Ballet West's Romeo and Juliet

When I subscribed to Ballet West's 2021-2022 season, Romeo and Juliet was the ballet I was most excited to see and it certainly lived up to my expectations last night!  It was absolutely beautiful!  This ballet tells the well-known story of star-crossed lovers by William Shakespeare with music composed by Sergei Prokofiev and choreography by Michael Smuin.  I loved everything about it starting with the music.  The themes played during the Capulet's ball are incredibly dramatic and the variation played when Romeo and Juliet first see each other is haunting.  The choreography is absolutely riveting, especially the ensemble scenes on the streets of Verona because they are so playful and fun to watch, the sword fights between the Montagues and Capulets because they are tense and passionate, and the pas de deux between Romeo and Juliet because, not only are they incredibly romantic, they are also quite acrobatic (she leaps into his arms multiple times and at one point he lifts her effortlessly above his head).  The performances are simply brilliant!  I was particularly struck by the death of Tybalt (Rex Tilton) because Lady Capulet (Emily Adams) is filled with palpable despair and climbs on to his funeral bier as it is taken away.  It is a powerful scene.  I also enjoyed Hadriel Diniz as Mercutio because he is so charismatic, especially when he kisses a girl as he is dying.  Chase O'Connell, as Romeo, and Beckanne Sisk, as Juliet, dance their roles beautifully and their chemistry is off the charts (they are a real-life couple).  The balcony scene is beautiful and I loved it when he would fall at her feet and clutch her skirt to his face.  So romantic!  The sets and costumes really add to the drama.  I let out an audible gasp when the Capulet's crypt was revealed because it is so dramatic with gray marble, an iron gate, and black robed dancers carrying lanterns all around Juliet's bier.  I also liked the chapel where Romeo and Juliet are married because it looks like a Renaissance painting.  The Capulets are all dressed in various shades of red while the Montagues are in blue and this is especially impressive when the two families collide with each other.  This is a stunning production that kept me captivated from beginning to end and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Bravo Broadway: A Rodgers & Hammerstein Celebration

I could hardly contain my excitement all day yesterday in anticipation of the Utah Symphony concert last night!  I always really enjoy the Bravo Broadway series but last night's program featured the music of Rodgers & Hammerstein (and a few of their close collaborators) so it was especially good!  The orchestra was joined by conductor Jerry Steichen (I love it whenever he returns to SLC because he is so charming and charismatic), Broadway stars William Michals, Hugh Panaro, and Scarlett Strallen, as well as the Utah Opera Chorus.  The orchestra began with the Overture to The King and I and then they were joined by all three vocalists and the chorus for, rather appropriately, "It's a Grand Night for Singing" from State Fair. Panaro, who I have seen perform before, sang a beautiful version of "Where or When" from Babes in Arms (a collaboration between Rodgers and Hart) and this was definitely a highlight for me.  Sigh!  Strallen performed "The Sound of Music," the first of several songs from The Sound of Music, and then was joined by Michals and Panaro for a really fun version of "The Lonely Goatherd."  This was followed by "Edelweiss" performed by Michals.  He had the audience join him for the last few verses which reminded me of when the same thing happened at the Salzburg Festival in the movie.  All three performed an incredibly powerful version of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" to conclude the first set.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed the Waltz from Carousel followed by a rousing rendition of "A Wonderful Guy" from South Pacific by Strallen.  Another highlight for me was "Some Enchanted Evening" from South Pacific by Michals.  I think this is an incredibly romantic song and Michal's rendition is one of the best I've ever heard performed live (he played Emile De Becque in the revival of South Pacific at Lincoln Center).  Strallen returned for a lovely performance of "Send in the Clowns" from A Little Night Music with Steichen accompanying her on piano (Hammerstein was an influential mentor to Sondheim).  This gave me goosebumps!  Panaro joined her for "Shall We Dance?" from The King and I and this included some fabulous choreography!  Next Michals performed "Soliloquy" from Carousel and this was quite dramatic.  The concert concluded with several selections from Oklahoma including "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'," "People Will Say We're In Love," and "Oklahoma."  For the encore, the three of them, along with the chorus, performed an incredible version of "You'll Never Walk Alone" from Carousel.  I love all of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals so I enjoyed every minute of this concert (and was even a little bit sad when it was over).  If you are also a fan, I highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Daddy Long Legs at the Empress

