When You Wish...

by Al Kessel

Joyce and I, as so many of you know, are HUGE Disney fans. We love the Resorts, the movies, the merchandise, and of course, Walt Disney. For us, he epitomized fun and success. He stared adversity in the eyes and succeeded, when most said he'd fail. He did things his way, despite the naysayers, and when his way didn't work, he'd reinvent and go again. These are the things that catapulted Walt Disney to the level of LEGEND. And you can see this all for yourself. Well, sort of. In the new musical play, When You Wish: The Story of Walt Disney (playing at the Phoenix Theater May 18 - June 12, 2016, you can witness for yourself, Walt's trials, tribulations, triumphs and victories, all set to some very fun, toe-tapping musical numbers!

When You Wish is the story of Walt Disney, from his early days as a young animator at his company Laugh O Gram Studios, all the way to the opening of Walt's beloved Disneyland. 

The show is presented in a very appealing way. It's narrated by Walt's brother and business partner Roy Disney. It all starts with Walt trying to sell Roy on the concept of Disneyland, then, we flash back to 1908 with a six year old Walt drawing his cartoons on the family home, barn, and toilet paper! 

The show progresses through the major milestones throughout Walt's life, such as Laugh O Gram Studios, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, Walt's famous move to California, Disney Brothers Studios, meeting and marrying his soul mate Lillian, the creation of Mickey Mouse and ultimately the opening of Disneyland (with Walt reciting the now famous "To All Who Come To This Happy Place, Welcome..." speech). 

Eighteen original (and very well done) musical numbers and dances, help to present Walt's story in a very fun and enjoyable way. I don't usually enjoy musicals, but When You Wish is just one of those you can't help but love! 

Veteran Broadway actor Joey Sorge plays Walt, and although at

Joey Sorge as Walt Disney

first I thought "hey, he doesn't look like Walt at all!", he quickly won me (and Joyce) over with his command of the role. Joey's performance makes When You Wish so special. Sydney Marie Hawes portrayed Lillian and Andy Umberger (another veteran of Broadway) portrays Roy Disney. I must add that Andy Umberger does a wonderful job as Roy, and he and Joey are very convincing. In fact, we quickly got lost in their performance and the ease in which they played off of one another. The total cast consists of 20 actors/actresses and they all make this show a pleasure to watch. 

Walt and Roy 

When You Wish was created by Dean McClure, who wrote the play as well as all the musical numbers. Mr. McClure's journey to bring When You Wish to life is quite interesting. Born out of a desire to see Walt's story on Broadway, Dean conducted intensive research and began writing his play. 

When You Wish is directed by Larry Raben, the musical director is Alan Ruch and the choreographer is Lee Martino. The show is broken into two acts, with act one running one hours 20 minutes, and act two running one hour. Although coming in at two hours 20 minutes, it sure didn't seem like it! Time VERY well spent. When You Wish: The Story of Walt Disney is playing at the Phoenix Theater (in Phoenix, Arizona) from May 18 - June 12, 2016, with multiple show times, including matinees. For tickets visit The Phoenix Theater. 

All in all, When You Wish: The Story of Walt Disney is a fabulous musical, and in our opinion, a must see event. Well acted, well choreographed and well presented, we give this show 5 stars out of 5! 

**Joyce and I were given tickets in exchange for an honest review.

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse: Mickey's Monster Musical

by Joyce Kessel

The Director of Return to Never Land, Donovan Cook and Executive Producer of Jake and the Never Land Pirates, Rob LuDuca, brings another fun Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Adventure.  The DVD, released on September 8, 2015, will surely get the little ones excited for Halloween.  The DVD includes an exclusive Mini tote trick-or-treat bag.

Mickey needs help solving a spooktacular mystery!!  Can you help him out?

Put on your favorite Halloween costume and get set for a spooktacular full-length adventure. Visit the creaky castle of kindly “Count Mickula” and help your Clubhouse pals solve a puzzling riddle: Who, or what, is making a curious clanging, banging noise? With the right Monster Mouseketools and help from YOU, this mystery will soon be history! Then, enjoy two more exciting episodes as you search for pirate treasure with Captain Mickey and don your dungarees for delightful fun down on the farm. Packed with singing, dancing, laughter and surprises, Mickey’s Monster Musical is a high-spirited treat that can’t be beat.

Joyce's Thoughts:
Mickey’s Pirate Adventure was my favorite episode and I liked joining Mickey and friends on the beach for a day of adventures.  How amazing would it be to catch some waves with Mickey, even if you wipeout!!!  One of my favorite scenes was the duo with Goofy and his Grandpappy.  Will they be able to tune the island?  You have to watch to find the answer.  

My least favorite episode was the Monster Musical.  I can’t really pinpoint what I didn’t like about the episode, but I am sure that it will be a favorite of many.

