Ballet West's The Nutcracker

Seeing a performance of The Nutcracker is a cherished holiday tradition for me and I look forward to it all year. It simply wouldn't be Christmas without it.  I saw the beloved classic last night and I think I enjoyed it even more than I usually do! This year marks the 60th Anniversary (I haven't been attending for that long) of William Christensen's brilliant choreography set to the incomparable score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky so there was definitely a degree of nostalgia as I watched all of the familiar scenes. Yet, there was also an unexpected thrill of excitement because I got to see some new interpretations (I am so used to Christopher Ruud and Christiana Bennett performing the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, either individually or together) of some iconic roles.  The Grand Pas de Deux performed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier is my favorite moment in the entire ballet (I think Tchaikovsky's music for this scene is the most romantic in the entire classical cannon) and I thought Emily Adams and Rex Tilton danced it beautifully.  It gave me goosebumps!  Even though I have seen this ballet countless times, I still get caught up in the excitement of the party scene as the Christmas tree is unveiled for the children, I marvel at the transformation of the nutcracker into a handsome prince, and I take delight in the various divertissements arranged by the Sugar Plum Fairy for Clara and the prince (especially the Arabian variation and the Russian variation). It was a lovely evening made even more so by a large group of teenagers sitting near me who were absolutely enchanted by it.  If you haven't experienced this holiday tradition for yourself, I highly encourage you to do so.  Go here for tickets.  The Nutcracker runs at Capitol Theatre until Dec. 27.

Note:  This year Ballet West cast Katlyn Addison as the first African-American Sugar Plum Fairy in the organization's history. I was thrilled by this news because my niece is a dancer and she might play the Sugar Plum Fairy some day!  I wish that I could have seen her!

Gingerbread Houses 2015

Every year, usually on the Sunday before Christmas, we make gingerbread houses with Sean and Tashena.  This tradition started the year that Tashena joined our family and we always look forward to it!

Sean usually eats more frosting than he puts on his house!

A goatee often makes an appearance, as well!

Various stages of construction!  We buy kits and then use a hot glue gun to put them together because we never eat them and we like to get to the fun part, which is decorating, as soon as possible!  The kits come with candy but we always buy more!

I think Sean's goal was to cover every inch of his house with candy!  He is so much fun!

Tashena worked very diligently on her house and was the last to finish!  She used the glue gun to attach all of that coconut!

Marilyn with her house.

My house.

Sean with his house.

Tashena with her house.

The whole village.

A few more views.  I love this tradition because I love spending time with Sean and Tashena.  We laughed so hard while making these gingerbread houses and I hope they always remember the fun times we had together!  After making our houses we watched Christmas movies for the rest of the night.  Sean and Tashena have every word memorized to the movie Elf and we thought it was adorable.  Marilyn and I have every word memorized to A Christmas Story and they thought it was annoying!

Note:  Here is Tashena's first gingerbread house!

Temple Square 2015

Every year there are hundreds of thousands of visitors to Temple Square to see the lights.  I like to complain about this because the traffic downtown gets really crazy in December but, really, the lights are beautiful!

I decided to see the lights last night even though it was a Saturday night and I don't really enjoy crowds.  As predicted, it was very crowded but I actually didn't mind it so much.  All of the snow that we have had this week made the lights seem even more magical.

I had the best time I've ever had walking around Temple Square.  I didn't have an agenda and I didn't have any time constraints so I just wandered wherever I wanted to go.  It was a really stressful week at school, for various reasons, and I felt more peaceful than I've felt in a long time.  It was almost as if there weren't any people around me at all.

I ended up at the Assembly Hall for one of the many free concerts (go here for a schedule) there every evening, usually featuring community and high school choirs.  When I got there, a group had just started performing so I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I didn't even know what school was performing (I found out later that it was Rigby High School) but I love hearing Christmas music performed live so much.

It was a lovely evening.

A Christmas Carol at HCT 2015

I can't think of a better way to start winter break than by seeing HCT's wonderful and magical production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. It is one of my most favorite traditions and I have been attending this show for years and years. I really love the tale of one man's redemption and its message of caring for the welfare of mankind is particularly salient right now during these troubling times. I love seeing familiar faces return year after year, such as David Weeks as Ebeneezer Scrooge, but it is also fun to see new actors take on iconic roles.  I can't remember seeing anyone but Brad Charon play the role of Bob Cratchit or Adam Dietlein play the role of Fred so it was interesting to see Ryan J. Poole and Spencer Bean take on those parts, respectively, last night. Poole's characterization of Cratchit was very tender and I was particularly moved by a scene where Cratchit tearfully thanks Scrooge at the end of the play. I also really loved Ric Starnes as Fezziwig. Actually, all of the performances were great and, as ever, I was very impressed with the Victorian costumes and opulent sets.  I think my favorite part of Hale's production is the use of Christmas carols throughout the play.  I especially love it when the cast sings "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" which is one of my favorites. Even though I have seen this production countless times I always sit on the edge of my seat and anticipate every scene, every song, and every line of dialogue (I honestly think I could fill in for any part).  It never gets old and I always leave the theatre full of Christmas spirit.  I recommend that you experience it for yourself!  Go here for tickets.

