Utah Opera's Carmen

I have seen the opera Carmen, Bizet's classic tale of love and betrayal, several times and let me tell you that Utah Opera's current production is magnificent!  I had a chance to see it Monday night and I loved it!  As soldiers guard a factory in Seville, a peasant girl named Micaela (Sarah Tucker) comes looking for her childhood sweetheart, a new recruit named Don Jose (Dominick Chenes), with a letter from his mother begging him to come home.  After reminiscing about their home, she leaves.  The women who work in the factory come out for a break and one of them, a gypsy named Carmen (Elise Quagliata), flirts with the soldiers.  Jose ignores her but he secretly keeps the flower she tosses to him.  Carmen and another worker get in a fight and she is eventually sent to prison.  Jose is ordered to escort her there but she convinces him to let her escape with the promise of her love.  Jose is sent to jail for letting her go.  Meanwhile, the bullfighter Escamillo (Christian Bowers) comes to town and declares his love to Carmen but she refuses him because she loves Jose.  When Jose is released from prison, Carmen dances for him but he tells her he must return to the barracks when he hears the bugle sound.  Carmen is furious and Jose eventually deserts the army to be with her.  After a while, Carmen grows weary of Jose and, when Micaela comes to tell him that his mother is dying, she urges him to go to her.  Escamillo invites Carmen to watch him in a bullfight and she joins him in Seville.  Jose, still desperately in love with Carmen, follows her and, when she declares her love for Escamillo, he kills her.  It is so dramatic and the music is absolutely incredible, with some of the most recognizable melodies in the classical canon: the "Habanera" and the "Toreador Song."  Quagliata is an absolutely beguiling Carmen and she sings the role beautifully but I was also very impressed with her dancing.  Chenes is also excellent as Don Jose and I had goosebumps as he sang of his love for Carmen in Act 2 and Bowers is a lot of fun in the "Toreador Song."  I loved the vibrant costumes and the set design actually reminded me of the arena where I saw a bull fight in Spain!  I highly recommend this thrilling production!  It runs through Oct. 16 and tickets may be purchased here.

The Dressmaker

The movie The Dressmaker had already been released in Australia when I was there.  In fact, the woman sitting next to me on the plane watched it during the flight from Auckland to San Francisco.  I kept sneaking peaks at her screen and was very intrigued.  When I saw that it was going to be released at my favorite art house theater I got really excited and I ended up seeing it Sunday afternoon.  I loved this movie so much!  Tilly Dunnage (Kate Winslet) returns to the Australian outback town of Dungatar 25 years after being sent away hoping to remember the events surrounding the death of a boy which prompted her exile and vowing revenge of those in the town who mistreated her.  Having worked in a salon in Paris, she is now an accomplished dressmaker and, while the townspeople initially shun her, they all request her services after a dress made for Gertrude (Sarah Snook), the town ugly duckling, is a great success.  There are some absolutely hilarious situations with the eccentric characters in the town, especially when Tilly's crazy mother (Judy Davis) refuses to take a bath, when the cross dressing police chief (Hugo Weaving) gives up a confidential police statement when tempted by a feather boa, and when Gertrude tries on her wedding dress (created by the rival seamstress in town) and literally escapes out the window and runs down the street to hire Tilly.  Eventually, Tilly learns the truth about what happened that fateful day and gets her revenge on the townspeople in a great scene.  Kate Winslet is brilliant in this role and the clothes she wears are to die for!  My favorite scene is when she literally brings a football game to a standstill by wearing a bright red couture gown.  Judy Davis had me laughing every time she opened her mouth in a hilarious performance.  I loved the Australian scenery and I found the flashback scenes, filmed in an almost sepia tone, to be incredibly effective at conveying a mood.  It has won just about every film award there is to win in Australia and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Did I mention that Liam Hemsworth plays Tilly's love interest?  He takes off his shirt several times!

