Saturday, August 31, 2019

Heart at USANA

I have been a huge fan of Heart for as long as I can remember.  I listened to their 1985 self-titled album on repeat for hours when I was in high school, especially the song "These Dreams" which I absolutely love.  They toured with this album and made a stop in SLC but I wasn't able to go to the show.  I thought that I had missed my opportunity to see them after their acrimonious split so when I heard about their latest tour I got really excited and bought a ticket immediately.  It seems like I have been waiting for so long but I finally got to go to the concert at USANA Amphitheatre last night and it was fabulous!  Ann Wilson told the crowd that they were going to sing songs from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s and I loved them all.  I particularly liked their renditions of "Magic Man," "Dog & Butterfly," "Straight On," "Crazy On You," and "Barracuda" from the early years.  I was thrilled when they played "These Dreams" and "What About Love" from my favorite album.  I haven't heard these songs for years and it was amazing to me that I could still remember every single word!  They performed a beautiful cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "The Boxer" featuring the lovely harmonies of Ann and Nancy together and they also performed an epic version of Led Zeppelin's "Stairway to Heaven" which had the entire crowd singing.  For the encore they performed an incredibly powerful version of "Alone."  I have always really loved Ann's voice but her amazing vocal performance during this song gave me goosebumps!  Before Heart took the stage, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts (my favorite song was "Bad Reputation") and Elle King (I loved her cover of the Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty song "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around") performed lively sets.  This concert was extremely nostalgic for me and I am so glad that I finally got to see Heart perform live!

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Dave Matthews Band at USANA

Last night I saw Dave Matthews Band at USANA Amphitheatre with Kristine and Trent and it was so much fun because, while I consider myself a casual fan, the two of them are hard core and I loved watching their excitement (my sister was positively giddy).  Dave Matthews is known for putting on a great live show but this concert was especially amazing because it seemed so spontaneous!  I looked up the previous setlists for this tour and no two shows have been the same.  Last night they played a very eclectic mix of old and new songs, mixing hits along with deeper tracks. There were pauses in between songs and it almost seemed as if the band was deciding what to play next right there on the stage!  Even though they only played three of their really big hits ("Too Much," "Everyday," and "Ants Marching") it didn't matter!  I enjoyed the songs I didn't recognize because it looked like the band was having so much fun jamming (every song featured long extended solos which delighted the crowd) and they sounded great, especially the horn section.  I have been listening to Come Tomorrow a lot lately and I was hoping that they would play "She" which is my favorite song from the new album.  I was thrilled when I heard the opening notes and I sang along to every word!  Other highlights included a cover of Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer," an acoustic version of "Here On Out" from the new album, and an epic rendition of "Don't Drink the Water" during the encore.  It was a perfect late summer evening and, even though I will be really tired after seeing a concert on a school night, I'm so glad I got to go with my sister and brother-in-law!  We all agreed that it was one of the best concerts any of us have seen!

Note:  Kristine and Trent had never been to USANA before and I told them that it was sometimes a lot of fun getting out of the parking lot after the show.  Of course, Trent got us out in less than five minutes!

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Angel Has Fallen

Saturday nights are perfect for an action blockbuster and a big tub of popcorn so I went to see Angel Has Fallen last night.  After saving the world in Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen Agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) must now save himself.  He is tapped to be the next director of the Secret Service but the years have definitely taken both a mental and physical toll on him.  While on a fishing trip in a rural area, there is an assassination attempt on President Trumbull (Morgan Freeman) which incapacitates him and kills the entire protection detail except for Banning who is framed for the incident.  After Banning escapes from police custody, he enlists the help of his estranged father Clay Banning (a hilarious Nick Nolte) to elude FBI Agent Helen Thompson (Jada Pinckett Smith) and the real perpetrators in order to prove his innocence, protect the president from another attack, and confront an old friend.  The narrative is incredibly predictable (I figured out who was responsible for the attack before it even happened) but that doesn't really matter.  Although the story about a man dealing with the consequences of his past has more depth than its predecessors, I went to this movie for the action sequences and they are a lot of fun, particularly a spectacular attack by drones, Banning's escape from a moving van with four guards while handcuffed, a high-speed police chase with a semi, an epic firefight in the woods against a group of mercenaries, a shootout in a hospital, and a knife fight on a rooftop.  As previously mentioned, Nolte is fabulous in the role of a man tormented by war and he steals every scene he is in (stay for a hilarious mid-credits scene).  It is Clay's relationship with Mike that gives the story its heart.  This movie is definitely not going to win any awards but it is a lot of fun on a Saturday night and I recommend it to fans of the franchise.