I fell in love with the musical Daddy Long Legs when I saw it at HCT last year so, when I learned that it was being performed at the Empress Theatre, I immediately bought a ticket!  I saw the show last night and it was absolutely delightful!  At the turn of the century, Jerusha Abbott (Maura Monson) is the oldest orphan at the John Grier Home but a young and wealthy Trustee named Jervis Pendleton (Bryan Buhler), impressed by one of her essays about living at the orphanage, decides to send her to college so she can become a writer.  He will pay her tuition and all of her living expenses on the condition that he remain anonymous and that she writes him a letter each month to inform him of her progress.  Not knowing his name, she decides to call him Daddy Long Legs in reference to the tall shadow she saw as he left the orphanage.  Her letters are enchanting to Jervis so, against his better judgment, he meets her without revealing that he is her benefactor and falls in love with her.  Jerusha also falls in love with Jervis but, when she pours her heart out about him to Daddy Long Legs in her letters, it creates much confusion as he struggles to decide whether to reveal himself to her.  I really love the character of Jerusha because I identify with her so much.  She has such a thirst for knowledge and new experiences and I really enjoyed Monson's characterization because she imbues her with such a sense of wide-eyed wonder.  I also enjoyed Buhler's portrayal of Jervis because he visibly comes undone over Jerusha's letters, especially whenever she mentions the brother of one of her classmates.  They both have incredible voices and I was so impressed by their performances because the two of them literally carry the show entirely by themselves and do not miss a beat with the demanding songs, rapid-fire dialogue, and imaginative blocking.  The set is really clever and highly effective because it consists of an elaborate study for Jervis, to show how set in his ways he is, and a minimal space full of movable boxes filled with props which become multiple settings for Jerusha, to show her transformation throughout the show.  A live band, featuring Martha Haddock on piano, Risa Bean on cello, and Spence Kellog on guitar, performs on a platform above the stage and they are fantastic.  I love all of the music in this show but my favorite songs are "Like Other Girls," "Things I Didn't Know," "I'm a Beast," and "The Secret of Happiness."  I had a huge smile on my face from beginning to end and, even if you don't know anything about this show, I highly recommend getting a ticket because it might just become one of your favorites.  This is a limited engagement with only a few shows left so act quickly (go here for tickets).

Note:  I first discovered the Empress Theatre several years ago when they produced See How They Run.  I played Miss Skillon in high school so I just had to see it and it was so much fun!

