talked about our Fears and we've seen Dreams Come True. We talked about our love of PUSH and Morris Mulch before they left us, and discovered that Disney Music is often inspired by other compositions. We went to Disneyland and Disney World alike, and The Muppets did too, and also to the Twin Cities to talk to Colin O'Donoghue and Chicago to see the Treasures of the Walt Disney Archives. 

We saw Musicals, Shared our Ears, and even had Waffles with Walt. We touched on some hard hitting topics, like Air Cooling, Awkward Thanksgivings, and what we find on a cake, learned about the Hatbox Ghost, Fairy Tales, and took more than a few pictures. You can't forget the time we spent a day like Captain Hook either, or how we lived through New Park Maps and Dorm Rooms. Lots and Lots of Dorm Rooms. 

With movies, we talked about Silent Star Wars and my love of Han Solo. We watched Non-Disney movies like How to Train Your Dragon and Pearl Harbor and related them back to films like Cinderella. There were DCOMs and Dapper Days and Bathsoaps and Memes. And if that wasn't enough we went to MathMagic Land and Minecraft too! 

So I guess you could say that in 1211 Days, we've done a lot of stuff. But we're just getting started, because with Disney, there will never be enough. 

Have a magical day!

Day 1174: One Little Mermaid

Once a year I head to a local high school to see their musical, despite the fact that I never went to the high school and I only know a handful of people who did. Either way, their shows are usually pretty amazing, and this year's showing of The Little Mermaid was no exception!

While I've now seen The Lion King, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and Newsies all on broadway tour, I've never had a chance to see the stage production of The Little Mermaid, and I must admit that I was a bit skeptical at first going into it. I knew nothing about how the show was similar or different to the movie, and I'm certainly not the world's biggest Little Mermaid fan, but I was pleasantly surprised by the entire thing. Even as a high school production, the show has so much energy, color, special effects, and excitement. I will say that I feel relatively the same about the show as I do about the attractions that are in the Disney Parks - there wasn't much of a climax to the story.

Considering the changes from the original tale to the Disney version, I can see how the climax of the story might get sort of left out, but the energy the students brought to the stage production I had a chance to see made it all worthwhile. The added songs that aren't in the movie really round things out, and the puppets really reminded me of Finding Nemo the musical (as did the Flounder in this particular show...she did an amazing job)!

I'm not entirely sure I would spend a ton of money to see the Broadway Production, but let's be honest, I probably still would because it's Disney. If you've seen The Little Mermaid, let me know what you think of it in the comments below (I know there are a few of you out there currently involved in productions too! Let me know how those are going!) and if you haven't, would you want to see it?

Have a magical day!

Day 1168: Dignity, Always Dignity

I definitely have Disney to thank for my love of Singin' in the Rain. After all, if it weren't for The Great Movie Ride, I probably wouldn't have decided to watch the film at all, even if the songs are pretty catch and much more well known than I originally realized. Really though, I could watch this movie every day for the rest of my life and still never tire of it. It makes me want to sing, it makes me want to dance, and it definitely makes me want to go back to the 1920s. However, while watching the film the other day, I realized that there were more than a few lessons between the notes of this film that we all need to keep in mind throughout life. 

"Dignity, always dignity" is quickly represented as an important line of the film, and it may just be one of the most important. It, along with the background music of "Fit as a Fiddle" reminds us that we can't all be the greatest musician, actor, or person straight off. We're going to fall into deep pits of despair and failure at some point, but as Don reminds us, as long as we keep our dignity, things are going to be alright. The hard work you put in now will pay off in the long run. 

"Make 'em laugh" is sort of a universal truth, because laughter really is the best medicine. It's one of the best ways to cheer a person up, and it never fails to make something more entertaining. If we embrace a little more humor in our lives, maybe we'd all be happier and more willing to make others laugh. I don't think we all need to roll around on the floor with a doll, but sitting on a piano is a good way to start. 

