Theater Thursday - Doktor Kaboom and Milk and Honey

We were given free tickets to Doktor Kaboom for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Doktor Kaboom

Where: State Theatre New Jersey
             15 Livingston Ave.
             New Brunswick, NJ

Who: All Ages

When: January 21, 2017
           (For future Doktor Kaboom tour dates go to http://www.doktorkaboom.com/schedule)

Me - Doktor Kaboom was a good show. It was a science show about electricity. One of the things that I thought was really cool was that Doktor Kaboom turned a pickle into a light bulb. Then, he added two more pickles and made them all into a light bulb. It was amazing! They also picked some kids from the audience to help with some things. I didn't get picked although I wanted too. There was this little girl sitting in front of us who was jumping up and down and waving her hands up and down. She got picked. Doktor Kaboom called her "Jumping Girl." She was sucking on a cough drop. He made it her take it out of her mouth, and he put it in his pocket. That was disgusting! He showed us a tesla coil and how it works. The first kid who got picked had to catch ping pong balls in a bucket. Dr. Kaboom was first throwing them at him and then shooting them at him. The kid had a helmet on and didn't get hurt. There were also kids in bubble suits who had to bump into each other. All in all, it was a great show and very entertaining.

Mom - If you are looking  for a show that will educate your children in addition to entertaining them, Doktor Kaboom is a great choice. Doktor Kaboom is a comedy science show performed by actor/comedian, David Epley. It provides a fun and interesting way for kids to learn about real science concepts. His current show focuses on learning about electricity. It teaches kids about such things as voltage and current, charges, conservation of energy and plasma. The show includes audience participation and a lot of humor. It keeps children of all ages completely engaged from start to finish while still managing to entertain adults as well. It is even great for young children with short attention spans as the show is only about an hour long, and that hour will pass by very quickly. Other Doktor Kaboom shows include one about the physical sciences, one about rocket science, and even one on the science of Santa. For more information about Doktor Kaboom go to http://www.doktorkaboom.com/. For more information about upcoming events at State Theatre New Jersey go to https://www.statetheatrenj.org/events and/or read our weekly Sunday Scoop posts.

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We were given free tickets to Milk and Honey for review purposes. Any and all opinions expressed here are our own.

What: Milk and Honey

Where: York Theater Company
             619 Lexington Ave.
            New York, NY

Who: Teens and Up

When: Through February 5th Only

Me - Milk and Honey was good. It was about a group of widows who were travelling in Israel. One of them is named Ruth. She meets a man and falls in love, but he is married. Although he and his wife have been separated for years, she doesn't want to divorce him. There were a bunch of other people's stories in the show too. The stories were interesting. The acting was good. The singing was really good. I liked the songs but I don't have a favorite. One character who was  an older women named Clara was funny. A lot of the show was funny. I liked how creative they were.  They used music stands for sheep and a goat. They had papers on them that said "goat" or "sheep" so you knew what it was. They did a nice job of making sure you knew where the scenes were taking place by projecting pictures on the back of the stage. I didn't really like the end of the show. It was a little bit sad although it was happy for most of the characters. Over all, it was a great show, and I would recommend it.

Mom - York Theater's latest production in their dressed down, script-in-hand, Musicals In Mufti series is Milk and Honey. Milk in Honey is Jerry Herman's first show, and you can definitely see traces of his future shows in it. If you like love stories, you will love this show which has not one but four love stories as part of its plot. The songs in the show are not as well known as the songs in some of Jerry Herman's other shows, but the show does have some nice songs including Shalom and the title song. The leading role of Phil Arkin is beautifully sung by opera singer, Mark Delevan. However, all of the voices are nice. The show is filled with a nice mix of sweetness and humor. Great comic relief is provided in particular by Alix Korey as Clara Weiss, the leader of a group of widows traveling to Israel hoping to find new husbands as well as Abby Goldfarb and Jacob Heimer as Zipporah and Adi respectively, a young engaged couple awaiting the birth of their first child. Ms. Korey is better here than she was in her recent turn as Yente in Fiddler on the Roof. Even though the show is somewhat dated, it still provides a delightfully entertaining evening (or afternoon). If you are interested in seeing the show, don't hesitate as this limited run show will only be playing through this Sunday February 5, 2017.

For more information on the show or to purchase tickets go to http://www.yorktheatre.org/2017-mufti-season.html. You can also find information there about York Theater Company's other two upcoming shows in the Musicals In Mufti series. Berlin to Broadway With Kurt Weill: A Musical Voyage, will run from February 11- 19, and Dear World, starring Tyne Daly, will run from February 25- March 5. We will also be talking more about these other shows in the Musicals in Mufti series in future posts.

And that's our view. Tune in tomorrow for Funtivity Friday.

Photo credits: All Doktor Kaboom photos supplied by State Theatre New Jersey
                       All Milk and Honey photos by Ben Strothmann