The Lower Lights 2016

What a fun week I've been having (the essays are still not graded)!  Last night I went to my second holiday performance in as many days and, since I love hearing Christmas music performed live, I was thrilled to end the week with the Lower Lights Christmas concert at Kingsbury Hall!  Truth be told, I have been looking forward to this for weeks.  I went to my first Lower Lights Christmas concert last year and I loved it so much that I knew I had to make it a Christmas tradition.  The Lower Lights are a super-group of 21 insanely talented musicians and vocalists, many of whom are famous in their own rights (perhaps you've heard of Ryan Shupe?), who have a distinct folk-gospel sound.  The concert began with one man, one guitar, and one spotlight and a beautiful instrumental version of "O Little Town of Bethlehem."  Then for the next two and a half hours, a variety of different singers and musicians were featured performing both Christmas and gospel songs.  I was very impressed with how seamless the performances were with musicians coming and going from the stage and different singers moving to center stage to introduce songs and talk to the audience.  Some of the Christmas songs included "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "I Saw Three Ships," "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful," one of the most beautiful renditions of "Away in a Manger" I have ever heard, "White Christmas," "Hark, the Herald Angels Sing,"  "Silver Bells," "Mary's Lullaby," "The Holly and the Ivy," "A Cradle in Bethlehem," and "Mary's Boy Child."  They sang "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" which is one of my favorites because I used to sing it every Christmas when I was in the choir during college.  Another favorite from my choir days is "Still, Still, Still" which they performed so beautifully that it brought a tear to my eye.  They also sang a few songs from their latest album, Old Time Religion, including the title track and "Down to the River to Pray, encouraging the audience to sing, clap, dance, and cheer!  I will admit that we got a bit raucous!  Towards the end of the concert they invited the audience to sing along with "Go Tell It On The Mountain" and, like last year, they performed a very heart-felt version of "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day," hoping that we could all find a little bit of peace during these very dark days we are living through.  Another favorite moment was an epic instrumental version of "What Child Is This?" with a guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and bass.  For the encore, they performed a fun version of "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch" and a rock and roll version of "Once in Royal David's City,"  The final number, like last year, was a beautiful rendition of "Silent Night" with just a guitar for accompaniment.  I loved this concert so much and I wish that everyone reading this could attend their final concert at Kingsbury Hall tonight (go here to see if there are any tickets left).

Note:  Mitt Romney was sitting two rows in front of me.  First Sting and now Mitt Romney!  I am a magnet for celebrities!

White Christmas at the Eccles

Last night I braved all of the downtown traffic (there was a Jazz game, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert, The Nutcracker, and people seeing the lights at Temple Square, not to mention snow) to see the Broadway touring production of White Christmas.  This musical is such a holiday tradition for me!  I've seen the movie countless times and I saw the PTC production several years ago as well as productions at both Hunter High and Bountiful High but I had never seen the Broadway version before.  It was so much fun!  Broadway stars Bob Wallace (Sean Montgomery) and Phil Davis (Jeremy Benton) meet the Haynes sisters, Judy (Kelly Sheehan) and Betty (Kerry Conte), and decide to follow them to Vermont where they have a gig at the Columbia Inn.  There they meet their former commanding officer from the war, General Waverly (Conrad John Schuck), who owns the Columbia Inn and is having financial difficulties due to the lack of snow.  Wallace and Davis decide to bring their show to the Columbia Inn and invite the soldiers from their company to a performance on Christmas Eve.  Add a receptionist (Lorna Luft) and a granddaughter (Clancy Penny) who think they should be in show business, an overwrought stage manager (Aaron Galligan-Stierle), and love gone awry, and you have a delightful show full of big song and dance numbers.  I especially love the songs "Sisters" (my sisters and I sing this all of the time), "Snow," "Blue Skies," and "I Love a Piano."  The cast is superb (Lorna Luft is Judy Garland's daughter and she can certainly belt out a song) and the ensemble performs all of the high energy choreography (I loved the tap dancing) brilliantly.  The costumes are over-the-top and the sets are quite elaborate, especially the Regency Room.  The message is heart-warming and the final scene where the cast performs "White Christmas" just as it starts to snow (even in the audience) will definitely give you a big dose of Christmas cheer.  This holiday classic runs at the Eccles Theater until Dec. 11 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  Almost all of the people sitting around me have season tickets and, after meeting at Beautiful last month, we greeted each other like long lost friends last night!  The man in front of me called us the Thursday Night Club!

