Twelfth Night at PTC

You might think that after a day spent teaching A Midsummer Night's Dream to sophomores I wouldn't want to spend the evening attending yet another Shakespeare play.  If the play in question is PTC's production of the hilarious comedy Twelfth Night you would be wrong because that is exactly what I did last night and I loved it!  Sebastian (Zach Fifer) and his twin sister Viola (Grace Morrison) are shipwrecked in a terrible storm and each thinks that the other is dead.  Viola disguises herself as a man called Cesario and offers her services to the Duke Orsino (A.K. Murtadha) with whom she immediately falls in love.  Orsino is desperately in love with the Countess Olivia (Kelsey Rainwater), who is in mourning for her brother, and sends Cesario to make overtures on his behalf to her but she, in turn, falls in love with Cesario.  Meanwhile, Sebastian is wandering around and is, of course, mistaken for Cesario.  Chaos ensues!   There is a secondary story, which is the source of much amusement, involving Malvolio (David Andrew Macdonald), a priggish steward in Olivia's household.  He makes life difficult for the other members of Olivia's household, most notably Sir Toby Belch (Kenajuan Bentley), Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Conner Marx), and Olivia's gentlewoman Maria (Susanna Florence).  To get their revenge they have Maria mimic Olivia's handwriting and send a letter to Malvolio from Olivia professing her love for him, requesting that he wear yellow stockings with cross garters.  These scenes involve a lot of physical comedy and they are so funny!  I was laughing out loud along with everyone else in the audience.  I usually don't like it when the setting is changed in a Shakespeare play (I'm a purist) but I thought that having the action take place in New Orleans after a hurricane during Mardi Gras was incredibly effective and I loved the set design and costumes.  This allowed the character of Feste (Richard E. Waits) to become a sort of Greek chorus singing old spirituals (which Waits composed for this production).  Sometimes you have to suspend your disbelief a little bit with this play but Fifer and Morrison look so much alike that it is easy to see why they would be mistaken for each other.  All of the actors give spirited performances and I really enjoyed myself.  I highly recommend this show but the production closes on Saturday so get tickets (go here) quickly!

Note:  Last night's audience was a bit more appreciative of Shakespeare than my sophomores!

Sunday Ritual

Now that spring has finally come to Utah all I want to do is be is outside!  One of my very favorite things to do this time of year is go to my parents' house every Sunday evening to sit by their fire pit.  My sister makes a fire and members of my family come and go and sit around talking, sometimes well into the night, until the fire dies or we get too cold.  We have done this for years and it is such a wonderful ritual.  We have already had two fires this season, including one last Sunday, and I am really looking forward to many more this spring and summer.

Grease

I was nine years old when Grease was released and my Dad went to see it with my aunt and uncle without me.  This was absolutely devastating to me and the only thing that could console me was getting a giant lipsmacker (I chose watermelon).  I have, of course, seen it dozens of times since then but never on the big screen which is why I was so excited to see it yesterday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  It was so much fun!  People in my screening sang along (out loud) to every song and some people were even doing the actions to "Greased Lightnin'" and "Born to Hand Jive."  This movie is the quintessential high school musical featuring a love story between Danny Zuko (John Travolta), the leader of the T-Birds, and Sandy Olsson (Olivia Newton-John), a good girl who has recently transferred to Rydell High from Australia.  With a little help from the rest of the T-Birds (Jeff Conaway, Barry Pearl, Michael Tucci, and Kelly Ward) and the Pink Ladies (Stockard Channing, Didi Conn, Jamie Donnelly, and Dinah Manoff) they might just get back together by graduation.  This movie is such a nostalgic look back at the 1950s with leather jackets, letterman sweaters, poodle skirts, sock hops, malt shops, drive-in movies, and fantastic cars.  It was fun to see all of the cameos by people who were popular stars in the 1950s such as Sid Caesar, Eve Arden, Alice Ghostley, and Joan Blondell.  I love all of the songs especially "Grease" during the opening and closing credits, "Summer Nights," "Hopelessly Devoted to You," "Sandy," and "You're the One That I Want."  All of the musical numbers have a lot of fun choreography and they really stand the test of the time.  The only number that is really cheesy is "Beauty School Dropout" sung by Frankie Avalon but it is so cheesy that it is good.  I had so much fun watching this movie!  In fact, I'm thinking of seeing it again on Wednesday (my sister is bitter that I saw it without her).

Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" & Prokofiev with Conrad Tao

It was certainly an incredibly dramatic evening at Abravanel Hall last night.  The Utah Symphony performed a concert featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky under the baton of an exciting guest conductor, Karina Canellakis.  I really love the Russian composers so I thoroughly enjoyed this concert (my final two concerts this season feature Shostakovitch and Rachmaninoff so I am looking forward to them, as well).  The orchestra began with Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman) by Cesar Franck.  Although I was unfamiliar with this piece it was very easy to picture the events depicted.  A count disregards the Sabbath by hunting and, as he chases his prey, he is also pursued by demons who wish to damn his soul.  I loved the opening fanfare by the horns, representing the hunt, followed by the chimes, signifying church bells.  It was very dark and atmospheric.  Next the orchestra was joined by the brilliant Conrad Tao for Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.  Tao is a very popular soloist and I always try to see him when he joins the Utah Symphony (I missed his performance in February because I had the flu) because he is so much fun to watch.  His fingers literally flew up and down the keyboard, especially in the wild and tumultuous first movement.  After the intermission the orchestra played Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian." This piece incorporates many Russian folk songs and I found it to be both stirring and whimsical, especially the final movement with themes played by the woodwinds.  I enjoyed this thrilling concert so much and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance featuring the same program (go here).

A Quiet Place

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of A Quiet Place which was one of my most anticipated films of 2018.  It did not disappoint.  In the near future Earth has been invaded by mysterious creatures who are blind but have a highly advanced sense of hearing.  There is almost no exposition, just vivid images of a town destroyed by an apocalyptic event, and this is highly effective at conveying an atmosphere of terror.  One family has survived this invasion by living in total silence with meticulous preparation and ingenious methods of communication.  However, there are the occasional lapses, one of which has resulted in the death of a son, and situations beyond their control which lead to unrelenting tension in the final act.  John Krasinski and Emily Blunt play the parents who go to extraordinary lengths to keep their children safe and they both give powerful physical performances, conveying absolute terror and incredible pathos with just a facial expression.  Millicent Simmonds gives a highly nuanced performance as a deaf girl who grapples with feelings of guilt over the death of her younger brother and Noah Jupe is extremely affecting as a boy who must overcome his fear to survive.  Beyond the outstanding performances, what elevates this above just another evade the scary monsters movie that we have all seen before is the brilliant sound design.  The first act is conducted in almost near silence, aside from the occasional ambient noise from nature, and it is very unsettling to watch.  My attention never wavered from the screen and, like the characters on the screen, I tried extremely hard not to make even the tiniest sound.  You could literally hear a pin drop in my screening and, again, it was so unsettling!  Another highly effective choice made by Krasinski, who co-wrote the script as well as directed, is to give the audience only brief glimpses of the creatures until the devastating final act.  It adds greatly to the tension.  I am not a huge fan of the horror genre but the unique premise and the fact that the story is about a loving family doing whatever they can to protect each other makes me give it a resounding recommendation.

Note:  Just don't buy any loud snacks to consume during this movie.  Trust me on this!

