A Look Back: Goodnight Desdemona

( Nearly two years ago, I was a features editor for a student run newspaper at a local college. I got to cover and write reviews and features. There was one play that I got to cover and looking back on it, it still is one of my favorite plays that I've seen at the college. It had so many elements and mostly it was hilarious. I thought that I might post it and share it.)

Different Look at Two Classics

On April 12, the Illinois Central College Arts and Communication Department Theatre Program presented the show “Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet)” in the Studio Theatre at the Performing Art Center. A story about a female writer who thinks that two of William Shakespeare plays, “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet,” can be turned into a comedy and later is transported into three worlds.

This being a college theatre the setting was a bit different than the previous play, where the setting was set in a studio. It had a stone-look with some trap or hidden doors for both the characters in the story and also to help change the setting of the next scene in the story. It made the production move quickly as possible when each scene was done and the lights went to black. The lighting in the production was remarkable to watch. 

There were so many different kinds of lights throughout the production that the one scene or multiple of scenes was when Constance, played by Lindsay Nolan, was transported into three worlds.

The green-shaped circles spinning around her, then a flash of a single white light came on her with two flashes of yellow light that gave way that the transporting is about done and with the music playing it sounded like it came from a classic science fiction program or even a bit of like “Alice In Wonderland sort of thing. There were characters in the production that really stood out with one of them being Nolan’s Constance. 

A female writer, who doesn't have much of a life, has a crush on Professor Claude Night, played by Logan Henderson.  The character was funny and delivered some of the comic lines very well that it made me think of the character Liz Lemon, played by Tina Fey, in the award-winning TV series “30 Rock.” 

Two others that stood out were Othello, played by Tannen Skriver and the Nurse and Ghost, played by Dusty Bredeman, who also portrayed another character in the production as a solider. Skriver playing both Othello in a dramatic scene and humorist was well played. 

But it was Bredeman’s characters both Nurse and Ghost that had the audience laughing. In one scene he comes out and helps calm Juliet down after Romeo left to go have some fun. He dresses as an older female nurse that has way too much makeup on and sounded like she was from the Bronx or something.  And the other scene when Constance was in the cemetery, Bredeman appeared the Ghost with an introduction from “The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.” Acting like he is really Carson walking around the set and at the end swung a golf club like classic Carson would do on his show.

Even though there was some really good acting, there were a couple of actors that had stumbled on their lines, but it wasn't a huge ordeal in the show. And there were was one that was playing the character a bit too much. As Constance was in each world she would find three things that she had thrown away before she was transported into the world of “Othello” and “Romeo and Juliet.” 

I believe that those items symbolized that it gives the character, Constance, a way that maybe she has a something better going on with her in life than she really thinks. There were some scenes in the production that was a bit predictable. For example, when Professor Night came in the office of Constance to ask her a question and showed her a small box that had a ring in it, she thought that he was going to propose to her but really was asking if Ramona, played by Natalie Holland, would like it. 

It’s one of those classic comedy scenes that you would see over and over in film, theatre and on television. It seemed that the audience enjoyed the more when Constance was in the world of “Romeo and Juliet,” which received the most laughs in the show, mostly between the relationship between Constance and Romeo and Juliet.

“Goodnight Desdemona” is a farce play about how life isn't all bad that there is harmony. It’s about how three people who are different have about the same issue in life and that there are people that care about for one another. It has showed a lot of variety in the production than you could even imagine coming from the characters of William Shakespeare.

(I got to cover a lot of plays but this one probably has to be the very top of the rest. This production had everything that I could have imagine and more. It really blew my mind away.)

Testing the Relationship that Might Break: Tuesday Night Comedies and Drama

Marry Me: "Test Me"
 It's probably one of the show's best episodes to date. When Anne and Jake are thinking about having a baby, they try to be friends with a doctor to get him tested to check his junk juice (there were a lot of rhyming of junky, trunky and such throughout the episode.). 
But when Jake talks to the doctor at the guy's home during a baby shower, he freaks out and does all these weird stuff to help his junk get pump. Anne learns after she saw the baby camera at the doctor's that.her and her friend took. 
As she tries to find him, they come to terms and Jake seem to calm down and excited. But that's not all. When they get to the Doctor's building there's a bit of an issue, they couldn't remember the guy's first name. 
That led to them at first to the wrong office, but they get there and soon the doctor finds out that they couldn't remember his name. I find this episode hilarious and the best one so far of it's season. The way they talked about yanky that tanky and Anne praising the lord singing baby baby baby. 

