Ballet West's The Nutcracker 2021

One of my favorite holiday traditions is attending Ballet West's annual production of The Nutcracker.  I had the opportunity to see it last night and I think it was even more magical than usual (probably because I missed it so much last year).  I love everything about this ballet and I await every scene with great anticipation, especially the party scene where the Christmas tree is revealed to all of the children and Clara is given a nutcracker by Dr. Drosselmeyer, when everything is magically transformed to an enormous size and the nutcracker defeats the Mouse King with Clara's help, when the nutcracker becomes a handsome prince and takes Clara to the land of the Snow Queen and the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy, and all of the various divertissements arranged for Clara's entertainment.  My favorites are the Arabian dance because it is so exotic and the Russian dance because of the sheer athleticism of the leaps and spins (this dance received the loudest applause).  My favorite scene in the entire ballet is the Grand Pas de Deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier.  The choreography is so iconic and Emily Adams and Adrian Fry danced it beautifully last night.  I love every bit of Tchaikovsky's incomparable score but the music during this dance is so romantic it gives me goosebumps (I especially love the harp).  The costumes and sets were updated a few years ago and I love the addition of the jewel tones in the party scene and the pastels in the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy (the set looks very tropical).  The young dancers in the cast are fantastic and I especially enjoyed Frtiz and all of his antics (he seemed even more mischievous than usual) and Mother Buffoon's children.  The special effects in this production are absolutely enchanting, most notably the falling snow during the Snow King and Queen's Pas de Duex (some of the flakes were really big), the fireworks after all of the divertissements, and Clara's flying sled.  No matter how many times I see this show it always puts a huge smile on my face and I definitely recommend getting a ticket.  There are evening and matinee performances at the Capitol Theater through December 26 (go here for tickets).

Christmas 2020

I was given very strict instructions by Sean to be at my parents' house by 8:00 yesterday morning to start opening presents and I made with a few minutes to spare!  He was a bit excited!  We always take turns opening presents one at a time, starting with the youngest (Sean) to the oldest (my Mom), so it takes a couple of hours but it is so much fun.  It is also tradition to have cinnamon rolls and orange juice while we open.

Sean got a bunch of new games and, after we opened presents, we didn't see him again for the rest of the day because he was downloading and playing them.  Tashena's big present was an Apple watch and now I think I need one!  I got a new rolling duffel bag, a puffer jacket that folds into a small bag, a Hydro Flask, some winter boots, and some more DVDs for my Alfred Hitchcock collection.  If I am actually able to go to Iceland next year I am all set!  My Dad gave everyone $50 which is a tradition we have had since my sisters and I were really young (Sean already bought another game online).  In the afternoon we had a wonderful Christmas dinner with turkey, ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, pomegranate salad, rolls, and vegetables with dip.  We took a break and then had another game of Shanghai rummy.  I didn't come in last place this time but it still wasn't pretty!  It was a really nice Christmas!

Gingerbread Houses 2020

On the Sunday before Christmas Marilyn and I have a tradition of making gingerbread houses with Sean and Tashena so that is what we did last night.  This is so much fun because we always have a few mishaps and we usually eat more candy than we put on our houses!

My house sort of turned into a Peppermint Palace.

Tashena meticulously piped all of the snowflakes on her house and I think it turned out so beautiful.

Sean just does his own thing and I love it!

I love the snow on Marilyn's house.

Our Gingerbread Village!

I love how they all turned out this year!