Don't Look Up

The Academy Award nominations were announced on Tuesday and I have seen all of the nominees for Best Picture (click on the titles for my commentaries on Belfast, CODA, Drive My Car, Dune, King Richard, Licorice Pizza, Nightmare Alley, The Power of the Dog, and West Side Story) except for one.  I am not really a fan of Adam McKay (I liked The Big Short well enough but I despised Vice) so I didn't watch Don't Look Up when it was first released but, since I have a tradition of watching all the nominees, I decided to watch it on Netflix last night.  Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy Ph.D. candidate at Michigan State University, discovers a new comet but her professor, Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio), determines that it is on a collision course with Earth and will cause mass extinction.  They contact Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe (Rob Morgan), the head of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office at NASA, who confirms their results and arranges for them to meet with President Janie Orlean (Meryl Streep).  She and her son Jason (Jonah Hill), the Chief of Staff, don't want to release the information to the public because it will make her look bad right before the mid-term elections.  Dibiasky and Mindy then decide to publicize the news themselves on a popular morning show hosted by Jack Bremmer (Tyler Perry) and Brie Evantee (Cate Blanchett) but Dibiasky's volatile outburst becomes a meme and the news about the imminent destruction of the Earth is overshadowed by the engagement of pop stars Riley Bina (Ariana Grande) and DJ Chello (Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi).  When President Orlean becomes embroiled in a sex scandal with her Supreme Court nominee, she decides to deflect attention by sending nuclear weapons into space to destroy the comet.  However, the CEO of the tech company BASH, Peter Isherwell (Mark Rylance), believes that the comet contains trillions of dollars worth of resources so President Orlean decides to use untested BASH technology to break apart the comet and recover the pieces for the lucrative mining opportunities.  Will humanity survive?  This is a dark comedy that satirizes global warming along with political nepotism, celebrity culture, social media, abuse of power, and corporate greed but I found the message to be very heavy-handed (even though I agree with most of what McKay is saying) and the scope too large to be effective.  While there are some really funny elements (I especially loved the star-studded concert to save Earth and I laughed out loud at the mid-credits scene involving dinosaur-like creatures) and a few great performances (Hill and DiCaprio are my favorites), the uneven tone really bothered me.  The end of the world just isn't that funny, in my opinion, because the stakes are so high.  I found the juxtaposition between the touching dinner scene with Mindy, his wife (Melanie Lynskey), Oglethorpe, Dibiasky, and her boyfriend (Timothee Chalamet) and the amusing attempts by politicians and military personnel to flee the Earth in spaceships to be especially jarring.  I also found the stock images of nature interspersed with the comedy to be off-putting.  I didn't hate it as much as Vice but it is definitely my least favorite Best Picture nominee.

Sundown

Last night I saw the movie Sundown and I am still thinking about this intriguing character study.  An obviously wealthy British family, consisting of Neil (Tim Roth), Alice (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and teens Colin (Samuel Bottomley) and Alexa (Albertine Kotting McMillan), is vacationing at a luxurious resort in Acapulco.  Their holiday is cut short when Alice receives a distressing phone call informing her that her mother has been rushed to the hospital and she insists that they return home immediately.  However, when the family is at the airport ready to check-in (with full concierge service), Neil realizes that he has left his passport back at the hotel and must stay behind.  Instead of returning to the resort, he takes a taxi to a seedy hotel and proceeds to spend the next few days drinking and sitting on the beach while ignoring the frantic phone calls from Alice.  He meets a local woman (Iazua Larios) and begins an affair with her as the days turn into weeks.  Finally, Alice returns to Mexico to confront him is a scene filled with restrained fury.  This is a slow burn with lots of up-close shots of Neil's inscrutable face staring into the ocean but it is somehow incredibly compelling because you never know how you are supposed to feel about him.  Who is he?  Why has he seemingly abandoned his family in their time of need?  What is he doing in Mexico?  Why does he seem so ambivalent about his situation (including a violent murder that happens literally at his feet)?  The answers, which are revealed very slowly, may surprise audiences.  I was also really intrigued by the subtle commentary on class structure.  Many of the locals are portrayed as incredibly subservient to the wealthy tourists, bringing unsolicited drinks and waiting around for hours in taxis, but then their attention becomes more sinister in the third act.  Roth gives a highly nuanced performance because, even though he is incredibly still most of the time, there is so much going on behind his eyes.  Ultimately, I think this movie is not quite as profound as it thinks it is (the ambiguous ending made several people in the audience groan out loud) but I found it very interesting.

