Beetlejuice Jr. at the Empress Theatre

I went to see Beetlejuice Jr. at the Empress Theatre last night and I was so impressed by this clever and energetic production. Beetlejuice (Brittain Heywood) is a lonely demon who is tired of being invisible but, in order to be seen, he needs someone who is alive to say his name three times. He enlists the help of Barbara and Adam Maitland (Mary Layton and Donnie Hankammer), a recently deceased but very mild-mannered couple, and convinces them to haunt their former house which is now owned by Charles Deetz (Carson Hardle) and his daughter Lydia (Gweny Adams). However, Lydia, who is still mourning the recent loss of her mother, is herself quite strange and unusual so she is able to see the Maitlands and Beetlejuice. Chaos ensues when Lydia uses the Maitlands to stop her father from replacing her mother with her life coach Delia (Alice Lopez), when she tricks Beetlejuice in order to get to the Netherworld to find her mother, and when Beetlejuice uses her to bring him back to life. What I loved most about seeing the Broadway touring production of this show is the dazzling special effects and the elaborate sets. I was not expecting the same over-the-top production design at a small community theatre but I was very pleasantly surprised by how well the staging, choreography, costumes, and lighting design enhance the minimal set and immerse the audience is this quirky world. The lighting is particularly effective in the Netherworld scenes and all of the iconic costumes are fantastic. There are even a few fun effects used in the show (I loved the appearance of a sandworm and a shrinker). The talented young cast is also a highlight. The leads are all incredibly confident with tremendous stage presence and this really sells all of their performances, especially Heywood's spirited and entertaining renditions of "The Whole 'Being Dead' Thing," "Say My Name," and "That Beautiful Sound" as well as Adams's emotional versions of "Dead Mom" and "Home" (my favorite songs in the show). The members of the large ensemble do a great job with the dynamic choreography and they are so much fun to watch because they all have wide smiles on their faces and are clearly having a great time performing! Their energy is infectious and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the big musical numbers! This is a great show for the whole family with a surprisingly poignant message about self-acceptance and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs at the Empress Theatre on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through February 7.

Note:  The Empress Theatre very graciously provided me with tickets so I was once again able to bring my sister to this show. She loved it and is becoming more and more impressed with this theatre!

The Testament of Ann Lee

I have been looking forward to The Testament of Ann Lee ever since it premiered at the Venice Film Festival last fall so I was really excited to see it at the Broadway with my nephew last night.  A musical about a historical figure seems like something I would love but I did not love this.  It documents the life of Ann Lee (Amanda Seyfried), the founder of the Shaker movement, beginning with her childhood in Manchester yearning for God with her brother William (Lewis Pullman), her affiliation with a sect of Quakers who use boisterous song and dance to worship, her marriage to a believer named Abraham (Christopher Abbott), the loss of four children who die in infancy, her imprisonment for disturbing the peace during which she has a vision about the Garden of Eden and original sin, her subsequent edict that believers should practice celibacy, her proclamation as the female Messiah, the persecution that leads her to take her followers to New England, the establishment of a utopian settlement, conflicts with the Continental Army for her group's pacifism and skirmishes with angry mobs who suspect her of witchcraft, and her death amidst a thriving community.  The story is told through rapturous music and dynamic choreography inspired by the spastic movements made during worship and, at first I found this to be very compelling, but it soon grows monotonous as the same words and steps are repeated over and over.  My favorite musical scene was "All Is Summer" because, even though the lyrics and choreography are repetitive, it takes place on the ship coming to America and shows the followers dancing in all kinds of weather (the editing in this scene is amazing).  The narrative often feels like a mere recitation of facts about Lee, complete with endless narration by Sister Mary (Thomasin McKenzie), and it moves quickly from event to event without a lot of in depth exploration.  I did not learn anything of substance about Lee or her movement.  Despite a tremendous performance from Seyfried, Lee is portrayed as a charismatic leader of a cult rather than a religious figure of importance and so much of what is perceived as miraculous about her ministry is debunked (her vision is shown as a hallucination after days without food or water and her divinely inspired message about celibacy is just a response to years of sexual trauma). I did love the cinematography (particularly the overhead shots), the production design (the scenes of woodworking and furniture making, which also go on for too long, are very authentic), and the beautiful visuals that look like period paintings but I definitely didn't enjoy this as much as I was expecting.