Tuck Everlasting at HCT

When I went to New York a couple of years ago I had the chance to see Tuck Everlasting, the musical based on the beloved novel by Natalie Babbitt, and I really enjoyed it (I didn't review it here because the production closed a few days after I saw it). It was a big show with multiple sets and elaborate choreography so I was very eager to see what Hale Theatre would do with it. I saw it last night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is a delightful and heart-warming show that the whole family will definitely enjoy. Winnie Foster (Mia Bagley) feels trapped in a house of mourning for her father and longs for adventure. One day she sneaks into the woods and meets Jesse Tuck (Kooper Campbell) near a stream. He stops her from taking a drink from the stream and inadvertently reveals a secret: the water has made his family immortal. Jesse is happy to have made a friend but Mae (Bailee Brinkerhoff Morris), Angus (David K. Martin), and Miles (Marshall R. Madsen) Tuck worry that their secret will be revealed.  Little do they know that the Man in the Yellow Suit (David W. Stensrud) has overheard Jesse and has evil plans for the water. Eventually Jesse asks Winnie to drink the water when she turns seventeen but his family warns that being immortal is not as enchanting as it appears. I loved this production! It is as good, if not better, as the one I saw on Broadway! Both Bagley and Campbell are so endearing in the lead roles and the rest of the cast is very strong. The choreography is wonderful and I am always amazed at what the choreographers are able to do on such a small stage. The final dance sequence is just lovely and brought a tear to my eye. The sets are incredible! The stage is framed by a giant lattice (the live orchestra sits at the top of the lattice) and all of the sets feature lattice-work, including the tree that the characters climb. It is incredibly clever. The costumes all feature beautiful floral patterns to go along with the lattice theme and this is very effective at portraying an enchanted world out of time. My favorite song in the show is "The Wheel" because Angus tells Winnie that she doesn't have to live forever she just has to live. I love that message so much! I highly recommend this beautiful show (go here for tickets) which runs through June 23 in the Jewel Box Theatre at the Mountain American Performing Arts Centre.

Note: A friend that I made on the New York trip is one of the dancers in this show and she was amazing!

Isle of Dogs

I absolutely love Wes Anderson.  I love all of his movies and that is not something I can say about many directors.  As you can imagine, I have been eagerly anticipating the release of his latest movie Isle of Dogs for a very long time so when my friend invited me to go with her to an advance screening last night (it opens next weekend in SLC) I jumped at the chance.  It is hard for me to be objective because of my aforementioned love for everything Wes Anderson but it is so good!  Twenty years in the future the dogs on the Japanese archipelago have been infected with a flu-like virus.  Mayor Kobayashi (Konichi Nomura) banishes all of them from Megasaki City to Trash Island, beginning with his nephew's dog Spots (Liev Schreiber).  Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin) goes to Trash Island to search for Spots and is helped by a pack of dogs named Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray), and Duke (Jeff Goldblum).  It turns out that Mayor Kobayashi has a nefarious reason for wanting to rid Megasaki City of all its dogs so, when Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito) discovers a cure for the virus, he is imprisoned and killed.  A foreign exchange student named Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig), working for her high school newspaper, uncovers the conspiracy and sways popular opinion in favor of the dogs.  The stop-motion animation is brilliant and the attention to detail is remarkable, especially the fur on the dogs.  This movie also includes the usual Wes Anderson aesthetic (center framing, overhead shots, tracking shots, text on the screen, highly composed shots, monochromatic color palette).  The story is incredibly clever and laugh-out-loud funny but I also found it to be unexpectedly poignant.  I loved the journey that Chief takes from being a stray dog who likes to bite to learning to love the boy Atari.  The five main dogs have very distinct personalities, my favorite is the gossip loving Duke, and there are so many fun supporting characters, especially the Professor's Assistant Yoko (Yoko Ono), the Interpreter (Frances McDormand), Mayor Kobayashi's henchman Major Domo (Akira Takayama), and the show dog Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson).  I enjoyed watching this movie so much and I'm sure that I will see it multiple times to catch all of the references.  In my opinion, Wes Anderson is a genius and, if you like his previous movies, I suspect that you will love Isle of Dogs.  Definitely go see it!