The Golden Couple

My February Book of the Month selection was The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen (the other options were Don't Cry for Me by Daniel Black, A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross, Vladimir by Julia May Jonas, and Peach Blossom Spring by Melissa Fu). I discovered these authors during the lockdown and eagerly devoured all of their books (often in one sitting) so I was very excited to read their latest! Avery Chambers is an unorthodox therapist who guarantees that she can treat people in only ten sessions. She requires absolute honesty and investigates every aspect of her clients' lives in order to uncover the root of their problems. Matthew and Marissa Bishop seem like the perfect couple but Marissa turns to Avery because she has a secret that could threaten the happiness of her marriage. However, as Avery investigates the Bishops, she discovers that they are both hiding much more than they are willing to disclose during their sessions and it soon becomes clear that Avery herself is keeping secrets. The narrative alternates between the POVs of Marissa and Avery and I found both characters to be incredibly compelling even if they are flawed. I particularly enjoyed the idea of a therapist who has gone rogue because so much of what Avery does can be construed as unethical and it makes for a provocative narrative. All of the secondary characters are also very intriguing and I never knew from one minute to the next who to believe or trust as more and more information is slowly revealed. This kept me reading well into the night in order to unravel all of the mysteries (and there are so many of them along with quite a few red herrings). Hendricks and Pekkanen are known for their dramatic plot twists but I found the big reveal in this story to be somewhat underwhelming because I predicted it early on (I thought it was fairly unoriginal and obvious). The resolution is rushed and, in my opinion, it is all a bit too neat considering the high stakes involved. I liked this novel well enough but I definitely think that The Anonymous Girl, The Wife Between Us, and You Are Not Alone by these authors are better and would recommend them over this.

Moonfall

To be honest, after all of the heavy content that I watched all alone in my living room during the Sundance Film Festival this year I was really looking forward to a ridiculous disaster movie on an IMAX screen in a crowded theater with a big tub of popcorn.  I certainly got all of that with Moonfall last night!  The moon has been knocked out of its orbit for reasons and is now on a collision course with Earth.  Also for reasons, the only way to save the Earth from certain doom is to send NASA Deputy Director Jocinda "Jo" Fowler (Halle Berry), disgraced astronaut Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson), and conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley) into space on a decommissioned space shuttle retrieved from a museum in order to detonate an EMP device in the center of the moon.  Finally, for reasons, Harper's estranged son Sonny (Charlie Plummer) must race against time to get Jo's son Jimmy and his caregiver Michelle (Kelly Yu) to safety while Jo's ex-husband General Doug Davidson (Eme Ikwuakor) must take drastic measures to stop the military from launching nuclear weapons at the moon.  Let's just say that none of the reasons involve actual science, logic, or common sense!  The entire premise is completely preposterous, with an absolutely bonkers third act, and most of the dialogue is cringe worthy but there are some great visual effects and I would be lying if I said I didn't have a lot of fun watching this.  If you are a fan of Roland Emmerich's other disaster movies you will probably enjoy it, too.  I recommend seeing it on the biggest screen possible with as many people as possible with the biggest tub of popcorn possible.

Thierry Fischer Conducts Ravel, Liszt & John Adams

Last night, like most Friday nights, I was at Abravanel Hall for a Utah Symphony concert and I loved every minute of it!  The orchestra, once again under the baton of Music Director Thierry Fischer, began with Slonimsky's Earbox by John Adams.  I was unfamiliar with this piece but I enjoyed it immensely because it is incredibly dynamic with non-stop energy coming from every section.  I especially loved all of the percussion and the almost strident blasts from the brass.  Next, the orchestra was joined by Joyce Yang for Piano Concerto No. 1 by Franz Liszt and this was pretty spectacular!  The first movement is incredibly dramatic and I loved watching Yang's fingers fly up and down the keyboard.  The second movement is very romantic with beautiful passages by the solo piano while the third movement is playful with a theme played by the triangle and duets between the piano and several woodwind instruments.  The final movement returns to the dramatic themes introduced at the beginning with a powerful march played by the brass.  I have seen Yang perform at Abravanel Hall before and she was simply brilliant last night.  She received a thunderous standing ovation and performed a beautiful rendition of Prelude in G Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff as an encore.  After the intermission, the orchestra played several pieces by Maurice Ravel.  The first was Une barque sur l'ocean and, as I listened, I could see a violent storm, suggested by a theme played by the timpani, at sea with a boat being tossed about on turbulent waves.  Next came Valses nobles et sentimentales which are a series of light and airy waltzes.  The concert concluded with La Valse and during this piece I imagined a large group of waltzing couples dancing in a ballroom in Vienna and I especially loved the theme played by the harps.  It was a lovely evening of music and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The same program will be performed again tonight and, since all the cool kids spend their weekends at Abravanel Hall, I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Over the River and Through the Woods at HCTO

