Noises Off at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

Last night I had so much fun at SCERA's hilarious production of Noises Off (one of my favorite plays). Lloyd Dallas (Gregory Rampton) is a frazzled director trying to conduct a dress rehearsal along with his sleep deprived stage manager Tim Allgood (Kaden Renz) and his put-upon assistant stage manager Poppy Norton-Taylor (Kristin Young). The cast, including Dotty Otley (Dixie Mann), Garry Lejeune (Carson Davies), Brooke Ashton (Chloe Barrus), Freddie Fellows (Seven Harrison), Belinda Blair (Shannon Follette), and Selsdon Mowbray (Dane Allred), struggle with words, doors, boxes, bags, and sardines. Several months later, chaos erupts backstage at a matinee performance over relationship drama between two love triangles: Lloyd, Poppy, and Brooke and Dotty, Garry, and Freddie. By the end of the run, the performance completely disintegrates and the cast must get through it any way they can. The highlight of this show is the physical comedy and the cast executes it with split-second timing and precision while making it look effortless. I especially loved the frenetic energy of the second act because, once the play-within-a-play starts on stage (which we can see through a large window), we only hear the dialogue from that show while the actors are at each other's throats backstage in complete silence. I laughed out loud at an extended sequence involving an ax, one in which everyone tries to keep a bottle of whiskey from Selsdon, and another one in which Tim tries, unsuccessfully, to buy flowers for Lloyd to give to Brooke. It is absolute mayhem! I also laughed out loud every time Brooke loses a contact lens, Freddie has a bloody nose, Dotty forgets the sardines, and Garry is forced to improvise. As I mentioned, everyone in the ensemble cast is outstanding but my favorite performances are from Barrus, because Brooke (my favorite character) is hyper-focused on delivering her lines without regard to the other actors and she nails this with blank facial expressions and overly rigid poses, and Davies, because his fall down the stairs is absolutely spectacular. Finally, I loved the set because it is as twee as a 1980s sitcom with lots fun little details. If you are looking for a fun night out this is definitely the show for you! I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) to one of the performances on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through October 10.

Elgar's Cello Concerto & Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5

I always love attending the opening concert for Utah Symphony's Masterworks series because the orchestra plays "The Star-Spangled Banner."  I think it is very moving to hear it performed in Abravanel Hall, more so than in any other setting, and last night was no exception.  After the anthem, the concert began with Medea's Dance of Vengeance by Samuel Barber and it is very dark and ominous (it is based on the myth of Medea and Jason and focuses on how she killed her children in a jealous rage to punish their father for abandoning her) but also very lush.  I especially liked the eerie xylophone solo at the beginning, the mournful themes played by the strings and brass, and the relentless repetition of a theme by the piano with frenzied rhythms played by the percussion that build in intensity until the dramatic conclusion.  Next, the orchestra was joined by soloist Zlatomir Fung for Edward Elgar's Cello Concerto.  This piece was written in the aftermath of World War I by an aging composer as a poignant farewell to the pre-war world he once knew and, as Principal Guest Conductor Delyana Lazarova told the audience, it is his most personal work.  The piece begins with a slow and solemn solo by the cello and these themes are repeated several times throughout, sometimes in fiery bursts of virtuosity (I loved watching Fung's nimble finger work) and sometimes in heartbreaking elegiac passages, with the rest of the orchestra acting as a sparse accompaniment.  The final movement returns to the themes of the first and ends on a defiant note to signal that, although we may never return to our earlier triumphs, we can persevere.  I loved this piece as well as Fung's brilliant performance which resulted in a well-deserved standing ovation (and an encore featuring the "Prayer" movement of Ernest Bloch's From Jewish Life).  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Sergei Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5.  This was written at the height of World War II as a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit (and was first performed in Moscow after news of a great victory against the Germans on the Vistula River).  I loved all of the soaring melodies played by the flute, bassoon, and clarinet in the first movement, the use of the trumpets and brass to evoke the machinery of war in the second movement, and the energetic conclusion featuring the strings, piano, harp, and percussion.  This concert was an absolutely thrilling way to begin the 2026-2027 season and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for tonight's performance of the same program.