You can catch Marry Me Tuesday nights at 9/8c on NBC. 

About A Boy: "About A Manniversary"
 Can you believe it's been one year since Marcus and Will met for the first time. What a difference a year makes, right. To celebrate the occasion, Marcus got Will a Manniversary gift on the eve of the holiday. 
When Will learns about it he had to top the gift he got, so he told him that he.got tickets to a female music concert featuring Lisa Loeb. Will learns that the tickets are sold out but later got some from someone. But his efforts to get Marcus to meet Lisa got difficult when the bodyguard wouldn't let them in unless there was some payment. 

Will paid the guy and soon looked for Lisa's trailer. When they find it, Marcus got a look in and soon taken away by security. As soon as they were cleared, Marcus learned that Will never jade backstage passes to see Loeb and that Manniversary isn't real even at Hallmark.

 But soon Lisa Loeb walks out to perform but Will stops her to get her to talk to Marcus but instead called them perverts and left. But Marcus was happy just to get a wave from her. Meanwhile, Fiona is having a bit of trouble with moving her relationship with Chris. 

So she takes advice from Leslie Bibb's.character about sexing it up from getting wax to wearing special clothing to even wearing sex boots. Also had to changed her bedroom which had way too many photos of Marcus.
As Chris came over things got awkward like when those boots were too small and Chris tries taking them off and gets hit in the head, ends up with a cut. But after talking about it Fiona comes to terms and had finally had sex. 
This was another hilarious episode of the series. Marcus and Will's to find Lisa and learn that.she thinks that they're perverts. Also Andy is such a funny supporting character friend of Will. And Fiona and Chris...what a storyline that was and even that awkward scene taking the boot off was hilarious. 

You can catch About A Boy Tuesday nights at 9:30/8:30c on NBC! 

Chicago Fire: "Let Him Die"
 Where we last saw the gang of Firehouse 51, Bowden and his wife had a baby boy but soon the wasn't breathing and took him to the ICU. Casey let Dawson off for the day after a tough day and.oh yeah Britt and Mills were.kidnapped too. 
We learned what happened six hours after being taken. Two men with guns take Britt and Mills away and into a car. Soon as Mills talks he knocks  one guy out and chokes the driver til they crash into a junkyard. As the gang of 51, try to find them, they get the help from Halstead. 

Both Halstead and Cruz search and found the abandon car. Later as Bowden and wife wait on news on their baby, Hermman calls and comes with his wife for support. Soon Bowden knows the news of Britt and Mills missing. 
As the gang spilt up search anything wrong, Dawson finds a trail packs of alcohol wipes on the ground leading to a building. Where we see Mills and Britt trying to save of the kidnappers. Things get heated up and Britt tries to tell Mills to let the guy die. 

But he doesn't and saves him. Soon, the gang gets in and saves Britt and Mills. But the guys aren't talking and the only suspect is they guy who lost his son under Mills care. But have no proof so that upsets both them. But what to do, Britt called that guy who she saved during that helicopter crash. 

Later on, when things look to get worst they do seem to get better. As bad news came for baby Bowden, a turn around came and turns out to be healthy. As things couldn't get any better, a relationship takes a break with Casey and Dawson. 

Casey not fighting for their love even when she walked out. Idiot! But the next day, the gang gets a call of a storage building fire, fire came in a locked room and when Severide saw what was in it, tanks, he takes the fire out. 

But one thing leaves us in a stand still, who ever started this arson also started that building fire that killed Shay. Questions are a rising here. 
Next week's episode will make the gang decide on a difficult choice: save the victim or save a friend when a car accident comes between them. 

You can catch Chicago Fire Tuesday nights at 10/9c on NBC!

Note: Due to difficultly of getting on the online at home, you can catch recaps and other things on my backup blog: The Quiet Corner until further notice. I'll be writing through my smartphone which it won't carry Blogger.  So I hope you continue to read recaps, reviews and other things. 

Top 10 List of 2014

Goodbye 2014, time has gone bye so fast. Now that we're in the new year and I'm a bit late on doing this, I thought that I would put up my top ten list of TV shows of 2014 and others.