Even though it is a bit of a drive to get there from my house, I am so glad that I discovered Hale Center Theater Orem last year.  Every show that I have seen there has been outstanding including their current production, Over the River and Through the Woods, which I saw last night.  This delightful play is full of laughter and heart and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Nick Cristano (Will Ingram) is offered a big promotion at work but this means that he will have to relocate from New York to Seattle.  His overprotective Italian grandparents (Mark Pulham, Karen Baird, Larson Holyoak, and Melany Wilkins) don't want him to leave so they plot to find a reason for him to stay.  They decide that he needs a girlfriend which involves a painfully awkward set-up with Caitlin O'Hare (Kelly Cook), the attractive and single niece of his grandmother's canasta partner.  Hilarity ensues!  In addition to the humor, of which there is plenty (I was laughing out loud all night), there are some really tender moments involving generational differences. The main theme of the play is that people, especially immigrants, work hard their whole lives in order to give their children and grandchildren a better life but, in so doing, they pave the way for them to leave them behind for lives that are incomprehensible to them.  An especially poignant scene involves Nick's grandfather telling him about coming to America for a better life and then realizing that Nick wants to move to Seattle for the exact same reason and that he needs to let him go.  I was lucky enough to have all four of my grandparents (and my great-grandfather) in my life until my mid-twenties and I recognized many of the situations portrayed in this play, especially when Nick's grandmother tries to feed him all of the time (my grandmother also tried to send me home with food whenever I visited).  The entire cast is fantastic, but I particularly enjoyed Ingram's overwrought portrayal of Nick (I also enjoyed him in The 39 Steps).  His facial expressions are absolutely hilarious, especially as he gets more and more exasperated with his grandparents during the blind date with Caitlin and during their game of Trivial Pursuit!  I am, once again, really impressed with what HCTO is able to do with such a small space because the stage looks just like the fussy living and dining room of an older couple.  I particularly loved all of the little details such as the plastic fruit in a bowl on the table (both of my grandmothers had plastic fruit on their tables).  This is a show that old and young alike are sure to enjoy and I highly recommend it.  It runs through Ferbruary 12 so get your tickets (go here) soon!

Treasure Island at HCT

Last night I saw Treasure Island, a thrilling adaptation of Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale of swashbuckling pirates and buried treasure, at Hale Theatre. I had heard that it was pretty spectacular, which made me very eager to see it, but I have to admit that all of the rumored special effects gave me pause because Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, the last show I saw on the Young Living Stage, had so many technical issues that it was stopped twice for long periods of time and I feared the same thing would happen last night. I needn't have worried because this show is, indeed, spectacular. Billy Bones (Rob Fernandez) suddenly appears at the Admiral Benbow Inn and meets the proprietor's son Jim Hawkins (Matthew Sanguine). He confesses to Jim that he has a map that once belonged to the pirate Flint (Bradley Moss), which leads to buried treasure, but that Flint's crew will soon be coming after it. Jim takes the map, eludes the pirates, enlists the help of Dr. Livesey (Roger Dunbar) and Squire Trelawney (Bradley Moss), and hires the Hispaniola to travel the sea in search of the treasure. Jim meets Long John Silver (BJ Whimpey), who befriends him and offers to find a crew for the Hispaniola, much to the displeasure of Captain Smollett (Mark Knowles). However, Jim learns that the crew is made up of pirates and that Long John Silver has more sinister plans just as the Hispaniola anchors off the coast of Skeleton Island. He is helped by Ben Gunn (Ben Parkes), a half-crazed man marooned on the island, to once again elude the pirates, find the treasure, and save the ship and his companions. Director Dave Tinney added a score by J Bateman (with musicians on stage, including Nathan Kremin on guitar, Caleb Hafen on drums, and Julie Beistline on fiddle) and several songs with vocal arrangements by Rob Moffat and this is very effective in enhancing the atmosphere of adventure. The sets by Kacey Udey are some of the best I have ever seen at HCT (and the bar is set really high), especially the set for the Hispaniola and the gallons of water (39,000 to be precise) that surround it and the island. As I previously mentioned, this is an incredibly complicated show, with large set pieces coming down from the rafters, characters being thrown overboard into the water, and special effects such as fog, rain, and fire! Everything was executed flawlessly! The fight choreography is epic, particularly the duel high up in the crow's nest of the ship during a rain storm, and I loved it when characters would climb the ropes on the ship. I was absolutely dazzled by everything that was happening on stage and I don't think I have ever seen a show that was so immersive (I was even splashed by water when a character was thrown overboard). The entire cast is fantastic but I especially enjoyed Sanguine's earnestness as Hawkins and Moss nearly steals the show as Trelawney (he is hilarious). This production is so much fun and I had a huge smile on my face from beginning to end. In my opinion, it is the must-see show of the season but you should definitely get tickets soon (go here) because they are going fast (with good reason). It runs on the Young Living Stage through March 19.

