Up in Concert

I am a big fan of the movie Up so I was really excited to see it on the big screen last night while the Utah Symphony performed the Academy Award-winning score by Michael Giacchino live.  I loved this concert because the music made me laugh and cry during all of my favorite scenes!  Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Ed Asner) is a curmudgeonly widower who is filled with regret that he didn't fulfill the promise he made to his wife Ellie to take her on an adventure to Paradise Falls in South America before she died.  When he is on the verge of being evicted, he decides to keep his promise and attaches thousands of helium balloons to his house in order to fly it to South America.  However, he discovers midair that a Wilderness Explorer named Russell (voiced by Jordan Nagai) is on his porch attempting to earn his final merit badge for helping the elderly.  A storm blows them off course so Carl reluctantly enlists Russell's help to tow the house across a mesa to get it to Paradise Falls.  Along the way they encounter a large flightless bird that Russell names Kevin, a dog named Dug with a collar that allows it to talk, and the adventurer Charles Muntz (voiced by Christopher Plummer) who is not the hero Carl remembers from childhood.  Chaos ensues until Carl eventually learns that friendship is the true adventure.  I think the music really adds to the emotional impact of the story.  The theme "Married Life" during the opening montage showing Carl and Ellie's life together is absolutely brilliant because it uses changes in tempo and intensity with a solo trumpet, then a solo violin and harp, then the brass, and then just the piano to convey the mood without any dialogue (it always makes me cry) and then this same theme is repeated throughout the rest of the movie with different variations to show that everything is motivated by Carl's memories of Ellie.  The variation used in "Stuff We Did" as Carl looks through Ellie's scrapbook and realizes that their life together was the adventure is especially poignant because the piano is so haunting.  I also love the more joyful and triumphant iteration used in "Carl Goes Up" when the piano is joined by the strings, woodwinds, and brass because it shows Carl's thrill at finally fulfilling his promise and the adventurous one in "Escape From Muntz Mountain" because the addition of percussion to the strings, piano, and brass emphasizes the excitement of the chase.  Because it is so immersive to have the orchestra playing live while watching the movie, I noticed every time I heard the theme repeated and I was really struck by how well each variation fit the action on the screen.  It is one of the best scores for not only a Disney-Pixar movie but for any movie and I highly recommend getting a ticket to one of the two remaining performances this weekend (go here).

Ten Brave Seconds at PTC

Last night I went to see the world premiere of the new musical Ten Brave Seconds at PTC. It is always thrilling to be among the first to see a brand new show (I was also able to see the world premieres of Cagney and Shucked at PTC) but I didn't love it as much as I expected to given all of the rave reviews it has been receiving. The narrative depicts one day in the life of a suburban teen named Mike (Carson Stewart) as he comes out to his father Carl (Will Blum), his sister Becky (Heidi Farber), his best friend Gabby (Jessica Money), and his new friend Tim (Luke Kolbe Mannikus). He turns to his sympathetic history teacher Mr. G (John Cariani) to help him deal with his grief over the recent death of his mother Sally (Amber Iman) and to navigate the complicated responses from his friends and family to his sudden announcement. I think this show is garnering so much praise because it has an important message about daring to live authentically and I really love that the emphasis is not necessarily on being brave enough to tell people who you are but rather being brave enough to have the difficult conversations moving forward. In fact, the moment when Mike tells his father that he is gay is almost anticlimactic and that is an incredibly interesting, but effective, choice because it subverts the traditional coming out trope. The reactions from Mike's family and friends feel very honest and authentic, especially Carl's because parents do not always have all of the answers and Gabby's because it is heartbreaking when a relationship is revealed to be one-sided. I liked the recurring motif of counting from one to ten (this really resonated with me because I suffer from anxiety and use this as a coping mechanism) and the use of an astronaut as a metaphor for isolation (although I wish that this had been emphasized more). I also liked how the main set, which features the outline of a house made from intersecting metal beams, and the costumes, particularly a large purple hoodie worn and then eventually discarded by Mike, highlight the fact that you cannot hide who you really are. The performances are excellent all around but the standout for me was Money because she has an energy that is very compelling. However, the songs are not very memorable because, in my opinion, they are merely long monologues set to music without a hook to keep the audience's attention. I struggled to remember any of the songs once I left the theater. The choreography and staging are also surprisingly bland because most of the big musical numbers involve the ensemble walking back and forth across the stage and end with the main characters downstage in a line under spotlights (I get that this is meant to represent the disconnect than many feel in high school but it is not very interesting to watch, especially when it happens multiple times). One of the biggest turning points in the show happens with Carl, Mike, and Becky sitting at a table listening to a song played through a phone but, despite a beautiful performance from Iman, it did not make much of an impression because it is so static. I do think this is worth seeing for the powerful message (go here for tickets) but I found it a bit underwhelming. It runs at PTC through February 14.

Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

It was an all Russian program at last night's Utah Symphony concert and I loved every minute!  When I was very young I lived on a farm in southern Ontario next door to an elderly couple who had emigrated from Russia to Canada.  I loved them dearly.  My parents always told me not to bother them but I think they enjoyed it when I followed them around their farm.  They taught me several phrases in Russian and served me tea from an exquisite samovar that had pride of place in their living room and pryanik (a type of Russian cookie).  I think this early influence is why I have always been fascinated by Russia (I've been there twice), especially Russian history, literature, and music.  I usually try to get a ticket to any Utah Symphony concert featuring a Russian composer and, luckily, there are several this season (the woman who took my order over the phone joked that she was sensing a theme with my selections).  The orchestra began with the Polonaise from The Golden Slippers by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  This little known opera features the traditional Polish dance at a Christmas celebration for the tsaritsa in Act III and the music is very festive and energetic.  I loved all of the lush melodies played by the strings and the triumphant fanfares played by the brass as I imagined a grand and stately group promenading through an opulent St. Petersburg ballroom in my mind.  Next, the orchestra was joined by Sir Stephen Hough, who is a very popular soloist with Utah Symphony audiences, for Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  This is one of my favorite pieces and I love all of the Variations because they are sometimes fiery and passionate, sometimes grand and stirring, and sometimes wild and tempestuous.  If I had to pick a favorite it would be the 18th because it is incredibly beautiful and almost unbearably romantic (it is featured in many movies, including Somewhere in Time).  Hough played it with so much emotion (I loved watching his fingers fly up and down the keyboard) and I was practically swooning by the time the swelling strings joined the melody.  The near-capacity crowd leapt to their feet in thunderous applause after the performance and Hough gave a lovely encore featuring his own virtuosic arrangement of "Feed the Birds" from Mary Poppins.  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Symphony No. 5 by Dmitri Shostakovitch.  The first movement is bold with militaristic marches played by the brass and the second is very stirring (I loved the opening theme played by the cellos and basses).  However, my favorite was the third movement because it is very affecting, particularly a theme played by the harp and flute.  At the premiere, this movement provided a way for the public to express their grief over Stalin's purges and it brought tears to my eyes, as well.  The final movement becomes celebratory once again and I loved the epic conclusion by the timpani!  This was an incredible evening of music and, if this program appeals to you, get tickets (go here) for tonight's concert sooner rather than later because, as I mentioned, there were very few empty seats in Abravanel Hall last night (for good reason).