Saturday, August 24, 2019

Luce

The first week back at school has concluded and, other than feeling exhausted (getting back into a routine after a summer of playing is very difficult), it went extremely well!  Last night I decided to celebrate by going to the movie Luce which I have been anticipating for weeks.  It is one of the most thought-provoking movies I've seen and it is sure to feature on my end of year list!  Amy (Naomi Watts) and Peter (Tim Roth) adopted their son Luce (Kelvin Harrison, Jr.) from war-torn Eritrea when he was seven years old.  After a violent childhood as a gun wielding soldier, Luce has become an outstanding student, a champion debater, and an all-star athlete.  His parents are understandably proud and his teachers hold him up as an example of excellence to the other black students.  He is almost too perfect.  When Harriet Wilson (Octavia Spencer), Luce's history teacher, becomes alarmed at some extreme views expressed in one of his assignments, she searches his locker and makes a shocking discovery.  This calls into question everything his parents believe about him and brings a crisis to their marriage.  It is an incredibly powerful and somewhat uneasy exploration of identity that challenges preconceptions and I am still thinking about it.  I was especially struck by the juxtaposition between Luce and another black student who is vilified for a minor mistake because he has been labeled a delinquent.  The tension, augmented by a truly menacing score, becomes almost unbearable as the mystery of who Luce really is unfolds with no easy answers.  Harrison, Jr. gives a brilliant performance as a young man feeling the weight of living up to expectations.  A scene where he tearfully practices a speech about how lucky he feels to live in America, a place where he can be anything he wants to be, is almost overwhelming in its intensity because of the irony.  I was also impressed with Roth's chilling performance as a man who just wanted a normal family not a political statement.  This is definitely a provocative movie that will spark a lot of conversations and I highly recommend it!

Wednesday, August 21, 2019

The Art of Racing in the Rain

The book club that I once belonged to also read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein and I loved it so much that I recommended it to everyone.  I have been eagerly anticipating the movie adaptation and I finally had the chance to see it yesterday.  A golden retriever named Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner) has been with Denny (Milo Ventimiglia), an aspiring Formula One race car driver with an affinity for driving in the rain, since he was a puppy.  He likes watching television while Denny is away from home and learns from a documentary about Mongolia that some dogs are reincarnated into humans after they die.  Enzo hopes that he will be able to become a man so that he can be a race car driver himself.  The story is told from Enzo's point of view as he learns everything he can about driving from Denny and, as time goes by, applies these lessons to life as Denny gets married to Eve (Amanda Seyfried), becomes a father to Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), suffers an unspeakable tragedy, and overcomes adversity.  As a huge fan of the book I was happy that the movie followed the source material pretty faithfully (other than changing a minor subplot which, frankly, worked much better in my opinion).  I loved the way the relationship between Denny and Enzo is portrayed, especially Enzo's jealousy when Eve vies with him for Denny's affections and his protectiveness when Zoe is born.  I loved Costner as the narrator and I think he makes Enzo into a really believable character.  I also liked Ventimiglia as Denny because he is very appealing and Seyfried does very well in a role that is not as developed.  The story is, admittedly, quite emotional but I think everyone who has ever had a dog will relate to it and, after all of the tears, the ending will put a smile on your face.  I recommend this movie to everyone who loved the book and to everyone who loves dogs!

Note:  I've been thinking about all the books my former book club read and I've decided that I need to join another one!

