An Evening with Sutton Foster at the Eccles

Last night I went to see Sutton Foster at the Eccles Theatre with my friend Wendy.  This concert commemorated the 10th anniversary of the Eccles so it is only appropriate that I was there with Wendy because we met at Beautiful, the first Broadway touring production at the theatre, and we have been sitting next to each other at every Broadway show ever since (as well as at concerts featuring Jeremy Jordan and Leslie Odom, Jr. because we are theatre girlies).  Foster began the show with the jazz standard "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening" by Hoagy Carmichael and Johnny Mercer and then continued with "The Nearness of You" also by Carmichael and Ned Washington.  During "Love Somebody, Yes I Do," instead of the usual lyrics in the final refrain ("but I won't tell who"), she sang "and his name is Hugh" which got a huge laugh from the audience.  She then talked about the major changes in her life and how the spirit of her mother comforted her by telling her that everything will be all right.  She dedicated a mashup of "Three Little Birds" by Bob Marley and the Wailers and "Feelin' Groovy" by Simon & Garfunkle to her.  She spoke about how her daughter Emily has introduced her to all kinds of new music before singing the viral song "It's Raining Tacos" (she reminded us that she is a two-time Tony winner after this hilarious performance).  She also dedicated both the humorous "Undecided" and the tender "Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man to her daughter.  She was joined by local performers Naomi Sharette as Young Fiona and Alexa Shaheen as Teen Fiona for "I Know It's Today" from Shrek The Musical (she objected to being called the Old Fiona) and by the seniors in the MTP program at the University of Utah for "On My Way" from Violet and "Anything Goes" from Anything Goes complete with the iconic tap choreography from the Broadway show (you know how I love to see tap dancing and this was exhilarating!). These students performed a lovely interpretation of Cole Porter's "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" arranged by Foster's music director Michael Rafter while she changed her tap shoes and then she joined them once again for an epic rendition of "Blow, Gabriel, Blow" from Anything Goes (this was amazing!).  She performed a mashup featuring "If I Were a Bell" from Guys and Dolls and "Singin' in the Rain" from Singin' in the Rain (I've heard her sing this before) and then a beautiful rendition of "Up on the Roof."  She dedicated a mashup of "Love is All Around" (which was used as the theme song for The Mary Tyler Moore Show) and "Top of the World" (made famous by The Carpenters) to her dad and then concluded with "Never Alone."  For an encore she performed "Till There Was You" from The Music Man.  As I mentioned, I've seen her perform in concert before and she is always so charming and personable.  I loved her interactions with the crowd and with the students on stage (the crowd reacted with thunderous applause every time she yelled "Go Utes" because I guess there is an important football game this weekend).  This was a delightful concert and I am so glad that I have been able to see so many wonderful shows at the Eccles during the past ten years!

Fjord

I was already interested in seeing Fjord because I am a big fan of both Sebastian Stan and Renate Reinsve but, after it won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, it became one of my most anticipated movies this fall.  I went to see it last night at the Broadway and to say that it is thought-provoking would be an understatement.  Mihai and Lisbet Gheorghiu (Stan and Reinsve, respectively) are a devout evangelical Christian couple who move their family from Romania to Lisbet's remote coastal hometown in Norway to be closer to her parents for help with their five children.  Their conservative parenting style immediately catches the attention of a progressive counselor (Lisa Loven Kongsli) at their children's school, so when she sees bruises on their oldest daughter Elia (Vanessa Ceban), she reports them to the Child Welfare Services for abuse which also triggers a criminal investigation.  All five children are eventually removed from their parents' custody when Mihai admits to occasionally spanking them.  Soon the Gheorghius are involved in an intense custody battle, but when their neighbor Mia Halberg (Lisa Carlehed) steps in to defend them, they are given temporary custody pending the outcome of the criminal trial.  However, when Mia refuses to represent Mihai in the criminal trial, the Gheorghius decide to flee to Denmark to avoid losing their children forever.  I was really intrigued by the fact that there are no easy answers and that much of what happens with the children is open to interpretation.  Elia may have gotten the bruises from roughhousing with her brother Emmanuel (Jonathan Ciprian Breazu) or from wrestling in her P.E. class, the language barrier may have led to miscommunication during Elia's interview with Child Welfare, or Elia may have lied in her interview to get back at her parents for interfering in a new friendship with their neighbor Noora (Henrikke Lund-Olsen).  I was also very struck by all of the moral dilemmas raised by the narrative, especially whether you should protect the rights of someone you disagree with (I was often uncomfortable because, while I disagree with some of the Gheorghius' beliefs, I found the prosecution of them to be overzealous).  The symbolism is incredibly powerful, especially with the setting because the fjords represent isolation and the resulting avalanches show the crushing weight of judgement.  Finally, both Stan and Reinsve give highly restrained and nuanced performances in which anger and frustration are internalized.  This choice does make the characters seem cold and remote (mimicking the setting) but it is absolutely devastating to watch.  The audience is challenged to have sympathy for characters they may disagree with and, for that reason, I highly recommend it.