Soul Unlimited

Last night, in order to salvage a really blah day, I spontaneously decided to get tickets to a Utah Symphony concert.  I have season tickets to the Masterworks Series but last night's concert was part of the Entertainment Series and I'm really glad that I decided to go!  The Utah Symphony is always a good idea!  Last night the orchestra was joined by Ellis Hall in an evening billed as Soul Unlimited!  Ellis is an incredibly talented multi-instrumentalist who covers all of the great soul music from Marvin Gaye to Ray Charles to the Temptations.  The concert was as good as I imagined it would be and the assembled crowd in Abravanel Hall agreed with me.  Ellis performed the classics, such as "Get Ready," "Unchain My Heart," "Georgia," "What'd I Say," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "How Sweet It Is," "Ain't No Mountain High Enough," "Signed Sealed Delivered," "Just My Imagination," "Soul Man," and "Higher and Higher."  These songs had me singing, clapping, tapping my toes, and, eventually, dancing in the aisle.  However, my very favorite numbers were a bit unconventional.  Ellis performed a fantastic version of "Let's Dance" by David Bowie which I really enjoyed.  Then he performed a sultry arrangement of "Something" by George Harrison that absolutely blew me away.  That is one of my favorite songs and what he did with it was incredible.  I was definitely not expecting that!  It was a wonderful evening after a really lazy day.  This concert is being performed again tonight (go here for tickets) and I highly recommend it!

The Last Ship at PTC

I've always been a big fan of Sting.  I've seen him in concert many times, including a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver and then another one the very next night at the Maverik Center in SLC.  I was so excited when I learned that PTC would be opening the 2016-2017 season with The Last Ship, the Broadway musical with music and lyrics by Sting about the community he grew up in.  This year I decided to get a rush pass to PTC, which means that I can get a ticket to any show on any night 30 minutes before curtain if tickets are available.  I had planned to see The Last Ship last night because I thought it would be a nice way to celebrate making it though the week of parent teacher conferences.  Then I heard a rumor that Sting would be attending this performance.  I thought it would be amazing to see this show with Sting in the audience so I watched the availability of tickets all day.  There were fewer and fewer tickets available as the day went on and when it got down to the last few tickets I bit the bullet and just bought one!  I ended up sitting six rows behind him and he seemed visibly emotional when the audience would respond to something.  After the show, he got up on stage and, in an emotional speech, told the crowd how much he enjoyed the production and thanked us for being an amazing audience!  It was so fun!  I really loved the show!  In fact, I'm thinking of going to see it again since I have the rush pass.  Gideon Fletcher (Bryant Martin) wants to leave his hometown of Wallsend, England despite the fact that his father wants him to follow in his footsteps and work at the local shipyard.  When he leaves, he promises his girlfriend Meg (Ruthie Stephens) that he will come back for her.  After fifteen years, he returns when he learns of his father's death to discover that the shipyard has been closed and that he has a son.  It is a wonderful story about the power of community and the relationship between fathers and sons that is both funny and heartwarming.  I loved all of the music including "All This Time" and "When We Dance," which I was familiar with, and "If You Ever See Me Talking to a Sailor" and "We've Got Now't Else."  Both Martin and Stephens have amazing voices and give very powerful performances.  I loved the innovative choreography, especially when they are building the ship in "We've Got Now't Else."  The set design is extremely clever, transitioning from a dock, to a shipyard, to a pub, and then the ship itself very easily with the movement of large steel panels and grids.  Really, everything about this production is wonderful and I highly recommend this show, even without Sting in the audience, which runs through October 1.  Go here for tickets.

Eight Days a Week

Because of Homecoming and parent teacher conferences, I had to wait until last night to see Ron Howard's wonderful documentary about the Beatles, Eight Days a Week - The Touring Years.  Those of you who know how much I love the Beatles will understand how hard that was for me!  I love the Beatles and I really loved this film.  It spans the years between 1962-1966 and showcases some of their earliest performances at the Cavern Club in Liverpool up to their final concert at Candlestick Park.  As I've mentioned, I am obsessed with the Beatles which means I've seen just about everything ever released about the fab four (I own The Beatles Anthology) and there were a lot of photos and footage included that I had never seen before.  I really enjoyed seeing early concerts in the UK and  concerts during their first world tour (especially in Australia) juxtaposed with the iconic Ed Sullivan Show performance and the epic concert in Shea Stadium.  The documentary does a great job chronicling the excitement  and mayhem of Beatlemania in the early years and then the growing discontent with touring when audiences seemed more interested in the spectacle rather than the music.  It includes contemporary interviews with Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as archival interviews with John Lennon and George Harrison and it also includes interviews with people (famous and not so famous) who were their earliest fans.  Both of my favorite quotes come from Elvis Costello.  He points out how in tune they sound during their performances, which he considers to be remarkable considering the fact that they couldn't hear themselves with all of the screaming.  He also talks about his reaction to the album Rubber Soul (my favorite album in which the Beatles begin experimenting with sounds which couldn't be replicated on stage).  He didn't know if he liked it when he heard it for the first time and then he couldn't imagine his life without it a few weeks later!  As ever, the best part of any film about the Beatles is the music and I really appreciate the fact that Howard shows most songs in their entirety instead of just snippets.  It is almost like being at a Beatles concert and I highly recommend this film to all Beatles fans!

