A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Empress Theatre

Last night I ventured out to the Empress, one of my favorite community theatres, for A Midsummer Night's Dream. I love this play (I taught it for many years) and I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful production. The young lovers Hermia (Kami McDonough), Lysander (Tanner Larsen), Helena (Jezory Munoz), and Demetrius (Braxton Moore), escape into the forest to avoid a harsh Athenian law and a group of rustic craftsman, including Quince (Emma Porter), Bottom (Biz Sharp), Flute (Colby Nash), Snug (Adrian Young), Snout (Stacy Mayren), and Starveling (Liz Nash), also enter the forest to rehearse a play for the wedding of Theseus (James Hutchings) and Hippolyta (Stacee Hunsaker). They cross paths with Oberon (Torin Scoffield) and Titania (Stacey Hutchings), the king and queen of the fairies, who are fighting and mayhem ensues when Oberon has his mischievous servant, Puck (Koda Smith), use a magic potion to manipulate them. I think this is one of Shakespeare's most accessible plays (which is why I taught it for so many years) and the choice to change the setting to 1930s Appalachia works very well, especially the costumes, the use of original music (I loved hearing the banjo and the washboard), and the choreography (the opening sequence immediately establishes the time and place and each of the characters). The set is beautiful and features an enchanted forest filled with vines, colorful flowers, toadstools, and logs along with a painted backdrop of mountains and dramatic lighting (the effect when Puck uses the potion is magical). I think the staging is very effective, particularly the use of multiple levels accessed by ladders and the quick entrances and exits through a large curtain, because the transitions are smooth and the pacing kept me completely engaged (there is always something happening on stage).  Finally, I really loved this cast. I pretty much have the entire play memorized and the line deliveries by everyone are incredibly natural (I will quote my other favorite Shakespeare play and say that the actors speak their speeches "trippingly on the tongue"). McDonough, Larsen, Munoz, and Moore, especially, have brilliant comedic timing in their scenes together. My favorite is the one in which Lysander and Demetrius nearly come to blows and Hermia and Helena trade insults because their physical performances are hilarious (I particularly loved it when Munoz imitates Moore). I could say the same about the actors portraying the craftsmen and I don't know what made me laugh more: Sharp's over the top death scene in Pyramus and Thisbe, Young's tears whenever Snug must act the role of the Lion, Porter's exasperation when Bottom takes over the rehearsal and when Flute mispronounces Ninus, or Nash's facial expressions when he appears as Thisbe (Nash probably wins because I laughed so hard I think I disrupted the action!). I have to give a huge thank you to the Empress for graciously providing me with a ticket because I truly had so much fun watching this show! I highly recommend that everyone, especially all of my former students who studied this play with me, get a ticket (go here) to one of the three remaining performances next weekend.

Note: I loved teaching Hamlet to my seniors and A Midsummer Night's Dream to my sophomores so it is really special that I got to see both of them on back-to-back weekends!

Coyote vs. Acme

The second movie in my double feature last night was Coyote vs. Acme and, as someone who grew up watching Looney Tunes cartoons every Saturday morning while eating cereal, I absolutely loved it!  After many years of using defective Acme products to catch the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote hires a third rate personal injury lawyer named Kevin Avery (Will Avery) after he sees his face on a giant billboard.  He wants to sue the company for damages but Kevin wants to settle so he doesn't have to face Acme's legal counsel Buddy Crane (John Cena) at trial.  Coyote refuses the settlement so Kevin, with the help of his idealistic intern Paige (Lana Condor), tries to subpoena Road Runner as a witness, follows up on a tip from Bugs Bunny, an anonymous whistleblower, and meets with Daffy Duck, a former Acme employee.  They eventually uncover a sinister plot, known as Project Sisyphus, in which Acme knowingly used cartoons to test products for human use.  They call Acme's Head of HR, the Tasmanian Devil, to testify about Project Sisyphus and chaos ensues so Judge Troppogrosso (Luis Guzman) dismisses the case.  However, a congressional hearing is convened by Senator Elmer Fudd but Acme CEO Foghorn Leghorn argues that cartoon testing is necessary for progress and that the pain felt by cartoons doesn't matter so the committee decides not to pursue federal charges.  Road Runner eventually arrives to save the day and testifies that Coyote is his friend and that he has suffered.  This is a blend of live action and animation (Eric Bauza voices most of the cartoon characters) that is very clever and very funny (I laughed out loud multiple times).  This is also a scathing indictment of corporate greed, unfair monopolies, judicial and political corruption, and exploitation of marginalized consumers (I didn't expect it to go this hard) but I really loved the powerful portrayal of perseverance in the face of adversity (I was unprepared for so much emotion).  Finally, this is incredibly nostalgic with lots of fun Easter eggs (I loved the green Batman suit).  This is one of the most delightful movies I've seen this year and, if you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend that you check it out on the big screen!