Sunday, August 18, 2019

Blinded by the Light

Have you ever had a favorite band whose music speaks to your soul and so perfectly reflects how you feel about life, love, and the world and your place in it that you listen to it over and over again?  I have felt that way about both the Beatles and U2 so when I saw the preview for Blinded by the Light, a true story about a young man who is inspired by the music of Bruce Springsteen, I knew that I had to see it and I did last night.  I couldn't love this movie more!  Javed Khan (Viveik Kalra) is the son of very traditional Pakistani immigrants living in an economically depressed town in England in 1987.  He yearns for the courage to stand up to the racist bullies who attack him, to finally kiss a girl, and to escape his town and become a writer.  When a friend (Aaron Phagura) gives him a Bruce Springsteen tape, he listens to the song "Dancing in the Dark" when feeling particularly down and something inside him is awakened.  He loves Bruce Springsteen so much that he collects all of his records, listens to his music all of the time, covers his bedroom walls with his posters, finds out everything he can about him, starts dressing like him, and takes extreme measures to get tickets to his concert.  I couldn't relate to him at all!  He is inspired by "Badlands," "The Promised Land," "Thunder Road," and "Prove It At Night" to pursue his dreams but it is the song "Blinded by the Light" that eventually helps him understand who he is.  This movie is definitely one of my favorites this year!  I loved the message about the power of music, I loved the earnest and heartfelt performance of Kalra (in his feature film debut), and I loved all of the great Bruce Springsteen music used throughout!  Definitely go see this feel-good movie!

Note:  In the end credits we learn that the real Javed Khan has seen Bruce Spingsteen over 150 times!  Nope!  I couldn't relate to him at all!

Saturday, August 17, 2019

The Book of Mormon at the Eccles

I saw the Broadway touring production of the musical The Book of Mormon when it first came through Salt Lake City in 2015 and the excitement and energy in the crowd was palpable!  The audience laughed out loud, cheered, and even gave a standing ovation after the song "Sal Tlay Ka Siti" (which is in the middle of the show!).  It was one of the most memorable theatre experiences that I have ever had so, of course, I wanted to see it again during its return visit to SLC.  After a busy week back at school, seeing The Book of Mormon last night was so much fun!  After spending some time at the Missionary Training Center learning how to preach the gospel around the world ("Hello"), Elder Price (Liam Tobin) and Elder Cunningham (Jacob Ben-Shmuel) are called to serve in a remote village in Uganda.  Elder Price is very disappointed in the location because he wanted to go Orlando, the most wonderful and magical place on Earth, and in his companion because Elder Cunningham has a tendency to lie to compensate for his low self-esteem but he realizes that he will be a great missionary no matter the circumstances ("You and Me But Mostly Me").  When they meet their fellow missionaries in Africa, they get some advice about dealing with any unusual feelings they might be having ("Turn It Off").  The elders begin teaching ("An American Prophet") but the villagers are more concerned with poverty, famine, AIDs, and a violent overlord than in hearing their message.  However, Nabulungi (Alyah Chenelle Scott), the chief's daughter, is interested because she is hoping to leave Africa and go to paradise ("Sal Tlay Ka Siti").  Elder Price becomes discouraged because Uganda is nothing like The Lion King and decides to go home leaving Elder Cunningham, who has never actually read the Book of Mormon because it is so boring, to teach Nabulungi ("Man Up").  He begins embellishing the message with references to Star Wars, Star Trek, and The Lord of the Rings ("Making Things Up Again") and, after he baptizes Nabulungi ("Baptize Me"), he converts the rest of the village.  Meanwhile, Elder Cunningham decides to return after having a dream about being in Hell with Jeffrey Dahmer, Genghis Khan, Hitler, and people who drink Starbucks coffee ("Spooky Mormon Hell Dream").  They eventually get in trouble for their false teachings but they realize that they have made the lives of the villagers better and decide to stay in Africa ("Tomorrow is a Latter Day").  It is absolutely hilarious and I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes, as did everyone sitting around me.  My favorite number is "Turn It Off" because I love the choreography and Andy Huntington Jones is fabulous as Elder McKinley, a missionary trying to pretend that he is not gay!  There is quite a bit of profanity and some might be offended by the content but if you understand going in that it is a satire, this show is a lot of fun.  It runs at the Eccles Theatre until August 25 (go here for tickets).