Note:  Don't forget about the hilarious show, One for the Pot, now playing on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through April 2.  Go here for tickets.

Parallel Mothers

Another movie now playing at the Broadway that I have been anticipating for a long time is Parallel Mothers.  I had the chance to see it last night and I was completely drawn in by this story which, on the surface, is about two mothers but, if you dig a little deeper, is a fascinating exploration of what it means to know who you are and where you come from.  Janis Martinez (Penelope Cruz) is a photographer who becomes pregnant as the result of a casual relationship with Arturo (Israel Elejalde), a married man who doesn't want to be a part of the baby's life.  Ana Manso (Milena Smit) is a frightened teenager essentially estranged from her family who is also pregnant and ends up sharing a hospital room with Janis as they both go into labor.  They bond over their similar status as single mothers and their concern for their babies who have been put under observation.  Several months later Janis becomes uneasy about her baby's identity and this brings her in contact with Ana once again.  Janis is also obsessed with excavating the unmarked grave in the village where she grew up in order to find the remains of her great-grandfather who was killed during the Spanish Civil War.  She reaches out to Arturo, a forensic archaeologist, and members of her extended family to help her confirm her great-grandfather's identity.  The narrative is incredibly thought-provoking and I was particularly struck by the fact that both Janis and Ana were raised by someone other than their mothers and struggle to find a connection with them.  I was also impressed by how well Pedro Almodovar was able to weave a personal tragedy with a national one (it reminded me a bit of Roma in that respect).  Cruz gives an incredibly powerful and emotional performance but I was blown away by Smit, especially during a climactic scene between Janis and Ana.  I also really enjoyed the melodramatic score and the bold primary colors used in the production design, all hallmarks of an Almodovar film.  I do tend to over analyze a bit but I haven't been able to stop thinking about this movie and I may need to see it again!  I highly recommend it to fans of Almodovar! 

Flee

I had heard so many great things about the documentary Flee so I was really excited to finally be able to see it at the Broadway last night.  It is even better than I anticipated!  Jonas Poher Rasmussen interviews his friend Amin Nawabi about his harrowing escape from the civil war in his home country of Afghanistan, his years in exile in Russia, an ill-fated attempt to escape only to be sent back, and finally claiming asylum alone in Denmark.  Nawabi relates his experiences so that he can make peace with his past, especially the guilt he feels for abandoning his family and the pressure he feels to succeed to compensate for it, in order to have a future with his partner Kasper.  Amin's story is incredibly poignant, particularly the scenes of him and his family trying to leave Russia, but what makes this documentary even more compelling is that it uses animation to tell the story to preserve his anonymity.  I have never seen anything like it before and I was really struck by the different types of animation employed in order to convey different emotions.  When Amin is being interviewed by Rasmussen, he is shown lying on a couch with an overhead shot so that the audience is looking down on him.  To me, this feels like we are looking into his soul as he reveals his deepest secrets for the first time.  The scenes showing his happy childhood in Kubul and his interactions with Kasper in present-day Copenhagen are very bright and colorful whereas the scenes in Moscow are dark and dreary to depict his state of mind.  Many scenes of terror, including the capture of his father and his sisters' escape on a container ship, are shown in black and white with indistinct and chaotic line drawings as if the memories are too painful to remember clearly.  Archival footage of actual events in Afghanistan and Russia is used very effectively to establish the veracity of Amin's account and the haunting score filled with plaintive violin solos does much to enhance the traumatic nature of Amin's memories.  This documentary, which highlights the power of storytelling as a way to heal, is something really special and I highly recommend it.