The Dog Stars

Last night I had another double feature because I am still trying to catch up on movies I missed last weekend.  I started with The Dog Stars and, even though it seems like everyone hated it, I enjoyed it for the most part.  After a worldwide flu decimated most of the population, a former mechanic named Hig (Jacob Elordi) lives in an abandoned airplane hangar with his dog Jasper and a militant former Marine named Bangley (Josh Brolin).  He often flies a small propeller plane to nearby Denver for supplies which, to Bangley's dismay, he shares with a nearby Mennonite community led by Aaron (Benedict Wong).  Bangley is vigilant about keeping outsiders from their land and, much to Hig's dismay, he shoots any who approach from his lookout tower.  Their difference of opinion about the nature of humanity leads Hig to leave in search of a radio signal coming from from Grand Junction.  He is forced to land his plane in a meadow after experiencing mechanical failure and encounters a suspicious rancher named Jake (Guy Pearce) and his daughter Cima (Margaret Qualley).  They reluctantly help him fix his plane so he will leave them in peace but are forced to escape with him when their farm is attacked by raiders.  They eventually arrive in Grand Junction only to discover a cannibalistic group under the control of a psychotic former flight attendant named Darlene (Allison Janney).  Hig ultimately decides to return to Bangley rather than continue to look for other people.  I really loved the beautiful cinematography, especially all of the flying sequences over the mountains and lakes of Colorado, and there are some dynamic action set pieces when the raiders attack.  Elordi gives a sensitive performance as a man trying not to lose his compassion for people and Brolin is having a lot of fun as a man willing to do whatever it takes to survive.  I found the push and pull between the instinct for self-protection and the need for connection to be very compelling and I liked the more contemplative pace (not everything needs to be explicitly spelled out for the audience).  However, the tonal shift that happens during the scenes in Grand Junction is so jarring that they seem like they are in a different movie and the message is really muddled by the time we reach the happy conclusion with the Mennonites.  Both episodes are very different from the novel and I wish the movie had maintained the vibe of the first two acts because that is what worked for me.  Still, I didn't dislike it and think it is better than some critics would suggest.

Finding Emily

Last night my nephew and I went to the Broadway to see Finding Emily (I have quite a few movies from last weekend to catch up on).  I am not a big fan of romantic comedies but I thoroughly enjoyed this!  Owen Brompton (Spike Fearn) is a sound engineer at a student bar near Manchester City University where he meets and forms an immediate connection with a girl named Emily (Sadie Soverall).  She quickly gives him her phone number when she leaves the bar but, when he tries to call her the next day, he realizes that she made a typo in her haste.  He is desperate to find her so he begins looking for her at the university.  His search leads him to another Emily (Angourie Rice), a psychology student working on her thesis about the self-destructive nature of romantic attachment, and she thinks he will be a perfect case study for her research so she offers to help him find his Emily.  Of course Owen and Emily fall for each other, which invalidates her conclusions, but not before they cause mayhem on campus with their search and eventually find the original Emily.  This is incredibly predictable and you know exactly what will happen beat for beat as soon as Owen interrupts Emily's class for their meet cute but it has a sparkling energy and a message about the travails of finding love in the digital age that I found compelling.  I really loved the music (any movie that features "Blue Monday" by New Order will always get a positive review from me) and I enjoyed all of the eccentric side characters, particularly a militant Emily (Kat Ronney) who mobilizes all of the other Emilys on campus against Owen because she believes he is a stalker.  Fearn, who is so endearing, and Rice, who gives a delightfully earnest performance, have genuine chemistry and are very charming together.  It does go on a bit longer than it needs to but I had so much fun watching this (I laughed out loud multiple times) and I highly recommend it!

Utah Shakespeare Festival 2026

I spent this last weekend with my sister Marilyn at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and we had so much fun!  We had been looking forward to this trip all year (we bought our tickets on Black Friday) and it was the perfect way to end the summer (we definitely enjoyed the cooler temperatures).

