Hokum

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was Hokum.  The story is a bit messy but there were moments when I was genuinely scared.  Ohm Bauman (Adam Scott) is a popular horror author suffering from writer's block (and his own personal demons) so he decides to travel to the remote and atmospheric hotel in Ireland where his parents spent their honeymoon so he can scatter their ashes there.  He is incredibly rude and antagonistic to the staff, including the owner Cob (Brendan Conroy), the front desk clerk Mal (Peter Coonan), the groundskeeper Fergal (Michael Patric), the bartender Fiona (Florence Ordesh), and the bellhop Alby (Will O'Connell), and dismisses their claims that the honeymoon suite is haunted by a witch from Irish folklore.  He also encounters an eccentric local named Jerry (David Wilmot) who lives in the woods and frequently ingests hallucinogenic mushrooms.  He eventually bonds with Fiona (for reasons) and, when she mysteriously goes missing after a Halloween party, he suspects that she might be trapped in the locked honeymoon suite.  He sneaks inside to look for her and becomes trapped and increasingly haunted by a supernatural figure that may or may not be the witch.  This sometimes doesn't know what kind of movie it wants to be (is it an exploration of grief and trauma, a mystery involving a missing person and a possible murder, or a supernatural ghost story?) but there is no doubt that it is incredibly unnerving.  Most of the action takes place in one darkly-lit and claustrophobic location that is only accessible by a creepy elevator and an even creepier dumbwaiter.  The tension builds and builds, more from what you don't see than from what you do, and Scott does a great job communicating his escalating terror (his performance is outstanding because he excels at making unsympathetic characters compelling).  There are some really effective jump scares (someone in my audience screamed) and I loved the use of folklore because I think that always makes the threat more plausible and, therefore, more frightening.  I had a lot of fun watching this with a large crowd late at night and I recommend it to fans of the genre.

Blue Heron

Last night I had a double feature at the Broadway starting with Blue Heron.  This is an incredibly moving look at the fallibility of memory and I absolutely loved it.  The narrative begins with flashbacks to when an eight-year-old girl named Sasha (Eylul Guven) moves to Vancouver Island in the 1990s with her mother (Iringo Reti), father (Adam Tompa), and older brothers Jeremy (Edik Beddoes), Henry (Liam Serg), and Felix (Preston Drabble) and her parents become worried about her brother Jeremy's increasingly erratic behavior.  Events are shown from Sasha's eight year old perspective with images that are hazy and fragmentary as the family settles into their new surroundings (the cinematography is beautiful).  Jeremy's actions are largely on the periphery with little explanation for what is motivating his behavior and dialogue is often muted, particularly when Sasha overhears tense phone calls to family members and conversations with psychologists and social workers.  The narrative then shifts to Sasha (Amy Zimmer) as an adult twenty years later.  She is working on a documentary about the events depicted and, as she views the photographs and videos taken during this period and listens to the interviews with psychologists and social workers with a different perspective, her memories are recontextualized.  She is finally able to reconcile her lack of understanding about her brother and his mental health issues and to absolve her parents for his fate (in an incredibly poignant twist that I will not spoil here).  I really love the theme of art as a way to heal and not only is this theme beautifully and hauntingly portrayed in this film but, because it is semi-autobiographical, the film itself is director Sophy Romvari's attempt to process her own childhood memories.  The structure is very impressionistic but every seemingly random vignette is imbued with meaning that is eventually revealed and I found it spellbinding.  I cannot recommend this enough but be prepared for an emotional response.

Utah Opera's La Traviata

I was thrilled to be at Capitol Theatre last night for Utah Opera's production of La Traviata by Giuseppe Verdi because it is one of my favorite operas (I always prefer the tragedies). It was magnificent and I loved everything about it!  Violetta (Lydia Katarina) is a beautiful and glamorous courtesan who lives only for pleasure.  Even though she is suffering from consumption, her patron, Baron Douphol (Christopher Clayton), hosts a lavish party for her and she encourages her guests to sing a wild drinking song.  When she grows too tired to dance, a young man named Alfredo (Isaac Hurtado) approaches her and declares his love.  She resists him because she likes her simple life of pleasure but, when he leaves, she realizes that she is in love with him.  They live happily together in the country until Alfredo's father Germont (Weston Hurt) comes to ask Violetta to end the affair because their relationship is scandalizing the family and ruining his daughter's prospects for marriage.  Violetta tearfully agrees and returns to Paris leaving Alfredo heartbroken.  She attends a masquerade ball hosted by her friend Flora (Julia Holoman) with the Baron but, when Alfredo see her with him, he treats her with such contempt that his father reveals the truth.  Alfredo eventually begs Violetta to forgive him and she dies in his arms.  The music in this opera is very well known and the three leads performed my favorite arias beautifully.  Katarina is thrilling in her passionate performance of "Sempre Libera" as she questions whether her love for Alfredo is worth giving up her life of freedom and incredibly moving in "Addio, del passato bei sogni ridenti" as she contemplates her death.  She also gave me goosebumps with her emotional outburst begging Alfredo to love her ("Amami, Alfredo").  Hurtado did not disappoint with his stirring rendition of the famous Brindisi ("Libiamo ne'lieti calici") but his captivating performance of the aria "De'miei bollenti spiriti" as Alfredo sings of his life with Violetta is especially swoon-worthy.  Other highlights included Hurt's performance of "Pura siccome un angelo" as he begs Violetta to think of his family because it is very genuine and deeply felt and when the Chorus denounces Alfredo for his treatment of Violetta in "Di donne ignobile insultatore, di qua allontanati, ne desti orror!" because it so dramatic.  This production also features six dancers (Maeve Friedman, Emily Marsh, Ruger Memmott, Madeline Nelson, Tyler Schnese, and Brandin Steffensen) who perform a waltz at Violetta's party and Spanish dances at Flora's masquerade ball but I was particularly struck by the reprise of the opening waltz at Violetta's deathbed because the dreamlike sequence symbolizes everything that she has sacrificed for love (I have never seen this done before and it was definitely another goosebump moment).  As always, the sets and costumes are striking (I loved the opulent ballroom and Violetta's dramatic red gown).  I find tragic operas to be very cathartic and this production left me breathless!  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) because, even if you are not an opera aficionado, you will probably recognize a lot of the music! It runs at Capitol Theatre through May 17.

