Tag Archives: Billy Joel

Disney, Movie, Review

Review – Disney’s Oliver and Company on Blu-ray

Oliver and Company 25th Anniversary Blu-ray

We received a copy of the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack of Oliver and Company, which comes out August 6, so that we could watch it and review it. Opinions are 100% our own.

Disney dips into the classics with this re-imagined tale of Oliver Twist the orphan who became a street thief and ultimately finds a home. In this tale Oliver is a little kitten played by Joey Lawrence, Joseph now. The Artful Dodger is now a carefree dog played by Billy Joel and so there is going to be plenty of music. Billy Joel wasn’t alone in the musical portion of the movie because there were songs by Bette Midler and Huey Lewis as well.

The animation is good and the story is full of music. It was actually the first Disney musical (3 or more songs in the movie) since the Fox & the Hound. The kids enjoyed the movie but were scared of the parts with the character Sykes. That makes sense in that he was an evil character in the original story. However, he gets his later in the movie.

Eva’s favorite part was the party at the end. She does love a happy resolution to a story. We discussed the movie together at dinner and explained to her that our cat Oliver actuaklly got his name from Oliver Twist because Allison was an English major and when we were looking for names for our cats we were thumbing through a book of classics.

Here is an official synopsis of the movie and details on the Blu-ray/DVD. Continue reading Review – Disney’s Oliver and Company on Blu-ray →

Family, Music

Ellis Paul at the Dessert Club

Post originally Written by Allison

Yes, another post by Allison! Hold on to these folks, they might be collector’s items some day!!

Yesterday was a busy day for me. I went to see the 2:00 showing of Movin’ Out at the Colonial Theatre in Boston. My friend Cara had an extra ticket, so she called me! Movin’ Out is a phenomenal show!! The music was, of course, incredible. Michael Cavanaugh, who sang the show, was fantastic. And the dancing was amazing! I highly recommend it to all fans of Billy Joel!

The show was really interesting because the band and Michael Cavanaugh were on a catwalk above the stage playing, it really added to the show. Four of the main characters (Brenda, Eddie, Judy and James) were all played by understudies during the matinee, but they were amazing!

Then last night we went to see Ellis Paul (and opener Flynn) at the Dessert Club in Taunton, MA at 8:00.

Both Ellis and Flynn put on great shows! Flynn wasn’t able to stick around for Ellis’ set, unfortunately – I think he was just embarrassed after having an entire Unitarian Church sing happy birthday to him.

Ellis was incredible as always. He played quite a few songs that will most likely be on his next album and quite a few of his standards.

After the show we bought a couple of CDs that we didn’t have and Ellis was kind enough to take the time to sign them for us. He was so friendly and happy to chat with his fans.

It looks like we are off to see him again on April 3rd in Natick at The Center for the Arts in Natick. And we’re going to the May 10th show at The Blackthorne Tavern in South Easton.

If you’d like to join us, let us know! Ellis’ shows are always great. He’s a fun performer with a great sense of humor that fills his shows.

Four thumbs up from the Bennett/Sparks Household!