Note:  As I walked out of the theater a woman standing near the exit took my arm and whispered, "Wasn't that fun?"  Yes.  Yes it was!

The Eccles Theater

Over the weekend I was invited to an open house to get a sneak peek at the brand-new, state-of-the-art George S. and Dolores Dore Eccles Theater in downtown SLC.  It is absolutely gorgeous and I can hardly wait for the Broadway at the Eccles (formerly known as Broadway in Utah) 2016-2017 season to start!

The theater is located in the heart of downtown SLC right on Main Street.  Locating the theater here has done quite a bit to revitalize Main Street and I'm looking forward to going to many of my favorite downtown restaurants before shows.

I love the reflection of the city in the glass doors and windows.

The lobby is very sleek and modern with different colored glass on every level.  My favorite is the purple on the third tier.  There is also a restaurant in the lobby called the Encore Bistro and I can vouch for the caprese sandwich with orzo salad.  Yummy!

The third tier also boasts a terrace with an amazing view of downtown SLC.  I imagine this will be a lovely place for a drink during intermission!

The Delta Performance Hall inside the theater.  The lights are absolutely dazzling, especially on the ceiling.

As part of the open house, season ticket holders were able to "meet" their seats!  I met my seat and I think we are going to get along just fine.  It is really comfortable and there is a lot of leg room!  Hooray!

The view of the stage from my seat!  The shows coming to the Eccles Theater this season are Beautiful - The Carol King Musical, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, Kinky Boots, Matilda, Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, and Dirty Dancing.  There are quite a few special engagements to add to a season ticket as well.  I added The Lion King, Mamma Mia, and The Book of Mormon.  If this little tour of the beautiful Eccles Theater has convinced you to get season tickets, go here for more information.  Another incentive: having season tickets for the 2016-2017 season guarantees you tickets for Hamilton which is coming to SLC for the 2017-2018 season!  I can't believe this will be my view for Hamilton!  It is a little bit better than the view I had at the Richard Rodgers Theatre (although I did see the original cast in my nosebleed seat!).

Beethoven & Tchaikovsky

I have been looking forward to the opening weekend of the Utah Symphony 2016-2017 season for quite a while.  It has been too long since I've seen the orchestra perform in Abravanel Hall!  Much too long!  However, it was worth the wait because the opening concert last night featured one of my favorite composers and it was a wonderful performance!  The orchestra began with Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks.  This piece was commissioned  by George II to celebrate the end of the War of the Austrian Succession and I really enjoyed it, especially the brass fanfares throughout.  It was very dignified and majestic.  Then pianist Jonathan Biss joined the orchestra for Beethoven's Concerto No. 1.  This piece reminded me a lot of Mozart (at intermission I read in the program that many of Beethoven's earliest works were influenced by Mozart) and I loved it.  Biss was absolutely incredible and I enjoyed watching his fingers literally fly across the keyboard.  Tchaikovsky's Symphony No 5, the piece I had been waiting for, came after the intermission and it certainly didn't disappoint!  I love Tchaikovsky because his music is so emotional and it is so quintessentially Russian.  The orchestra played with so much passion that they almost blew the roof off Abravanel Hall!  I loved the plaintive theme played by the woodwinds in the first movement and the horn solo in the second movement was amazing!  The final movement is incredibly stirring and, even though this piece is filled with melancholy and yearning, I think that the ending is, ultimately, triumphant.  This concert is being performed again tonight and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  This concert was our first chance to see Madeline Adkins, the new Concertmaster.  I really like the fact that both the Concertmaster and the Associate Concertmaster (Kathryn Eberle) are women.  Girl power!

