U2 at the Sphere in Las Vegas

When I found out that U2 was doing a residency at a cool new billion dollar venue in Las Vegas I had a really stern talk with myself about how much money I had already spent on concerts this year and maybe, since I have already seen them seven times, I could skip this one.  That went over about as well as you might expect!  I ignored responsible Phaedra and immediately registered for the Verified Fan Presale and, when I was selected, I took it as a sign that I needed to see this show!  Amazing doesn't even begin to describe what I experienced last night!  The Sphere, as the name implies, is a giant sphere-shaped structure with both interior and exterior LED screens (the largest of their kind) and seating areas that cover two-thirds of the interior with an area that can be configured as a stage in the remainder.  U2 has a small square stage with a circular platform that is meant to mimic a turntable (Bono would frequently spin around on the circle).  This particular concert showcases the album Achtung Baby and U2 performed it in its entirety with a side one set and a side two set.  It was great to hear the hits from this album, including "Zoo Station" (which opened the show), "The Fly," "Even Better Than the Real Thing," "Mysterious Ways," "One" (sigh), and "Until the End of the World," but I also really enjoyed hearing the deeper tracks that I've never heard performed live before, such as "Who's Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses," "Tryin' to Throw Your Arms Around the World," "So Cruel" (my favorite of the show because Bono's vocal performance was so passionate)," "Acrobat," "Ultra Violet (Light My Way)," and "Love Is Blindness."  Each of these songs has an incredibly immersive visual display on the state-of-the-art LED screens.  My favorite visuals were for "The Fly" because they feature rows and rows of random numbers and letters that keep climbing up the screens and, when they reach the top, they actually collapse on each other and it looked like they were three-dimensional and coming towards the audience (it is hard to explain but it was pretty much the coolest thing ever).  Not only are the images three-dimensional but they also surround the audience!  Sometimes the images would include a live feed of the band and, because I was sitting in the cheaper seats at the top of arena (my one concession to responsible Phaedra), they were eye-level as if I was watching Bono from the front row (sigh).  In between the two Achtung Baby sets, the band performed a more stripped down acoustic set featuring "All I Want Is You," "Desire," "Angel of Harlem," and an incredibly emotional rendition of "Love Rescue Me" which Bono and The Edge sang as a duet (goosebumps).  For the encore, they performed their new song about Las Vegas, "Atomic City," as well as "Elevation," "Vertigo," "Where the Streets Have No Name," "With or Without You" (which included amazing visuals featuring different animals), and "Beautiful Day." Bono is one of the most charismatic performers that I've ever seen and he was in fine form last night!  He struggled a bit with some of the higher notes but he was so engaging it didn't even matter (at least not to me or anyone around me).  This concert reminded me of how much I love him and, between his performance and all of the high-tech gadgetry, I felt like I was in sensory overload all night (in the best possible way).  It is definitely something I will never forget and I am so glad that irresponsible Phaedra won the argument!

Yellowstone National Park 2023

I have been wanting to go to back Yellowstone National Park so a couple of weeks ago I spontaneously booked a cabin at the West Yellowstone KOA (I've stayed there several times and I really like it) and planned a trip.  I drove there on Monday (it is about four hours north of where I live) and spent several days at the park.

My first stop was at Old Faithful.  It had just erupted when I was parking my car so I decided to wait at the lodge until it erupted again.  It is always so exciting to see it go higher and higher and I loved it when the crowd cheered!

The park was really crowded (I thought September would be a good time to go because kids would be back in school but apparently every other retiree had the same idea) so I couldn't follow my usual routine.  I decided to be flexible and hit the spots where I could find parking (I am not very patient when it comes to parking at national parks).

I spent quite a bit of time at the Grand Prismatic Spring which is one of my favorite places in the park.

I came upon a herd of bison while on a scenic drive and the park ranger got mad at me for getting too close to one of them.