Note:  The cast has mentioned how much fun this show is to perform in Salt Lake City.  They get reactions here that they don't get in other cities, especially during "Sal Tlay Ka Siti," and it sometimes throws them off!

Friday, August 16, 2019

Where'd You Go, Bernadette

I read the novel Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple years ago in a book club that I once belonged to.  It was one of the funniest books that I had ever read so I was really excited to see the movie adaptation last night.  Even though it had a different tone than the book, I quite enjoyed this movie!  Bernadette Fox (Cate Blanchett) was once a brilliant and prize-winning architect in Los Angeles.  After a devastating incident with one of her houses, she flees to Seattle and lives with her husband Elgin (Billy Crudup) and daughter Bee (Emma Nelson) in a crumbling mansion that she is halfheartedly renovating.  Without a creative outlet, she becomes antisocial, agoraphobic, and acerbic, channeling all of her energy into criticizing the provinciality of Seattle and the pretentiousness of the other parents at Bee's school.  After a series of troubling incidents, Elgin decides that Bernadette needs professional help and stages an intervention with a therapist (Judy Greer) which causes Bernadette to run away.  When Bernadette disappears in order to find herself in the unlikeliest of places, Bee sets out to discover where she is.  Because the novel is epistolary, some of the snarky humor doesn't really translate very well to the screen but I still really enjoyed it because the story about a woman who loses herself, both literally and figuratively, is much more poignant in the movie (deeply flawed characters finding redemption is one of my favorite themes).  Blanchett gives an incredible performance, especially whenever Bernadette goes on a manic rant about her surroundings.  On the page Bernadette is an unsympathetic character but Blanchett imbues her with a certain humanity that is hard to resist.  Finally, I found the resolution of the movie to be much more uplifting than that of the novel and I actually prefer it.  While I laughed out loud reading the book, I enjoyed the movie for its heart and I would recommend it.

Note:  I have always wanted to go to Antarctica!

Thursday, August 15, 2019

The Peanut Butter Falcon

Yesterday I crossed another new release off my long list by seeing The Peanut Butter Falcon.  This contemporary retelling of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is a heartwarming movie that put a huge smile on my face!  Zak (Zack Gottsagen), a young man with Down syndrome, has spent most of his life in a nursing home because his family is unable to supervise him and there is nowhere else for him to go.  As a huge fan of a wrestler named Salt Water Redneck (Thomas Haden Church), Zak escapes hoping to make it to his wrestling school in rural North Carolina.  He meets up with Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a down-on-his-luck fisherman in the Outer Banks, who is on the run from a rival fisherman with an ax to grind (and his own demons).  Eleanor (Dakota Johnson), who works at the nursing home, is sent to retrieve Zak but she is eventually persuaded to join them on their way to the wrestling school.  The three of them form a bond as they go on a journey of discovery (literally and figuratively) where Zak is reborn as a wrestler named Peanut Butter Falcon.  I loved this movie because the story about an unlikely friendship and living life to the fullest on your own terms really touched my heart.  It also made me laugh out loud, particularly a scene where Tyler tells Zak the rules for traveling with him and the scenes where Salt Water teaches Zak to wrestle.  The performances are wonderful! Gottsagen, who actually has Down syndrome, is incredibly endearing and LaBeouf gives an emotional performance that is one of his best.  The two of them have great chemistry and I really enjoyed watching them play off each other.  The soundtrack, which features bluegrass and folk music, and the beautiful cinematography are also outstanding!  I cannot recommend this movie enough!