See How They Run at CPT

I played Miss Skillon in See How They Run when I was in high school so I always love seeing a performance of this hilarious play. I went to a production at CPT last night with my sisters and it was so much fun and incredibly nostalgic. The action takes place in the vicarage of a village called Merton-cum-Middlewick during World War II. Clive (Dylan Padilla), an American soldier stationed in England, visits his old friend Penelope (Jordan Clark) who is now married to the Rev. Lionel Toop (Scott Butler). Ida (Jenni Cooper), her cockney maid who loves American movies, is flustered by his arrival but Miss Skillon (Holly Reid), a meddling spinster who is in love with Rev. Toop, is convinced that Penelope is having an affair with him.  Penelope suggests that Clive wear the Rev. Toop's second best suit and clerical collar so that they can dodge army regulations and see a play together.  Mayhem ensues when Miss Skillon sees something that she shouldn't and imbibes too much cooking sherry, when Penelope's sedate uncle the Bishop of Lax (Randon Jensen) arrives unexpectedly, when the mild-mannered Rev. Arthur Humphries  (David Johnson) arrives early for the service on Sunday, and when an escaped German POW (Blake London) attacks Rev. Toop in order to steal his clothes. The action is incredibly fast-paced and you almost can't catch your breath in between fits of laughter at the absurd goings-on! At one point, there are five men in clerical garb chasing each other through the garden and into the house and it is so funny when they jump over a prostrate Miss Skillon but it is even funnier when they continue to jump over her even when she is no longer there (I was always afraid that they wouldn't jump in time when I was the one laying on the floor). There are also some amusing scenes involving several characters who hide in a cupboard, including an inebriated Miss Skillon (these were my favorite scenes to play because I always tried to come up with funny poses to get the other actors to break character), multiple cases of mistaken identity, a misplaced uniform, and a bumbling inspector (Zar Hayes) who accidentally apprehends the German POW. The entire cast is outstanding and they do a great job with all of the madcap physical comedy.  Butler, Jensen, and Reid are especially fun to watch as their characters become more and more exasperated, outraged, and outrageous, respectively. I loved the elaborate set, especially the doors leading out to the garden with views of the church and the aforementioned cupboard, as well as the period costumes.  Seeing this show brought back so many wonderful memories (I am surprised by how many of Miss Skillon's lines I remembered) and I loved every minute! I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) to a performance on the Mountain America Main Stage through February 26.

Send Help

Last night my nephew and I were able to see an early access screening of Send Help and I thought it was a lot of fun.  After Bradley Preston (Dylan O'Brien) takes over as CEO from his father, he gives the promotion meant for the socially awkward Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) to his less qualified fraternity brother Donovan (Xavier Samuel).  He treats her in a very demeaning and sexist way but takes her on an important trip to Thailand because he knows that she will do all of the work.  When their plane crashes in the middle of the ocean, they are the only survivors and are stranded on a seemingly deserted island.  Linda uses her superior survival skills to care for an injured Bradley and find food, water, and shelter but, when he becomes angry about the reversal in their roles and criticizes her for not finding a way off the island, she leaves him to fend for himself.  He suffers from exposure, hunger, and dehydration before he eventually apologizes for his behavior, both on the island and in the office, but this makes him even more determined to take control.  Who will survive?  This definitely features some gory horror elements, especially a scene involving a wild boar, but I loved all of the dark humor as two completely unhinged characters keep shifting the power dynamic between them.  I found it very riveting and I eagerly anticipated every increasingly sadistic thing that Bradley and Linda do to each other.  I couldn't wait to see who would ultimately survive (and I kept going back and forth about who I wanted to survive because of all the surprising twists and turns).  Both McAdams and O'Brien are fantastic because they fully commit to the madness but also have moments of vulnerability that give their characters added dimension and they have great chemistry.  I thoroughly enjoyed this wildly entertaining mix of the horror, comedy, and psychological thriller genres and recommend it to fans of Sam Raimi.

Mercy

Last night my nephew and I went to see Mercy and, while it is not a great movie, it is definitely not as bad as I thought it would be based on the reviews.  In a dystopian future where Los Angeles is overridden with violent crime, LAPD Detective Chris Raven (Chris Pratt) is instrumental in creating the Mercy Capital Court where AI is used as judge, jury, and executioner for the worst offenders.  However, he is soon *ahem* at the mercy of his own creation when he is accused of killing his wife Nicole (Annabelle Wallis) and put on trial by AI Judge Maddox (Rebecca Ferguson).  He is restrained and given 90 minutes to prove his innocence below a 92% guilt probability threshold or he will be executed on the spot.  He has access to the Ministry Cloud, which includes surveillance footage from all over the city and the social media accounts of every citizen, in order to prove his innocence.  He also has the opportunity to communicate with anyone able to provide evidence, including his daughter Britt (Kylie Rogers), his AA sponsor Rob Nelson (Chris Sullivan), and his partner Jacqueline "Jaq" Diallo (Kali Reis).  Will he be able to solve the mystery of his wife's death before time runs out?  I initially wanted to see this because it seemed like a cautionary tale about the dangers of giving AI too much power, which it is to a certain extent, but then this message becomes muddled in the third act and it really weakens the narrative.  Both Pratt and Ferguson give incredibly bland performances because they are both stuck in a static location and all we see are close-ups of their faces for most of the runtime (Pratt can be good but, in my opinion, his best performances involve physical comedy so this is beyond his abilities).  Having said that, I did enjoy the use of the screenlife genre in the storytelling (I am a fan of Missing, Profile, and Searching) because this footage adds immediacy and tension, especially the clock counting down in real time.  I found the mystery to be compelling, even though the investigation is extremely convenient in order to happen during the time limit imposed by the narrative, and I was fully engaged until the action becomes a bit unwieldy in the final moments.  I didn't hate this but it probably should have gone straight to streaming.