Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Halloween. Show all posts

Monday, October 23, 2023

Pumpkin Carving 2023

Since Tashena is living in Washington and Sean is in college living in a dorm, Marilyn and I thought that we probably wouldn't be doing some of our holiday traditions this year.  Then Marilyn got a text from Sean asking when we would be carving pumpkins!  We had our annual pumpkin carving party last night while he was home for dinner (my family gets together every Sunday for dinner) and it was a lot of fun!
I am quite proud of my pumpkin this year because it actually turned out like the pattern!
I have a picture like this from every year since he was a little boy!  We'll see if he wants to do gingerbread houses for Christmas!

Monday, October 24, 2022

Pumpkin Carving 2022

Yesterday my family got together for our annual pumpkin carving party and we had so much fun.  We have been doing this with Sean and Tashena since they were really little and every year I wonder if it will be the last time because they will have outgrown it but Sean called me specifically to remind me to buy pumpkins!
I really love this tradition and I think our pumpkins turned out really cool this year!

Tuesday, October 18, 2022

Thriller 2022

I have been attending Odyssey Dance Theatre's annual Halloween dance extravaganza Thriller for the past fifteen years and it has always been one of my favorite Halloween traditions.  However, Derryl Yeager, the founder and artistic director of ODT, is retiring so this year's production will be the final one.  Since I won't be able to see it again I enjoyed it even more than usual last night and so did the loud and enthusiastic crowd at Kingsbury Hall!  There weren't any new dance numbers but that didn't really matter because I felt very nostalgic about all of my old favorites.  I looked forward with great anticipation to seeing the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas during their first recital in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," schoolgirls who are possessed by porcelain dolls in "Annabelle of the Ball," a trio of Jasons wielding a variety of weapons (including chainsaws) in "Jason Jam," scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number in the show), demonic dolls in "Chucky-Rama," acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  Every one of these numbers put a huge smile on my face and I think "Jason Jam" was even funnier than usual!  Once again the artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed "Siren of the Sea," "Phantom of the Opera," "Full Moon," and "Slytherin" and these numbers were so much fun to watch because I have no idea how they do what they do!  My favorite was "Full Moon" which involved a group of six artists costumed as wolves and one as Little Red Riding Hood performing on a spinning globe.  Finally, I was so happy to see the return of Bubbles the Clown (he is hilarious) in between the numbers!  I had so much fun last night (as well as at every performance through the years) and, if you have never seen it before, I highly recommend getting a ticket before it is too late!  It runs at Kingsbury Hall through October 22 and at Tuacahn through October 31 (go here for tickets).

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Thriller 2021

I have been attending Odyssey Dance Theatre's Halloween extravaganza Thriller for years and years and it is always so much fun!  It is one of my favorite Halloween traditions!  I was able to see this year's production at Kingsbury Hall (it is being performed in six different venues) last night and I loved it!  I (along with the rowdy and enthusiastic crowd) always look forward with great anticipation to all of the old favorites, including the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein" (I am always amazed at how flexible the Bride of Frankenstein is in this number), glow in the dark tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of Jasons who wield various weapons in "Jason Jam" (this gets funnier every year), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number in the show), acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  I am also very eager to see if there are any new numbers in the show and this year there was one called "Annabelle at the Ball."  This involved dancing porcelain dolls inhabited by spirits summoned by a group of schoolgirls and it was really creepy when the lights came on to reveal the dolls in the audience!  As in year's past, artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed in between the numbers and they were absolutely amazing.  In addition to "Siren of the Sea" and "Phantom of the Opera," which were performed last year, this year included a group of six artists costumed as wolves and one as Little Red Riding Hood performing on a spinning globe in "Full Moon" and two artists costumed as snakes performing on silks in "Slytherin." I have no idea how these aerialists do what they do!  My only complaint with this year's show was the return of Giggle Girl and her comedy routine in between the numbers.  I think she is so annoying and I wish they would bring back Bubbles the Clown!  Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I highly recommend adding Thriller to your list of Halloween traditions (go here for information, venues, and tickets).

Note:  This year marked the return of the undead who wander the aisles before the show.  Do not make eye contact with them!  Trust me on this!

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Pumpkin Carving 2020

Last night Marilyn, Tashena, Sean, and I had our annual pumpkin carving party and it was a lot of fun!
Tashena and I picked out pumpkins from the Cross E Ranch pumpkin patch and we have accumulated a lot of carving tools and kits over the years.
Carving our pumpkins!
Our finished pumpkins!
Marilyn's Old School Jack-O-Lantern
My Witch Feet
Tashena's Sugar Skull
Sean's Miss Me (He designed this and I think it is cool).

Friday, October 23, 2020

Thriller 2020

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is seeing a performance of ODT's dance extravaganza Thriller.  With so many things being canceled because of Covid-19 I was so happy to learn that this year's show was still going to happen!  It moved from Kingsbury Hall to Capitol Theatre, which is a much bigger venue, and all of the usual protocols (socially distant seating, contactless ticketing, digital programs, and mandatory masks) were in place.  The show was a bit scaled down without an intermission and the performers wore masks on stage.  Even though the audience was smaller than the usual sold-out crowd, we cheered in anticipation for every familiar number including the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," a group of misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of weapon wielding Jasons in "Jason Jam" (an audience favorite), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number), acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  As in year's past, artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed several numbers in between the dances including "Siren of the Sea" and "Phantom of the Opera" (which was amazing).  There were also several original films by Scott Winn featuring twerking stormtroopers and dancing Orcs.  This year, unfortunately, also featured the return of Giggle Girl's (Emily Perucca) comedy act in between numbers.  I think she is really annoying (where is Bubbles the Clown?).  Many of the numbers are performed year after year and I always enjoy seeing all of the subtle changes in the choreography.  This year there were a few humorous references to Covid-19!  One of Miss Alli's misbehaving pandas refused to keep his mask on and one of the Jasons put a mask on (over his hockey mask), used hand sanitizer, and used an infrared thermometer to find someone from the audience to participate on stage.  I think I enjoyed the show more than usual this year because I was so happy to be able to see it!  It just wouldn't be Halloween without it.  There are three more performances at Capitol Theatre (go here) and I highly recommend getting a ticket!

Note:  I usually spend my time trying to avoid eye contact with the undead who roam the aisles before the show but this year they stayed in their graves because of Covid-19.  I kind of missed them!

Thursday, October 31, 2019

Pumpkin Carving 2019

With Tashena away at college (we miss her) I wondered whether Sean would want to carve pumpkins this year.  I told him that we didn't have to do it if he didn't want to because I sometimes worry that these seasonal activities are more for my benefit than for his.  He responded that we had to do it because it was tradition!  I got some of the biggest pumpkins I've ever seen and we carved them Tuesday night!  It was a lot of fun and my sister roasted the seeds which is my favorite part!
Happy Halloween!
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