Thierry Fischer Conducts Rachmaninoff, Honegger & Nathan Lincoln de Cusatis

I was really excited for last night's Utah Symphony concert because it was the first opportunity for Music Director Thierry Fischer to conduct the orchestra this season (I was also really excited to hear Rachmaninoff).  The orchestra began with Symphony No. 3, Symphonie Liturgique, by Arthur Honegger.  I was not familiar with this piece (or this composer) but I loved it because it was written after World War II and was inspired by Honegger's desire for peace.  Each movement is named after a liturgical text.  The first, which was my favorite, is "Day of wrath" and it is very turbulent and powerful with a bold theme played by the brass.  The second is "Out of the depths have I cried" and it is more lyrical and contemplative and I really loved the almost mournful solo by the flute.  The third is "Grant us peace" which begins as a march featuring lots of percussion and then ends with a beautiful solo played the cello.  What I loved about this piece is that I could really feel each of the emotions suggested by the titles as the orchestra played.  Next came the premiere of The Maze by Nathan Lincoln de Cusatis.  This piece was commissioned by Concertmaster Madeline Adkins and was inspired by a hike through an isolated area of Canyonlands National Park.  The music emphasizes the vastness of the landscape and the geologic forces that created it.  Adkins was the soloist with the violin acting as a guide through the hike and I really enjoyed how the themes played by the violin sound like the flow of the river.  After the intermission the orchestra played Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff and I absolutely loved this piece!  I think the first movement is incredibly romantic with a theme played by various woodwind instruments which is then repeated by the violins followed by a theme played the piano and harp.  During the second movement, which features a beautiful waltz, I always see couples whirling around a red and gold ballroom and the music takes me back to imperial Russia.  The final movement is almost mournful but it ends triumphantly with timpani and a gong.  I really enjoyed all three pieces (and seeing Fischer back on the podium) and would highly recommend getting a ticket to tonight's concert which will feature the same program (go here for tickets).