Hamilton in Denver

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean make me spend so much money on tickets to see a musical about his life?  By making his life story the best thing that I have ever seen on stage!  By now I have spent almost $1,000 on tickets to Hamilton (New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and an upcoming performance in SLC) but I absolutely love it!  I know that people think I am crazy but whenever I do these crazy things I never regret it!  When I found out that the Broadway touring company production would be in Denver over my spring break and that there were tickets available, I jumped at the chance to have a fourth row seat and it was absolutely incredible to be so close!  Every production that I have seen has been so different and I really like what the actors do to make the roles their own.  In this production I really liked Nicholas Christopher in the role of Aaron Burr because he infused a lot of humor into the character, Isaiah Johnson in the role of George Washington because he had a beautiful voice, especially in "Right Hand Man" and "One Last Time," and Peter Matthew Smith as King George because his facial expressions were an absolute hoot (I sat so close I could actually see them) and I almost died of laughter when he filed his fingernails with his scepter.   However, the two who absolutely stole the show were Chris De'Sean Lee and Mathenee Treco who played Marquis de Lafayette/ Thomas Jefferson and Hercules Mulligan/ James Madison, respectively.  In both of their roles, the two of them played off each other hilariously, especially in the Cabinet Battles.  I loved Jefferson's mic drop and I loved Madison's waving handkerchief.  Once again the song "It's Quiet Uptown" brought spontaneous tears to my eyes.  I loved it when Eliza (Julia K. Harriman) gave Hamilton (Austin Scott) her hand and then he kissed it.  This scene has been very different in each production I've seen but each one has been so emotional.  I really loved having the chance to see Hamilton again and I'm looking forward to seeing it, yet again, in SLC in two weeks (I think it is the same company as this one).  If you can get a ticket, I highly recommend this brilliant musical!

Go Avs Go!

I was already going to spend part of my spring break in Denver so I spontaneously decided to drive out a day early to see the Colorado Avalanche play the Chicago Blackhawks.  I knew it would be a great game because the Avalanche are definitely in the mix for a Stanley Cup playoff position but I had no idea that it would be one of the best games ever!  I enjoy doing many things by myself but I had never been to a hockey game by myself before.  I used to go to games with my friend Tony and now I usually go with my Dad or my cousins and I wondered how fun it would be with no one to talk to.  I had nothing to fear!  I sat next to two of the rowdiest Avalanche fans in the world and they talked to me the whole night!  In fact, the obnoxious Blackhawks fan sitting behind us thought we were together which was somewhat problematic when they almost got into a fight!  It was so much fun!  With every goal, and there were five of them, we would celebrate by high-fiving and, as the game wore on, hugging each other!  The Avalanche scored a goal on all three power plays, one in each period, and then added two more for good measure in the third period to get the shut-out!  The Pepsi Center was out of control!  I am so glad I decided to go to this game!

Note:  I really missed my Dad!  Not only has he has been my hockey buddy my whole life but he springs for better seats!!

Ready Player One

Last night I had the opportunity to see a Wednesday preview of Ready Player One.  I just finished reading the book by Ernest Cline because so many of the boys in my sophomore English classes were reading it.  Reading is a hard sell to sophomore boys so I wanted to check it out to understand the appeal.  As a child of the 80s, I absolutely loved it and I, along with my students, have been eagerly anticipating the movie adaptation directed by Steven Spielberg.  If you are a fan of the book there are quite a few changes in the movie, which bothered me initially, but ultimately made for a better narrative.  In the year 2045 much of the population tries to escape from the dreariness of their daily lives by entering a virtual reality simulation known as the OASIS created by an eccentric gamer named James Halliday (Mark Rylance).  When Halliday dies, he reveals a contest to locate three keys leading to an Easter egg granting the winner sole control of both the OASIS and his vast fortune.  A rival software company called Innovative Online Industries (IOI), controlled by Nolan Sorrento (Ben Mendelsohn), compels indentured servants to search for the keys because it wants to use the OASIS in order to generate revenue through advertising.  Wade Watts (Tye Sheridan), a Gunter (egg hunter) who uses the avatar Parzival, eventually teams up with Samantha/Art3mis (Olivia Cooke) and Helen/Aech (Lena Waithe) to find the egg using clues from Halliday's personal life, such as a fondness for 80s pop culture and his relationships with Ogden (Simon Pegg) and Kira Morrow (Perdita Weeks).  Most of the differences from the book involve the tasks needed to be completed in order find the keys but these scenes are absolutely exhilarating, especially an epic street race and a sequence from The Shining.  The movie is visually stunning, as if you are actually in the middle of a video game.  I loved all of the pop culture references, especially the ones that are very subtle.  When I saw the poster for the Rush album 2112 hanging on the wall in Halliday's teenage bedroom, I may or may not have squealed out loud.  Even though the nostalgia made watching this movie a lot of fun, the message about the dangers of disengaging with reality really resonated with me.  Online you can be anyone or anything that you want but it is always better to be appreciated for who you really are.  I really liked the fact that Art3mis the avatar is incredibly sexy but Wade ultimately wants to be with the mousy Samantha.  I loved this movie and I highly recommend it!