Top 10 Drama:
1. Parenthood
2. The Blacklist
3. The Americans
4. Homeland
5. Mad Men
6.Chicago Fire/PD
7. The Affair
8. Bones
9. Sons of Anarchy
10. The Mysteries of Laura

Top 10 Comedy
1. Parks and Recreation
2. The Big Bang Theory
3. Board City
4. Shameless
5. Louie
6. Benched
7. Orange is the New Black
8. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
9. About A Boy
10. Girls

Must See New Series in 2015
1. 12 Monkeys, SyFy premieres January 16th at 9/8c
2. Eye Candy, MTV, premieres January 12th at 10/9c
3. Bloodlines, Netflix, premieres in March
4. Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix, premieres in March
5. Allegiance, NBC, premieres Feb. 5th 10/9
6. Dig, USA Network, premieres March 5th

Must See Shows in the New Year
1. The final four episodes of Parenthood. Bring plenty of tissues
2. The final season of Parks and Recreation.
3. Netflix streaming Friends! I hear a Friends party going on!!
4. The Walking Dead returns in February!!

Here's to 2015, hopefully this will be another awesome year in television. Happy New Year!!!
For more on recaps and more, check out The Quiet Corner due to access problems to Blogger.

Just Thought It was Okay, It doesn't: Parenthood "Lean In"

This is a quick recap of the fall finale of Parenthood.

With only four episodes left, this is the episode where we know what will come when the show comes back next month.

Adam and Kristina finally take's full responsibility for Max's affection for Dylan after Dylan told Max that she doesn't love him. I do feel that Adam and Kristina have not been the good parents that they seem to be during this storyline for Max. They seem more excited that Max is falling in love with a girl than not telling him about the ups and downs of love.

Soon, Max does learn and told Dylan and her parents that he is sorry for his actions and that he hopes that she doesn't leave the school. Dylan will be staying for the rest of the school year.

Meanwhile the other storyline here is that Drew and Zeek. Zeek has been spending some time with Drew a lot this season, having Drew take him to places, hanging out with him and well needs his help for finding a place that he saw when he was in the war.

Soon, Drew has found it but it turns out that it wasn't just a simple search. It turned out to be a secret anniversary trip for Camille. But when Drew let the cat out of the bag, told Camille about it. That really disappointed Zeek. But Zeek admitted to Camille about it and soon she tells him that she loved it but that she wants to wait til the doctor clears him for travel.

That might not be the case after all. With the last couple of minutes into the last scene, we see Zeek in a panic and sweat. He's voice in a weak state tries to get Camille's attention and soon she calls 911.

The promo/trailer for the next four episodes will probably be the most emotional episodes that will be ever on television and I've been watching television most of my life. So when the show comes back January 8th, make sure to grab the tissues and someone by your side for comfort.

You can catch "Parenthood" Thursday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

Surprises & Shockers: Wednesday Night Drama

The Mysteries of Laura: "The Mystery of the Fertility Family"

When a fertility doctor is missing and found murdered, it's Laura and the gang to see who would want to kill the miracle man to bring life. As the case is about to be solved, a secret will be revealed that no one but Laura and Jake knows. 

We first start by seeing someone in a horse barn; the man is stabbed in the chest with a needle. As soon as the guy goes down, the murderer runs off and leaves the victim to die in front of a horse. Of course, the horse must be the witness in this. I had to say that. 

Soon, we meet up with Laura as she talks to someone distressed about what we think is about the murder that we first saw, but it's not. It turns out to be a mother complaining about Laura's twins and bullying her daughter. Laura does tell her that she will ground them. 

Laura talks with Jake about it, and as they talk about the boys, Jake tells Laura that he needs to pass a physical or his insurance will go up, which also makes her go up. Laura helps him by dodging all the wrong foods, from pizza to cookies. And in return, Jake gives a missing case to Laura. 

Laura and  Billy head to the wife of the missing husband. The first thought would be that he cheated on her with some young lady. As they looked into his office, they found a photo of the missing with a young lady and a horse. 

They then go to a horse race, looking for anyone who might have known or seen him. Laura talks to one of the guys who sets the betting. In that scene, that was one of the funniest scenes in the episode. Soon, Laura speaks to the bartender; he tries to hit on her but then talks about the missing doctor. 

Laura and Billy then look into the horse barns where the horses are before the races. They look into one and find the body of the missing doctor. The victim was stabbed in the chest, and an air bubble killed him. 

So Laura and the gang looked into who might have killed him. They looked into his work, who was a fertility doctor. They find that the victim has been conning his patients into believing that they are pregnant and later telling them that they have miscarried.  And to ensure they get evidence, Laura and Jake make an appointment and learn that she's pregnant.  That's where they busted the doctor and brought her to talk about the scheme the victim was pulling. 

Then Laura and the gang go through some of the doctor's clients, who might hate him. Meredith talked to the one who had attacked the doctor. After they spoke, Meredith talked to Billy about marriage and having kids. 