Everest: The Other Side

I am a big fan of Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's previous documentaries, Meru and Free Solo, so I was excited to see their latest, Everest: The Other Side, yesterday at a matinee (with all of the other retired people who are now my best friends).  This follows elite ski mountaineers and romantic partners Jim Morrison and Hilaree Nelson as they attempt to climb and then ski down the more remote and treacherous north face of Mount Everest (only five people had successfully completed this climb and no one had ever skied down).  After Nelson is tragically killed by an avalanche during a practice climb on nearby Mount Manaslu, Morrison returns several years later to complete their quest with Chin in her memory.  It goes without saying that cinematography is absolutely spectacular (see it in IMAX if you can) with breathtaking aerial footage captured by drones to show the scale of the expedition and Go-Pro shots that put the audience right on the mountain with the climbers (the latter definitely creates several white-knuckle moments, especially during the avalanche sequences and the climbs through the couloirs).  However, what I found most compelling (and disturbing) is the discussion about the hubris of pursuing a dream at any cost.  It is suggested that it is especially irresponsible for a parent to participate in such a dangerous sport when there is a very real possibility that they could be abandoning their children permanently.  Many of the climbers' family members are interviewed and express their fears about what could happen but I was particularly struck by Vasarhelyi's emotional reaction when Chin (her husband and father of their two children) tells her that Morrison wants to go back to Everest with him as his climbing partner as well as their subsequent discussion about the risks vs. the rewards (it was interesting to learn that she filed for divorce during the final climb).  The most poignant interviews are those with Nelson's teenage sons Quinn and Grayden because they are clearly devastated by the loss of their mother but reiterate that climbing was her passion and nothing could have stopped her from pursuing what she loved.  I'm not sure this absolves Nelson for her choice and it definitely left a bad taste in my mouth when Morrison pushes his sherpas to continue after one of them is severely injured.  I would definitely rate this as my least favorite in Vasarhelyi and Chin's mountain trilogy but it is exhilarating.

Note:  It was also very off-putting to see the sherpas establish all of the rope lines and camps along the way while Morrison and Chin wait in their tents with all of their expensive North Face gear (it definitely feels like one long ad for The North Face).

The Only Living Pickpocket in New York

My nephew and I were both really looking forward to The Only Living Pickpocket in New York so we braved the large crowd at the Broadway for The Rocky Horror Picture Show to see it there last night.  It is an intriguing character study with a career best performance from John Turturro.  Harry Lehman (Turturro) is an old-school pickpocket in a city that has moved on without him.  His usual tricks no longer provide enough for him to care for his disabled wife Rosie (Karina Arroyave) so he breaks into a vintage car and steals a duffel bag filled with cash and a USB.  He takes the USB to his old friend Ben (Steve Buscemi) who owns a pawn shop and acts as his fence but he doesn't know what it is and sends him to Frank (Kelvin Han Yee), another fence who specializes in electronics, who eventually buys it.  Unbeknownst to Harry, the owner of the car is Dylan (Will Price), the scion of a powerful crime family, and the USB is a crypto wallet that he is is desperate to get back.  Dylan locates Harry using footage from street cameras and threatens Rosie to motivate him to return it.  He races against time across the boroughs of New York, calling on his old friend Detective Allan Warren (Giancarlo Esposito), Frank's grandson Ernie (Michael Hsu Rosen), his estranged daughter Kelly (Tatiana Maslany), a young pickpocket and possible protege (Mark Cayne), and Ben's daughter Eve (Victoria Moroles), before showing Dylan's grandmother Moira (Jamie Lee Curtis), the crime boss, that an old dog still has a few new tricks.  I really liked the juxtaposition between the different generations because, even though the young characters have a greater fluency with technology, they still benefit from the wisdom of the older and more experienced characters (and vice versa).  I also liked gritty portrayal of New York (this reminded me of the crime dramas of the 1970s with the production design, the natural lighting, the use of grainy film effects in the cinematography, and even the retro score) as a repudiation of the soulless gentrification of the city.  Harry is an interesting character because, even though he is extremely flawed, he evokes sympathy with how he cares for the people in his life and Turturro embodies all of these contradictions with subtle changes in expression (there are so many close-ups of his world-weary face), especially in scenes that show his growing desperation, his tender care of his wife, and his heartbreaking encounter with his daughter.  It is a powerful, yet restrained, performance and the rest of the cast is also outstanding.  I really enjoyed this and highly recommend it.

The Smashing Pumpkins at the Delta Center

I love seeing The Smashing Pumpkins in concert (I've seen them multiple times including a rather memorable night at Saltair when my friends and I got stuck in the parking lot for over an hour after the show because the cars were packed in like sardines).  They always put on an epic show and last night was no exception!  They played for over three hours, with a very brief intermission between their two sets, and I loved every minute!  The first set was in honor of the 30th anniversary of Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and featured 16 tracks from this seminal album.  I definitely enjoyed hearing the hits, including "1979," "Bullet With Butterfly Wings," "Tonight, Tonight," "Thirty-Three," and "Zero," but it was also fun to hear "Cupid de Locke," "Galopogos," and "By Starlight" because they are not played live as often.  The second set was billed as a career-spanning journey through four decades of hits, deep cuts, and newer material.  The hits included "Disarm," a funky version of "Ava Adore," "Mayonaise" (I had forgotten how much I love this song), "Today," and "Cherub Rock."  Some of the deep cuts were "Machina, Machina" and "Sojourner" and the new material included "Edin," "Pentagrams," and "War Dreams of Itself" from their most recent album Aghori Mhori Mei and "Black Stars" from the forthcoming The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping soundtrack (I hadn't heard this before and I really liked it).  The visuals were incredibly theatrical with graphics announcing each song title projected on large screens (the ones used in the first set mimicked the original artwork for Mellon Collie and the ones in the second set were inspired by their classic music videos) and the lighting design was very dramatic with dark purple, blue, and pink stage washes.  Frontman Billy Corgan was in rare form last night because he was much more animated than I have ever seen him before and he joked that half the crowd hadn't been born when Mellon Collie was released.  He is is such a weirdo (complimentary) because he came on stage wearing a long black leather tunic over a flowing skirt (he switched to white for the second set) but he sounded fantastic and his guitar solos were amazing (especially during "Porcelina of the Vast Oceans").  It seems like I have been anticipating this show for so long (I bought the ticket months ago) and it was even better than I was expecting!  I had the best time and, as with the other times I've seen them, I would rank this among my very favorite concert experiences.