The Addams Family at The Ruth

I joke that The Addams Family is practically a requirement this time of year so I went to a production at The Ruth last night and it is by far the best version of this show I've seen!  The Addams family is not like other families because they are all obsessed with the macabre and rely on their dead ancestors to hep them through life.  Things start to go wrong when Wednesday (Beatriz Melo) falls in love with a normal Midwestern boy named Lucas Beineke (Ben Hansen) and decides to introduce his uptight parents, Mal (Josh Tenney) and Alice (Brandalee Bluth Streeter), to her family, including Gomez (Benjamin J. Henderson), Morticia (Ashley Gardner Carlson), Pugsley (Caleb Gordon), Uncle Fester (Joseph Paul Branca), Grandma (Annadee Morgan), and Lurch (Thomas Wood).  She arranges a dinner and begs her family for one normal night.  Of course, chaos ensues when a mishap involving a poisonous potion occurs so it is up to Uncle Fester, with the help of the ancestors, to convince everyone that love is the answer.  I loved everyone in the cast but I will highlight my three favorite performances (which happen to be by three of my favorite local actors).  Melo is one of the best Wednesdays I've seen because she has a beautiful voice but she also has a lot of sass so her renditions of "Pulled" and "Crazier Than You" are incredibly compelling and are the highlights of the show.  Carlson is literally the perfect Morticia because she looks very sultry in her long black dress and she has a flawless deadpan delivery.  She is also an amazing dancer and is very entertaining to watch in "Just Around the Corner" and "Tango de Amor."  Branca is so much fun as Fester (I love him in every role I've seen him play) because you can't take your eyes off him as he gleefully runs around the stage delivering one clever ad-lib after another (the line about coming out of the closet made me laugh out loud).  His rendition of "The Moon and Me" is hilarious, especially when he flies!  The ancestors (Bronwell Merrill, Emily West, McKenna Lorane Wright, Mandy Taylor, Garrett Manning, Brock Sorenson, Dallin Curtis, and Mason Lance) are used more in this production than any other I've seen and they have some really fun choreography, particularly the Pas de Quatre by the men in "Trapped" and an impressive kick-line in a pinwheel formation in "Just Around the Corner." I also loved the costumes for the ancestors (my favorite is a downed pilot with an unopened parachute).  The stage, which has been reconfigured to create two runways that extend into the audience, is absolutely spectacular and allows for some fun staging opportunities (definitely keep your eye on Thing).  The sets are all practical (my favorite is the crypt) but there are also several ingenious videos shown at various times.  Even if you have seen this show before, this version is not to be missed because it will blow you away!  It runs at the Smith Grand Theater through October 31 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  This was my third show in three days!  I enjoyed all of them.

