Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at PTC

The Broadway touring production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical was the first show I saw at the Eccles Theatre when it opened and, because I loved it so much, I was really excited to see it again last night at PTC. This version is definitely on par with the Broadway production and, once again, I really loved it. Beautiful is a jukebox musical describing how Carole King rose to stardom in the 1970s using the songs she wrote, such as "So Far Away," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Up on the Roof," "It's Too Late," "You've Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "I Feel the Earth Move" among others, to inform her story. Act I begins when a sixteen year old King (Sara Sheperd) decides to go to Manhattan to sell one of her songs to producer Don Kirshner (Jason Andrew Hackney) and continues with her development as a hit songwriter with her husband Gerry Goffin (Anthony Sagaria) and with their rivalry with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil (Lee Alexandra Harrington) and Barry Mann (Stephen Christopher Anthony). Act II details the disintegration of King's marriage to Goffin and how she finds the courage to stand on her own, both personally and professionally, which results in the writing and recording of her seminal album Tapestry. King's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 1971 is used as a framing device. Many of the musical numbers begin with King and Goffin or Weil and Mann singing a song as they write it, usually around a piano, and then continue with the artist who made it famous singing it as a big production number with fabulous choreography. I really loved seeing "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow" with the Shirelles (Elexis Morton, Tyler Symone, Hannah Camille Hall, and Kianna Kelly-Futch), "Up on the Roof" with the Drifters (Travis Keith Battle, Chris Richie, Nathan Andrew Riley, and Cory Simmons), "The Locomotion" with Little Eva (Grace Ellis Solomon), "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with the Righteous Brothers (Jordan Briggs and Nate Ginsberg), and "One Fine Day" with Janelle Woods (Elexis Morton). The music is incredible (I had to stop myself from singing along and I was definitely not alone as I watched the people around me instantly recognize a song) and all of the performances are brilliant. Sheperd, especially, is amazing because she not only embodies King in the musical numbers (her rendition of "A Natural Woman" gave me goosebumps) but she also shows so much vulnerability in portraying King's journey to self-acceptance (I really love the message of empowerment in this show). The minimal set pieces are moved and configured into various locations very effectively by the ensemble and the hair, makeup, and costumes do a great job evoking the 1960s and 1970s. I had such a good time watching this and I heard nothing but positive comments from the audience as I walked out. Do yourself a favor and get a ticket (go here) for one of the three remaining performances.

Note:  The crowd last night was the biggest I've seen all season!

Jesus Christ Superstar at the Grand Theatre

I have seen two different Broadway touring productions of Jesus Christ Superstar but I think the version I saw last night at the Grand Theatre might be my favorite.  I loved everything about it!  This rock opera with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Tim Rice tells the story of the Passion of Jesus Christ from the perspective of Judas as he becomes dissatisfied with Jesus's growing popularity and fears that it is taking away from their mission to help the less fortunate.  It features contemporary sensibilities and I've seen Jesus portrayed as a rock star with an electric guitar and a microphone in other productions but in this one he creates a cult of personality and whips crowds into a frenzy with just his presence.  All of the costumes are contemporary, as well.  Jesus is dressed casually in athletic wear (and an orange jumpsuit during his trial), his followers are dressed as punk rockers (I loved Judas's red leather jacket), King Herod is dressed as a sleazy lounge singer in a pink lamé suit, and Pilate is dressed as a 19th century gentleman with a brocade waistcoat and frock coat.  The set, which consists of multi-level metal towers (that look like scaffolding) with a large cross at the top, the dramatic lighting design, and the dynamic choreography are all dazzling and my attention never wavered from what was happening on stage.  I love the music in this show (I had to try really hard not to sing along to every song) and the three leads, Michael Scott Johnson as Jesus, Aaron Naylor as Judas, and McKenna Kay Jensen as Mary Magdalen, have beautiful voices.  I really enjoyed Jensen's version of "I Don't Know How to Love Him" (my favorite song in the show) and Johnson's rendition of "Gethsemane (I Only Want to Say)" gave me goosebumps but Naylor blew me away with his performance of "Damned for All Time/ Blood Money" because you can really feel his escalating torment.  I was also impressed by "This Jesus Must Die" by Ricky Parkinson as Caiaphas because he has an incredible bass voice and "Pilate's Dream" by Keefer Glade as Pilate because having him play the guitar while standing in a spotlight during this song is very powerful.  I think this show is brilliant but the song "Trial By Pilate/ Thirty-Nine Lashes" is extremely difficult to watch, particularly in this version because it is staged very realistically with blood dripping from Jesus's wounds.  However, the staging of "John Nineteen: Forty-One" is incredibly tender and I think it makes up for the scenes preceding it.  This production is so good and I cannot recommend enough!  It runs at the Grand Theatre on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through March 22 (go here for tickets).

The Prince of Egypt at HCT

I have always regretted that I didn't make more of an effort to see The Prince of Egypt when it was at Tuacahn in 2018 so I was very excited when it was included in the 2025 season at HCT. I had the chance to see it last night and I really enjoyed it. A baby named Moses is set adrift on the Nile by his Hebrew mother Yocheved (Sophia Morrill Mancilla) in order to save his life. Queen Tuya (Mack) rescues him and then raises him alongside her son Ramses in the court of Egypt. Ramses (Ren Cottam) and Moses (Ethan Kelso) form a close bond as they vie for the attention of the Pharaoh Seti (Danté J. L. Murray) but Ramses eventually marries Nefertari (Annakaitlyn Burningham) to unite two kingdoms and, when Moses learns his true identity from his biological sister Miriam (Jaden Chandie Nandkeshwar) and biological brother Aaron (Spencer Anapol), he flees to the desert.  Moses is taken in by Jethro (Aioleoge Lesa) and falls in love with his daughter Tzipporah (Rebecca Burroughs) before realizing that his destiny is to free the Hebrew slaves. Moses must return to Egypt and to Ramses, who is now the Pharaoh, for a confrontation that culminates with the parting of the Red Sea and a new understanding between the brothers. I was absolutely dazzled by the staging of the well-known biblical events. The basket carrying the baby Moses floats above the stage on a river made of silks, the burning bush is depicted by a series of ropes that represent the bonds that keep people enslaved (this symbolism is very powerful), the plagues are shown with different projections on gauzy fabric covering the stage and members of the ensemble (this is particularly effective), and the parting of the Red Sea is depicted with blue scrims that circle the stage (it is really cool). I also really loved the many elaborate set pieces (most of which are moved on and off stage by the ensemble) that bring ancient Egypt to life, including the chariots that race above a traditional market and a temple, the throne room, a secret room in the palace, a royal barge on the Nile, a well in the desert, Jethro's tent, and various construction sites and ruins. The costumes are gorgeous and feature muted colors for the Hebrews, vibrant colors and patterns for Midianites, and luxurious fabrics for the Egyptians.  However, I was especially impressed by how director Dave Tinney was able to find the perfect balance between the spectacle and the intimate story being told. The technical wizardry is fun but, in my opinion, the story is at its best whenever it focuses on the relationship between Moses and Ramses, especially in the songs "Faster," "Make It Right," and "Always On Your Side."  The main cast is outstanding but Kelso's renditions of "Footprints on the Sand" and "For the Rest of My Life" are incredibly poignant and Nandkeshwar and Burroughs sing "When You Believe" so beautifully. The multicultural members of the ensemble, most of whom play multiple roles (Hebrews, Egyptians, and Midianites), do a great job with the choreography and I especially loved "Deliver Us" because it is very powerful and "Through Heaven's Eyes" because it is so exuberant. There is definitely a focus on the human relationships rather than the divine and some might not like that but I did and would highly recommend this beautiful production. It runs on the Young Living Centre Stage through April 12 but almost all of the performances are sold out so act quickly (go here for tickets).