Note:  The only difference from the book that bothered me was that many of the references to music were not used, especially in the club scene.  I really wanted to hear "Union of the Snake."

The Death of Stalin

One of the things I love best about the Sundance Film Festival is the opportunity to talk to people who are just as passionate about film as I am.  I always ask the people I meet what their favorite film of the festival has been and one of the coolest guys I met immediately mentioned The Death of Stalin, telling me that it was one of the funniest things he had ever seen.  I did wonder how Stalin's Great Purge in the Soviet Union could be viewed as a comedy but he made me promise that I would check it out.  As I was unable to get a ticket at Sundance I have been eagerly anticipating its wide release ever since.  I saw it last night and it is an absolutely hilarious political satire that had me, along with everyone else in my screening, laughing out loud!  After Stalin (Adrian McLoughlin) dies from a cerebral hemorrhage, the Members of the Central Committee plot and scheme for control.  The ineffective Gregory Malenkov (Jeffrey Tambor) assumes control of the Committee but both Nikita Khrushchev (Steve Buscemi) and Lavrentiy Beria (Simon Russell Beale) manipulate him as they fight each other for control.  The fear of Stalin is satirized as the Moscow Symphony is forced to recreate a performance because Stalin wants a recording (they bring in peasants off the street to recreate the acoustics and the applause because Stalin will know the difference), when the officers outside Stalin's door hear him collapse but are too afraid to enter for fear of provoking his anger, and when the Committee cannot find a doctor to attend to Stalin because all of the good ones have been shot.  Some of the funniest scenes are when the Committee Members try to ingratiate themselves to Stalin's daughter Svetlana (Andrea Riseborough) and his unstable son Vasily (Rupert Friend, in a hilarious performance).  There is a montage as they prepare for Stalin's elaborate funeral ("Ruched or non-ruched drapery?") that had me laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.  Jason Isaacs is completely over-the-top as Field Marshall Georgy Zhukov as he conspires with Khrushchev to stage a coup against Beria.  I had another laughing fit as his medals clanged together in slow-motion.  The ultimate resolution of this farce is quite shocking but, even so, I was laughing again when I saw Leonid Brezhnev looking over Khrushchev's shoulders.  In my opinion, director Armando Iannucci strikes the just the right balance in satirizing what were some darkest days in the history of the Soviet Union by making fun of the stereotype rather than the event itself.  As a fan of dark comedies I highly recommend this film!

Audra McDonald with the Utah Symphony

Last night was a celebration of musical theatre at Abravanel Hall with the incomparable Audra McDonald and the Utah Symphony.  It was an amazing concert which gave me goosebumps as she belted out showstoppers and brought tears to my eyes as she reminded us that love is the reason for everything.  Let's just say that I won't forget this night any time soon.  I had the privilege of seeing McDonald perform with the Utah Symphony in 2002 as part of the Cultural Olympiad held in conjunction with the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics.  It was my first introduction to her and I was so impressed by her beautiful and powerful voice!  I knew that I definitely wanted to see her perform live again and I am so glad that I got a ticket!  Her program featured a variety of selections from musical theatre that spanned decades from Rogers and Hammerstein to Gershwin to many new composers.  My favorites included a sultry rendition of "Moonshine Lullaby" from Annie Get Your Gun, "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, "Simple Little Things" from 110 in the Shade, "Pure Imagination" from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, "Ice Cream" from She Loves Me, "I'll Be Here" from Ordinary Days, and "I Could Have Danced All Night" from My Fair Lady.  She was so personable and charming, telling stories and interacting with the audience all evening.  She mentioned how much she loves Utah because her husband's family lives here and she spoke quite often about her children.  It felt very intimate, like she was performing in a small club rather than in Abravanel Hall.  I was sad to see the concert come to an end because it was so wonderful but McDonald gave the audience a treat by singing an incredibly passionate rendition of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" from The Sound of Music to finish her set.  After a thunderous standing ovation, she came back to the stage to sing a lovely version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" from The Wizard of Oz.  Sometimes I am amazed at all of the opportunities we have to see Broadway stars perform right here in Salt Lake City!  I highly recommend getting a ticket to see one of the best from Broadway perform the same program tonight (go here) if there are any to be had because Abravanel Hall was packed last night!

