The Utah Shakespeare Festival is another activity that I really missed last summer. I was especially sad when the 2020 season had to be canceled due to Covid because one of the plays was going to be Richard III, which is a favorite of mine, and I had been looking forward to it ever since it was announced in 2019. Luckily, it is being performed this season and I was so excited to see it that I got a ticket for opening weekend!
I drove down to Cedar City in the afternoon on Friday, checked into my hotel, and then caught the Greenshow before seeing Richard III in the Engelstad Theatre. Richard III is one of Shakespeare's darkest plays but I love it and, even though Richard is a villain who kills everyone in his path to take the throne of England, I find the character to be incredibly compelling (I almost always prefer the villains to the heroes). This production is outstanding and Aidan O'Reilly is absolutely brilliant as Richard. He gives an incredibly riveting physical performance and I couldn't take my eyes off him (he is diminutive in stature but he somehow fills the stage). There were many moments when the staging of a scene took my breath away including Richard wooing Anne (Sarah Suzuki) over the coffin of her father-in law, the murder of the young princes (Jessica Sannar and Finley Caciola) in the Tower, the condemnation of Richard by his mother (Sarah Shippobotham) and the former queens (Desiree Mee Jung and Melinda Pfundstein), the ghosts of Richard's victims tormenting him and then encouraging Richmond (Cordell Cole) on the eve of battle, and Richard's dramatic death. If you are planning a visit to the festival this summer, this show is not to be missed!
Saturday afternoon I saw Ragtime (which is one of my favorite musicals) in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. The stories of a wealthy white family living in New Rochelle, a Black piano player in Harlem, and an Eastern European immigrant looking for a better life for his daughter in America converge with ragtime music as a metaphor for the dramatic changes happening in society at the turn of the century. The narrative is incredibly poignant and the music is amazing! My favorite song has always been "Sarah Brown Eyes" and Ezekial Andrew, as Coalhouse Walker Jr., and Daria Pilar Redus, as Sarah, sing it beautifully! In this production I also really loved "Back to Before" by Melinda Pfundstein, as Mother, and "Make Them Hear You" by Andrew because their performances are so powerful. This show is technically very complicated with a large ensemble and lots of different settings so the use of simple metal staircases, which are configured and reconfigured very quickly, is highly effective. I loved this show and would highly recommend it!
My final show at the festival was a production of The Comedy of Errors in the Engelstad Theatre Saturday night and it was as funny as Richard III was intense the night before! This play is about two sets of identical twins separated at birth who, unbeknownst to them, are all in the same place at the same time and are constantly mistaken for each other with hilarious consequences (an exorcism is required at one point). The four actors playing the twins (Mauricio Miranda, Michael Doherty, Marco Antonio Vega, and Andrew Plinio) have brilliant comedic timing and all of the physical comedy had the audience (myself included) rolling with laughter! I am usually not a big fan of changing the source material but this production is set during the 1970s on a Greek island (it features some pretty wild costumes and disco music) and it really worked for me. Ironically, the last time this play was performed it was set in the Wild West and I loved it, too! Bring the kids to this show because the ones around me were laughing the most!
I had a wonderful time at the festival this year and not just because I loved all three shows but also because I appreciated the experience so much more having missed out last year. I highly recommend taking a trip to Cedar City for what might be the most memorable season in the festival's sixty year history (go here for more information).
No comments:
Post a Comment