Tuesday, August 13, 2019

Brian Banks

The movie Brian Banks is another recent release on my list and I was able to see this inspirational true story last night.  In 2002 Brian Banks (Aldis Hodge) is a sixteen year old high school student and an All-American football player committed to play at USC after he graduates.  He meets a fellow student named Kennisha Rice (Xosha Roquemore) in secret in a hallway and, when he rejects her, she falsely accuses him of raping her.  He is tried as an adult and pressured into taking a plea bargain to avoid going to jail.  However, he is sentenced to six years, which he serves, and then three years of parole.  His parole officer won't let him play football as a walk-on at a community college and he has difficulty finding a job as a convicted felon so, in desperation, he turns to Justin Brooks (Greg Kinnear) of the California Innocence Project.  Thinking that there are too many obstacles to getting his conviction overturned, Brooks is initially hesitant to take the case but is eventually won over by the sheer force of Banks' character.  Overcoming unbelievable odds, Banks is finally able to achieve his goal of playing in the NFL.  Before I discuss the movie I need to confess that the exoneration of people who have been wrongly convicted has always been a topic that I am incredibly passionate about and it always pushes my buttons (it was a frequent subject for me as a debater in high school) so it is inevitable that I would find this movie powerful and moving.  Some may find the story to be emotionally manipulative but I found it to be very compelling with affecting performances by both Hodge (I really liked him in the movie Clemency, which has a similar theme, at the Sundance Film Festival this year) and Sherri Shepherd who plays Banks' mother.  I was moved to tears several times and I really appreciated seeing a movie with such a positive message about perseverance.  I would highly recommend this feel-good movie!

Monday, August 12, 2019

Hello, Dolly!

I had never seen the movie Hello, Dolly! before (I saw the stage musical at HCT years ago) so I was really excited to see it yesterday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  It is simply delightful and I absolutely loved it!  At the turn of the century, the irascible Horace Vandergelder (Walter Matthau) wants to get married so that he will have someone to do all of the chores at his Hay & Feed store in Yonkers, New York.  His niece Ermengarde (Joyce Ames) wants to marry the artist Ambrose Kemper (Tommy Tune) but her uncle objects because he doesn't have a steady income.  His clerk Cornelius Hackl (Michael Crawford) is longing for an adventure in New York City and doesn't want to come back to Yonkers until he has kissed a girl.  He convinces his fellow clerk Barnaby Tucker (Danny Lockin) to come along with him.  Irene Molloy (Marianne McAndrew) owns a millinery shop in NYC but tells her assistant Minnie Fay (E.J. Peaker) that she wants a rich husband to take her away because she hates hats!  An enchanting and recently widowed matchmaker named Dolly Levi (Barbra Streisand) is hired to find a wife for Vandergelder but she decides that she wants to marry him herself.  She just needs to convince him!  She arranges for all of the couples to meet for a memorable evening at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in New York City and merriment ensues.  This is like one of those old fashioned classic movie musicals that I remember watching at my Grandma Anderson's house so I am not entirely sure why I had never seen it before.  The story is a little weak but I loved the big song and dance numbers.  My favorites are "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," and "Hello, Dolly!" because they are incredibly elaborate and involve a large ensemble!  I also really love the songs "Before the Parade Passes By" and "It Only Takes a Moment" because they both have poignant messages about life and love.  The sets are spectacular, especially the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, and each costume worn by Streisand is more lavish than the one before!  Streisand is very charismatic in the role and sings every song brilliantly but my only complaint is that she doesn't lip-sync very well.  This is a fun and lighthearted musical that absolutely delighted me and I recommend seeing it on the big screen (go here for tickets).

Saturday, August 10, 2019

The Kitchen

There are quite a few movies hitting theaters this weekend that I really want to see and I decided to start with The Kitchen last night.  The Irish mob rules an area of New York known as Hell's Kitchen in the 1970s.  When three of the mobsters (Brian d'Arcy James, James Badge Dale, and Jeremy Bobb) are arrested in an FBI sting operation and sent to prison, their wives Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish), and Claire (Elisabeth Moss) decide to take over their criminal enterprise by negotiating new contracts with the business owners with the help of a psychopathic assassin (Domhnall Gleeson).  They soon run afoul of the rest of the Irish mob who don’t like being upstaged, some intransigent Hasidic businessmen who don't like dealing with women, a rival crime family in Brooklyn, and the FBI.  However, they ruthlessly deal with their enemies to eventually become incredibly successful...until their husbands are released from prison.  Each of the women has a different motivation for taking action:  Kathy is rebelling against the stereotypical role of wife and mother, Ruby is lashing out against the racism within the community (especially by her Irish mother-in-law), and Claire is exacting revenge for the abuse she has suffered at the hands of her husband for years.  Of course there are some wild twists and turns, some of which I was able to predict and some I wasn't.  All three actresses do a really good job with the material that they are given but I did find the tone to be all over the place.  It is extremely violent but there are also lots of comedic moments that seem really incongruous.  I liked the 1970s aesthetic with the costumes and the soundtrack featuring Heart, Fleetwood Mac, and Kansas.  Honestly, I think Widows does a better job of telling the same story but I found The Kitchen to be entertaining enough.