Oliver at PTC

This is the time of year when I visit Charles Dickens' London.  However, instead of the usual holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, I made the journey with PTC's Oliver, the musical adaptation of another Dickens classic (I will be seeing A Christmas Carol at HCT in a few weeks). It was a really great production about the exploits of an orphan named Oliver Twist (Maxwell Rimington).  We first meet him in an orphanage, then he is sold to an undertaker, next he joins up with a gang of pick-pockets, and finally he finds his real home.  All of the big production numbers are a lot of fun with very energetic choreography and I especially enjoyed "Food, Glorious Food" with all of the orphans, "Consider Yourself" with the Artful Dodger (Christian Labertew), "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" with Fagin  (Bill Nolte) and the pick-pockets, "It's A Fine Life" and "Oom-Pah-Pah" with Nancy (Natalie Hill), and "Who Will Buy?" with the vendors.  All of the actors give great performances, including all of the children in the cast, but Rimington will absolutely melt your heart as Oliver.  I actually had a tear in my eye when he sang "Where Is Love?"  I was also extremely impressed with Labertew's Artful Dodger.  I was sitting very close to the stage and I loved all of his facial expressions.  Speaking of the stage, the set was very clever with lots of different levels depicting alleys, bridges, streets, pubs, shops, and a proper Victorian mansion.   I thoroughly enjoyed this musical, as did all of the children in the audience, and I highly recommend it for the whole family as a great evening of holiday entertainment.  Oliver runs at PTC until Dec. 17 and tickets can be purchased here.

Beautiful at the Eccles

I finally got to see a show at the new Eccles Theater!  I've been looking forward to Beautiful for quite a while because several people who went on the New York City theatre trip with me saw this show and absolutely raved about it (I chose not to see it in NYC because I knew I would be seeing it in SLC).  Beautiful is a jukebox musical, a stage show which uses previously released pop songs that are either conceptualized to tell a story like Mamma Mia or used to tell the biographical story about the performer whose music is featured like Jersey Boys, describing how Carole King rose to stardom in the 1970s using the songs she wrote such as "So Far Away," "Will You Love Me Tomorrow," "Up on the Roof," "It's Too Late," "You've Got a Friend," "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," and "I Feel The Earth Move" among others.  I had forgotten how many great songs she wrote (I saw King in concert with James Taylor several years ago and I was surprised then as well).  Act I begins with a sixteen year old King (Julia Knitel) deciding to go Manhattan to sell one of her songs to music producer Don Kirshner (Curt Bouril) and continues with her development as a hit songwriter with her husband Gerry Goffin (Liam Tobin) and the rivalry with the songwriting team of Cynthia Weil (covered by DeLaney Westfall last night) and Barry Mann (Ben Fankhauser).  Act II includes the disintegration of King's marriage to Goffin and the writing and recording of her seminal album Tapestry.  King's legendary concert at Carnegie Hall in 1971 is used as a framing device.  I think this musical is staged brilliantly.  King and Goffin or Weil and Mann would begin singing a song as they wrote it and then the artist who made it famous would continue it in a big production number including "Some Kind of Wonderful" with the Drifters, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow" with the Shirelles, "Up on the Roof" with the Drifters, "The Locomotion" with Little Eva, "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling" with the Everly Brothers (my favorite), and "One Fine Day" with Janelle Wood.  Knitel does great job with the role and I especially enjoyed her rendition of "Natural Woman" and I also loved the comic relief provided by Fankhauser.  This is a fun show to watch and many people around me automatically started singing the songs.  It runs at the Eccles Theater until Nov. 20.

Note:  Jessie Mueller originated the role of Carole King on Broadway (and won a Tony).  I got to see her perform in the original cast of Waitress on Broadway and she was amazing.

