Summer Movies

Summer Movie Reviews and Ratings  2009

*rental   **theatre

* A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum

Rating 8/ Grade A-

 I actually didn't rent this  I watched over my boyfriend's house... on two different occasions.   I found it to be  very hilarious. 

* Anything Goes

Rating: 5 Grade C

I rented this to sort of preface going to see the play at the Barn Playhouse so  I could get used to some of the music since I was not familiar with.  I found the play to be slightly different then the movie

*Bride Wars

Rating 4.5/ Grade D

I was a lot more hyped for this movie then  I should have been.  The previews made it look funny but it really isn't that funny. The plot is really predictable. Hopefully  I will not be as disappointed with Ghost of Girlfriends Past as I was with this movie.

**Dance Flick

Rating 4.5/ Grade D-

I didn't really get some of the jokes this movie  was making  in reference to other dance movies (Fame, Save The Last Dance)  I  found this movie to be very lacking in plot and not funny at all.

* Last Chance Harvey

Rating  4.5/Grade D/C-

I found this movie to be quite boring. I did not care for it very much at all.

** Julie and Julia

Rating  9/ Grade A

My advice: Do not go see this movie on an empty stomach or it will make you incredibly hungry.  By far one of the best movies of the summer. Lots of  funny moments. Amy Adams and Meryl Streep are amazing! 

** My Sister's Keeper

Rating: 6/ Grade B-

 I am  a huge fan of  Jodi Piccout's books.. she is currently one of my favorite authors.  I thought that this movie was good but it didn't do the book much justice at all.  Warning: This movie is a tearjerker so bring lots and lots of tissues.

Movies I want to see next

Harry Potter

Aliens in The Attic

Ghost of Girlfriends Past

Night At The Museum 2

Fame

Sail Sail Away with the cast of Anything Goes

The 2009 Barn Playhouse Intern Company. Photo Courtesy of Serena Brook.

Today I headed up to New London to my summer stock alma mater the Barn Playhouse to go see Anything Goes. I was very impressed.

The show takes place on a cruise ship called The SS American. I am a fan of love stories and once again I saw another amazing play. The main character Hope Harcourt (Thresea Kloss) is torn between her fiance Lord Evelyn Oakley (Tyler Putnam) and the one she truly loves Billy Crocker (Jud Aliveioz) There were many comedic moments especially the scenes that featured Reno Sweeney (Courtney Davis) and Moonface Martin (Joel Mercier)
The show featured lots of tap numbers which I thought were amazing.. I wish I could tap dance like that for real. Favorite musical numbers included I Get A Kick Out Of You (sung by Courtney Davis), Friendship (sung by Joel Mercier and Courtney Davis) It's Delovery (featuring Theresa Kloss and Tyler Putnam) Blow Gabriel Blow (Courtney Davis and chorus) and Buddie,Beware ( Serena Brook, Taylor Avazpour,Bryan Hunt, Josh Feder and David Robbins). Once again I do not wish to spoil the ending but as with Oaklahoma it is very happy.

I was truly impressed by the talent of the 2009 Barn Playhouse Intern Company and I wish to congratulate the cast and production team on a truly amazing performance.

My latest Milford Cabinet Artilce

1st in a three part series of articles about the Milford Area Players Fall Mainstage Production of The Foriegner by Larry Schue

The Audition Process
By Janine Leffler




Auditioning for a play is never easy nor is the process of casting. Auditions for the upcoming play, The Foreigner, took place on Tuesday and Thursday August 4th and 6th at the Amato Theater. Several weeks before the audition, a ‘casting call email’ was sent out which outlined the play and gave a list of characters including specifics such as age requirements. This gives the prospective cast members an idea of what the director is looking for.
When Jeannie Gall of Nashua auditioned for this upcoming fall production, she was both nervous and excited. . “Nervous, because I wanted to do well and impress the director; excited, because I was imagining getting the part and having fun at the rehearsals and developing the character and finally performing.” When asked further about her audition preparation process she states, “I always read the play several times before I audition. And I always scope out the characters that I might play and spend time rereading some of those key scenes. When there is a monologue required, I choose one that fits the style and tone of the character in the play, or I find a monologue that highlights a special quality in me and my ability that would be useful in the show.”

The Director of The Foreigner is Tom Partridge who shared his sentiments on the process of casting. “In casting most of the time it is both a physical look and the person can be made up to look the part, a good reading of the part and experience also help. Sometime it is an age requirement. People can be made to look older; it is hard to make someone look 20 when they are 50.” As far as the decision process for part selection is concerned, he said the following, “Usually after auditions are complete the director and assistant director review the names and come up with the person for the part in a couple of hours.” As soon as the decision is made the director will call the people who auditioned to let them know if they got the part. Within a week the cast gets together for a “reading” of the script to get to know each other and find out the relationship between the characters. Then rehearsals begin.
Partridge was in The Foreigner seven years ago and really enjoyed being a part of the cast. He took this into consideration while choosing which play to direct for Milford Area Players “I thought it would be a fun play for the Milford Area Players to do.”
While conducting my interviews for this article, out of the blue, I was asked to audition. This took me by surprise as I had not auditioned for a play since my college days. Similar to the rest of the people in the room I was nervous about whether or not I would make a good impression on the director.
Since the night of the auditions, the cast has been selected. I won’t be in the play but I will be following the rehearsal process for my next article, so stay tuned....
The Foreigner will be performed at the Amato Center for the Performing Arts at the Souhegan Valley Boys and Girls Club in Milford on October 16- October 25th.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 Finale