Note:  I found it odd that the members of the Irish mob didn't seem very Irish...

Tuesday, August 6, 2019

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at CPT

Last night I had so much fun at CPT's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. I really love this show because, not only is it absolutely hilarious, it is unexpectedly poignant (I have seen the Broadway touring company and a fabulous production at PTC several years ago) and CPT did a great job with it. The spelling bee is moderated by Rona Lisa Peretti (Alexandra Rae Kalaher), the best realtor in Putnam County and a past spelling champion who frequently reflects on her experience ("My Favorite Moment of the Bee"). She is aided by Vice Principal Douglas Panch (Brandon Green) who is returning after a five year absence due to an unspecified incident. His main function is to give the definitions of the words and use them in highly amusing sentences ("The Spelling Rules"). Mindy Mahoney (Katelyn Johnson), an ex-con doing her required community service, hands out juice boxes to the losing contestants ("The Prayer of the Comfort Counselor"). The first contestant is Chip Tolentino (Jake Heywood), a baseball player defending his title as champion of the bee last year who spends most of his time flirting with a girl in the audience ("My Unfortunate Distraction"). The second contestant is Logainne SchwartzandGrubenniere (Savanna Hansen), the president of the gay/straight alliance in her elementary school who wants desperately to please her two fathers who have been coaching her for this moment for years ("Woe is Me"). The third contestant is Leaf Coneybear (Trevor Hansen), a home-schooled free spirit who makes his own clothes and is at the bee because the winner and first runner-up had to attend a bat mizvah ("I'm Not That Smart"). The fourth contestant is William Barfee (Aaron Linford), an uptight asthmatic who had to pull out of last year's bee because of an allergic reaction. He frequently has to remind the moderators how to pronounce his name (it's Bar-FAY) and uses an innovative method to help him spell ("Magic Foot"). The fifth contestant is Marcy Park (Emily Woods), a transfer student at Our Lady of Intermittent Sorrows Parochial School who placed ninth at last year's national spelling bee.  She is an overachiever who skipped two grades ("I Speak Six Languages") but now just wants to have a little fun. The sixth contestant is Olive Ostrovsky (Taneesa Wright), who hasn't yet paid the entrance fee because her mother is at an ashram in India and her father has not claimed the seat that she has been saving for him ("The I Love You Song").  Which of these six painfully awkward misfits will be crowned the winner? I really loved everything about this show: the cast, the set, the costumes, the choreography, and the random audience members who participated in the bee (they were responsible for many of the funniest moments). Several of the people around me said that they didn't know anything about this show before they came but they ended up loving it! I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) to this delightful show.

