670: Stage Fright

[Irwin]

[shadowdog]

My 4th favorite episode on Album 52

I will review later...thanks

[jennifertwt]

This episode was definitely better than Wooton's Broken Pencil Show. I thought it was pretty good until the end. The ending was kind of lame. Still looking forward to Christmas and Thanksgiving episodes. They will determine how quickly I purchase this album.

[Bennett]

You can find my review here:

http://aio-thechangingtimes.blogspot.co ... right.html

[Marvin D.]

Here is my 400 word plus review.


I think I’ll jump straight into my review, since I can’t think of a way to start it. I sort of had hoped that Matthew would have narrated the case instead of Emily, as she did in Game for a Mystery. It would have provided a different twist for the episode. When Emily called the mystery, “The Mystery of the Phantom Opera of the School Play” and decided that it was too long, and then shortened it down to “Stage Fright”, I found it frank. I like her frankness.
Jay’s role as ‘the bad guy’ in the beginning was rather funny, though I think his repeating of “Rue the day!” was just a little spooky. His laugh could use some improvements.
Mr. Stolfitz's voice was so familiar, that I couldn’t figure out who it was, until I looked it up on AIOWiki. I knew he sounded like somebody I knew, namely, Bennett Charles.
Miss Adelaide sounded a lot like Mrs. Nietchew, but I don’t think the way she acted in getting rid of all of the students because she was scared of the phantom too was realistic. I had expected her to not be so scared.

As for the mystery itself, I realized quickly that it couldn’t be Jay directly causing all of the problems. Right after we heard the phantom interrupt the play, I knew that it had to be someone—or something—else causing it. After Matthew and Emily caught Jay, that only reinforced my thinking. I knew for certain then that it was something else. Jay wouldn’t be that stupid and say “Rue the day,” and then cause that. And after Emily finds the real culprit and exposes the parrot, I also knew then that it couldn’t be just the parrot, but it had to be insert name doing it on purpose. And after he explained what it was all about, that was probably the lamest part of the whole show. C’mon peoples, add some more realism. It reminded me of The Mystery at Tin Flat. And of course, everything goes back to how it was supposed to go, and they all live happily ever after...maybe. And on a side note, when Matthew says to Emily that all their mysteries are connected to animals (the crow stealing Barrett’s Verminoids). So that means, if we’re realistic, this is only the second mystery they’ve done. Hmm....overall, I think this episode gets a 7.5/10 stars. And I only have one more thing to say. RUE THE DAY!

[Laura Ingalls]

I enjoyed this episode - it had some good laughs. Rue the day!!!!

4/5 stars

[DanP740]

The explanation by the weird guy was very lame... and I can't think of much else to say...

3/5

[V-lady]

I was hoping for a cool theatrical and spooky mystery. But almost as soon as it started, I knew I was going to be disappointed. I felt like there was barely any time to actually get into the mystery. There were a bunch of crazy lines, then all the sudden the mystery is solved and the episode is over. And it wasn't even a good ending. The whole thing just seemed childish and cheesy to me.

One of the main things I disliked was the narration. Narrations of this style are usually only enjoyable when the character narrating adds humorous commentary throughout. Emily did not. For an example of the way I enjoy episodes to be narrated, take "Heatwave". Was Jack one of my favorite kid characters? No. But I still get a good laugh whenever I hear it. Why? Because of the way the show was executed and Jack and Oscar's hilarious commentary.

Unlike many of the old kid characters, Emily and Matthew just don't play that well off of each other to me. Most of the time it's just Emily telling Matthew what to do, and Matthew feebly responding back to her.

To be honest, none of the characters in this episode really wowed me with their performance. Even Jay, who was the only one that made me laugh, seemed uninteresting by the end. I just couldn't get into it.

Aaand..I could say more, but I'm getting tired of bashing a show that I really do normally enjoy.

Perhaps this was just one of the episodes made to remind us that the age range is from 8-12.

I'd rate it 2.5/5. Not the worst ever, but far from being the best.

[jennifertwt]

Chores No More and Mystery at Tin Flat are actually two of my favorites. This episode was not as good as either one.

[Bennett]

Chores No More and Mystery at Tin Flat are actually two of my favorites. This episode was not as good as either one.

You must be referring to my review in referencing "Chores No More"? And I'll agree with you; this one isn't as good. But my point is that while "Chores No more" is a decent episode, it could have been much better if the kids who starred in it were more memorable. Likewise, "Stage Fright" could have been better if, say, Mandy was searching for the ghost, Jared was her sidekick, Rodney perhaps had the role of Jay, and someone like Alex had Barrett's role. I'm not one of those who will gripe about the present because I miss the past. But I just wasn't very interesting in the kids, here. The upcoming episode "The Owlnapping", however, is a show that does the opposite, and features a more memorable and likable kid cast. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

[jennifertwt]

The upcoming episode "The Owlnapping", however, is a show that does the opposite, and features a more memorable and likable kid cast. But I'm getting ahead of myself...

I am looking forward to that one. I also need to listen to Game for a Mystery again. I didn't remember that epsiode at all from Album 51, which might tell a tale in and of itself.

[JesusFreak777]

I personally thought this episode was hilarious. They packed so many spoofs of Broadway productions into it that I was almost rolling on the floor laughing. I Loved the references to the Pirates of Penzance, the overal spoof of The Phantom of the Opera as well as the Music Man. It was great!

[Shennifer]

I enjoyed this episode, and hearing the spoofs of other plays. And I was surprised by the ending, which is always good because it didn't seem predictable.
overall, a great episode! 4/5
and i forget, is it Emily or Olivia Parker who is voiced by an adult?

[DanP740]

Emily wrongly stated that the headless horseman was Ichabod Crane.

[Sapphire]

Very nice episode. I gave it four stars out of five. Rue the day!

[Dr. Watson]

Was anyone else reminded of Rosencrantz Guildenstern by the actor guy?

[Taps]

Ok I might as well do an interview since I haven't yet. ok I really liked this episode. what I liked about it was I thought it was pretty funny and I did expect that that weird guy was going to be the bad guy but I didn't expect that he did it because of Broadway. I thought Barett and Priscilla did a good job in this episode. but for some reason Priscilla's voice just doesen't sound the same as it did in album 51. her voice sounded a little more Tomboyish here. I enjoyed the ending when they were talking about animals and the only mystery they have had that DOESEN'T have an animal involved is square one. this episode was very interesting and it caught my attention. I hoped we would know who owned the harliquein theater after this but I guess not unless I missed somthing. altogether I would give this episode 9/10 stars. it was very interesting and different then I thought it would be!

TIFTT OUT!

[Catspaw]

Like TIFTT, I thought that the bad guy was probably the theatre guy, though I also had no idea why. I enjoyed this episode overall - it was fun and I like light-hearted mysteries sometimes. Emily can be a tad annoying at times, but that's just the way the character is. I think a lot of people know somebody who thinks they know everything and/or likes to figure things out (a.k.a. are nosy). I was hoping that the teacher would take more of a stand against the fear of the phantom, but that was just a minor thing.

Timeless classic? Not so much. Fun to listen to now and then? Absolutely!

[31899]

This was an okay episode although the episode seemed really fast paste for AIO, I really don't have much to say about this episode. Maybe I should listen to it again.

3 stars

31899

[Taq]

I never really "got into" this episode. Maybe I should try again...

(Haha, just noticed 31899 said the same thing.)