Note:  I can also highly recommend Little Women which is currently on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through April 23 (go here for tickets).

2025 Star Awards

Last night I attended the Benefit Gala for SCERA's Endowment for the Arts as a recipient of one of the Star Awards.  I was honored as a Friend of the Arts and it was an incredible event that I won't soon forget!

The theme was the Wild West and all of the decorations were so fun!

The evening began with a silent auction (there were some cool items to bid on) and then we had a dinner in the lobby provided by the UVU Culinary Arts Institute which included a salad of crisp frisee, grape tomatoes, a blue cheese wedge, bacon lardons, and shallot vinaigrette, a main course of herb & goat cheese stuffed chicken breast, creamy mashed potatoes, broccolini, baby carrots, and crispy red onion, and for dessert there was an amazing chocolate peanut butter cake.

After dinner there was a live auction (I wanted the Jazz tickets but they were way out of my price range) and then we moved into the theatre for the program and the Star Awards.

There was a beautiful slide presentation narrated by radio and TV personality Casey Scott for each of the recipients before we received our awards (and then we had to give a speech!).

Both of my sisters, my brother-in-law, my nephew, and a dear friend were there to support me and that really meant a lot to me.  There were also some lovely tributes from several of my friends and former colleagues printed in the program and these actually brought tears to my eyes when I read them.  I am so grateful to SCERA for all of the preparation and care that went into such a wonderful evening and I want to thank them for giving me an award for simply doing what I love!

Note:  The program included entertainment between the awards and we got a sneak peak of The Wizard of Oz (SCERA's next production).  Both of my sisters were so impressed they want to come see it with me!

Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella at The Ruth

Last night I saw the Rodgers & Hammerstein version of Cinderella at The Ruth.  This is the first production in the more intimate Lindsay Legacy Theater and, as with the Scott & Karen Smith Grand Theater, I was really impressed with this wonderful new venue (lots of leg room).  This show features a contemporary update to the well-known fairy tale with a social reforming Cinderella (Hailey Bennett Sundwall) who rescues Prince Topher (Jeff Sundwall) from the Lord Protector (Kyle Harper) who is deceiving him about the conditions in his kingdom, a feminist Fairy Godmother (Michelle Sundwall) who tells Cinderella that it's up to her to make her own dreams come true, and a Stepsister (Jaymie Lambson) who eventually becomes a sympathetic conspirator with her own romance with the revolutionary Jean-Michel (Brock Harris).  I am not a huge fan of this version because I think it is very contrived with messages, however laudable, that are shoehorned into the story but there is so much to love about this production.  The set is absolutely magical!  There is a backdrop that looks like an illustration from a storybook with vines covered in lights that blink on and off and change color to coincide with all of the transformations (the effect is spectacular).  There are beautiful set pieces, which have an autumn color palette, that are moved on and off the stage by the ensemble and my favorites are the trees used in the pursuit of Cinderella after the ball.  The costumes are gorgeous!  I loved Cinderella's sparkly ball gown as well as the Fairy Godmother's gown (the transformations into these gowns are a lot of fun) but I was also impressed by the uniforms worn by Topher and his guards.  The puppets used for the Fox and Raccoon (with puppeteers Maggie Scott and Emily Runyan Manning, respectively) are clever as are their transformations and the portrayal of Topher's horse Buttercup is quite humorous (every production I've seen has portrayed the horse in a different way).  The performances are amazing!  The three leads (who are husband and wife and mother and son) do a lovely job with "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "It's Possible," "Ten Minutes Ago," "There's Music in You," and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful" and I also really enjoyed "Stepsister's Lament" by Karlena Nielson because her rendition is really funny.  Finally, the choreography is dazzling!  I particularly enjoyed the patterns created in "Now Is the Time/ The Prince is Giving a Ball," the romance in "Ten Minutes Ago," and the chaotic energy in "The Pursuit."  This may not be my favorite show but I enjoyed what The Ruth did with it and would recommend getting a ticket (go here).  It runs through May 3.

Ballet West's Cinderella

I was really excited to see Ballet West's production of Cinderella last night because, not only is it incredibly beautiful, it is also really funny!  It tells the well-known story of Cinderella (with a few differences from the Disney version) and features music by Sergei Prokofiev, choreography by Frederick Ashton, and all new costumes and sets.  The stepsisters, who are portrayed by male dancers (Dominic Ballard and Jonas Malinka-Thompson), are absolutely hilarious and I loved the scenes where they are getting ready for the ball (their gowns are very elaborately embellished), having a lesson from a dance master, and dancing at the ball with Wellington (Robert Fowler) and Napoleon (Vinicius Lima, who is a hoot).  I can't imagine how difficult it must be for trained ballet dancers to appear so awkward and to dance so badly!  The Fairy Godmother (Anisa Sinteral) has the Fairies of Spring (Kristina Pool), Summer (Victoria Vassos), Autumn (Rylee Ann Rogers), and Winter (Nicole Fanney) give Cinderella gifts before she transforms her into a princess and I really enjoyed these dances (and the young dancers who appear as their attendants).  The costumes and backdrops for the fairies evoke each of the seasons perfectly and I especially loved the falling leaves for Autumn and the fog for Winter.  Lexi McCloud is a beautiful Cinderella and her dance with a broom as a partner is really endearing, her entrance to the ball is stunning (seeing her descend the stairs on pointe was quite impressive and gave me goosebumps), and the Grand Pas de Deux with the Prince (Jordan Veit) is incredibly romantic with intricate choreography that is dazzling to watch (I also loved the music during this dance because it is very dramatic, especially the timpani).  Cinderella's costume for the ball is gorgeous but I was really impressed by her transformation back to a scullery maid at the stroke of midnight because it happens so quickly.  The dances at the ball with the Prince's attendants (I loved that their costumes matched the fairies) and the courtiers are charming but I was blown away by the athleticism of the Jester (William Lynch).  The final scene as Cinderella and the Prince dance with glitter falling all around them is absolutely magical.  I had a wonderful time watching this ballet and I highly recommend it but only one performance remains (go here for tickets).