The Sheep Detectives

Last night I went to see The Sheep Detectives and I absolutely loved it!  I may or may not have had a tear in my eye on more that one occasion!  George Hardy (Hugh Jackman) is a shepherd content to live on his own with his flock of sheep just outside the village of Denbrook.  He interacts more with the sheep (he reads to them from detective novels every night) than the villagers because he has a contentious relationship with most of them.  When George is found murdered, Tim Derry (Nicholas Braun), a dim-witted policeman, and Elliot Matthews (Nicholas Galitzine), a reporter desperate for a big break, begin investigating but the sheep soon realize that the two of them are in over their heads and begin their own investigation.  They eavesdrop on the reading of the will by George's lawyer Lydia Harbottle (Emma Thompson) and determine that the main suspects include Rebecca Hampstead (Molly Gordon), George's estranged daughter, Caleb Merrow (Tosin Cole), a rival shepherd, Ham Gilyard (Conleth Hill), the local butcher, Beth Pennock (Hong Chau), a woman scorned by George, and Reverend Hillcoate (Kobna Holdbrook-Smith), a priest with whom George has had mysterious dealings.  The sheep, led by Lily (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Mopple (Chris O'Dowd), Cloud (Regina Hall), Sir Richfield (Patrick Stewart), Zora (Bella Ramsey), Wool-Eyes (Rhys Darby), and twins Reggie and Ronnie (Brett Goldstein), discover multiple clues (and find highly amusing ways to inform Derry of their findings) but they must ultimately accept help from Sebastian (Bryan Cranston) and Winter Lamb (Tommy Birchall), two sheep who have been ostracized from the flock, to solve George's murder.  This is a clever murder mystery (I did not guess the identity of the murderer) that plays with the genre's tropes as the sheep try to figure out what to do but it is also surprisingly poignant with some powerful messages about grief and belonging.  I really loved the cast, especially the voice cast, and all of the performances are incredibly charming (but some of the actors, particularly Chau and Thompson, do not have a lot to do).  I also enjoyed the pacing, the action set pieces, the visual effects (I only noticed the CGI in one scene), and the bucolic setting (I really want to live in an English village).  This is an unexpected delight (it is so much better than I was expecting) and it is now one of my favorites this year.  I highly recommend it for everyone!

Disney's Descendants at the Empress Theatre

I remember watching the Disney Channel Original Movie Descendants with my nephew (I thought it was extremely clever and he loved it) so I was really intrigued when I learned that the Empress Theatre would be performing the stage adaptation this season. I was even more intrigued when I learned that the entire cast would include actors who are all over the age of 45! I had the chance to see it last night with my sister and it was incredibly heartwarming to watch a cast perform with so much obvious joy and exuberance! Prince Ben (Scott Sorensen), the son of Belle (Chalese Craig) and the Beast (Carri Baddley), wants to give the children of Auradon's most notorious villains, who are now imprisoned on the Isle of the Lost, the opportunity to attend Auradon Prep so Mal (Diana Sorensen), the daughter of Maleficent (Crystal Ahlemann), Evie (Amy Hallett), the daughter of the Evil Queen (Carri Baddley), Jay (Brad Goodman), the son of Jafar (Brian Sorensen), and Carlos (James Hutchings), the son of Cruella de Vil (Wendy Sorensen), arrive with instructions from their parents to steal the wand belonging to the Fairy Godmother (Stacy Mayren) so they can use it to break the spell keeping them in captivity. Chaos ensues when the four of them have a difficult time interacting with the sons and daughters of their parents' sworn enemies, especially Audrey (Stacy Childs Hutchings), the daughter of Sleeping Beauty, and Chad (Joel Clark), the son of Cinderella and Prince Charming, but their loyalty to their parents is soon tested and Ben eventually shows them that they can choose their own path. The high-energy songs and choreography are so much fun to watch (my favorite numbers are "Rotten to the Core," "Evil Like Me," "Goal," "Ways to Be Wicked," and "Chillin' Like a Villain") and this is mostly due to the fact that everyone in the cast is having the time of their lives channeling their inner teenagers! Their enthusiasm is infectious and the crowd last night definitely responded with gusto which made the entire experience an absolute blast. I especially enjoyed Sorenson as Ben because he has so much boyish charm (he was the most believable teenager), Hutchings as Audrey because she has the perfect mean girl attitude, Goodman as Jay because he has a lot of swagger, and Clark as the dim-witted Chad because he has some hilarious facial expressions and line deliveries.  However, no one is having more fun than Ahlemann because she absolutely revels in the villainy and I laughed out loud practically every time Maleficent appeared on stage. I really enjoyed her rendition of "Evil Like Me" but her maniacal cackling at the end of the second reprise was the highlight of the show for me! I loved the minimal set, with the brightly colored fairy-tale prep school at one end and the dark and dreary graffiti-covered Isle of the Lost at the other end, as well as the costumes, which feature a matching aesthetic (I was impressed by the attention to detail with the Auradon Prep crest on the sweater vests and cardigans and the black feathers on Maleficent's cape). If this show doesn't put a smile on your face I don't know what will! It runs on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through May 23 and I definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  A huge thank you to the Empress for graciously providing me with tickets to this fun and entertaining show!