Cosmo and Don hold a special place in my heart too, because around I constantly hear the joke about "don't forget the little people when you're off becoming rich and famous." The truth is, I have no anticipation of becoming rich or famous, although I suppose a little extra money wouldn't hurt. However, even if, by some fluke of fate, I do find myself in front of the cameras, you'd better believe that my friends and family will be right next to me. 

Don't forget to dance and sing in the rain. I said a moment ago that Dignity might be the most important lesson here, but really nothing can surpass the simple fact that we all need to remember to have fun. Life is a lot of work, whether it be blogging, going to class, sitting at a desk job, or working at a Disney park. But it won't seem like work all the time if we remember to make it fun and do a little singing and dancing along the way. 

There are tons of other lessons in Singin' in the Rain, but for now, I'm going to go hope that this snow turns into rain so I have something to dance in. Dancing in snow just isn't as fun because it's cold and you usually end up falling on your face...but then again...dignity. Always dignity. 

Have a magical day! 

Day 1137: The Wonderful Wizard

You may not know this, but The Wizard of Oz was easily one of my favorite movies as a kid. I remember the days of watching it constantly, and one of the earliest presents I remember was a VHS copy of the film all my own. Granted, my love of The Wizard of Oz hasn't really continued, at least not in the force it had when I was three, and it also happened to instill a terrible fear of thunderstorms and tornadoes in me. Still, when I found out my high school theater program was doing a production of the musical version of The Wizard of Oz, I was pretty excited. It's not a terribly complicated musical, and I loved their production of it...which I apparently have no pictures to prove I went.

The musical version, if you don't know much about it, is a bit different from the film or the book, although personally I still think the movie is the way to go if you really want to experience The Wizard of Oz. As you can probably imagine, the musical features a couple additional musical numbers, including The Jitterbug, which does its job of getting stuck in your head for what seems like forever.

It's also funny though because in the matter of two months I'll see four different musicals: I saw CHICAGO here at SNC, Newsies on tour, now The Wizard of Oz at my high school, and finally I'll be heading to see The Little Mermaid at another local high school in March. Talk about a lot of music, right?

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 1067: Finding Neverland

Not completely a Disney thing this time, but I still felt it was worth mentioning. A few weeks back one of my friends at school had me listening to the soundtrack for the Broadway Musical Finding Neverland, which I followed on Twitter some time beforehand because it sounded interesting. That was about it though, and I didn't think much else of it until I actually heard the soundtrack. Because I have Spotify now, it's more than easy to find just about any album I want. 

Honestly, there's several reasons that I'm probably in love with this soundtrack and musical. First, the fact that it's Peter Pan inspired really gets to me. That's just awesome (from a Disney perspective, but especially a fairy tale perspective), especially since it's about the creation of Peter Pan. I like all things Hook, so that helps too, and then you throw in a little Matthew Morrison and some inspirational music and you've got me, well, Hooked. 

Personally, I'm completely in love with the song "Stronger," but I regularly listen to the entire soundtrack. In fact, for a couple of weeks I ended up listening to "Stronger" just about every morning on my way to class as motivation for my day (considering the fact that I'm still alive, I assume it worked well). 

So now Finding Neverland is on my list of shows that I just really, really want to see, although I do wish Matthew Morrison wasn't leaving in the near future. It sort of puts a damper on things, but it's still a brilliant musical and maybe someday, just maybe, I'll be able to catch a performance of it. 

If you haven't listened to it, you can find the Album from the original Broadway cast HERE on Spotify! 

Have a magical day! 

(Note: This blog post was written on December 25).

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 682: 76 Trombones

One of my favorite musicals of all time is, of course, The Music Man. I'm not totally sure how or when it became one of my favorite musicals, but I remember watching the TV movie version as a kid. I had it recorded on a VHS tape (except for the first couple of minutes...it started during the middle of the first song). Regardless, I watched it all the time, and I've introduced it to many of my friends since then.

When my roommate Ashley and I found out that our roommate Hannah hadn't seen The Music Man, we knew that we had work to do. We're constantly singing music from musicals, including this one, so it only makes sense for her to see the musical itself, right? Correct. 100% correct.