Our first show on Friday afternoon was She Loves Me in the Randall Jones Theatre.  This delightful musical features two bickering clerks in a Budapest perfumery during the 1930s who unknowingly fall in love with each other as anonymous pen pals.  I really loved the elaborate set!  The exterior of Maraczek's Parfumerie sits in front of a beautiful projection showing the city of Budapest and revolves to reveal the interior of the shop which is filled with large display cabinets.  Several backdrops are cleverly used to transform the shop into the Cafe Imperiale and Amalia's apartment.  The choreography for "Sounds While Selling," "A Romantic Atmosphere," and "Twelve Days to Christmas" is so fun and chaotic (Marilyn is very reserved and she laughed out loud during these scenes).  Finally, the entire cast is outstanding but I was especially impressed by the leads Ali Ewoldt and Matt Koenig because they both have beautiful voices and tremendous chemistry.  Her rendition of "Will He Like Me?" is a highlight for me because she is so vulnerable and his exuberant performance of "She Loves Me" brought the house down!

Friday night we saw Hamlet in the Englestad Theatre and it was incredible!  This is my favorite Shakespeare play (it was also my favorite piece of literature to teach) and it tells the tragic story of a Danish prince who is urged to avenge the death of his father.  I loved so many things about this particular interpretation.  The play begins with the ghost of Hamlet's father dramatically emerging from the grave and he is omnipresent throughout.  We also see the ghosts of Rosencrantz, Guildenstern, Polonius, and Ophelia at various times before they appear with the ghosts of Gertrude, Claudius, Leartes, and Hamlet to surround Horatio.  This is incredibly powerful because it makes the consequences of the King's murder very visible and I especially loved that they implore Horatio to swear to remember their story because it echoes the first scene between the ghost and Hamlet (I got goosebumps during this final moment).  I loved the choice to move Hamlet's soliloquy to after he kills Polonius because it gives more emotional weight to his words (he even cries afterwards).  I loved the way that Ophelia is portrayed because she is stronger than I've ever seen her, especially in an added encounter with Hamlet after her father's death, and Kathryn Tkel is brilliant in the role.  Walter Kmiec's performance is also amazing and I loved his interpretation of Hamlet as a young man overwhelmed by circumstances, particularly in a scene where the entire court circles around him.  Finally, I loved the dramatic set with large windows that are skewed and lose panes as the play progresses (it is intriguing to me that there is something rotten in Denmark before the action even begins).  I was blown away by the festival's production of Hamlet in 2019 and this one is very different but equally brilliant!

The next show on Saturday afternoon was Something Rotten in the Randall Jones Theatre.  This follows two struggling playwrights during the Renaissance who try to outshine William Shakespeare by writing the first musical.  I absolutely love all of the references to musical theatre in "A Musical" and "Make an Omelette" and I love that every production adds something new.  This version includes highly amusing visual references to Dear Evan Hansen and Newsies but I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed that these two numbers didn't feature more pizzazz with the choreography and costumes. I also have to admit that I didn't care for Brian Gonzales as Nostradamus or Jason Rexx as Nigel Bottom.  However, Pascal Pastrana is hilarious as the rock star Shakespeare (his codpiece is spectacular) and I loved his over the top performances of "Will Power" and "Hard to Be the Bard," especially his interactions with his groupies.  I also really enjoyed Matt Koenig as Nick Bottom because he has a beautiful voice and his versions of "Man, I Hate Shakespeare" and "Bottom's Gonna Be on Top" are a lot of fun.  Finally, I liked the clever but simple set because it features an Elizabethan theatre that is transformed into to other locations by rotating panels and flashing LED lights.  I enjoyed this but it was underwhelming compared to other productions I've seen (it didn't help that there were many students in the audience who screamed at the top of their lungs at the end of every number).

 Our final show was Twelfth Night in the Engelstad Theatre Saturday night.  When twins are separated during a shipwreck, chaos ensues when they become involved in a love triangle and are mistaken for each other.  I thoroughly enjoyed all of the physical comedy in this show, especially when Sir Toby Belch, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and Maria hide to observe the officious steward Malvolio read a letter they have forged to get back at him for spoiling their fun, when Malvolio appears smiling with yellow stockings and cross garters (I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe during this scene), and when Sir Andrew challenges Cesario to a duel.  I also loved all of the scenes involving the jester Feste, especially when he improvises a song for a member of the audience.  The staging of the shipwreck is quite spectacular and I was very impressed with Caitlin Wise's aerial performance on silks.  I loved Kayland Jordan's performance as Olivia because her facial expressions are so funny, especially when Sebastian and Viola appear together for the first time, and, of course, I loved Rodney Lizcano because he really hams it up as Malvolio.  Finally, the period costumes are very beautiful as are the projections used for Illyria.

I always love coming to the Utah Shakespeare Festival, especially with my sister, and this trip was wonderful.  The festival continues with Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Troilus and Cressida, and See How They Run through September 5 and Something Rotten, She Loves Me, The Book Club Play, and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein though October 3 (go here for tickets).

Note:  The month of August began and ended with theatre road trips with my sisters!