PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 81 - CHRISTMAS 2023

 PAWPAW'S MESSAGES TO MY GRANDSONS 81

Pawpaw loves Connor, Bryson and Archer!

It is Christmas Eve 2023. I have been thinking about you boys for weeks. I texted your Mom to ask if I could send Christmas gifts but she didn't reply. I try to imagine what you look like now. I wonder how much you've grown and changed. Before bed at night, I picture you boys in my mind and send you loving thoughts that Pawpaw loves you. 

Someone told me that your Grandma J is visiting you now. I am banned from seeing you and your parents and have been for the last several years. Before your Mom and Dad married, they were angry at your Grandma and they banned her. She wasn't allowed to attend their wedding. She wasn't allowed to attend your births. I was. I think she was finally allowed back in the family when Connor was 6. Then, when Connor was 8, my husband Tom and I were banned from the family and have been ever since.

I miss you every day. I look at old photos I have of you and sometimes kiss them hoping you feel my love.

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I create these Messages To My Grandsons because I want you to know your Pawpaw as you did when you were little children. I want you to know that I did not abandon you. Always know that Pawpaw didn't leave you. I was banned from seeing you. I hope you find these messages when you are a grown man. 

If I'm still alive, I would love to see you again. I would never leave you, my loves, Pawpaw

Steven and Tom review the hilarious musical MEAN GIRLS

 Steven and Tom review the hilarious musical MEAN GIRLS 

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by Steven Skelley and Thomas Routzong

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It has been nineteen years (OMG) since Tina Fey's brilliant comedy movie about the perils of high school where the apex predator students either grant you a merciful and pitiful glance or viciously tear you apart for the sin of not being them. We loved the film MEAN GIRLS and now we love the MEAN GIRLS musical on stage! 

For those of us not as cool as The Plastics, high school is a dangerous place where offending the queen of mean Regina George (Maya Petropoulos) means immediate and complete social suicide because Regina enjoys nothing more than ripping classmates to shreds with insults. 

Homeschooled Cady Heron (Natalie Shaw) has just transferred to North Shore High School after having grown up in Africa where she enjoyed the starry skies while learning the hard truths of predators and prey. Innocent, friendly and practically a genius, Cady quickly finds herself a social misfit in every way. When Cady realizes that her knowledge of Africa's predators and prey has provided her with all the tools necessary to conquer the school's Apex Predator Regina George, she sets out to topple the teenage hierarchy and win the hand of Regina's sometimes ex-boyfriend Aaron (Joseph Torres). With the secret help of new friends Too Gay To Function Damian (Ethan Jih-Cook) and accused lesbian / artist Janis (Alexyx Morera), Cady formulates her plan which, of course, backfires spectacularly.

Tina Fey is a brilliant writer - nine Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, five Screen Actors Guild Awards, seven Writers Guild Awards, as well as Grammy Award and Tony Award nominations. Her insightful dry wit makes us laugh more than just about anyone else. For Broadway and touring stage productions, Fey partnered with a dream team of composer Jeff Richmond, lyricist Nell Benjamin (Legally Blonde) and choreographer Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon). With minimal props to make us completely focus on the storyline, lyrics, music and choreography, we found ourselves reliving the hormone horrors of our own high school years. 

Whether you were a Plastic, a Mathlete, a Jock, a Mascot, too gay to function, an accused lesbian, an alien with four butts, or any of the other crazy made up words of high school, the MEAN GIRLS musical on stage will have you sometimes laughing, sometimes wincing but definitely cheering by the end.

See MEAN GIRLS on December 11 and 12 at  
https://www.kingcenter.com/events/detail/mean-girls
MAXWELL C. KING CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
3865 North Wickham Road, Melbourne, Florida 32935

See MEAN GIRLS info, cast and tour dates at https://meangirlsontour.com/

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE REVIEW BY STEVEN SKELLEY AND THOMAS ROUTZONG

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE REVIEW BY STEVEN SKELLEY AND THOMAS ROUTZONG

I was two years old when the 1965 animated television special A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS first aired. I have watched it every year since. It has become a holiday tradition. Seeing A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE today had us anticipating every iconic line of dialogue, laughing at Snoopy's crazy antics and feeling the holiday spirit as we heard the wonderful giggles of all the children in the audience. 

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRIST 1965 animated television special was based on the comic strip PEANUTS by Charles M. Schulz and featuring the hypnotic beautiful musical creations of Vince Guaraldi.   This spectacular new touring production, A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE, is based on Charles M. Schulz’s timeless story and features the music of Vince Guaraldi but it also adds joyful choreography and a mixture of familiar and new music. We loved it all.

Ethan Davenport's Charlie Brown is everything we want Charlie to be. We laughed at every frustrated Good Grief! and Rats! Children in the audience yelled out Snoopy! every time Alex Polzun danced and flipped and galloped across the stage with his Snoopy ears flopping every which way. The whole cast seemed to be enjoying every moment onstage.

While everyone seems to have lost the true meaning of the holiday, Linus bravely stands center stage, commands the spotlight and shares the message we all probably know by heart now. "Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, 'Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.' And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.' That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.'

As Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, and the whole Peanuts gang gather around the little tree that  just needs a little love, they sing a collection of songs everyone will love to sing along with.

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE offers the timeless animated special message delivered on stage by a delightful cast in a new and yet familiar way.

Broadway At The King Center is a fabulous asset to Maxwell C. King Center for the Performing Arts and to the residents of the Florida Space Coast. For upcoming shows, visit https://www.kingcenter.com/events/detail/broadway-at-the-king-center

For more information about A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS LIVE ON STAGE, visit https://www.acharliebrownchristmaslive.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/CharlieBrownChristmasLive

Photos courtesy of acharliebrownchristmaslive.com