But whenever I hear 76 Trombones, a different thought comes to mind. Whenever you hear the song, I feel like a lot of people laugh because really, what band has 76 trombones performing? Not many, that's for sure. In my High School we were lucky to have 3 or 4, and here at college I think we probably have around 10. Granted, these were both smaller schools, so I suppose it's entirely possible to have 76 trombones, but I've never seen it...except for one time.

One of my favorite moments of the opening of Disneyland, which took place on July 17, 1955, was the parade, led by none other than 76 trombones!  And when Disney does something, he does it right. The actual composer of the musical, Meredith Willson, was present as a special guest of Walt himself. Art Linkletter, one of the hosts of the opening, asks Willson what he sees coming up Main Street, and there, to the joy of everyone, is 76 trombones playing the song itself. Willson went on during the special to actually conduct the group in a standstill performance as well.

Footage of the moment isn't on YouTube, but you can find video of it out there. I know I have it on a Disneyland DVD that's part of the Collector Series, so it does exist! But if you want some proof, here's a picture:

And since we've been talking about the song all day, you can listen to it here too!

We did finally get Hannah to watch The Music Man, and while Ashley and I watched it as kids, finding sympathy for The Music Man himself, Hannah didn't think so. Con Man forever. It was a debate we had throughout the movie, trying to figure out if we would feel the same way if we saw the film for the first time. Honestly, I still don't know how I would feel if I saw it for the first time today instead of as a kid. I guess we'll never know, will we?

Have a magical day!

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 502: Knights on Broadway

Our college is a pretty awesome place, at least when we have time to enjoy things that aren't our homework or sleeping. So after finals were all finished, Shovell and I decided to take in a show, or rather a concert, put on by some of the fine musicians that go to school at our college. There's a group of 10 students that sing in something called Knights on Broadway (the name comes from the fact that we're the Green Knights). This particular year, they were singing a show they called "Let's go to the Movies," which, honestly, is like the perfect show for me. I love musicals, I love movies, I love music! BOOM!

The show was spectacular. I'm very glad I went to see it because really, it was two of the most enjoyable hours of the last few months for me (seriously...there's only four of them, and the other two were the finale of Once). There were songs from Grease and Mama Mia and so on and so forth, but by far my favorite section of the show was the Disney section. For a good while they sang numbers from some of the most famous Disney broadway musicals, such as Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Let's just say I was sitting there basically freaking out.

And Shovell can attest to the fact that at the beginning of the show I really freaked out because they started with Hooray for Hollywood. But not just ANY version of Hooray for Hollywood. We're talking the EXACT VERSION THAT PLAYS IN THE GREAT MOVIE RIDE. Yes, I was actually failing around and half jumping out of my seat. It was interesting, and exciting and MADE MY LIFE.

So congrats to those involved on Knights on Broadway! Brian, you did a great job as Lumiere, and Lauren, GREAT ARIEL! Sadie, that Ursula was awesome, and everyone else, I LOVED IT ALL!

Have a magical day!

(Note: This blog post was written on May 22 due to finals). 

Day 411: Legally Blonde

Yesterday, since I'm spending the rest of the weekend at college for Winter Band Fest (two concerts for us), I went back to my High School to see their production of Legally Blonde. If I did mention it before, I went to the high school of my best friend's roommate to see it when they had their own production of it. It was honestly pretty awesome getting to see it twice by two different schools. Plus, I really do like the musical, so that just made it that much better.

Seriously though, Legally Blonde is great...especially the song Ireland. I just absolutely LOVE that song...hmm I wonder why though. Actually, in general, I just love Paulette. Her character is great. Plus, her dog in my high school's version was my band director's dog, Bru...whom I remember as a puppy and is seriously like my favorite dog. I just never get to see him, so that was really exciting. I mean, seriously:

What does this have to do with Disney? Not much I suppose...although "Ireland" DOES basically relate to Once...I mean, it's pretty obvious. Colin IS Irish, and there's a line where it talks about sailors, one of them named Liam. The first time I saw this I literally had to keep myself from laughing. It was hard. 