Bravo Broadway

Last night I went to the Bravo Broadway concert featuring the Utah Symphony and guest vocalists Scarlett Strallen, Dee Roscioli, and Hugh Panaro.  It was wonderful!  Before the show, guest conductor John Gennaro Devlin told the audience that the first half would feature classic Broadway standards and the second would include songs from popular shows on Broadway today and I'm not sure which I enjoyed more!  The orchestra began with the Broadway Tonight Overture and then all three soloists came to the stage for "Lullaby of Broadway" from 42nd Street.  Strallen, who has a beautiful coloratura soprano voice, continued with a lovely version of "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady, Panaro sang an incredibly moving version of "Not While I'm Around" from Sweeney Todd (all of the lights on stage turned red during this song), and then Roscioli just about blew the roof off Abravanel Hall with her version of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl.  Next came a romantic performance of "Stranger in Paradise" from Kismet and then the orchestra continued with a medley from West Side Story (which included audience participation).  All three soloists performed an amusing version of "Getting Married Today" from Company, Panaro gave a spirited rendition of "Ya Got Trouble" from The Music Man, and then everyone performed "Before the Parade Passes By" from Hello, Dolly! to conclude the first half.  After the intermission, Panaro sang "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton (complete with a crown) and this was obviously my favorite  performance of the night but Roscioli's rendition of "Memory" from Cats gave me goosebumps!  I love that Panaro and Strallen included "The Song That Goes Like This" from Spamalot next because it is such a spoof of Broadway musicals and the fact that they sang it so seriously was hilarious.  The orchestra played a really fun medley from Mamma Mia that got the audience cheering and then Strallen and Roscioli (who has had the longest run playing Elphaba on Broadway and on national tours) sang "For Good" from Wicked.  Roscioli continued with "Defying Gravity" (her dress was pink so she joked that she was wearing the wrong color but at least all of the lights on stage were green) and this was another favorite moment.  A Bravo Broadway concert just isn't complete without Phantom of the Opera so Panaro and Strallen sang "Phantom of the Opera" and then Panaro gave an incredible performance of "Music of the Night" that brought the house down!  For the encore, they performed a medley of love songs for Valentine's Day (my favorites were "Love Changes Everything" from Aspects of Love and "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar).  I enjoyed this concert so much and, if you love musical theatre as much as I do, I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program (go here) but act quickly because there were very few empty seats last night.

Captain America: Brave New World

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of Captain America: Brave New World and, while it is not the best entry in the MCU, I liked it.  Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford) is elected President of the United States and, because of his problematic behavior in the past, he wants his legacy to be a treaty in which the adamantium discovered on Celestial Island is shared between several nations including Japan.  However, Samuel Sterns (Tim Blake Nelson) holds Ross responsible for his incarceration after the events in The Incredible Hulk and uses his superhuman intelligence to disrupt the treaty negotiations.  Sterns uses mind control to compel the veteran and super soldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) to attempt an assassination of the president as he addresses international leaders.  Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) works with Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) and Ruth Bat-Seraph (Shira Haas), an ex-Widow who is now a government agent, to clear Bradley's name but more manipulation from Sterns forces Captain American and the Falcon to intervene in order to prevent a war with Japan and a threat from Ross.  The story is a bit unwieldy and convoluted (there is also a plot involving Giancarlo Esposito as the Sidewinder and some stolen adamantium) but once it gets going I really enjoyed seeing a president try to be a better man and a new hero grappling with comparisons to an old one before finding his true strength.  I loved Mackie's more stoic performance (it is appropriate and I didn't miss the wisecracking usually found in the MCU at all) and I found his portrayal of Sam's relationships with Isaiah and Joaquin (Lumbly and Ramirez are also great) to be very affecting and a great way forward for the character.  Ford is outstanding as a man trying to reconcile his past mistakes but I feel like Esposito is wasted in role that is not fully realized.  The biggest problem with this movie is the way it looks.  Some of the CGI in the action sequences is really chaotic and the confrontation with the Red Hulk, especially in the cherry trees, is so obviously in front of a green screen that it is laughable.  There are definitely issues but I had fun with it and I am now eager to see more of the character in the upcoming Avengers movies.

The Play That Goes Wrong at West Valley Arts

Last night I went to see The Play That Goes Wrong at the West Valley Performing Arts Center and, since I am very familiar with this show, I was really intrigued to see how it would be staged in the round. They actually pulled it off because it is one of the funniest versions I've seen! The titular play is The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Brideswell and it is being performed by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society. It stars Max (Dan Radford) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardner, Chris (Adam Packard) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (John Valdez) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Bryan Dayley) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Samuel Wright) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Britty Marie) as Florence Colleymore. The Director is Chris, the Stage Manager is Annie (Jillian Joy), and the Sound and Lighting Director is Trevor (Armando Serrano Huerta). The set is slowly falling apart, the props malfunction or go missing, the sound designer accidentally plays Duran Duran instead of the sound cues, a missing dog is not found until bows, one actor cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, one actor cannot remember his lines, one actor is overly dramatic and then milks the audience for applause, and the leading lady is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced by Annie (and then Trevor) with script in hand but the show must go on! The staging (which I won't spoil here) is absolutely brilliant because, since it is in the round, everything happens in front of the audience! I especially loved the visible backstage area and all of the stage crew members (more than are usually used in this show) who are shown running around in a panic. The set is one of the most elaborate I've seen at West Valley Arts and I particularly loved the second floor study, which eventually collapses spectacularly, and the elevator, which is hand-cranked to great comedic effect. The physical comedy is so much fun to watch and my favorite moments are when Florence, Thomas, and Inspector Carter get stuck in a loop which involves drinking paint thinner instead of whiskey because Perkins can't remember his next line, when Cecil and Thomas have to answer the phone (with the help of an audience member) while holding the set together, when Perkins and Thomas walk through the audience because they can't open the door, when Cecil cannot bring himself to kiss Florence, and when Annie and Sandra have a long and drawn out fight over who gets to play Florence. The entire cast is fantastic but the standouts for me are Dayley because he is so hilariously exasperated (he was often standing near me and his facial expressions made me laugh out loud), Radford because his gestures are so over the top, and Joy because she is an absolute hoot once she gets into character while playing Florence. I don't think I stopped laughing all night and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for a really fun night out!  It runs at the West Valley Center for the Performing Arts through Mar 1.