A Christmas Carol at HCT 2020

With HCT's new guidelines for socially distanced seating (which I actually applaud), I didn't think that I would be able to see A Christmas Carol this year. Even though I have seen it more times than I can count, the thought of missing out on yet another Christmas tradition made me a bit sad. Then HCT released a few tickets last weekend and I quickly grabbed one for an early show yesterday afternoon! I enjoyed it so much, probably more than I ever have before! HCT's production is a lovely adaptation of the well-known classic by Charles Dickens about the reclamation of Ebeneezer Scrooge (David Weeks) by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Jackie Spendlove), Present (Jonathan Fifield), and Future (Spencer Hohl). What I love most about HCT's production is the addition of Christmas music in between every scene by an octet (Brett Myers, Taylor J. Smith, Michael Von Forell, Josh Shimizu, Emily Hawkes, Mindi Hansen, Emily Leishman Roh, and Erin Camp Worland) and in certain party scenes by the characters. I love Christmas music so much and I think the addition really helps add to the mood. My favorite song by the octet is "What Child is This?" and I also really love "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" during the Fezziwig's party (it was my favorite song to sing when I was in the choir in college) and "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" during Fred's party. This year they added a violin (Katie Frandsen) to the musical numbers and I loved it! Because I've seen this production so many times I always anticipate seeing the same actors return to the same role year after year but this year there were quite a few new faces!  I particularly loved Elijah Thomas as Charles Dickens/Fred because his performance of the opening prologue (it seems like it was expanded this year) gave me goosebumps, Anthony LeRoy Lovato as Bob Cratchit because he is so tender after the death of Tiny Tim, and Jonathan Fifeld as the Ghost of Christmas Present because he is jolly but also a little bit stern. Of course the young actor playing Tiny Tim (Payson Inkley) is absolutely adorable and he really works it when he says his iconic line at the end of the show. The elaborate Victorian sets on the turntable (I love the rag and bottle shop) and the opulent costumes effectively transport the audience back to London in the 1800s but, because I was sitting on the side in the back of the theatre, I sometimes had a hard time seeing all of the projections and I missed the climactic moment when the Ghost of Christmas Future shows Scrooge his name on the tombstone. It mattered not because this show is full of so much Christmas cheer that you can't help leaving the theatre with a smile on your face and a vow to keep Christmas in your heart all year long! I highly recommend getting a ticket and, last I heard, there are still some available for a few shows (go here)

Pumpkin Carving 2020

Last night Marilyn, Tashena, Sean, and I had our annual pumpkin carving party and it was a lot of fun!

Tashena and I picked out pumpkins from the Cross E Ranch pumpkin patch and we have accumulated a lot of carving tools and kits over the years.

Carving our pumpkins!

Our finished pumpkins!

Marilyn's Old School Jack-O-Lantern

My Witch Feet

Tashena's Sugar Skull

Sean's Miss Me (He designed this and I think it is cool).

Thriller 2020

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is seeing a performance of ODT's dance extravaganza Thriller.  With so many things being canceled because of Covid-19 I was so happy to learn that this year's show was still going to happen!  It moved from Kingsbury Hall to Capitol Theatre, which is a much bigger venue, and all of the usual protocols (socially distant seating, contactless ticketing, digital programs, and mandatory masks) were in place.  The show was a bit scaled down without an intermission and the performers wore masks on stage.  Even though the audience was smaller than the usual sold-out crowd, we cheered in anticipation for every familiar number including the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," a group of misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of weapon wielding Jasons in "Jason Jam" (an audience favorite), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number), acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  As in year's past, artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed several numbers in between the dances including "Siren of the Sea" and "Phantom of the Opera" (which was amazing).  There were also several original films by Scott Winn featuring twerking stormtroopers and dancing Orcs.  This year, unfortunately, also featured the return of Giggle Girl's (Emily Perucca) comedy act in between numbers.  I think she is really annoying (where is Bubbles the Clown?).  Many of the numbers are performed year after year and I always enjoy seeing all of the subtle changes in the choreography.  This year there were a few humorous references to Covid-19!  One of Miss Alli's misbehaving pandas refused to keep his mask on and one of the Jasons put a mask on (over his hockey mask), used hand sanitizer, and used an infrared thermometer to find someone from the audience to participate on stage.  I think I enjoyed the show more than usual this year because I was so happy to be able to see it!  It just wouldn't be Halloween without it.  There are three more performances at Capitol Theatre (go here) and I highly recommend getting a ticket!

Note:  I usually spend my time trying to avoid eye contact with the undead who roam the aisles before the show but this year they stayed in their graves because of Covid-19.  I kind of missed them!