Beryl Geyser

Artists Paint Pots

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the Upper and Lower Falls

Roaring Mountain

Mammoth Springs

This was a really fun trip!  I just wandered anywhere I felt like going and ended up taking a lot of different scenic drives which were beautiful.  I also enjoyed being in my cabin at the KOA because it rained every night and I loved listening to the sound while falling asleep,

Lady Gaga Jazz & Piano in Las Vegas

I have always thought that Lady Gaga is an amazing performer with a flamboyant persona that is fun to watch but I began to respect her as a singer when she sang a medley of songs from The Sound of Music as a tribute to Julie Andrews at the Oscars.  I was absolutely blown away by her performance and since then I have really wanted to see her live.  When I found out that she was doing another residency in Las Vegas this fall featuring her Jazz & Piano Show I spontaneously bought a ticket and, even though I have spent way too much money on concert tickets this year, I am so glad that I did because it was an unbelievable experience!  The concert was last night in the Dolby Live Theatre at the Park MGM Resort and it is an incredible venue!  Lady Gaga had an insanely talented band backing her (like the big band singers in the glory days of Las Vegas) and the setlist included selections from the Great American Songbook as well as jazz and piano arrangements of some of her most popular hits.  The show was divided into five sets and each featured a different costume (and sometimes an elaborate headdress).  For the first set she sang an acoustic version of "Orange Colored Sky" while walking out on stage and then "Luck Be a Lady," "Steppin' Out With My Baby," "The Best Is Yet to Come," and "Call Me Irresponsible" with some hilarious interactions with a couple sitting at a table on stage.  She ended this set with a naughty (naughtier?) version of "Poker Face" on piano (she joked that she hoped no one was foolish enough to bring their children to a Lady Gaga show).  The second set featured "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)," "If I Had You," "Do I Love You" (one of my favorite moments in the show), an incredibly powerful rendition of "Born This Way" on piano, and a jazz version of "Stupid Love" with extended solos from Brian Newman on trumpet and Steve Kortyka on saxophone.  Next came "Sway," "Rags to Riches," "Mambo Italiano," and an impressive vocal performance of "'O sole mio."  This set concluded with a jazz arrangement of "Paparazzi" which was another favorite moment for me.  The fourth set included "La vie en rose," "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," and a piano version of "Bad Romance."  For the final set she sang "Lush Life" and then spoke about her friendship with Tony Bennett before giving an emotional performance of "Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words)."  As an encore she sang "New York, New York."  I loved all of her interpretations of these standards because, not only does she have the vocal chops to sing them, she also really respects these songs and all of the all of the singers who performed them before her (there is an ode to the songs and singers in the playbill).  Lady Gaga was also hilarious in her interactions with the crowd.  She is almost larger than life and there were several times when I wanted to pinch myself because I couldn't believe that I was actually in the same room with her!  This was definitely a bucket list moment for me and I loved it so much!  There are eight more concerts in this residency (although she hinted that she would be back with a new setlist) and I highly recommend this show!

Utah Shakespeare Festival 2023

Marilyn and I spent Friday and Saturday at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.  We both look forward to this annual trip all year (we brought our tickets last November) and we had so much fun!

Our first show on Friday afternoon was The Play That Goes Wrong in the Randall Jones Theatre.  Marilyn had never seen it before and she was laughing out loud before it even started because the stage crew was looking in the audience for a missing dog!  The titular play that goes wrong is the Cornley Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell.  The cast includes Max (Jim Poulos) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardner, Chris (Rhett Guter) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (Jeffrey Marc Alkins) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Blake Henri) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Chris Mixon) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Nazlah Black) as Florence Colleymore with Annie (Melinda Parrett) as the put upon Stage Manager and Trevor (Cameron Vargas) as the Sound and Lighting Director.  The set is slowly falling apart, the props malfunction or go missing, Trevor accidentally plays Duran Duran instead of the sound cues, the aforementioned missing dog is never found, one actor cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, one actor cannot remember his lines, one actor continually breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause, and the leading lady is injured halfway through the show and is replaced by Annie and then Trevor (with scripts in hand) but the show must go on!  My favorite aspect of this production is the physical comedy, especially when Cecil and Thomas have to answer the phone with their hands full, when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight to play Florence, and when Thomas and Inspector Carter are trapped in the second floor study.  The cast is superb and everyone has amazing comedic timing, particularly Henri and Poulos.  The set is fantastic because it falls apart so spectacularly!  Both Marilyn and I loved it!