Note:  If you go (you should!) try to get to your seat as early as you can because there are hijinks before the show even begins!

The Seed of the Sacred Fig

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was The Seed of the Sacred Fig and it is an incredibly compelling and powerful indictment of the authoritarian regime in Iran.  Iman (Missagh Zareh) is promoted as an investigating judge in the Revolutionary Court of Tehran but, because he must regularly sign death warrants, the position is dangerous because people often attempt to seek retribution.  He is advised to keep his job secret from his family, which includes his wife Najmeh (Soheila Golestani) and teenage daughters Rezvan (Mahsa Rostami) and Sana (Setareh Maleki), and he is issued a gun for protection.  However, Najmeh insists that he tell his daughters about his job but they are becoming critical of the regime after the death of a young woman in police custody sparks widespread protests.  Rezvan eventually confronts her father when her friend Sadaf (Niousha Akhshi) is beaten and arrested at a protest.  Iman is under tremendous pressure at work because he is now expected to sign hundreds of death warrants due to the protests so, when his gun mysteriously disappears, he blames his daughters and subjects them to an intense interrogation.  When his personal information appears on social media, Iman's paranoia intensifies and he takes his family to hide at his childhood home which leads to an epic confrontation.  This has a really long runtime but I was absolutely riveted as the domestic drama mirrors the one that is playing out on the streets of Tehran.  The tension escalates very slowly as the two girls come to realize that the information on the news is not supported by what they are seeing on social media (actual footage from the protests that erupted in Tehran in 2022 is used and it is horrifying to watch) and that their father is complicit in what is happening.  Then the tension becomes almost unbearable in the third act with a truly frightening interrogation scene and an extended chase sequence that had me holding my breath.  The performances are understated but very effective (and incredibly brave) and I was especially impressed by Golestani because you can feel how torn Najmeh is between supporting her husband and protecting her daughters.  I was blown away by this movie, and the lengths to which director Mohammad Rasoulof went in order to bring it to the screen, and I highly recommend it.

I'm Still Here

When the Academy Award nominations were announced a few weeks ago, the only Best Picture nominee that I hadn't seen yet was I'm Still Here (click on the titles for my commentaries on Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Perez, Nickel Boys, The Substance, and Wicked) so I decided to see it as part of a double feature at the Broadway last night.  It is incredibly moving with a powerful performance from Fernanda Torres.  In 1970, Rubens Paiva (Selton Mello), a former congressman ousted by a military dictatorship in Brazil, is living in Rio de Janeiro near the beach with his wife Eunice (Torres) and his five children, Marcelo (Guilherme Silveira), Vera (Valentina Herszage), Eliana (Luiza Kosovski), Nalu (Barbara Luz), and Maria (Cora Mora), while working as an architect.  His happy and boisterous house is always filled with family and friends but, unbeknownst to Eunice, Rubens is active in the underground resistance to the regime.  Rubens is eventually arrested in a military raid and is "disappeared" but, when Eunice inquires about his whereabouts, she and her daughter Eliana are brought in for questioning and she is tortured for several days before being released.  Without a definitive answer about the fate of her husband, Eunice (who cannot even access her bank account without her husband's signature) must hold her family together while searching for answers which do not come for decades.  This is a straightforward story about resilience in the face of unimaginable terror but what makes it so devastating is the slow and measured introduction to this loving family and their idyllic life together before everything changes with a knock on the door.  You feel the weight of what has happened to them because you know how happy they were before their husband and father was taken from them.  There are so many scenes of quiet heroism as Eunice makes difficult decisions but I found it absolutely heartbreaking when she tells the children that they have to move away from their house in Rio.  Torres gives an incredibly nuanced performance in which you see every emotion Eunice is feeling on her face (the scene in the ice cream shop as she observes happy families all around her just about did me in) and she is definitely deserving of the Best Actress nomination.  I would highly recommend seeking this out.

Note:  Now that I have seen all of the Best Picture nominees, I want Dune: Part Two to win but, with the exception of Emilia Perez, I wouldn't mind if any of them did.

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Secret Garden

Last night I saw Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Secret Garden and I was blown away by the incredible cast! Mary Lennox (Mia Moore) is orphaned by a cholera outbreak in India and is sent to live with her uncle Archibald Craven (William Gardner) at Misselthwaite Manor in Yorkshire. He has been grieving the death of his wife Lily (Sydney Dameron), who died in childbirth, for the past ten years and has closed off his heart, his house, and Lily's garden. Mary receives a cold welcome from the housekeeper Mrs. Medlock (Kristyan Williams) and an indifferent one from her uncle so she is lonely and unhappy. However, she is encouraged by a maid named Martha (River Robinson) and her brother Dickon (Adam Moore) to play outside and she soon discovers Lily's garden. She also discovers her cousin Colin (Josh Moore) who has been kept an invalid by Archibald's brother Neville (Dustin Parmley). As Mary brings the garden back to life, she also brings Colin and Archibald back to life. The songs in this show all have beautiful melodies and the performances from this talented cast gave me goosebumps. Dameron's versions of "Come to My Garden" and "How Could I Ever Know" are incredibly poignant and you can literally hear the pain in Gardner's voice as he sings "A Girl in the Valley," "Lily's Eyes," and "Race You to the Top of the Morning." Robinson's portrayal of the sassy maid Martha made me laugh out loud and her performance of "Hold On" (one of my favorite songs in the show) just about blew the roof off the theater and also garnered the loudest applause of the evening. I loved Moore's voice and physicality (I also really enjoyed him as Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance and Quasimodo in The Hunchback of Notre Dame) in "Winter's on the Wing" but I especially loved his interactions with his sister Mia in "Wick" (another favorite song from the show) and with her and his cousin Josh in "Come Spirit, Come Charm." I was also really impressed by the staging of this production. The main set features a large house made of stone with two levels and several arches and those arches rotate to become hedges that form a maze leading to the door that opens to the secret garden. These set pieces are moved by the ensemble as Mary and the rest of the children walk through the maze. It is very clever! There are also large moving panels of fabric hanging from the rafters to give the house the impression that it is shrouded and I loved the effect that is created as the ghosts wander around and through them. The whole show is incredibly enchanting and you can't help but leave with a smile on your face! It runs at the Valentine Theater in American Fork through February 22 with performances on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have been impressed by the caliber of talent I have seen at every show from TCT!