John Proctor is the Villain at PTC

When I learned that John Proctor is the Villain would open the 2026-2027 season at PTC, I could hardly contain my excitement! It instantly became my most anticipated show this fall and I was so happy to see it last night. Beth (Skye Alyssa Friedman), Nell (Rocky Anicette), Ivy (Adri Cumming), Raelynn (Alex Humphreys), Mason (Gage Martinez), and Lee (Carson Stewart) are high school students in a small rural town in Georgia. Their English teacher, Mr. Smith (Colby Strong), assigns them The Crucible, Arthur Miller's classic play set during the Salem witch trials, and also volunteers to be the advisor for a new feminist club organized by Beth. As the year progresses, their friend Shelby (Allison Dorsey) returns to school after a mysterious absence which fuels gossip about where she has been, Beth is drawn into the #MeToo movement in the media, Raelynn wants to break up with her boyfriend Lee after he cheats on her with Shelby, and Ivy's father is accused of sexual harassment which causes a scandal in the small town. Life seems to be imitating art as they study The Crucible and, during one particularly heated class discussion, Shelby disagrees with Mr. Smith's view that John Proctor is a hero for choosing death over a lie and asserts that he is actually the villain because he had an inappropriate sexual relationship with the teenager Abigail Williams. She then makes an allegation against Mr. Smith which divides the group because he is their favorite teacher. Shelby and Raelynn, the only one who believes her, eventually present their final project on The Crucible which imagines a conversation between Elizabeth Proctor and Abigail Williams (and includes an interpretive dance) during which the characters break free from John Proctor prompting several to break free from Mr. Smith. I found this to be fascinating because Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible as a lens with which to view the McCarthy era in the 1950s and now it is being used as a lens with which to view the #MeToo era today. It is just so clever in the way it explores the abuse of power, the blaming of victims, and the silencing of young women from multiple perspectives. Despite its powerful themes, it is also quite funny and the audience laughed out loud multiple times (I laughed especially hard when Mr. Smith assigns parts from The Crucible for the students to read aloud and has to keep reminding Mason that it is his turn because I could definitely relate). I loved the use of pop songs by female artists, especially Beyonce, Lorde, and Taylor Swift (I also laughed out loud at a discussion of "Dear John" and a very well-timed quote from "We Are Never Getting Back Together") and the final scene involving the aforementioned interpretive dance to Lorde's "Green Light" had the audience cheering (the energy in the crowd was palpable). The scenes are very quick (I don't know how some of them changed costumes so fast) and take place a single location, a classroom with desks and chairs that are reconfigured by the actors, but so much happens in these scenes and the dialogue is razor sharp. Finally, everyone in the ensemble cast is fantastic but I was particularly struck by Friedman because her character's worldview is challenged the most and she portrays this uncertainty extremely well (she is also responsible for the most dramatic moment in the show in my opinion). I loved this on so many levels and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) but act quickly because, even though the run has been extended to October 3, there is limited availability due to the small size of the theater.

Note:  This production had to be moved to the Courage Theater on the campus of Westminster University because of a flood. I got both my undergraduate and graduate degrees there and I was even an adjunct instructor in the education department for many years so returning to campus brought back many wonderful memories.

The Cycle of Love

Yesterday I went to a matinee of The Cycle of Love at the Broadway (along with all of the other old retired people in the Salt Lake valley) and it is the most life affirming documentary I have seen in a long while.  P.K. Mahanandia is born in a small village as an "Untouchable" in the restrictive caste system in India and, when he is a child, he is told by an astrologer that the woman he marries will come from a land far away, will be a Taurus, will be musical, and will own a jungle.  At age twenty he moves to Delhi to escape the limitations of his caste and becomes a street artist who draws portraits for tourists.  One of these tourists is Lotta von Schedvin and, when he learns that she is from Sweden, is a Taurus, plays the piano, and lives in the middle of a forest, he believes that they are destined for each other.  They spend several weeks together and she also comes to believe in the prophecy (in one my favorite scenes) but she must return to Sweden for school.  They correspond by letter but P.K. eventually decides that he needs to go to Sweden to be with her.  He sells everything he owns, buys a second-hand bicycle, and begins the arduous 6,000 mile journey across Asia and Europe without any knowledge of the geography.  He faces numerous obstacles and starts doubting that he is good enough to be with Lotta but he comes to rely on the kindness of the strangers who not only help him on his physical journey but also help him on a journey of discovery in which he realizes his worth (this will restore your faith in humanity).  In addition to interviews with P.K. and Lotta in the present day, this features reenactments, with Chirag Benedict Lobo as the young P.K. and Mina Dale as the young Lotta, that are so realistic, with a 1970s aesthetic and the grainy look of the film used in that era, that you wonder if it is actual footage.  These reenactments also include ordinary people who tell their real stories to Lobo as a clever way to portray those who P.K. encountered on the journey.  I loved this so much and I highly encourage everyone to seek it out.