Soon, Laura and Billy make one more stop at a client who says she has seen the doctor and also that she's pregnant. As more quickly asked a question to the lady, they left, but soon Laura got the most significant clue on this case. She started sneezing; she's allergic to horse hair. They went back and asked her if she had been at any horse races, and she replied no, but her husband had, and they went to meet with him up on the roof. 

Laura and Billy meet and talk to the husband. He admitted that he spoke to him and knew what he was doing to him and his wife. He didn't like it, but he also didn't know that he killed him. Soon the husband was freaking out—Billy texted for backup and not to make a sound. 

Soon, Laura talks to him and tells him she understands what he's going through. She mentions how one day you think you can be happy, then the next you're not. She talks about how she and Jake were pregnant with a little girl but then had a miscarriage. But then mentions the twin boys. 

That scene was a moment that I didn't see coming at all. Talk about a show that balances drama and comedy in a police procedural; this was amazing. 

Also, one of the funniest moments of the storyline was with the twins. They are suspected of bullying a little girl, so after more than once, the moms of New York City came to Laura's house and had an intervention. It was hilarious, along with other great moments with the babysitter.

You can catch "The Mysteries of Laura" Wednesday nights at 8/7c on NBC

Chicago PD: "Called in Dead"

When Erin gets a call from Nadia that her friend has overdosed on a drug in Erin's apartment. As Erin learns about the drug, she and the gang make an Ocean's 11-style steal. As soon as they take the drugs, they watch the club's owner freak out. 

Soon, Voght and the gang pick him up and talk to him. They want him to get his boss to come out and talk. As things are set up, the club owner meets with Blue and his guys carrying heavier weaponry. The Voght and the gang move in. 

The one thing I love about this show is how they do these stakeouts and come in. There are times when you don't know what's going to happen or who will come from. 

So Voght talks to Blue, but the guy isn't talking. So, the rest of the gang is trying to find out about him. 

As they do that, Al comes home and surprises his wife with flowers and wine. But things aren't expected; it's quiet, and Al hears her speak softly, scaredly. Blue's gang members are in the house, and they want the drugs back. 

So one of the guys takes Al to get the drugs. As Al takes the back, he comes back in the car and soon shows him the drugs but also offers him a shotgun and blasts him right there in the car. 

Soon, Al and Voght get to his house and take the other guy out. They bring him back to headquarters and put him in the cage. Al talks to him about how he killed his brother. Al has been around so long that he's zen about it. 

Meanwhile, Burgess and Roman are out on a psycho K-9 run with Roman's ex-partner. Both Roman and his ex had some perfect moments. But it would then later get them in trouble. 

As the CPD gang comes up with something, the one connection they have is that a judge has been letting them go after being arrested. So they pick up the judge at his home where he was having a nooner with a young lady.

As Voght and Al talk to the judge, the Commander brings them out to talk. Soon, information came that it wasn't the judge but the court clerk handling the gang's release. So the gang picked him up as soon as he was about to run. 

Also, as Erin has been dreading whether or not to join the task force, she talked to Voght about it and then announced to the squad that she's taking the job. I would think that what Erin has done is something she loves and cares about. 

And I mentioned that Roman and his ex would get in trouble arguing. At the end of the episode, Burgess, Roman, and his ex make another round and check at a house. Soon, Roman and his ex argued; Burgess then moved on and went to the door. She told them to shut up, but then, as she rang the doorbell, a blast of gunshots went through the door, hitting Burgess. 

We are left with two shocking moments that came one after the other. Talk about a fall finale; I loved it but was shocked that Erin would take it. I thought she wouldn't. Also, the last minute of the episode of Burgess getting shot was another shocker. 

Well, we'll have to wait and see how our ladies will be come January. 

You can catch "Chicago PD" on Wednesday nights at 10/9c on NBC.

The Fuel to the Flame: Chicago Fire

This is going to be a short and quick recap with the last two episodes.

"Arrest In Transit"

Things start to heat up with Casey and Dawson, as the Firehouse was called to a acid is spilling into the street. When Dawson goes cowboy on the squad and moved a truck full of gravel and dumped it on the acid street. The head chief comes by and see's how a candidate handled that over her boss.

That made Casey very upset. Upset that he really kind of went cold stone facial over Dawson. Dawson tried to apologized for it but it seems to go through his head and pretends that every things okay.

Later on Dawson wanted to talk to Casey and have a night out. When she was working at Molly's and hoping to see Casey come by, Mils comes over and the two talk. At one point the two held hands as Dawson talked about her relationship with Casey to Mils. That's when things took a bit of a turn when Casey heard and saw the two.