Sunday, August 4, 2019

Kristin Chenoweth at Deer Valley

Last night I got to hear Kristin Chenoweth perform with the Utah Symphony as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival.  She was supposed to perform with the orchestra last summer but she had to cancel due to an injury but she promised to return.  It seems like I have been waiting all year for this concert and I almost didn't go.  As I was driving through the canyon, a torrential rain started pouring down along with lots of thunder and lightning.  As much as I wanted to see Kristin Chenoweth, I didn't really want to sit in the rain but I decided to wait in my car for a little while to see if it would stop before the concert started.  Luckily it did and, even though my blanket got a little bit soggy, I managed to stay relatively dry.  Chenoweth came out wearing a giant orange rain poncho and that set the tone for the rest of the evening.  She was absolutely hilarious!  She mentioned that she had an album of standards coming out in the fall and sang a few songs from it, including "I Get Along Without You Very Well" which she said was her favorite song.  When she sang "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart," she sat on the laps of and kissed several of the musicians saying that no one on the stage was safe from her!  She sang a lovely rendition of "Desperado" with the full orchestra and then finished her first set with "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables which was amazing!  She frequently pointed out several of her friends in the audience and admonished us not to bother them during the intermission!  When she returned to the stage she performed "Popular" from Wicked (she originated the role of Glinda on Broadway) and she asked everyone to get out their phones to film her, pulled someone up to the stage for a selfie, and then live streamed on Instagram.  It was so funny!  She brought a musical theatre student from BYU ("I'm a cougar, too!") to the stage to sing "For Good" from Wicked with her and this girl was amazing.  Chenoweth loves mentoring young performers and she told her that she had a feeling she would make it big!  Next, she sang "The Man That Got Away" from her forthcoming album and then a mash-up of "You Were Always on My Mind" and "Losing My Mind" from Follies which featured a lovely solo by principal cellist Rainer Eudeikis.  She wondered aloud if Willie Nelson and Stephen Sondheim had ever met!  She sang a stirring rendition of "How Great Thou Art" after talking about the importance of her faith and, for the encore, she sang a sultry version of "I Will Always Love You."  This was a wonderful concert and I am so glad that the rain stopped so I could enjoy it!

Saturday, August 3, 2019

The Farewell

I wasn't able to see The Farewell during the Sundance Film Festival so I have been looking forward to its wide release.  I had to wait a few days because I have been so busy lately but I finally saw it last night and I had quite a reaction to this beautiful and poignant movie.  When Billi (Awkwafina), a young Chinese-born writer struggling to find her way in New York City, receives the news that her grandmother Nai Nai (Zhao Shuzhen) is dying of cancer and only has a few months to live, she is bewildered when the rest of her extended family decide not to tell her.  Instead, a wedding is planned for Billi's cousin Hao Hao (Chen Han) and his Japanese girlfriend Aiko (Aoi Mizuhara) in China as an excuse for the entire family to get together to say their goodbyes to Nai Nai.  Billi is incredibly conflicted about this but ultimately has a meaningful visit with her grandmother who encourages her to keep following her dreams.  This movie is so funny because it is such an authentic portrayal of family relationships and I found myself laughing out loud many times at the wry comedic situations.  In my opinion, this movie is also a touching exploration of identity. Billi is constantly told that her objections to the lie they are telling her grandmother are because she is too Westernized but she idealizes the China she remembers from her childhood when she gets angry with her father for talking about the advantages of living in America.  There were several scenes that brought tears to my eyes because they mirrored my own personal experience of moving away from family to another country.  As her family drives around Changchun, Billi recognizes her grandmother's old neighborhood and asks them to take her back because she has happy memories there.  The last time I was in Canada I asked my Dad to drive me to my grandmother's old house for the exact same reason.  In another scene, an emotional Billi lashes out at her mother (Diana Lin) for moving her away from China and her family.  She is especially angry that she was not able to go to her grandfather's funeral because, the next time she visited China, he was gone and it was hard for her to reconcile it.  I felt the same way when I visited Canada after my grandfather died.  There is a beautiful scene near the end of the movie where Billi and her family are leaving to go back to the U.S.  The camera shows Nai Nai in the middle of the street crying as she watches their taxi drive away.  This absolutely gutted me because I have a distinct memory of looking out of the window from the car at my grandmother standing in her driveway and crying as my family drove away.  That is the last time I saw her.  I was openly sobbing for the rest of the movie and I had to sit through all of the credits before I could compose myself enough to leave the theater.  Awkwafina (who is so funny in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians) gives a wonderful performance that is very subtle but incredibly powerful.  It is one of the best performances I have seen all year!  My reaction to this movie is definitely based on my own personal frame of reference but I think the themes are universal enough for everyone to enjoy it.  I loved it and I highly recommend it!