Season 5 So You Think You Can Dance Finale Summary

Top 4 (Alphabetical order)
1. Brandon
2. Evan
3. Jeanine
4. Kayla

Top 4 ( Predicted order of who will win)
1. Brandon
2. Kayla
3. Evan
4. Jeanine

RESULTS
1st Jeanine 2nd Brandon 3rd Evan 4th Kayla

Not happy about this at all. Brandon was so much better than Jeanine.

Composite Scores (Group dance included in score)
Brandon and Kayla 32
Jeanine 30
Evan 29

Ratings for solos
Brandon 9
Kayla 8
Jeanine 7
Evan 5

For the couples number each member of top 4 danced with each other and then the 2 guys and 2 girls danced together. The first time around Brandon and Kayla and Evan and Jeanine were paired up. Despite the fact that we share the same name Jeanine has not been one of my favorite dancers the whole season..actually I didn't actutally notice how good she really was til about two weeks ago up until that that point I thought she was kind of mediocre. Evan and Jeanine did a contempoary number which I thought was so so. As far as that style is concerned I think Ade and Melissa were the two that danced it the best. Bradon and Kayla did a Broadway number which was chreographed by Tice Diorio. It was fabulous. I think that Brandon and Kayla complimented each other quite fabulously. Second time around Evan and Kayla danced a jive which was very energetic and fun to watch. I have been fan of Evan the whole entire season and I am happy that there has been someone in this compettion who dances in the style of Broadway. He gets bonus points for reminding me of highly esteemed co-worker from NLBP Willl Porter. Brandon and Jeanine then danced a Pasa Doble. The dance itself was very sensual and had lots of good emotion in it how ever Pasa Doble has not been one of my favorite genres all season. I guess I am just not that huge of fan of the latin style of dance. As far as the two numbers where the boys and the girls danced together are concerned the piece that Jeanine and Kayla did I throughly enjoyed and I think they complimented each other quite well. The piece that Brandon and Evan did clearly proves that Brandon is a stronger dancer than Evan.

All things considered I think that Brandon will take the title home. He has been very consistant through out the whole entire season and he is quite talented... well they were all talented but Brandon has just been amazing all season. It's hard to believe he doesn't seem to have a lot of confident in himself when it comes to dancing.. he does not realize at all how truly talented and amazing he really is. I think if he wins it will prove to him that he can do anything when it comes to dance.

Oaklahoma gets a standing O

Post Show Posing! L to Right: John Baker ( Andrew Carnes), Brandon Santoro, Eliza Hayes Mahar (Ado Annie), Brady Lynch ( Gertie Cummings) ,Matt Smith. Maggie Politi (Dream Laurey) , Marco Diodoro (Joe), Janine Leffler, Sonya Walcott



Another late night.. another second wind!!!





Once again we traveled up to Meredith to go see a show at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village. The current show they are doing is Roger And Hammerstien's Oaklahoma which once again never ceased to impress me. Rogers and Hammerstien are my favorite composers of musicals.. probably because The Sound of Music first introduced me to musicals back when I saw the film when I was 10.





Oaklahoma had to be one of the best plays I've seen in awhile. Like the past three shows I've seen at Summer Theatre in Meredith Village (Carosuel, Grease and High School Musical) the cast shows a diverse and unique amount of talents. Oaklahoma I feel is a love story. There are two relationships that the play focussses on Ado Annie's and Will's and Curly's and Laurey's. Each realtionship has thier own set of obstacles. In beginning both girls has to chose between two guys (Laurey- Curly and Jud Ado Annie- Ali Hakim and Will) This play had an equal balance of scences that were funny and scenes that were filled with tension you could cut with a knife. The dream sequence was my favorite scene because it showed which guy Laury would have perfferd to be with and how tense it got between Curly and Jud) I refuse to give away the ending all I am going to say is that it's very happy. The thing that was the best was the development of the realationships between Ado Annie ( Eliza Hayes Mahar) and Will Parker (Matt Baunam) and Laurey (Lauren Burbank) and Curly ( Billy Noble)


Favorite musical numbers included The Surrey With The Fringe on The Top, People Will Say We're In Love and I Cain't Say No





The show was directed and chreographed by Norb Joreber. It was very enlightened and delightful. I would highly reccommend it to anyone who is looking for a great theatre production to watch.


Getting super excited for next summer's season at STMV
My Way: A Musical Tribute To Frank Sinatra
How To Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
Chicago YESS!!!!!!!
Camelot
The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee



Upcoming Shows
August 15th Anything Goes






I do not know if this link will work but i hope it does it is from Billy Noble's facebook. It's a video clip of the song People Will Say We're In Love



http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/video/video.php?v=577505153321

ok so the facebook link will have to suffice, Once he uploads all the videos to youtube i post the actual video.