Cold Play at the Vivint Arena

I think that I spent almost all of 2001 listening to Coldplay's album Parachutes after my friend introduced me to it on a trip to Ireland.  I loved the song "Yellow."  I tend to get really obsessed with things and I would usually fixate on one song from each new Coldplay album, playing it over and over:  "In My Place" from A Rush of Blood to the Head, "Fix You" from X&Y, "Viva La Vida" from the album of the same name, "Paradise" from Mylo Xyloto, "A Sky Full of Stars" from Ghost Stories, and "Adventure of a Lifetime" from A Head Full of Dreams.  I guess you could say that the music of Coldplay has had a significant place in the soundtrack of my life.  Every one of these songs can take me back to a particular point in my life with just a few notes.  I have always wanted to see them play live but I've never had the opportunity until last night.  The show was simply amazing!  Every audience member was given an LED wristband which would light up in various colors in syncopation with the music.  My favorite moments during the concert were when all of the wristbands would flash different colors.  The arena looked so cool whenever that happened.  In addition to the colorful wristbands, the arena was dumped with multi-colored confetti several times (not just during the encore) and I loved it when Chris Martin would jump on the secondary stage and cause the confetti to rise all around him.  Then there were the multi-colored lasers and images on the giant screens and, at one point, the audience was inundated with colorful balloons bouncing all over the place.  The arena was literally a kaleidoscope of color which, when combined with the music, was almost overwhelming to the senses!  It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen despite the terrible sound in the Vivint Arena.  The band played all of my favorites (except "In My Place") and I loved each rendition, especially "Paradise" and "Fix You" (with Chris Martin rolling around in the confetti).  I also really enjoyed the acoustic version of "Trouble" played by the band on a small platform in the crowd and the passionate rendition of "The Scientist" which had everyone in the audience singing.  The show ended, appropriately, with a spirited version of "Up & Up," a lovely message for these troubling times we are living through (always believe in love).  I'm still on a bit of a high from this show, even though it was really difficult to wake up this morning.

Note:  The opening acts were Bishop Briggs and Alessia Cara.  I wasn't familiar with Bishop Briggs but I really enjoyed her set.  She sang her heart out to an almost empty arena which was really unfortunate because her voice gave me goosebumps, it was so incredibly sultry and soulful.  I wasn't very familiar with Alessia Cara, either (I don't get out much), but she is from Ontario, Canada so I automatically loved her.  I really appreciated the positive messages in her music.

Motown The Musical

Imagine a concert featuring the Temptations, the Four Tops, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, and the Jackson 5.  That is essentially what it felt like last Thursday night at the Capitol Theatre when I saw a performance of Motown The Musical.  As you can imagine, it was incredible because the actors looked and sounded so much like the Motown recording artists they portrayed.  The musical tells the story of the rise and fall of Motown Records, particularly highlighting the tempestuous relationship between founder Berry Gordy (Chester Gregory) and his superstar Diana Ross (Allison Semmes).  Interspersed with the telling of the history of Motown is the music from their legendary catalogue.  My favorites included "Where Did Our Love Go," "My Girl," "Stop in the Name of Love," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "Baby I Need Your Lovin'," "War," "Ball of Confusion," "I Want You Back," "ABC," "Reach Out (I'll Be There)," "Mercy, Mercy Me," and "Get Ready."  It is such great music and the choreography and period costumes made every number spectacular.  People in the audience were singing, clapping, cheering, and practically dancing in the aisles!  I really loved Semmes' portrayal of Diana Ross, especially during the song "Reach Out and Touch," because she immitated all of her mannerisms perfectly (I laughed out loud when she flipped her hair).  However, J.J. Batteast completely stole the show as the young Michael Jackson.  Where did they find this kid?  He sounded and, more importantly, he danced just like Michael Jackson.  Those scenes were the highlight of the show for me.  If you are a fan of this music, I highly recommend that you see this musical if you have the opportunity.  Unfortunately, the run at the Capitol Theatre ended last night.

Note:  My only complaint is that I wished that every song could have been performed in its entirety.  There were just so many that had to be included!