Friday, August 2, 2019

Summer Reading: Then She Was Gone

The final selection on my summer reading list (where has the summer gone?) was Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. Fifteen year old Ellie Mack is a vibrant girl who enjoys spending time with her boyfriend Theo while earnestly studying for her exams with a math tutor named Noelle Donnelly. She is optimistic and excited for her future but one day she goes missing and is never heard from again. Her mother Laurel is completely devastated and doesn’t believe the police when they conclude that she must have run away.  She spends a decade obsessively trying to find her which destroys her marriage and her relationship with her remaining children. When Ellie's remains are eventually discovered, Laurel tries to put the past behind her and move on with her life. She meets a handsome and charismatic man named Floyd Dunn at a cafe and begins a relationship with him. However, she is soon haunted by a series of coincidences that lead her to suspect that Floyd might be connected to Ellie's disappearance. This novel is incredibly suspenseful because the narrative alternates between Laurel's perspective in the present and Ellie's in the past. Even though Ellie's death is revealed early on, I kept reading well into the night because I had to know what happened to bring it about. You know what happens to Ellie but you don't know why and the answers make for a pretty dark psychological thriller. The characters are very well developed and I found them all to be quite sympathetic. Laurel, especially, is incredibly poignant in her despair over not knowing what happened to her child. Even the characters who are deeply flawed are portrayed with a certain humanity and it is fascinating to see how these damaged people impact those around them. There are some very disturbing elements that I found difficult to read but that didn't detract from my enjoyment of this novel. I highly recommend it as a suspenseful character study that will keep you guessing until the end.

Note:  Have you read Then She Was Gone or any of the other selections on my summer reading list?  What did you think?

Thursday, August 1, 2019

Les Miserables in Boise

Before I became obsessed with the musical Hamilton, Les Miserables enjoyed a 30 year run as my favorite musical of all time!  It is still a sentimental favorite and I couldn't help myself when I had the chance to see it on Broadway several years ago and I couldn't help myself when I saw that the Broadway touring production would be in Boise (a four hour drive from SLC) this summer!  When I mentioned to my Dad that I would be out of town this week and why, he asked me why I was driving so far to see a show that I have seen so many times.  I know it is a crazy thing to do but I am so inspired by the epic story of Jean Valjean's redemption and I absolutely love the music!  As I always do, I got goosebumps when I heard those dramatic first notes last night!  As I sat in the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts, eagerly anticipating every single number and trying desperately not to sing along out loud, I was filled with so much nostalgia for the girl whose biggest dream was to see this show and I felt the magic all over again!  This particular cast is a strong one and, as I anticipated all of my favorite moments, they did not disappoint!  Fantine (Mary Kate Moore) was heartbreaking in "I Dreamed a Dream," Javert (Felipe Barbosa Bombonato) was incredibly powerful in "Stars" (this got the biggest reaction from the crowd all night), Enjolras (Matt Shingledecker) was stirring in "The People's Song," and Valjean (Nick Cartell) brought me to tears in "Bring Him Home."  I wasn't sure if I liked Monte J. Howell's characterization of Marius because he was a little goofy in his interactions with Cosette (Jillian Butler) early on but his rendition of "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" was amazing!  My favorite moment in the show is when Eponine sings "On My Own."  I sit, impatiently, through the intermission anticipating this song because it is what made me a fan of this musical!  Paige Smallwood gave one of the most emotional performances of it that I've ever heard and I was quite overcome!  This production featured the new staging without the turntable.  I honestly really like it because the sets are much more elaborate and scenes are more true to the events in the novel by Victor Hugo, especially in the Prologue and "At the End of the Day."  I also think that "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables" is much more dramatic when the students take away the candles.  The only scene where I miss the turntable is when the barricade turns after the battle to reveal Enjolras upside down holding the red flag.  Him laying in a dogcart with Gavroche isn't as impactful in my opinion.  I really loved seeing this show again and I am so glad that I did it!  It runs at the Morrison Center for the Performing Arts as part of Broadway in Boise until August 4 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Broadway in Boise will be performing Bandstand next April and Hamilton the following season so I will be back!
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