Persuasion at Parker Theatre

As a huge fan of Jane Austen, I was so excited to see an adaptation of Persuasion at Parker Theatre last night. It is very well done and I really enjoyed it. Anne Elliot (Madeline Thatcher) is persuaded by her aristocratic family and friends to reject the proposal of Captain Frederick Wentworth (Daniel Frederickson) because of his lack of wealth and position. Eight years later, their fortunes have reversed because her father Sir Walter Elliot (David Weekes) has mismanaged his estate and Captain Wentworth has prospered from the war. They meet unexpectedly when Captain Wentworth's brother-in-law and sister, Admiral and Mrs. Croft (Michael Hohl and Cecily Bills, respectively), let Anne's ancestral home, Kellynch Hall. Anne still loves him but she fears that he hasn't forgiven her for breaking his heart when he pursues Louisa and Henrietta Musgrove (Emily States and Isabelle Purdie, respectively). Captain Wentworth eventually realizes that he still loves Anne but will she be persuaded by her father and Lady Russell (Melanie Muranaka) to marry her cousin William Elliot (John Hayes Nielsen)? This adaptation is extremely faithful to the novel which makes it quite long with lots of scene changes and, even though they are handled very quickly, the pacing sometimes gets bogged down. Other than that, I loved everything else about this production. Thatcher and Frederickson are very appealing as the two leads (they reminded me of Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds from the 1995 movie adaptation with their physical appearances even if Thatcher is a bit bolder) but I laughed out loud whenever Mckelle Shaw pretends to cough as the hypochondriac Mary Musgrove, whenever Weekes looks at a handheld mirror as the vain Sir Walter, whenever Nicole Holbrook eats a chocolate bonbon as the spoiled Elizabeth Elliot, and whenever Wyatt Bills and Liam Brown run around in circles as the rambunctious Musgrove boys. The set is really beautiful and I loved the projections used for Kellynch Hall, Uppercross Manor, the seaside at Lyme, and the Assembly Room in Bath as well as all of the elegant period furniture. The staging is really clever, especially when Admiral and Mrs. Cross retrieve Anne in their carriage and when Louisa jumps off the sea wall. The costumes are also beautiful and, as much as I love dresses with empire waists and embellished fabrics, I was very impressed by the naval uniforms and hats.  Seeing this production is a lovely way to spend an evening and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).  It runs at Parker Theatre on Fridays and Saturdays (evenings and matinees) through March 8.

She Loves Me at OPPA

Last night I went to see She Loves Me at On Pitch Performing Arts and it was a delightful production of one of my favorite shows! The action takes place at Maraczek's Perfumery in Budapest during the 1930s and follows a group of eccentric clerks, including Georg Nowack (Cormac Romine), Ilona Ritter (Amanda Murray), Steven Kodaly (Dylan Marriott), Ladislav Sipos (Gavin Turner), and Arpad Laszlo (Emily Butcher). When Mr. Maraczek (Jeff Duncan) hires Amalia Balash (Caitlin Olsen) as a new clerk, Georg takes an immediate dislike to her and soon they are both bickering constantly. However, both Georg and Amalia have unknown correspondents and it turns out that they are actually writing to each other! Chaos ensues until they eventually realize they love each other. Most of the songs in this show consist of simple every day conversations between co-workers (the clerks even break out into song whenever a customer leaves the shop) and they are all really charming. My favorites are "Tonight at Eight" and "Will He Like Me?" because they give the male and female perspectives on going out on a first date. I also enjoy the big production numbers, including "Good Morning, Good Day," "Days Gone By," "Ilona," "A Romantic Atmosphere," and "Twelve Days to Christmas," and the choreography in this production is simple but a lot of fun. The performances are all wonderful. Olsen has a beautiful voice and her rendition of "Dear Friend" is incredibly poignant. Romine is very appealing (he reminded me a lot of Zachary Levi in the Broadway revival production) and I loved his playful performance of "She Loves Me." Murray steals the show because she is so much fun to watch. Her facial expressions are completely over the top and her version of "A Trip to the Library" made me laugh out loud! The simple period costumes and wigs are very effective in conveying the time and place and, as always, I was very impressed with how well the small space is used. There is a pastel colored set piece which shows the outside of the perfume shop and then opens up to reveal the interior with a large window showing a view of a street in Budapest on a screen behind. Glass display cases filled with lots of bottles and baubles are moved on and off stage and are cleverly configured to become various areas in the store (I loved how they are used in "Twelve Days to Christmas"). I thoroughly enjoyed everything about this show and I highly recommend it as the perfect night out with your valentine this month.  It runs Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, through March 1 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Last night was opening night so there were a lot of different activities going on before the show and during intermission. I tried to slink into the theatre without attracting too much attention but I may or may not have won the romance trivia contest...

Love Me

I really enjoyed Love Me at last year's Sundance Film Festival so I decided to see it again as part of my double feature last night.  I think it is really clever with an important message about living authentically.  After all life has become extinct on Earth, a smart buoy makes contact with a passing satellite that was launched during the last days of civilization to greet any lifeforms that might come to Earth in the future.  Worried that the satellite's programming will only allow it to communicate with a lifeform, the buoy accesses the internet to learn about life on Earth so it can imitate one.  The buoy creates the profile Me for itself and the profile I Am for the satellite and they begin interacting with each other (and begging each other for likes).  They eventually create avatars and a digital environment based on a social media influencer named Deja (Kristen Stewart) and her husband Liam (Steven Yeun) and they obsessively reenact one of their most popular videos in order to get the emotions just right.  However, I Am starts to feel like their relationship is fake.  Ultimately, Me and I Am must break away from these personas and see each other as their original selves in order to connect.  This features live action, motion capture performances, and animation and I think it is incredibly imaginative (I especially love the design of the buoy and the satellite because they are so expressive) even if it does lose steam before reaching an inevitable conclusion.  What makes this so compelling is the message that what is portrayed on social media is not real and that it is always better to be yourself rather than an imitation of someone online.  It is also fascinating (or horrifying) to think that humanity might be judged in the future by what is posted on YouTube.  Finally, Stewart and Yuen give really appealing performances (I especially loved Yuen's motion capture performance and Stewart's live action one) that ground some of the more existential themes.  This was one of my favorites at Sundance last year and I recommend it but it might be too quirky for some.