The Party

Last night I was in the mood for a dark comedy so, of course, I took myself to the Broadway to see The Party.  Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas) is an idealistic politician who has just been promoted to Minister of Health.  She and her husband Bill (Timothy Spall) throw a party for their friends to celebrate.  The first to arrive is April (Patricia Clarkson) and her boyfriend Gottfried (Bruno Ganz) followed by Martha (Cherry Jones) and her partner Jinny (Emily Mortimer).  The last to arrive is Tom (Cillian Murphy) who informs them that his wife Marianne will not be able to join them until later.  As they toast Janet's promotion, all of the characters have their own announcements:  Bill has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, April and Gottfried are separating, and Martha and Jinny are expecting triplets.  By the way, Tom, who is clearly agitated and carrying a gun, takes every opportunity to snort cocaine in the bathroom and Janet keeps receiving texts from a lover who is clearly not Bill.  What begins as a celebration among friends rapidly descends into a tense drama filled with long dormant recriminations and culminates in another bombshell announcement.  I laughed through the entire film, as did everyone at my screening.  I don't know what it is about deeply flawed characters behaving badly but I find watching their over-the-top antics to be very cathartic.  All of the actors are fantastic, especially Clarkson (her cynical character has the best lines), and you could say that they give a master class in verbal sparring.  All of the action takes place in a London townhouse in real time so it has the feel of a one-act play (the run-time is only 71 minutes) in which all of the characters come undone right before your eyes and the black and white cinematography highlights the claustrophobia.  I really enjoyed this film but I have to say that I have been in a black mood lately so it might not be for everyone!

Vertigo

I believe I have mentioned once or twice that I absolutely love the films of Alfred Hitchcock so when TCM announced that Vertigo, arguably one of his best films, would be screened for its 60th Anniversary as part of the Big Screen Classics series I got really excited.  I have seen this psychological thriller about obsession many times but never on the big screen so it was a real treat to see it yesterday.  John Ferguson (Jimmy Stewart) is a San Francisco police officer who retires after an episode of vertigo contributes to the death of a fellow officer.  He is asked by Gavin Elster (Tom Elmore), an old friend, to follow his wife Madeleine (Kim Novak) because he believes she is acting erratically.  Her actions lead Ferguson to believe that she is possessed by an ancestor and, after he falls in love with her, he tries to protect her from her ancestor's fate of suicide.  Ultimately, he is unable to stop her from jumping from the bell tower of a Spanish mission because of his vertigo.  He is absolved of responsibility for her death but descends into a deep depression until he sees a woman named Judy (Kim Novak) who looks remarkably like Madeleine.  He begins a relationship with her but she may not be who she appears to be.  It is such a brilliant psychological thriller and the scenes where Ferguson tries to make Judy look like Madeleine are so creepy but you just can't look away.  Stewart is fantastic as a man driven mad by his obsession for a woman who doesn't exist. There is a scene, in particular, where Ferguson accuses of Judy of impersonating Madeleine for Elster as part of a murder plot and then realizes that he, too, has asked her to impersonate Madeleine for his own design.  It is incredibly powerful.  Novak is the perfect Hitchcock woman: blond, icy, and mysterious.  The score is haunting and does much to enhance the sense of unease that permeates the film.  Hitchcock's camera work (a technique now know as the dolly zoom which was invented for this movie) is also very disorienting, almost as if the audience is experiencing Ferguson's vertigo along with him.  I think this film is a masterpiece and I recommend seeing it on the big screen (go here for info).