Dark Horse

Dark Horse is another little gem that I missed at Sundance this year.  Luckily the Broadway, my favorite art house theater in downtown SLC, screens most of the Sundance selections so I can eventually see all of the movies that I missed.  I saw Dark Horse last night and I loved this inspirational documentary of how a group of working-class people from a poor mining community in Wales bred a champion racehorse.  Jan Vokes, a barmaid at a local pub, decided that she wanted to breed a racehorse and enlisted the help of the pub's patrons to create a syndicate.  Every member contributed £10 a week and eventually 23 people owned a share in the horse.  Jan bought a mare that came in last in every race she ran and had a bad temperament then found a stallion with a stud fee of £3000.  She took a second job as a cleaner at a grocery store to pay the stud fee.  They raised the foal, which they named Dream Alliance, on an allotment in their village and then, when he was old enough, found the best trainer that they could afford.   Philip Hobbs agreed to train Dream Alliance because he was "street smart and scrappy" but ultimately didn't think he could win.  At Dream Alliance's first race, the syndicate only hoped that he would finish the race but were elated when he came in fourth place.  As he began winning, he started to garner national attention and became a symbol of hope for the entire village.  The members of the syndicate are absolutely endearing and often reduced me to tears in their interviews.  My favorite scene in the documentary is when the whole syndicate, including members with tattoos, piercings, missing teeth, and sandwiches wrapped in tin foil, went to the racetrack to see Dream Alliance in his first race and, wearing badges signifying that they were owners of a horse, mingled with the aristocracy.  This is a stand-up-and-cheer movie about achieving a goal that everyone says can't be accomplished and I highly recommend it.

Note:  Dark Horse won the 2016 Documentary Audience Award at Sundance.  Good stuff!

Beethoven, Mozart, & More at the Gallivan Plaza

I think it is a well established fact that I absolutely love attending performances outside in the summer.  There is just something about listening to music under the stars that I love and, when the Utah Symphony is involved, it is even better.  When that concert is free, it is an evening that is not to be missed!  Last night the Utah Symphony began a series of free community concerts (go here for more information) with a performance of classical favorites at the Gallivan Plaza downtown.  I loved every minute of this concert!  I brought a blanket and a picnic and, after a while, there was a lovely breeze so it was the perfect summer evening.  The orchestra played selections from Rossini, Faure, Handel, Tchaikovsky, and Gershwin which were wonderful.  After the intermission they played  the first movement of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (those first four instantly recognizable notes got the crowd going) and Mozart's Symphony No. 35, which was brilliant (I love Mozart).  There was a little girl in the audience near where I was sitting who dramatically conducted the entire concert (Associate Conductor Rei Hotada may have some competition) and it was awesome!  It was a lovely evening!

Note:  There are lots of free concerts scheduled at the Gallivan Plaza throughout the summer.  Go here for more information.

Newsies

Before Hamilton, the show on the top of my must-see list was Newsies!  I had the opportunity to see it in Los Angeles last year over spring break and it was even better than I imagined!  When I got home from that trip, Broadway in Utah announced the 2015-2016 season and I learned that I would be able to see this incredible show again!  I liked it even better the second time!  Based on the Disney movie of the same name, Newsies tells the story of how Jack Kelly (Joey Barreiro), along with his fellow "newsies" and a determined young reporter (Morgan Keene), stood up to Joseph Pulitzer (Steve Blanchard) by going on strike when he raised the cost of the papers.  It is a high-energy show with absolutely dazzling choreography consisting of athletic leaps, jumps, and spins.  I loved it when all of the newsies (all amazing performers) danced in unison in the big production numbers "The World Will Know," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," and "Once and for All." I especially loved the song "The World Will Know" because it is so powerful and the cast sang it with such emotion.  I also really loved the set for this show.  There were three large towers which could be moved into different configurations representing apartment buildings and printing presses and they were covered with scrims which had newspapers and other backgrounds projected on them.  I loved it when the newsies danced on all three levels of the towers.  There were a lot of young people in the audience who responded with thunderous applause and cheering to every single number.  At intermission a large group sitting near me squealed with delight about how awesome it was.  It made me smile because I love seeing young people so passionate about the theatre.  Even though I was really tired after my long ordeal getting home from New York (more about that later), I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of the amazing show and I highly recommend that you see it if you have the chance.  This run ends on Sunday but it is making a return to SLC in August.  Go here for tickets and information.