Meanwhile Mils wasn't having a great day either. When him and Britt get a call about a kid drowning at a community gym pool. Just when you thought you got the kid alive, as they take the kid to Chicago Med and telling his after that he'll be okay. The kid soon took a turn for the worst and later died.

That made the son's father very upset and also that he's part of some kind of mafia type of group. He's got the connections and money to do whatever. The father later goes to Mils and tells him that he better watch out.


"Santa Bites"

When it comes to this being the fall finale episode, they really topped it to the end.

We see Casey and Severide hanging out with each other drinking. Something that we don't or haven't seen in awhile. When two ladies walk by the two talk to them and then...well... let's just say that Casey woke up in one of the lady's apartment.

Boy, did he thought he did something bad. Later on he talked to Dawson and tried to forgive, in which they did. But when Casey talked to Severide about it, Severide told him that he didn't slept with that lady that it was him that did and Casey was drunk and passed out on the couch.

But soon, when Casey forgot his phone at the lady's apartment, the lady soon called and got Dawson. That's when the relationship took a turn and now it's Dawson in for the payback on Casey.

Meanwhile, Molly II was coming into play. Britt had made some Santa Bites which looks very good and another reason why Chicago Fire should be publishing a cookbook for fans to make and enjoy when the show comes on. Chicago Fire tailgate party right? Anyone with me on that?

Soon, the Molly's II truck was going to be displayed at a Christmas festival in the city. When Herrmann talked to a reporter about the new Molly's. The reporter then got to interview him, which turned out to be a bad interview. Quite like me when someone asks me questions.

But that wasn't the worst part, the worst part was when Molly's II's breaks were off and it drove all the way until it hit the actively scene.  And makes it so long Molly's II I guess.

While this way happening, Boden and his wife were arguing about how the baby should or shouldn't have Boden's last name. That then turned Boden into a George Constanza and talked about how you're suppose to have turkey on Thanksgiving and not some meatless meat on the holidays.

Soon, when round two was about to come, Boden's wife goes into labor. With no Britt or Mils around, the firehouse gang takes her and drives her to Chicago Med. As they try getting there, traffic becomes the biggest issue for them So, that's when Boden help deliver his son in the fire truck.

As soon as they get there, something went wrong with the baby that it's not breathing.  And we see Boden stopped at the ICU door.

But with that cliffhanger, you think that's it right? Wrong. Before the baby was born, both Britt and Mils were out on a call. A homeless man got run over by a truck that apparently was left at the scene. As they try to help him, soon two cars come up from both sides of the alley.

When Casey and the gang are looking for them. They go out and soon they find the truck but the question is where is Britt and Mils? Two cliffhangers in one night, I love this show!! That was also the case last week in the Chicago PD fall finale too.

You can catch "Chicago Fire" Tuesday night when it returns sometime in Janurary at 10/9c on NBC.

A Look Back: Bring Dysfunctional For The Holidays

(The weekend after Thanksgiving in 2012, I got to write what's known as my first review for the college newspaper. I was so lucky to write about the Second City performance. And it was my second time seeing them perform there. And would be come every year to perform.)

After spending the Thanksgiving holidays with family, audiences were entertained by Second City’s version of a dysfunctional holiday at Illinois Central College.

On Nov. 24, The Chicago Second City performed “Dysfunctional Holiday Revue” at the Performing Arts Center at ICC to a sold out crowed. The cast contain of actors of Neal Dandade, Alex DiGiacinto, Chelsea Devantez, Cate Freedman and Eddie Mujica.

The first act started with a group of friends being together watching the snow fall, discussing on how they should handle the Christmas party with gift exchange of Secret Santa and that the group thought it wouldn’t be such a good idea as the actors performed bits of short skits of flashbacks.

As the show moved on, the cast interacted with the audience as part of school musical with actor Dandade as the musical conductor. Each audience member had a part.

But it was until actor Devantez who acted like a young blonde, gave the contactor news that her ex boyfriend was in the section she was conducting. Devantez brought up Mark Schore from his seat to the stage and gave him the symbols to play. As it was all put together, everyone played to the tune “Deck the Halls.”

The funniest sketch of the show came when actors Mujica and Freedman were coming to his apartment after a date. As they came in, Devantez came out wearing a tight t-shirt and short shorts because he was doing laundry.

Devantez played the Wii and then the radio and that’s when Dan Fogelberg song “Same Old Lang Syne” come on and started crying like a baby because it reminded him of his ex wife. “