Other than that, great job to everyone involved in the Seymour High School Production of "Legally Blonde!" Super proud of all you! 

And now time for a side story that DOES have to do with Disney! This weekend we have two high school students staying in our dorm room for Winter Band Fest, and one of them said they love Disney and was like "I've been to Walt Disney World 5 times!" and my roommate just laughed and was like "CAN I TELL THEM!?!" so she did and the High Schooler Guesses like 7 and my roommate is just like "higher" and they guessed again, with 10 or something, and my roommate goes "24!" Only I forgot to mention to her that I actually miscounted and it's 23, not 24. So then we had a discussion about that. Haha...don't worry though, by the end of the year it will be 25! 

Have a magical day!

Day 216: More Youtube

Well, here we are again. Gosh, I have a lot of series posts. Ok, not really, only like three of them, but this one is one of the most fun, I do have to say that. Why? Because I get to watch Youtube videos until I find just the right ones to include in the post. Actually so far it hasn't been all that difficult because I have a lot of these videos. But I sometimes still watch them anyway because, well, I talk about them, so I'd better know exactly what I'm talking about.

So here's the third bunch of Disney-Inspired YouTube videos that I just love to death!

Hipster Disney Princess - THE MUSICAL:

AVbyte has been around for a while, but this is most certainly the way I first found them. I mean, it's just kind of hard not to click on a video about Disney Princesses being Hipsters, and this is like one of my absolute favorites here on Youtube. Granted, would it really be on this blog if I didn't like it? Probably not, unless we were doing a fail post. Oh yeah, and that second one, all about Princess Leia...and just as awesome!!! The Disney Princesses actually show up a lot in their videos, which is something I am most certainly cool with.

Toyz Noize:

Honestly, nothing can make your day better like a bit of Toy Story, and here's a great, quick way to do it, especially if you don't have time to watch the entire movie. Nick Bertke has actually made several of these, but this one is by far my favorite. It's just so adorable. My actual favorite part? The "You are a...BUZZ LIGHTYEAR." Gets me every time.

Disney Dudez:

This one is fairly recent to my Disney collection of favorite videos, but I most certainly had to share it. This has got to be one of the best Disney inspired videos out there, just because the entire thing is hilarious, and musical and just overall great. I do have to say that the band, IM5, is pretty awesome...other than the fact that I find it slightly disturbing that I'm older than all of them. Since when am I older than the common Boy Band member? 

Well, unlike the Star Wars edition, I try to limit myself to three different videos per Youtube post. For one reason, it makes it so that I don't use all the videos at once, but it also means that you don't sit at your computer for hours watching video and that I don't get you in trouble for not doing your work. Or maybe it's just me that won't do my work? 

Here's today's Disney History: 1995: A ground breaking takes place for Disney's newest Florida theme park Disney's Animal Kingdom (the largest of all Disney's theme parks, it will open in April 1998). 

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 46: Posters & Footloose

Today is an interesting day.

First, I just finished making a poster for my Business teacher to promote taking business and technology classes. Of course, I had to put my own little mark on it. Let's see if you can figure it out?

I'll give you a hint. One of the figures looks awfully familiar...doesn't it? 

Anyway, the other thing that makes today interesting is the fact that it's opening night for my high school's musical, which this year is Footloose. I run sound board, so all of the mics to make sure that everyone can hear the actors on stage...provided their microphones don't die and they talk loudly and they have the correct microphone. It requires a lot of attention, but I like my job, and I'm quite sad that it's my last musical. I joined musical last year, when we did The Pajama Game, and made the decision to stay in it this year. It's been a great, yet frustrating, exciting and learning experience.

And so, no matter what, even if the entire system blows like it did last year, like the saying says, "The show must go on." 

Here's today's Disney History: 1899: Lillian Marie Bounds (the wife of Walt Disney) is born in Spalding, Idaho.

Have a magical day!