Companion

Last night I saw Companion as part of a double feature and I had so much fun with it!  Iris (Sophie Thatcher), a highly sophisticated companion robot programmed to provide unquestioning love and devotion, travels with her boyfriend/owner Josh (Jack Quaid) to an isolated lake house owned by Sergey (Rupert Friend) to spend the weekend with Jack's friends Kat (Megan Suri), Eli (Harvey Guillen), and Patrick (Likas Gage).  However, the weekend takes a turn for the worse when Iris's programming malfunctions and she kills Sergey in an act of self-defense after he tries to rape her.  That is really all you should know before going to see this because half the fun is trying to figure out where the plot is going and there are some wild twists (even if some of them are a bit convenient).  I will say that this is a pretty powerful indictment of whiny male entitlement but Quaid, who is somehow always able to play pathetic losers so effectively, and Thatcher, who is pitch-perfect in her portrayal of many different emotions as Iris slowly gains autonomy (pay close attention to her eyes), make this dynamic very compelling.  I loved the dark humor, the great needle drops, and the cool retro vibe (especially with Iris's costumes).  I heard a lot of hype for this before I went to see it (I had to wait until after Sundance) and I was definitely not disappointed!  Go see it if you are a fan of horror!

September 5

My nephew and I finally had the opportunity to see September 5 last night and we both found it to be very compelling.  ABC Sports is covering the 1972 Summer Olympic Games in Munich when members of the crew, including Roone Arledge (Peter Sarsgaard), the president of ABC Sports, Marvin Bader (Ben Chaplin), the head of operations, Geoffrey Mason (John Magaro), a producer, and Marianne Gebhardt (Leonie Benesch), a local translator, hear gunshots.  They soon learn that it is a terrorist attack by Black September in which Israeli athletes are taken hostage in order to extort the release of Palestinian prisoners.  Mason quickly decides to switch from coverage of volleyball and boxing to live coverage of the hostage situation as it unfolds in real time.  They face logistical problems with getting cameras and Peter Jennings (Benjamin Walker), then a reporter, on the scene but, because nothing like this had ever been done before, they also grapple with the morality of what they are doing because they may be impacting the fate of real people whose lives are in jeopardy in order to get a story.  Even though the outcome of this attack is widely known, it is still incredibly tense and suspenseful because of the frenetic pace created by hand-held camerawork and chaotic sound design that puts the audience right in the middle of the action.  The performances are also riveting and I was particularly impressed with Magaro because you feel the gravity of his decisions from just his facial expressions.  The production design is outstanding and the archival footage featuring Jim McKay's actual coverage blends seamlessly with scenes using the replicas of the studio and the control room.  I was really fascinated by the lack of modern technology as they create the broadcasts, especially when they take pictures of pictures in order to enlarge them and take pictures of letters on a board to create captions.  The focus is definitely on the implications for the media rather than the political and historical context of the attack itself and this might bother people but I found it very interesting and would recommend it.

Presence

Since Sundance is now over, I decided to see Presence, a film I enjoyed at last year's festival, now that it is in wide release.  I liked it more upon a second viewing because I was able to notice a lot more details.  A dysfunctional family, including a cold and uptight executive named Rebecca (Lucy Liu), her docile husband Chris (Chris Sullivan), her cocky son Tyler (Eddy Maday), and her depressed and neglected daughter Chloe (Callina Liang), moves into a large suburban home hoping to have a fresh start after the recent death of Chloe's best friend Nadia from a overdose.  As tensions between the family members intensify, Chloe begins to feel a presence within the house.  Other family members reject the idea of a ghost but it soon begins to make contact in a way that is protective of Chloe, especially when Tyler and his new friend Ryan (West Mulholland) act aggressively towards her.  The entire movie is from the POV of the ghost, achieved by having director Steven Soderbergh operate a handheld camera to follow and eavesdrop on the characters in long unbroken takes.  I was particularly struck by how the subtle movements of the camera seem to convey how the ghost is feeling about what it is seeing (I noticed that some of the early shots, especially those before the family inhabits the house, foreshadow what eventually happens as well as the identity of the ghost).  This is more of an atmospheric psychological thriller about a family in turmoil than a horror movie (the trailer is a little bit misleading) but it is extremely compelling with a thought-provoking twist at the end (which definitely made more sense to me after watching it a second time).  This is a clever spin on the traditional ghost story and I would definitely recommend it.

Noises Off at CPT

I had so much fun at CPT's hilarious production of Noises Off last night. I don't think I stopped laughing during the whole show! Lloyd Dallas (Brandon Garside), a temperamental and sarcastic director, is staging a play called Nothing's On starring Dotty Otley (Carol Madsen), an aging television star, as Mrs. Clackett, Gary Lejeune (Michael Reis), a scatterbrained actor who can't finish a sentence, as Roger Tramplemain, Brooke Ashton (Amelia Joan Bowles), a young and inexperienced actress having an affair with Lloyd, as Vicki, Frederick Fellows (Josh Curtis), an insecure and accident prone actor, as Philip Brent and the Sheikh, Belinda Blair (Samantha Wursten), a reliable actress who knows all of the gossip about the cast, as Flavia Brent, and Selsdon Mowbray (Doug Caldwell), an accomplished actor who has a drinking problem and a tendency to miss his cues, as the Burglar. Poppy Norton-Taylor (Jenni Cooper) is the put-upon assistant stage manager who is also involved with Lloyd and Tim Algood (Radley Haws) is the overworked and sleep deprived stage manager tasked with fixing every problem. Act I of this play-within-a-play involves a disastrous dress rehearsal before opening night with missing props, a malfunctioning set, an actor questioning his character's motivation, a spontaneous nosebleed, and a lost contact lens.  Act II takes place backstage while the show is on tour. The relationship between Dotty and Gary has deteriorated and the two of them do everything they can to sabotage each other's performance while Lloyd is trying, unsuccessfully, to keep both Brooke and Poppy happy by having Tim make several ill-fated attempts to buy them flowers. Act III takes place at the end of the run and features a complete breakdown with the actors ad-libbing the entire scene while Brooke performs her lines and blocking as normal. The entire cast has brilliant comedic timing because the pace is incredibly frenetic (if you blink at all you will miss something funny). The physical performances are outstanding and I don't know which is funnier: when Frederick hops up the stairs because his trousers are down around his ankles or when Gary trips down them so spectacularly! I love that the bows incorporate all of the hijinks from the show, especially when Bowles looks for a contact lens on the floor, when Reis gingerly walks down the stairs, and when Caldwell misses his cue to come through the window. The elaborate two-story set is almost a character itself, particularly when it fails so dramatically, and the sheer number of doors (which are slammed continually) is impressive. I enjoyed everything about this show and I highly recommend it for a fun night out. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through February 25 (go here for tickets).

