The Willy Wonka New Year's Bash!

This review of our first ever NYE party comes from Jr. Blogger Sophie Knipp!

Doesn’t everybody like fun parties? 

Well, the BACT New Year’s Eve Bash was a blast that included the musical Willy Wonka, sweet treats, and a fun dance party with the Night Fairy where everyone cheered to the new year. If you want to know more, read on!

The evening began with a quick reception with activities like face painting, a photo booth, raffle drawing, and drinks (for both kids and adults). We were then escorted to the Osher Studio for the main event: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, the musical. 

The show is about a poor boy named Charlie Bucket who wins a golden ticket to Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory. Mary Gibboney, the actress who plays Willy Wonka, said that “A whole lot is different” between the popular movies and the musical; and I agree! 

The most noticeable difference was the oompa loompas.  They were the cutest puppets I have ever seen. 

  Emery Oompa, played by the actress Pauli Amornkul, is an orange fuzzy, 2-eyed, 3 feet tall adorable creature . “The kids love it. It adds another dimension”, said Pauli about using puppets in the show. 

The costumes were creative, especially the masks the actors wore to show they were playing different parts. The set included a colorful lollipop designed floor that made you want to lick it!

 “I think the message of the show is to not be afraid to be yourself... and everyone has a chance to be successful”, said Juan Castro who plays Charlie Bucket.

 After the show, the actors led us to the second theatre where there was a dance party where we counted down to the New Year with the Night Fairy from BACT’s show playing now recommended for ages 8 and up. The party was bumping and thumping with laughter, fun, desserts, drinks, awesome music (by DJ Austin Zumbro and his puppet shark), and lots of balloons in the air!

The BACT New Year’s Eve Bash was a great experience for families! My next blog will be about BACT’s first show in Sunnyvale, Elephant and Piggie. Stay tuned! 

The Very Hungry Caterpillar: An Enjoyable Show for Children

Check out our Jr. Blogger Kara's thoughts on the Very Hungry Caterpillar Show!

On Friday, I got to see the student matinee show of The Very Hungry Caterpillar put on by the Bay Area Children’s Theatre and inspired by Eric Carle’s books.  This play includes the books, The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse, The Very Lonely Firefly, Mister Seahorse, and of course, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. The characters are life-size puppets controlled by puppeteers who use bars and their bodies to make them walk and talk.   The puppets themselves are colorful, majestic, and bright, especially the seahorse from Mister Seahorse.  The polka-dotted donkey puppet from The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse was neat because the colors were fun and the actors did a good job making him dance around.  I laughed when they played hide-and-seek.  It was like magic.  

The set was made up of moving set pieces that looked like trees, seaweed and lots of other things.  Also, the background would change color depending on what was going on in the scene.  The music and sound effects were captivating.  All this helped make the story come alive.  They had a narrator to help the characters tell the story; it really helped portray Eric Carle’s books well.

My favorite story was The Lonely Firefly.  It was about a Firefly looking for some friends to play with.  At first, he finds a lamp, a candle and a flashlight, but he can’t find any other fireflies to play.  Finally he finds his firefly friends and they joyfully dance around in the night.  I loved this production because it retold the story just like the book would.  I enjoyed the show immensely. The Very Hungry Caterpillar is a show that young children would enjoy.