Voice Cast:  Bret Iwan as Mickey; Russi Taylor as Minnie Mouse; Bill Farmer as Goofy and Pluto; Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck; and Tress MacNeilleas Daisy Duck.

The DVD has a running time of 115 minutes and includes the following episodes:
Mickey’s Monster Musical 
Mickey’s Pirate Adventure
Mickey’s Farm Fun Fair
Bonus: Minnie’s Bow-Toons: Tricky Treats

Teen Beach Movie...Ride The Wave Dude!

My lovely wife Joyce decided to take this review on, and I've GOT to be honest with you, I'm glad she did. I did watch a few minutes of Teen Beach Movie with her, and well...let's just say I'm NOT a fan. What I saw made me very happy I was VERY busy! While I won't be "nasty", I will say that what I viewed kind of annoyed me and made me wonder WHAT Disney was thinking! But then, I'm sure this film wasn't made for people in my demographic! Enjoy Joyce's review - Al 

by Joyce Kessel
I wasn't sure  if I was going to enjoy the surf-rock retro beach movie but it was an ok flick,  although I think it is better suited for pre-teen and early teens. It was a bit of Grease and West Side Story combined into one movie. 

Disney Channel unleashed a retro beach party movie: Teen Beach Movie on July 19.

So, here’s a quick synopsis of the movie:

After McKenzie's (Maia Mitchell) mom passes away, she makes an agreement with her Grandpa (Barry Bostwick) and Aunt Antoinette (Suzanne Cryer) that she would spend her “important” high school years at a school of her Aunt’s choosing (which involves her leaving the Beach Town).  Although she doesn't want her endless summer to...well, end, she wants to make her late mom proud and make something of herself. She has yet to break the news to her boyfriend Brady (Ross Lynch) and while attempting to tell him her aunt arrives and breaks the news.

Washed Up In A Movie

As she prepares to head out to catch her flight she has to ride the wave one last time but an ominous storm is brewing. Although a HUGE storm is surging, she ignores the red flag alert, and paddles her surf board out to sea and is swept underwater by a monster wave all the while, Brady (Ross Lynch) attempts to rescue her. 

Of course, a dance number on the beach!

After a fade to black, the water is calm and Brady and MacKenzie urgently try to get to shore so she can catch her flight.  But...something is very odd... They are in her Grandpa and Brady's favorite musical movie, “Wet Side Story”. 

As they make their way on shore, they see the “real” movie cast perform “Surf Crazy” and of course, Brady joins in the fun (since he DOES know ALL the moves) while MacKenzie (Mac) just wants to go home. After joining in on their musical number, they all run to the beachside restaurant Big Momma's and Brady and Mac introduce themselves to the surfer gang,  just before the biker gang shows up and start the “surf and turf war”. 

Surf And Turf War?

That evening, during a dance in Big Momma’s where Lela (Grace Phipps) who happens to be a biker,  is singing “Falling For Ya”, Mac and Brady argue about staying in the movie or trying to find a way out. Brady of course wants to stay, but Mac wants to go, and decides to investigate a way out on her own. However, they suddenly change the movie when the movie’s leading guy Tanner (Garrett Clayton), who happens to be a surfer, sees Mac and falls in love with her, and Brady catches Lela when she falls off stage - which was SUPPOSED to be done by Tanner. And since the surfer and biker don’t fall in love, the scripted surfer/biker feud doesn’t happen.  Not only does the turf war cease to exist but the bad guys trying to change weather patterns cannot be stopped.  

A Scene From Grease, err, Teen Beach Movie

Yep, I left a lot out of the synopsis, but that’s because we want you to experience the movie for yourself! Remember, limited spoilers here!


As with all Disney movies there IS a moral to the story. Tanner thinks everyone is good. Lela (the biker) wants to learn to surf and be a pro, while Tanner realized he wanted to be a biker, not a surfer. She taught him to ride, he taught her to surf.  Mac, throughout the movie tells Lela to be brave and pursue her dreams. By the end, she learns that she is not practicing what she preaches so decides to stand up to her aunt and tells her that will not be attending the high school her aunt picked out, but she will be staying with her Grandpa. Be true to yourself - moral for the day! 

"We Go Together Like..."

Some of the nit-pick things in Teen Beach Movie for me:

*There is a subplot involving a mad scientist and weather control that I felt did not really belong here. But I guess they had to find a way to get Mac and Brady in the movie. 

*The Mad scientist uses a candy thermometer to make his weather potion and a Buzz Lightyear astro blaster gun to stun them.   Hmmmm...

*As Mac and Brady " morph" into the movie she has a bit of an accent from time to time.

*This movie felt a LOT like Pleasantville to me. Very similar plot...well, sort of
    
Teen Beach Movie is now available on DVD which has a few bonus features including exclusive dance rehearsal footage and musical numbers. SRP $26.99