Sundance Film Festival 2025

The 2025 Sundance Film Festival concluded last night and I had the best time!  I got the Salt Lake City Pass again and I was able to see 28 films (which is the most I've ever seen at the festival).  I enjoyed most of what I saw but I especially loved reconnecting with friends who come to the festival every year as well as making a few new ones.  My first film was Jimpa.  Hannah (Olivia Colman) travels with her nonbinary teenage daughter Frances (Aud Mason-Hyde) to visit her gay father Jim (John Lithgow) in Amsterdam.  When Frances wants to stay in Amsterdam with Jim to escape the provincial attitude towards queer people back home, Hannah must reconcile her feelings about being abandoned by Jim for the same reason during her teenage years.  This is an emotional portrait of a family with lovely performances from Colman and Lithgow.  My second film was the documentary One to One: John & Yoko.  This covers the 18 months that John and Yoko lived in a Greenwich Village apartment.  Excerpts from their One to One benefit concert are interspersed with archival footage from that time period to provide context for the songs. The music sounds amazing (it was mastered by Sean Lennon) and this actually made me feel more sympathetic towards Ono (although I still say that she can't sing).  My third film was the documentary Folktales.  This focuses on three students, Hege, Bjorn Torne, and Romain, at the Pasvik Folk High School located above the Arctic Circle in Norway.  The students learn wilderness survival skills and are paired with a dog for sledding while studying Norse mythology.  I really loved this because it was heartwarming to see the transformation in the students and the dogs are adorable (lots of oohing and aahing from the audience). My fourth film was the documentary It's Never Over, Jeff Buckley.  I am a huge fan of Buckley (I love his voice) and I enjoyed this because it includes lots of never-before-seen archival footage, voicemail messages left to the people closest to him, and his journal entries.  My fifth film was Bubble & Squeak.  Declan (Himesh Patel) and Delores (Sarah Goldberg) are on their honeymoon when they are detained and then relentlessly pursued by a border agent named Shazbor (Matt Berry) for smuggling cabbages into the unnamed Slavic country.  I was expecting this to be a lot funnier for such a bizarre premise (the funniest scene involved a hilarious cameo from James Franco).  My sixth film was the documentary Come See Me in the Good Light.  This profiles poets Andrea Gibson and Megan Falley and their love story as they navigate the former's terminal cancer diagnosis.  It is incredibly moving and whenever I wasn't crying I was laughing out loud.  It features a beautiful song called "Salt Then Sour Then Sweet" performed by Sara Bareilles with lyrics by Gibson and music by Bareilles and Brandi Carlile.  My seventh film was All That's Left of You and it is one of my favorites from the festival.  It depicts three generations of a Palestinian family displaced from their home in Jaffa by the creation of Israel.  It culminates with the difficult decision to donate the organs of a teen after he is shot by an Israeli soldier only to discover that his heart went to an Israeli child.  It is incredibly moving with a powerful message that all life is precious.  My eighth film was Atropia and, because it was one of my most anticipated films of the festival, I was a bit disappointed because it is just okay.  Fayruz (Alia Shawkat) is an Iraqi actress unable to find work in Hollywood so she takes an acting job in a fake town used by the military to simulate conditions during war before troops are deployed.  It is funny (a cameo from Channing Tatum as an actor doing research for a war movie made me laugh out loud) but the themes that are initially developed go nowhere. My ninth film was the documentary Free Leonard Peltier.  This profiles the indigenous activist who has been in prison for nearly 50 years after being convicted of killing two FBI agents during a shootout on the Pine Ridge Reservation as well as the attempts by a new generation of activists to get his sentence commuted.  This was very eye-opening for me because it makes a pretty persuasive argument that he was falsely convicted so the FBI could save face.  My tenth film was the documentary Selena y Los Dinos.  I already knew a lot about Selena Quintanilla but this provides insights from her family, her husband, and other members of her band so I found it very compelling.  My eleventh film was The Ballad of Wallis Island.  After winning the lottery, Charles (Tim Key) arranges for musician Fred McGwyer (Tom Basden), of his favorite folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, to come to the remote island where he lives to perform a concert just for him.  However, unbeknownst to Fred, Charles has also invited Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan) and this brings up tensions stemming from their personal and professional break-up.  I am a huge fan of British humor and this delightful comedy had me laughing out loud from start to finish.  My twelfth film was Ricky.  After being incarcerated at age 15, Ricky (Stephan James), now age 30, is out on parole but he has difficulty adjusting to life on the outside and in meeting the demands of his tough-as-nails parole officer Joanne (Sheryl Lee Ralph).  James gives a highly sympathetic performance (one scene in particular had me in tears) and I loved the message that everyone deserves a second chance.  My thirteenth film was Oh, Hi!  Iris (Molly Gordon) and Isaac (Logan Lerman) go away for a romantic weekend in the country and, while Iris hopes that this is the beginning of a committed relationship, Isaac just wants to have a good time.  Iris eventually goes to great lengths to convince him that he loves her.  This is really funny with a hilariously unhinged performance from Gordon and, even though it starts to run out of steam, it has something interesting to say about the travails of dating.  My fourteenth film was The Thing with Feathers.  After the sudden death of his wife, a father (Benedict Cumberbatch) struggles to care for his two sons (Richard and Henry Boxall) so the Crow (voiced by David Thewlis), a character from his graphic novel, comes to life as the manifestation of his grief in order to help him.  I wanted to like this more than I did but, despite a committed performance from Cumberbatch, it doesn't really work as a horror film because it is not scary and it doesn't work as psychological character study because there isn't much of an arc for the father.  My fifteenth film was the documentary Life After.  Director Reid Davenport, who suffers from cerebral palsy, uses a right to die case brought by a disabled woman named Elizabeth Bouvia in the 1980s to begin a powerful discussion about why some disabled people might feel that medically assisted suicide is their only option.  I have very strong opinions about assisted suicide and this thought-provoking documentary challenged many of them.  My sixteenth film was Peter Hujar's Day.  