Utah Opera's The Marriage of Figaro

Ever since I saw the movie Amadeus for the first time, I have wanted to see the opera The Marriage of Figaro and I finally got my wish last night when I attended Utah Opera's wonderful production.  After wanting to see it for so long (not to mention the fact that I have been eagerly anticipating it since the Utah Opera 2015-2016 season was announced last spring), I was a bit worried that Mozart's tale about a licentious nobleman and his scheming servants might not live up to my expectations.  It exceeded them in every way!  The opera is hilariously funny, with audience members frequently laughing out loud, but the music is so incredibly beautiful and displays a depth of emotion that is unexpected in a comedy.  To be sure it is a farce but, ultimately, it is a powerful story about love and reconciliation and I loved it!  The entire cast sang their roles beautifully and I especially enjoyed the more evocative arias such as "Grant, love, some comfort" and "Where are they, the beautiful moments" by the Countess (Nicole Heaston) and the passionate rendition of  "Countess, forgive me" by the Count (Craig Irvin), Countess, and company at the end of Act 4 brought tears to my eyes.  However, I also, rather surprisingly, enjoyed the physical comedy found in this opera (I think that comedic elements can be overdone but director Tara Faircloth found just the right balance). With Figaro (Seth Carico) and Susanna (Zulimar Lopez-Hernandez) plotting to get back at the Count, chaos ensued with some characters hiding, seemingly in plain sight, and others impersonating each other.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  Susan Memmott Allred's original costumes had a sort of Downton Abbey feel to them, which is understandable with a libretto about class divisions in society, and I thought they were all beautiful, especially Susanna's wedding dress which was so demure.  Even though this opera is over three hours long, it seemed to go by very quickly because it was so much fun to watch!  I absolutely loved The Marriage of Figaro and it was definitely worth the wait!  I recommend that you get a ticket (go here) to one of the performances through May 15 at Capitol Theatre.

Rain

If there is one thing you need to know about me it is that I love the Beatles!  I have loved them for as long as I can remember and, even though I have seen Paul McCartney several times, it always makes me sad that I never got to see the Beatles live.  The best that I can do is see a tribute band but there are some really great ones out there.  I've seen 1964 several times, I saw Classical Mystery Tour with the Utah Symphony last summer, and yesterday I got to see the Broadway show Rain which might be the best Beatles tribute concert I've ever seen!  Part concert, part theatrical experience, this show actually makes you feel like you are seeing the Beatles perform in various venues!  There are large screens projecting images such as the Ed Sullivan Show, Shea Stadium, and Abbey Road Studios.  I loved it!  I especially loved it when the screens showed footage of screaming fans from actual Beatles concerts next to footage of the crowd screaming at Kingsbury Hall!  Steve Landes (Johns Lennon), Paul Curatolo (Paul McCartney), Alastar McNeil (George Harrison), and Aaron Chiazza (Ringo Starr) look and sound so much like the Beatles that it is easy to imagine that you are seeing the real thing!  They began the show dressed in the signature matching suits and Cuban-heeled boots the Beatles wore on the Ed Sullivan Show and sang "She Loves You," "Please Please Me," "From Me to You," "I Want to Hold Your Hand," "A Hard Day's Night," "I'm Happy Just to Dance With You," "If I Fell," "Yesterday," "The Night Before," "Day Tripper," and then they got the crowd up and dancing to "Twist and Shout."  They changed into the Sgt. Pepper's uniforms and sang "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band," "With a Little Help From My Friends," "Eleanor Rigby," "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," "When I'm Sixty-Four," "Penny Lane," "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (Reprise)," and "A Day in the Life."  After the intermission they were dressed like hippies and played "Magical Mystery Tour," "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Across the Universe," "Blackbird," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "In My Life," "Here Comes the Sun," "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," "Come Together," "Get Back," "Revolution," and "The End."  Before the show they had the audience request a song from a list provided on Twitter and Facebook and they ended up playing "Norwegian Wood" which is the song I requested!  For the encore, they sang "Let it Be" and, of course, a rousing rendition of "Hey Jude."  I loved hearing the entire audience singing the chorus!  It gave me goosebumps!  I really enjoyed the selection of songs included and I was very impressed that all of the music is actually played on stage (A fifth member of the band, Mark Lewis, is on stage performing keyboards and other instruments to recreate the Beatles' sound).  I especially loved McNeil's guitar solo on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."  I thoroughly loved this show and I highly recommend it to Beatles fans!

Note:  Most of the audience members were my parents' age but I was happy to see quite a few kids who were singing every word!

Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet

View of downtown SLC from the windows of Abravanel Hall

Last night I returned to Abravanel Hall (after what seems like a very long absence) for a Utah Symphony concert featuring excerpts from Prokofiev's ballet Romeo and Juliet and performances from actors with the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  Several years ago I attended a similar performance featuring Mendelssohn's incidental music from A Midsummer Night's Dream and excerpts from the play performed by noted Utah Shakespeare Festival actors.  It remains one of my favorite Utah Symphony concerts and I knew this production would be every bit as good so I have been looking forward to it for weeks.  I think Prokofiev's score is incredibly dramatic.  I particularly enjoyed "Montagues and Capulets" because it is so stirring yet it features an evocative theme played by the flute in the middle.  I also really liked "The Death of Tybalt" because it is another stirring piece with a bold theme played by the brass.  In between the musical numbers, corresponding scenes were performed from Shakespeare's classic tale of star-crossed lovers by Betsy Mugavero as Juliet, Claire Warden as Lady Capulet, Sarah Shippobotham as the Nurse, Luigi Sottile as Romeo, and Peter Lohnes as Friar Lawrence.  These scenes were directed by David Ivers, who is one of my favorite performers and directors from the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  I liked the selections, especially the famous balcony scene because Sottile's characterization of Romeo was quite playful which I thought was very interesting.  The combination of Prokofiev's music and Shakespeare's text, not to mention the outstanding performances, certainly produced an enjoyable evening of entertainment (which was definitely needed after a long week).  I hope that the Utah Symphony and the Utah Shakespeare Festival continue their collaboration for many years to come.  This concert will be performed again tonight and if you are anticipating this year's festival as much as I am, this might tide you over!  Tickets can be purchased here.

Note:  My favorite moment of the evening came courtesy of a large group of high school theatre students sitting near me.  I saw them arrive on their bus and they seemed so excited to be there.  After the concert one of them said, "That was sooooooo good!"  It makes me happy when I see young people enjoy the performing arts because it has brought so much enrichment to my life!

Jazz Game with Tashena

While I sometimes miss the little girl who used to love to play Barbies for hours on end, I have to admit that the teenage Tashena is also pretty fun.  Recently she told me that she really, really wanted to go to a Jazz game so, clearly, we had to go to last night's game against the Dallas Mavericks because it was the last home game of the season.  I am so glad that Tashena talked me into going because it was intense!  The game had huge playoff implications for both teams as they were both battling to clinch a spot.  The crowd was loud and rowdy and Tashena and I definitely added to the noise.  The Jazz stayed with the Mavericks with some electrifying three-pointers from Joe Ingles to end the first quarter and they ended the second quarter down by just four points.  It was so much fun listening to Tashena analyze the game.  In the third quarter the Jazz were down by as many as eleven but then went on an 8-0 run to get back in the game.  The Vivint Arena was absolutely out of control cheering for the Jazz at this point and it was so much fun to watch Tashena take it all in.  There is nothing like a Utah Jazz crowd when they are playing well!  In the fourth quarter the Jazz could not seem to make a basket no matter what they did.  Gordon Hayward eventually got a nice three-pointer and made two foul shots to bring Utah within five in the last few minutes but it was not enough and they ended up losing to Dallas 101-92.  It was a heartbreaker because the Jazz lost control of their own destiny and now need to beat the Lakers and they need the Rockets to lose to the Kings to clinch the final playoff spot.  Needless to say, we were a bit more subdued walking out of the arena than we were walking in, but I had so much fun at this game.  It was almost as much fun as playing Barbies!

Fun at the Bees Game

Saturday night Marilyn and I took Sean and Tashena to a Salt Lake Bees game against the Sacramento River Cats.  We had so much fun!  The Bees played really well (with a dramatic home run in the third inning) and eventually won the game 6-0, but being with Sean and Tashena is what made this night such a good time.  I sure do love them!  We got laughing so hard that I could not breathe and I think we were more entertaining to the people around us than the game was.  At one point Sean was taking a bunch of selfies with Marilyn's phone and the lady behind us started photobombing.  Good times!  After the game there were fireworks which is always a lot of fun. It did eventually get a little bit chilly but sitting outside in the sunshine and watching some baseball made me get really excited for summer!