Fiddler on the Roof at The Ruth

I don't think there is a better way to spend an evening than sitting in the audience eagerly anticipating every song in a favorite classic musical!  I had the opportunity to do that last night with The Ruth's wonderful production of Fiddler on the Roof and it made me so happy.  I have seen this well-known story of how a poor Jewish dairyman named Tevye (Ben Henderson) and his wife Golde (Claire Kenney) cling to their traditions in the small village of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia until their daughters, Tzeitel (Susannah Castelton), Hodel (Sydney Dameron), and Chava (Maria Stephens), push against them when it is time to find a match many times but this production features a few new touches to keep it feeling fresh without abandoning the *ahem* traditions that audiences love to see.  This is especially true of the choreography because there are definitely recognizable elements from the original choreography by Jerome Robbins but Ben Roeling adds his own touch.  I loved all of the subtle changes in the patterns formed by the different groups in "Tradition," when the villagers and soldiers integrate their separate dances into one joyful celebration in "To Life," and the exuberant leaps and spins after the bottle dance in "The Wedding Dance."  I also loved the ballet sequence performed by Stephens in "Chavaleh (Little Bird)."  There are many nuances in the performances that made me laugh, especially when Timothy Quesenberry (as Motel) has several spontaneous outbursts during "Miracle of Miracles" and then when Bronson Dameron (as Perchik) mimics him in "Now I Have Everything," and that made me cry, such as when Henderson can't hide his emotions before turning his back on Chava and when a sobbing Stephens tries to hold on to Tevye's cart as he walks away (this gave me goosebumps).  I was also struck by the highly charged interaction between Parley Lambert (as Fyedka) and Stephens after the soldiers disrupt the wedding and by Kenney lying prostrate on the ground after learning about Chava.  The set is one of the most striking I've seen for this show and features wooden slats that allow the dramatic lighting to spill through with balconies on either side of the stage accessed by staircases and ladders.  These balconies allow for some distinctive staging choices and I loved seeing groups above Tevye and his family during "Sabbath Prayer," Perchik looking down on Hodel during "Sunrise, Sunset," Hodel looking up at Perchik on one balcony and her family on the other in "Far From the Home I Love," and the Constable (Jacob Garrison) and soldiers looking down on the villagers as they leave Anatevka.  This is such a special show to me because I have so many memories of watching the movie at my Grandma Anderson's house, seeing various productions over the years, and even performing the role of Fruma-Sarah and this version made me feel so nostalgic!  It will definitely put a smile on your face so get a ticket (go here) before they are gone!  It runs in the Smith Grand Theater through March 21.

A Private Life

I was really exited to see Jodie Foster in a role that is almost entirely in French (she swears in English) so I went to see A Private Life at the Broadway last night.  Her performance is even more captivating than I was expecting.  Dr. Lillian Steiner (Foster) is an American psychiatrist living in Paris.  When Paula (Virginie Efira), one of her long-term patients, commits suicide, her husband Simon (Mathieu Amalric) and daughter Valerie (Luana Bajrami) hold Lillian responsible because she used pills that Lillian prescribed to kill herself.  However, when Lillian discovers that the prescription was altered, she suspects that Paula was murdered by one of them and enlists her ex-husband Gabriel (Daniel Auteuil) to help her find the truth.  At first I found the narrative to be incredibly messy, with subplots involving a disgruntled former patient (Noem Morgensztern), a son (Vincent Lacoste) with whom she has a distant relationship, and a hypnotist (Sophie Guillemin) who reveals the possibility of childhood trauma and a past life that informs the present, but there is a moment when everything comes together and what I thought was just a murder mystery becomes a psychological character study about a woman in the midst of a breakdown.  Even though some of the ideas are underdeveloped and the tone is a bit inconsistent (some of the humor is very jarring), it is definitely a lot more complex and thought-provoking than some might suggest.  What everyone can agree on is that Foster is outstanding (her French is flawless) and gives a highly nuanced performance in which she is cold and detached but slowly becomes more and more vulnerable as Lillian investigates a suspicious death and her own psyche.  The rest of the cast is great as well, especially Auteuil who has a surprisingly sexy and playful chemistry with Foster.  I also loved the stylish interiors (especially all of the spiral staircases) and the rainy autumnal exteriors around Paris.  This is the kind of movie that really appeals to me (but might not appeal to others) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.