Brahms & Tchaikovsky

It has been a tumultuous week, to say the least.  With a surprising (and disappointing) result in the national election and a massive project with my student body officers (more about that later), by the end of the day on Friday I was physically and emotionally exhausted.  I decided that a performance of Tchaikovsky's amazing Piano Concerto No.1 by the Utah Symphony was just the thing to soothe my troubled soul.  Just like last week, I went to this concert expecting to love one of the pieces and ended up really enjoying the other pieces, as well.  The orchestra began with Symphony No. 3 (also known as The Camp Meeting) by Charles Ives.  It evokes memories of the composer's childhood spent in fields listening to preachers and singing hymns and includes snippets of nineteenth century hymns, war songs, and children's games.  I loved it, especially the chimes at the end which are meant to mimic church bells.  Next, the orchestra played Symphony No. 3 by Johannes Brahms.  To be honest, this piece seemed rather bland and my mind started wandering until I was completely blown away by the third movement.  I thought the recurring melody played by the strings was incredibly romantic and I also loved when this theme was played by the horn and then echoed by the clarinet.  All through the intermission I was eagerly anticipating Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 and I was thrilled to hear those instantly recognizable opening notes played by the brass!  It is an explosive burst of energy to begin an incredibly passionate piece!  Soloist Alexander Gavrylyuk played it brilliantly with such feeling and expression!  I absolutely loved watching his fingers fly up and down the keyboard!  He received an instantaneous standing ovation which prompted an encore featuring a rather theatrical version of Mendelssohn's Wedding March!  As I was leaving Abravanel Hall, two adorable little old ladies walking near me commented on what a wonderful evening it had been.  I wholeheartedly agree!  If you need a wonderful evening after a difficult week, go here for ticket's to tonight's performance of the same program.

Dvorak's New World Symphony

I spent a lovely evening at Abravanel Hall last night listening to the Utah Symphony.  I selected this particular concert for Dvorak's Symphony No. 9 because I really love it but, as is often the case, I also enjoyed the other selections on the program immensely.  The orchestra began with Haydn's Symphony No. 9 and I thought it was incredibly beautiful and stirring.  I especially loved the theme played by the solo oboe and I also loved the theme played by a solo violin and solo cello.  Next the orchestra played Symphony No. 1 by Charles Ives.  I was particularly struck by the opening notes, which were almost unobtrusive.  I found this piece to be very moving and there were several times when I closed my eyes and let the music wash over me.  After the intermission the orchestra played Dvorak's New World Symphony (as it is known).  There are a handful of pieces that I recognize by name and always try to see when performed (Mozart's Requiem, Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky,  Symphonie fantastique by Berlioz, and Bolero by Ravel, to name a few) and this is near the top of that list.  I have been looking forward to this performance for weeks and I was not disappointed.  There are many things that I love about this piece, but the themes played and then echoed between the various sections of the orchestra are so dramatic!  It was performed brilliantly with an enthusiastic standing ovation at its conclusion.  The same concert will be performed tonight (tickets may be purchased here) and I recommend it highly!

Note:  I have always been a fan of Thierry Fischer (especially after I saw him at a Jazz game with his two sons).  Last night I sat a little closer to the stage than I usually do and it was fun to watch him in action!

The Glass Menagerie at PTC

PTC's production of The Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams' classic play about nostalgia, is closing very soon and, as I have been very busy the past few weeks, I thought about skipping it.  I have read and seen this play performed countless times and, frankly, I sometimes find it to be very grim so I didn't feel any urgency.  However, I decided at the last minute to see it last night and I am very glad that I did because I was quite impressed.  The play is narrated by Tom Wingfield (Zachary Prince), a writer reminiscing about his memories of his mother and sister and their dreary existence in St. Louis during the 1930s.   He longs to escape their suffocating apartment and substitutes movies for the adventure he craves.  Amanda Wingfield (Nance Williamson) lives in the past, regaling her children with stories of the southern gentility she experienced growing up on a plantation and of her many "Gentlemen Callers."  Laura Wingfield (Hanley Smith) is crippled and is so shy that she prefers to retreat into the world of her glass animals.  None of them can face the harsh reality of their lives, which is momentarily brightened by the prospect of a "Gentleman Caller" for Laura (Logan James Hall).  This play is very character driven and a good production relies on its cast to give engaging performances.  Prince, Williamson, Smith, and Hall do that and more.  Williamson, especially, commands attention as the overbearing Amanda and I found her interpretation to be quite humorous at times (I don't remember ever laughing at any of the other productions I've seen).  I really liked the set, particularly the the portrait of Amanda's husband which dominates the space.  I also really liked the use of light, which I found to be highly effective at conveying different moods throughout the play.  I definitely recommend this production but, unfortunately, it it closing tomorrow;  however, there are still a few performances left so act quickly and go here for tickets.

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.