On Friday night we saw Romeo and Juliet in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre.  As I've mentioned, this is my least favorite Shakespeare play but this rendition was more faithful to the text than the version I saw recently and I always appreciate that (even though I loved that production).  This play tells the well known story of woe about the star-crossed lovers from rival houses, Juliet (Naiya Vanessa McCalla) and her Romeo (Aamar-Malik Culbreth).  I really loved McCalla's interpretation of Juliet because she is really sassy in her interactions with Romeo (especially when she interrupts him during the balcony scene) and bossy towards her Nurse (Alex Keiper) in Act I and almost defiant in her interactions with Lord Capulet (Tim Fullerton) when forced to marry Paris (Marco Antonio Vega) in Act II.  I also really enjoyed Culbreth's performance because his Romeo is incredibly impulsive and I was quite shocked by a scene between him and Tybalt (Gilberto Saenz).  Speaking of which, the fight choreography is really dynamic and exciting to watch.  I loved the period costumes and, while the set is very minimal, the colorful ribbons hanging from the rafters during the ball make a very dramatic impression.  My biggest complaint, which kept me from loving this production, is the portrayal of Mercutio (Ryan Ruckman).  He is supposed to be Romeo's friend and contemporary (Ruckman is quite a bit older than Culbreth) and he is also meant to be witty with a way with words but Ruckman portrays him as a drunken and dissolute rogue which makes his rebuke of both the Montagues and Capulets as he is dying less powerful.  Both Marilyn and I enjoyed this performance but we didn't love it.

Saturday afternoon we went back to the Randall Jones Theatre for a production of Emma: The Musical and it was lovely.  Emma Woodhouse (Allie Babich) meets her match when she tries her matchmaking skills with her protegee Harriet Smith (Laura Brennan) and Mr. Elton (Jim Poulos), Mr. Churchill (Gilberto Saenz), then Mr. Knightley (Rhett Guter).  This is one of my favorite novels by Jane Austen and, even though the songs are not particularly memorable (they mainly consist of large chunks of exposition that are sung), I really loved this adaptation.  The cast is outstanding and I especially enjoyed Babich because she has a beautiful voice and her characterization of the conniving but likable Emma is hysterical (especially during "The Recital") but Brennan steals the show as Harriet (especially when she controls Emma like a marionette in the reprise of "Humiliation" which mimics how Emma treats her and Mr. Elton in "A Gentleman's Daughter").  Guter is an appealing Mr. Knightley (Marilyn really liked him) and I loved Saenz as the preening Mr. Churchill, particularly all of his poses during "Should We Ever Meet" (I also liked him as Tybalt in Romeo and Juliet the night before).  Melinda Parrett as Miss Bates and Chris Mixon as the hypochondriac Mr. Woodhouse are also standouts in the cast.  The set, featuring rose covered arches and wisteria laden columns, is absolutely gorgeous and the regency period costumes (I loved all of the empire waists) are beautiful.  Marilyn and I loved this!

Out final show on Saturday night was A Midsummer Night's Dream in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre.  This was my most anticipated show of the festival because I taught this play for so many years and it did not disappoint!  In fact, it was my favorite show!  The course of true love does not run smooth when Oberon (Corey Jones), the King of the Fairies, has Puck (Max Gallagher) play a trick on Titania (Cassandra Bissell), the Queen of the Fairies, which inadvertently involves four lovers from Athens, Hermia (Naiya Vanessa McCall), Lysander (Aamar-Malik Culbreth), Helena (Kayland Jordan), and Demetrius (Jimmy Nguyen), and Nick Bottom (Topher Embrey) the weaver.  I loved so many things about this production!  The set for Athens is very classical with large columns and fabric covered walls but, once the characters go into the woods, the columns become trees (which are moved around and light up) and the fabric is removed to reveal intricate panels of flowers and a moon made of twigs and lights.  It is really cool, especially when the columns are moved to show that the characters are lost in the woods.  Since the woods are in juxtaposition with Athens, I loved seeing the actors who play Oberon, Titania, and Puck also portray Theseus, Hippolyta, and Philostrate (they are all really good).  I loved the entire cast but my favorites are Jordan as Helena, because her interactions with the the other lovers are so over the top, and Embrey, because his antics had me laughing throughout the entire show (but especially during the performance of Pyramus and Thisbe for the Duke).  The costumes are some of the best I've seen at the festival (especially for all of the fairies) and I loved that the four lovers gradually come undressed as they come undone!  This was such a fun play to end our time at the festival with because we loved it so much!

I enjoyed all four plays this year and I am happy to report that the tarts are as delicious as in years past (I had several).  I am already looking forward to next year!