This recreates an actual conversation recorded in 1974 by Linda Rosenkrantz (Rebecca Hall) in which she interviews photographer Peter Hujar (Ben Whishaw) about one day in his life. I loved the performances and the 1970s production design but, in my opinion, this is not compelling enough to warrant a full-length film and I was often bored.  My seventeenth film was Magic Farm and this was the worst film I saw at the festival (it is one of the worst films I’ve ever seen). A film crew for a series about unusual global trends mistakenly arrives in a rural town in Argentina (the mistake stems from the fact that most Latin American countries have a town called San Cristobal).  They wreak havoc on the locals while trying to manufacture a trend that they can film.  It has an intriguing premise (which is why I picked it) but I didn't find it even remotely funny and none of the sub-plots go anywhere.  My eighth film was Touch Me.  Joey (Olivia Taylor Dudley) and Craig (Jordan Gavaris) are co-dependent friends suffering from trauma and mental illness who bring out the worst in each other.  They meet up with a track-suit wearing alien named Brian (Lou Taylor Pucci) and eventually fight over him because his touch silences the voices inside their heads. This is absolutely wild (the sex scenes feature tentacles) but it has a lot to say about the nature of addiction and I really dug it.  My nineteenth film was Plainclothes.  Lucas (Tom Blyth) is an undercover police officer involved in sting operations in bathrooms conducted to apprehend gay men for indecent exposure in the 1990s.  He is struggling with his sexuality and this is further complicated when he is attracted to one of his marks, a pastor named Andrew (Russell Tovey).  They begin a secret relationship which puts Lucas in jeopardy as a police officer but Andrew ultimately ends it because he also cannot risk being found out.  This gives Lucas the courage come out to his family because he refuses to hide any longer.  I was impressed by Blyth's quietly powerful performance and I also loved the theme of identity.  My twentieth film was Lurker.  After a random encounter with the pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe), Matthew (Theodore Pallerin) ingratiates himself to him and is soon part of his entourage.  However, when Oliver's attention turns to the next sycophant, Matthew is willing to do anything to keep his proximity to the musician.  This is definitely about obsession but I was really struck by the idea that fame can be alienating.  Madekwe and Pallerin do a great job portraying the power struggle between the two characters and I loved the ending.  My twenty-first film was Kiss of the Spider Woman which was my most anticipated film of the festival and I absolutely loved it.  This is an adaptation of the 1992 musical and is set in an Argentinian prison during a military dictatorship.  A hardened leftist revolutionary named Valentin Arregui (Diego Luna) shares a cell with Luis Molina (Tonatiuh), a gay window dresser, and they escape from the harsh realities of prison when Molina recounts his favorite musical starring Ingrid Luna (Jennifer Lopez).  Art imitates life when the themes of the musical begin to mirror what is happening to Valentin and Molina.  Lopez is absolutely brilliant but I was especially impressed with Tonatiuh (his rendition of "She's a Woman" is beautiful).  I loved the juxtaposition between the dark and drab prison and the technicolor dream world of Molina's fantasies which evoke the Golden Age of Hollywood.  My twenty-second film was Sorry, Baby and this is another favorite.  It is a meditative, and often humorous, portrait of how a young graduate student named Agnes (Eva Victor) tries to move on after a sexual assault by her professor.  I loved how her relationships, with her best friend (Naomi Ackie), a jealous colleague (Kelly McCormack), and a neighbor (Lucas Hedges), show her that she is stuck rather than help her become unstuck.  Victor (who also wrote and directed) gives a performance that is absolutely stunning (one that I won't soon forget).  My twenty-third film was Twinless.  After losing his twin brother Rocky, Roman (Dylan O'Brien) meets Dennis (James Sweeney) at a twin bereavement support group and they become unlikely friends.  This takes a wild turn, that I was not expecting but absolutely loved, and it is one of the few comedies at Sundance that is funny and has something to say (about the grieving process).  My twenty-fourth film was Opus which had a lot of buzz but proved to be disappointing.  Ariel (Ayo Edibiri) is a relatively inexperienced journalist who is invited by the legendary pop star Alfred Moretti (John Malkovich) to his isolated compound to listen to his first album in thirty years.  She soon finds herself among a cult of sycophants who do Moretti's bidding but she is even more horrified to discover that she has become one of them herself.  This had so much potential to say something of substance about the dangers of celebrity worship but it is derivative and shallow.  Watching Malkovich sing and dance while wearing one elaborate costume after the other makes this bearable but only just.  My twenty-fifth film was Rebuilding.  After he loses everything when a devastating fire destroys his ranch, Dusty (Josh O'Connor) finds himself after reconnecting with his young daughter Callie Rose (Lily LaTorre) and discovering a community with others who also lost everything.  I loved O'Connor’s sensitive, yet powerful, performance and the cinematography is beautiful.  My twenty-sixth film was the documentary Middletown.  In 1991 a group of students in Middletown, New York are inspired by their English teacher Fred Isseks to investigate toxic waste in the local landfill and expose wrongdoing within corporations and local government.  Thirty years later the students involved revisit their experience.  As a former English teacher I really loved hearing about how one teacher was able to give real world learning experiences to his students but I am now even more anxious about the possibility that regulatory agencies that guard against things like toxic waste might be eliminated by this current administration.  My twenty-seventh film was Last Days.  John Chau (Sky Yang) is idealistic and yearns for adventure so he rejects the life his father (Tony Leung) has planned for him to become a missionary.  He eventually becomes obsessed with converting an isolated tribe on North Sentinel Island while a police officer (Radhika Apte) in India tries to stop him.  This is a lot more compelling and suspenseful than I was expecting but the message is muddled because I am still not sure if John was really devout or just lost.  My twenty-eighth and final film was Didn't Die.  Two years into a zombie apocalypse, Vinita Malhotra (Kiran Deol) travels the country recording her podcast for everyone who didn't die but things don't go according to plan when she decides to return to her hometown to record the 100th episode.  I liked the black and white cinematography (an homage to Night of the Living Dead) but there are jarring tonal shifts and, like many of the films this year, none of the ideas really come to fruition.  Whew!  I am absolutely exhausted but I had so much fun and am already looking forward to seeing some of these films again when they get a wide release.