Hamilton in Los Angeles

For my third road trip this fall I left early yesterday morning to begin a ten hour drive to Los Angeles in order to see Hamilton at the Pantages Theatre last night.  My good friend Karen is a season ticket holder at the Pantages and subscribers were allowed to purchase extra tickets to Hamilton before they went on sale to the general public.  She very generously asked me if I would like a ticket and I asked her to try and get me one during my fall break (and I also gave her a price limit).  I couldn't believe it when she sent me a text telling me that she had been successful!  I was so excited to be able to see my favorite musical again (so excited that I didn't mind another ten hour drive this time to a city I hate driving in).  It was so incredibly special to be able to see the original cast on Broadway, including Lin-Manuel Miranda, but I really enjoyed what each actor in this production did to make the role his or her own.  Michael Luwoye, as Alexander Hamilton, has a beautiful voice and he sang the role in a more traditional manner rather than spitting out the lyrics, particularly in "My Shot."  His version of "It's Quiet Uptown" made me cry because he was literally sobbing through the song and when Eliza took his hand to forgive him he kissed it.  This absolutely shattered me and I heard the woman behind me sniffling after this as well.  I also really enjoyed Joshua Henry's portrayal of Aaron Burr because he infused a lot of humor into the role, especially in "The Room Where It Happened" and "The Election of 1800."  Isaiah Johnson was incredibly powerful as George Washington in "Right Hand Man" but surprisingly vulnerable in "History Has Its Eyes on You" and then pretty much blew the roof off the Pantages Theatre at the end of "One Last Time."  Jordan Donica didn't strut around the stage as Thomas Jefferson like Daveed Diggs did but, instead, he struck a pose (which Hamilton imitated) during key moments and the mic drop in the first Cabinet Battle was hilarious.  Amber Iman, as Peggy Schuyler, had the funniest pout every time she sang, "...and Peggy" during "The Schuyler Sisters."  Finally, King George was played by Rory O'Malley, who I saw on Broadway, and it seemed like he had a lot more choreography in this production which made the audience laugh out loud!  My two favorite numbers were, once again, "Yorktown" and "Hurricane" because the staging is so dynamic.  I didn't think it was possible for me to love Hamilton any more than I already did but seeing it again was thrilling!  Now I can't wait to see it again in SLC in the spring!

I Heart the Hard Rock Cafe

When I was in Las Vegas over fall break, I had to visit the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip.  Even though Las Vegas is known for its many famous restaurants, I always seem to end up there!  I guess it started in 1990 when I was on a study abroad trip.  I visited London for about a week and near the top of my wish list of places to visit was the London Hard Rock Cafe because it was the very first one and it has a lot of fabulous Beatles memorabilia.

I wanted a souvenir from the HRC but I didn't have a lot of money and the shirts were quite expensive.  I decided to get a pin instead and thus began my pin collection.  Whenever I am in a city with a HRC, I try to get a pin and I now have hundreds of them.  It is a fun tradition to have when traveling.

Berlin

Denver

Barcelona

San Diego

Rome

Note:  My favorite HRC is the one inside the Rogers Centre.  Go Blue Jays!

Jersey Boys in Las Vegas

Ever since I saw the Midtown Men (the original Broadway cast of Jersey Boys) perform at Abravanel Hall last spring, I have wanted to see Jersey Boys again!  I decided to see the Las Vegas production while I was in Southern Utah over fall break (Las Vegas is about two hours south of St. George) and, once again, I absolutely loved it!  I am fairly certain that I was one of the youngest people in the audience but I knew every single word to every single song and there were many times when I had to stop myself from singing out loud!  The musical tells the true story of how Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons became rock and roll legends from the perspectives of each of the four members. All of the main actors, Graham Fenton as Frankie Valli, Jason Kappus as Bob Gaudio, Jason Martinez as Nick Massi, and Daniel Robert Sullivan as Tommy Devito, are incredible performers who sing and dance just like the Four Seasons.  I loved all of the great music, especially when they performed "Sherry Baby" on American Bandstand, "Dawn (Go Away)" on The Ed Sullivan Show, and "Rag Doll" at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony.  The staging is incredibly clever.  They would often begin singing a song around a piano then move set pieces to depict recording the song and then they would put on jackets to perform the song on TV or on stage.  As the cameras filmed them, the footage would be projected on screens which I also thought was really clever.  There were three actresses who played multiple parts simply by changing costumes and wigs.  It was all incredibly seamless.  It is a very entertaining show to watch, although there is quite a bit of profanity, and I had such a great time.  After the bows, the cast came out once again to sing "December, 1963 (Oh What a Night)" and the entire crowd danced in the aisles!  It was so much fun and definitely worth the drive to Las Vegas!

Note:  Jersey Boys is performed at the Paris Las Vegas Hotel & Casino.  It made me wish that I was really in my favorite city!

Zion National Park 2015

Over fall break I took a quick trip to Southern Utah.  Zion National Park is one of my very favorite places on Earth and it had been more than a year and a half since I had been there last.  That was much too long!  There is something about those red rocks that just calls to me and I spent a lovely day wandering around.  It was incredibly peaceful even though it was quite crowded and I needed a bit of peace after a crazy couple of months!