November 2010 - Page 3 of 3 - Angry Julie Monday

Peter Pan at The Orange County Performing Arts Center

November 5, 2010

I’m a huge fan of the performing arts. I’ve attended many plays and musicals in my lifetime. Now that my son is five, I’m trying to expose him more to the “arts”. I feel that at this age, he can finally understand what is going on, along with being able to sit still and pay attention.

Stella and Angry Kid before the performance.

My best friend, Stacey, and I took our kids to a performing of JM Barrie’s Peter Pan at the Orange County Performing Arts Center last month. My son had attended a kid’s performance last year, at the OC Performing Arts Center, but this was a completely different experience for him. I also told him that this wasn’t the Peter Pan that he had seen on video, that it was a different type of Peter Pan.

Peter Pan was set in a different type of theater rather than the typical indoor theater. This performance was in a tent set-up in an outdoor area of the OC Performing Arts Center Complex. It was actually a threesixty Theater which allows for performance “in the round” in a 1,300 seat theater/tent. This theater also involved a 360-degree CGI theater set. The tent is lit with more than 15,000 square feet of Hi-Resolution video, which is three times the size of IMAX screens. The photo below paints a beautiful picture of what the ceiling and the 360-degree CGI screens in full display.

We were seated at one of the top rows within the theater, but really I think every seat is perfect for viewing. With the theater in the round, the flying, and the 360-degree screens, there were no bad seats for the performance. The audience consists of adults and children. Our children were age 5, and I think that this was an appropriate age for children to attend this performance. I think younger age children would have issues with light violence and being able to sit still in their seats.

J.M. Barrie, the creator of Peter Pan was a Scottish novelist and playwright, in the late 1800’s. He wrote the story of Peter Pan who was a mischievious boy who can fly magically and refuses to grow up. The play is set in Kensington Gardens and the small island of Neverland. Peter Pan lives on the island of Neverland with a group of young men, referred to as “The Lost Boys”. This tale was about Peter Pan’s adventures and his dealings with the sinister Captain Hook.

At the beginning of the show, the initial characters were introduced and we also got to see Peter Pan. My son got a bit antsy, because some of the dialogue was hard for him to understand with the actor’s British accents. The first time the actors were raised in the air, and began to fly, well really caught my son’s attention. He was captivated by their flight and the beautiful scenery that the CGI screens portrayed. And as a tech-geek type person, well, I was also indeed impressed. I’m not going to go into all of the details about the production, because you need to see it!

I was amazed by this production and have told several people about it since we went. I’ve recommended it to co-workers, friends, and even the parents at my son’s school. I really was that impressed with it. With the prices starting at $40 and up, it is completely worth it. This is a special production that is a MUST SEE. I think tickets to this would be perfect for those hard-to-buy for people in your life. And the best part, it was extended till Janaury 2, 2011 for Orange County, CA performances. You can even get tickets for an early Holiday gift.

Disclosure: I was provided tickets for this production by the OC Performing Arts Center. I took my best friend, and our two children. We enjoyed the production, and I recommend it to everyone. My review was not influenced by anyone.

Filed Under: Reviews 7 Comments

Wordless Wednesday: AnQi Masquerade Party

November 3, 2010

Last Saturday night, I met up with some friends, Ciaran, Cheryl, and Alexandra at AnQi Bistro’s First Annual Masquerade Party. It was sponsored by Aston Martin. I was simply dressed as a scientist, and just a plain scientist, not even a naughty one. I would like to say that “naughty” should be the theme for Halloween 2010 for adults. I was there for a little over an hour, but seriously, showing up after eleven o’clock was the perfect time for people watching, and photography. I literally felt like I was a participant on the set of Eyes Wide Shut II. I have become so prude in my old age of almost 35.

Decorations for the Occasion.

Guests in attendance.

Costume Contest Winners.

Accessorizing.

Chocolate Displays, yum!

Welcome to “Angry Julie Monday’s Wordless Wednesday Linky”!

If this your first time here, HELLO! I do a link-up every Wednesday! Post a picture(s) that you took in the past week and link back to it here. Wordless Wednesday is a great day to post an awesome picture that “speaks” for itself, no words needed.

Filed Under: Holidays, Orange County, Photography, Wordless Wednesday 18 Comments

How to camouflage a five year old

November 1, 2010

This was the end of the night. After all of the walking, he was still smiling. That is the sign of a good night, right?

I swear this month was like the longest month ever! It is probably because we started the month off with Mickey’s Halloween Party. It seems like there were a million Halloween parties and events this year. I’m starting to loathe the word “pumpkin” and it isn’t even Thanksgiving yet.

I’m glad that Angry Kid and Angry Husband were happy with the costume this year. It was great because Angry Kid can play in it still and get more use out of it. I’m totally hiding the face paint though, because that is MESSY. Angry Husband was a complete perfectionist about doing the make-up though. I had to take pictures, because he was obsessing.

Step 1: You get out the black, brown, and green Halloween make-up. Much easier to remove than military style face paint. Have child sit at kitchen table with baby wipes nearby to fix over-application of face paint.

Step 2: Put make-up in the palm of your hand. Take two fingers on do stripes vertically down face, alternating colors. The colors can overlap a bit, that is the point. This is not exactly the military way to do camouflage paint, but this is what you do when you have a squirmy five year old.

Step 3: You see the finished product. A camouflage painted face. Angry Husband made sure to go around his ears, under his chin, and around his neck. You can tell that it was a little wet still. Make sure you let the make-up dry.

Step 4: Reapply more make-up. Because squirmy five year old was way too excited to go trick-or-treating. Perhaps, he was rolling around on the chenille couch, and rubbed some of his make-up off. I’m sure you can imagine the words that came out of my mouth during this ten minute time frame.

My friend, Monique, came over to assist me with keeping track of Angry Kid while trick-or-treating. Angry Husband was at the house passing out candy to the kids while we walked FOREVER. We started our journey with practically my entire neighborhood. It was quite ridiculous, the number of people in our group. We kept losing kids, plus Angry Kid is a runner. He kept running up front. We finally broke off from the group because it was just too hard to keep track of everyone.

Some things I learned this year during Trick-or-Treating:

1. That EVERYONE goes to the neighborhood near our house to Trick-or-Treat. It was like our entire city was there. Seriously, I’ve never seen so many cars. It wasn’t like they were giving out cash or anything.

2. Bring a flashlight or glow stick. It was not fun trying to find the kid wearing the camouflaged face and outfit. I think camouflage is great and all, for the military, but not for a 5 year old in the dark.

3. Bring water. We had walked miles, seriously. Everyone had cotton mouth, and was dying of water.

4. Wear comfortable shoes. See tip #3, about walking MILES.

Angry Kid got quite the haul of candy. He was very excited. I was laughing, because he won’t eat any of it. My son is totally odd. I think it is all about quantity for him. He just wants to say that he got tons of candy, but he never even eats candy. He always asks us to buy him candy, and then he never eats it. It is totally a good thing, but I sound strange when I have a super hyper kid whom doesn’t like candy.

I attended an adults-only party on Saturday night. I will be sure to post about it this week, when I can be a bit more descriptive. And of course, I have photos of that party.

Filed Under: Holidays, Parenting 14 Comments