Kurt Bestor Christmas Concert

I am completely obsessed with listening to Christmas music performed live right now so I spontaneously decided to get a ticket to Kurt Bestor's Christmas concert last night.  Kurt Bestor is a Utah-based composer known for his beautiful arrangements of Christmas music and he has performed a series of Christmas concerts at Abravanel Hall for the past 28 years (next year he is moving to the new Eccles Theater).  I've gone to a few of his concerts in years past but I think last night's was his best one yet!  He began with "Carol of the Bells" with the Wesley Bell Ringers and continued with "Joy to the World," "What Child Is This," "Christmastime Is Here," and "I'll Be Home for Christmas."  He had an amazing vocalist named Lexie Walker perform a beautiful rendition of his most well-known song, "Prayer for the Children," and it brought tears to my eyes. One of Kurt Bestor's most beloved traditions is to write an original carol each year.  This year he was inspired by the tragedy in Paris and wrote "Carol of the Lights" because Paris is known as the City of Lights.  I loved it and the message of peace on earth and good will toward man.  He ended the first act with a "Christmas Concerto" featuring many different Christmas carols with dueling soloists on violin and electric guitar.  After the intermission, he brought back the Wesley Bell Ringers for "Let It Snow"  and performed his own version of "Twelve Days of Christmas" featuring all of the instruments on stage.  He brought back Lexie Walker for lovely renditions of "Toyland," "When a Child is Born," and "Angels We Have Heard on High."  Walker has such a beautiful and powerful voice!  Next, Bestor performed "While By My Sheep, I Watched at Night," which I had never heard before, and "I Wonder as I Wander."  It just isn't Christmas to me until I hear a live version of my very favorite Christmas song "O Holy Night" and it happened last night with a wonderful version featuring Bestor on flugelhorn.  It gave me goosebumps!  Continuing one of his long-standing traditions, Bestor selected an audience member to narrate 'Twas the Night Before Christmas to his original accompaniment.  Last night's narrator was Chad and he was an absolute hoot.  The concert ended with a beautiful rendition of "Silent Night" with audience participation.  For an encore, he performed a Celtic version of "Ding Dong Merrily" which I loved because I sang it in college!  I am so glad I got a ticket because I thoroughly enjoyed this concert.

Lower Lights Christmas Concert

The Lower Lights are a Utah-based supergroup of incredibly talented vocalists and musicians known primarily for their folk-gospel sound.  Every year they perform a series of Christmas concerts and I have always wanted to go to one.  In years past the concerts were held at the Salt Lake Masonic Temple, which is a really small venue, so by the time I got my act together enough to buy tickets they were usually sold out.  This year, due to their growing popularity, they moved to Kingsbury Hall and I was finally able to get a ticket to last night's concert.  It was such a wonderful evening and I loved every minute of it.  Some of my favorite songs included "I Saw Three Ships," "Away in a Manger," "Silver Bells," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "The Holly and the Ivy," "The First Noel," and a rocking version of "Once in Royal David's City."  Every time I attend a Christmas concert, I am always really nostalgic for the Christmas concerts I performed in when I was in college.  My choir really loved to sing "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" and "Still, Still, Still" and the Lower Lights performed both of them beautifully!  I also really loved the instrumental versions of "What Child Is This?" and "O Little Town of Bethlehem."  They gave me goosebumps!  There were two moments which actually brought tears to my eyes.  The first was an incredibly heart-felt rendition of "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day."  The times we are living in right now seem so dark with vitriol spewed everywhere I turn but this song gives me hope that some day we can have peace on earth and good will toward men.  The other moment was during the encore when they had the audience join them for "Silent Night" with just a guitar as accompaniment.  It was a lovely moment, to say the least!  Honestly, I don't really know what I believe any more but at this time of year, I find so much comfort in the music of Christmas.  I loved this concert so much that I hope to make it a yearly tradition.  Their final concert is tonight at Kingsbury Hall and I highly recommend that you get a ticket by going here (if there are any tickets to be had!).

Note:  Apparently the "Twelve Days of Christmas" sing-along on Tuesday was a mere warm-up for the "Go Tell it on the Mountain" sing-along last night!  I was in fine form!

Festival of Trees 2015

Yesterday I volunteered at the Festival of Trees for the seventh year in a row!  It is a wonderful opportunity to help raise money for Primary Children's Hospital.  Various individuals and groups decorate trees, often in honor or remembrance of a patient at Primary Children's Hospital, and donate them for auction.  After the auction, they are put on display for the general public at the South Towne Expo Center for several days.  I volunteer as a hostess and I am assigned to a particular area to answer questions about the trees and to keep them from being damaged.  Here are some of the trees in my area.

Most of my trees were in remembrance of premature babies who had died so, when people would ask me questions, I would tear up a little bit.

This "Angel Tree" really made me emotional because all of the ornaments were in honor of children who had died.  One mother asked to find her daughter's ornament for her and take a picture of it.  What an honor!

This "Superhero" tree was probably the most popular tree of the whole festival.  It was across the aisle from me and there was always a large crowd of people around it.  After my shift was over I walked around to look at all of the other trees.  Here are some of my favorites.

My very favorite tree was this "Travel" tree!

And, of course, there was the usual BYU/Utah rivalry tree!

The Festival of Trees runs until Saturday, Dec. 5 at the South Towne Expo Center.  Go here for more information.