Cowgirls at PTC

Last night I went to see PTC's production of Cowgirls and I must say that I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would!  Country is my very least favorite genre of music but, by the end of the show,  even my foot was tapping just a little bit!  Jo Carlson (Leenya Rideout) has inherited Hiram Hall, her father's country and western saloon, but she has also inherited his debts and the saloon is about to be foreclosed.  In a last ditch effort to repay the debts and save Hiram Hall, she has hired the Cowgirl Trio to perform during the grand re-opening.  Unfortunately, she has, in reality, hired the Coghill Trio, a group of classically trained musicians.  The Coghill Trio has reached the end of a disastrous three month tour and, eager to prove themselves, they convince Jo that they can learn to play country music to the dismay of Jo's waitresses (Karis Danish and Ashlie Roberson) who think they could do a better job.  As she coaches Lee (Jessica Bradish) a cello playing New Age lesbian, Rita (Lindsay Zaroogian), a pregnant pianist afraid of losing her identity when she becomes a mother, and Mary Lou (Angela Chatelain Avila), an uptight violinist, on how to play country music, Jo must deal with the fact that her mother abandoned her for a career in country music.  The songs they sing take each of  them on a journey of discovery and I particularly enjoyed "Kingdom of Country," "Songs My Mama Sang," "Looking for a Miracle," "Don't Look Down," and "Saddle Tramp Blues."  While the plot is simplistic, the songs and choreography are quite entertaining and I was extremely impressed by the fact that the actors play all of their own instruments on stage (much like the actors do in the musical Once).  The set of the saloon also reminded me of the bar in Once with audience members invited on stage to have a drink and watch the final performance of the Cowgirl Trio.  I did grow a little weary of the stereotypical portrayal of the down-on-their-luck and hard-living waitresses (they even sing a song called "Don't Call Me Trailer Trash") and the twang (a big reason why I don't like country music) is definitely over the top!  However, I highly recommend this thoroughly entertaining show about women learning how to take a risk!  Cowgirls plays at PTC through April 9 and tickets may be purchased here.

Utah Opera's Aida

There is nothing quite like the experience of watching an opera.  In my opinion, a great opera combines everything I love about the performing arts: a dramatic and tragic love story, powerful and passionate vocal performances, a beautiful symphonic score, innovative staging, dazzling choreography, and elaborate costumes and sets.  Last night Utah Opera's production of Aida ticked every one of those boxes!  Aida, an Ethiopian princess captured as a slave by the Egyptians, is torn between her burning love for Radames, the general of the Egyptian army charged with defeating the Ethiopians, and loyalty to her father, the king, and her country.  The story is definitely full of enough pathos to satisfy even my romantic heart.  What could be more dramatic than choosing to die for love?  The performances are amazing!  Marc Heller (Radames), Jennifer Check (Aida), and Katharine Goeldner (Amneris) all sing their roles beautifully.  I particularly loved Check's rendition of the aria "O patria mia" where Aida laments the fact that she will never see her country again and Goeldner's rendition of "Ahime!...morir me sento," where Amneris curses the priests for condemning Radames, gave me goosebumps!  I had tears in my eyes when Check and Heller sang "Morir! Si pura e bella" as Radames and Aida die in each other's arms inside a tomb.  Verdi's score is absolutely spectacular and I particularly enjoyed the instantly recognizable fanfare played inside the Temple of Vulcan, which sent tingles up and down my spine! The staging is also quite spectacular, especially the pageantry involved in sending Radames off to war and I loved the choreography in that scene.  I also loved the staging of the Judgement scene, most of which takes place off stage.  Alice Bristow's costumes, in various shades of turquoise and gold, are exquisite.  The set, created by Tony Award-winner Michael Yeargan, is bold with Egyptian columns and monuments and I was particularly struck by the use of multiple levels.  To say that I enjoyed this production would be an understatement; in fact, I think it is one of Utah Opera's best!  I would highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) to one of the remaining performances through March 20.  Bravo, Utah Opera!

Dinner at Caffe Molise

If I had to pick a favorite cuisine, it would most definitely be Italian so Caffe Molise is obviously one of my very favorite restaurants downtown!  It features a menu full of traditional dishes from Northern Italy and has an extensive wine list from that region, as well.   Caffe Molise has a simple and casual decor featuring the work of local artists or you can opt for the patio during warmer months.  I like to eat here before seeing productions at Capitol Theatre but it is equally appropriate for a casual dinner after work.

I like just about everything on the menu but I highly recommend the lasagne ($15.95).   It features layers of pasta, Italian sausage, seasoned beef, ricotta, Asiago, and marinara.  It is delicious!

Definitely save some room for dessert (if you can!).  I became a fan of Tiramisu on a trip to Italy several years ago and Caffe Molise has an excellent version but I usually opt for the Dark Chocolate Cake ($6.95).  It is quite possibly the most decadent chocolate cake I have ever had!  It is dense and chocolaty, with just a hint of cinnamon!

Caffe Molise is located in the heart of downtown SLC at 55 West 100 South (near the Salt Lake Convention Center).  It is open Monday - Thursday: 10:30 am - 9:00 pm, Friday - Saturday: 10:30 am - 10:00 pm, and Sunday: 10:30 am - 9:00 pm.  Most entrees are reasonably priced under $30.00.