The Messenger at PTC

Last night I had the opportunity to see an incredibly timely and relevant play called The Messenger at Pioneer Theatre.  This play by Jeff Talbot, which is having its world premiere at PTC, is loosely based on the Henrik Ibsen play An Enemy of the People and I found it to be very powerful.  In 1882 the Mayor of a small town in Norway, Peter Stockman (Mark H. Dold), is proud of the mineral baths that have brought tourists to the town, provided jobs for the citizens, and bolstered the housing market.  However, his sister Dr. Therese Stockman (Ora Jones) is concerned about a mysterious illness that is afflicting her patients, and has killed at least one of them, so she decides to investigate.  When she receives a report showing that the water is contaminated, she feels compelled to warn the public of the danger to their health.  She confides in her friend Kristine Hovstad (Meredith Holzman), the owner and editor of the newspaper The Messenger, and asks her to publish the report.  This brings her into conflict with her brother, who fears that the mineral baths will be closed which will put many people out of work and ruin his chances for reelection, and with her friend, who has her own agenda about what should be published.  Therese takes matters into her own hands and reveals her findings at a public meeting (which features characters played by Alexis Grace Thomsen, Marcello Joseph Say, Victoria Wolfe, and Connor Mamaux-Partridge in the audience who refuse to believe the science and heckle her) which puts her life and the life of her daughter Petra (Turna Mete) in jeopardy.  She must weigh the individual rights of her friends and family against the greater public good.  The parallels between 19th century Norway and contemporary America are incredibly striking as the debate between keeping people safe from a contagious disease vs. keeping the economy going rages on.  I also enjoyed the discussion about the role the media plays in a crisis and the isolation that being a whistleblower causes.  These themes are still very relevant today.  The entire cast is strong but I was especially impressed with Jones who has a commanding presence, particularly in a scene with Dold where she lashes out at her brother for never listening to her.  She gave me goosebumps.  At first I found the staging of the public meeting to be a bit jarring.  The characters yelling insults at Therese seem to be members of the audience because they are in contemporary costumes but I eventually decided that they are meant to represent the role social media plays in swaying public opinion.  I loved the set because it appears to be deconstructed as the play goes on which represents the disruption that this situation has caused Therese and I also loved the bold primary colors used in the period costumes for the women (Therese has a gorgeous red velvet coat).  I didn't realize that this was a one act play performed without an intermission so I was absolutely stunned by the final line of dialogue.  I just sat there in my seat for a minute or two before I noticed that everyone around me was on their feet giving a thunderous ovation.  It was such a powerful moment!  I thoroughly enjoyed this thought-provoking play and highly recommend it.  Unfortunately there are only a few performances left (go here for tickets).

Sundance Film Festival 2022

I didn't participate in the Sundance Film Festival last year because it was completely virtual and I prefer seeing films on the big screen and I really enjoy interacting with film aficionados from all over the world.  When I heard that the festival would be in-person this year, I immediately bought a Salt Lake City package which entitled me to ten tickets rather than access to every film screened in SLC as in year's past.  It seemed like a lot of money for only ten tickets but I eagerly selected my films and began anticipating an experience that I really love.  Then came the disappointing news that, due to the surge in Covid cases from the Omicron variant, the festival was canceling all in-person screenings in order to be completely virtual once again.  I assumed, incorrectly, that refunds would be issued to those who didn't want to watch films on their computers but festival organizers insisted that all packages were non-refundable and refused.  I was really angry about this but, since my only other option was to donate the cost of the tickets to the festival, I decided to make the best of it and I eventually picked 21 films.  My first film was The Princess and I was really excited about this documentary because I have been fascinated by Diana ever since I got up early to watch her wedding.  This is a story that has been told many times but the use of archival footage without any narration or contemporary interviews provides an intriguing new take on the Princess of Wales and I really enjoyed it.  There was even footage that I, a self-avowed expert on the Royal Family, had never seen before!  My second film was The Worst Person in the World and this was, without a doubt, my most anticipated film of the festival (it will have a wide release in theaters in a few weeks and I will definitely be seeing it again).  Renate Reinsve is incredibly appealing as an aimless young woman who drifts from relationship to relationship, first with Aksel (Anders Danielsen Lie) and then Eivind (Herbert Nordrum), in order to discover that you don't need to have life figured out yet.  As someone who does not even remotely have life figured out yet, I loved this film!  My third film was Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and, even though it was not at all what I was expecting (I thought it would be a lot funnier), I loved Emma Thompson's brilliant, and incredibly brave, performance as a widow who has a sexual awakening after hiring a male prostitute.  I also loved her chemistry with Daryl McCormack.  My fourth film was Summering, a coming of age story about four girls who have an unexpected adventure the weekend before they start middle school.  It reminded me of Stand By Me but it wasn't nearly as endearing.  I enjoyed the magical realism but the story doesn't really go anywhere with too many unresolved plot points.  My fifth film was A Love Song.  This is a subdued (maybe too subdued?) but moving portrait of grief and loneliness with fantastic performances from Dale Dickey and Wes Studi as former high school sweethearts who meet each other once again.  My sixth film was Emergency and it is another festival favorite for me.  Two Black college students, along with their Latino roommate, are forced to take racism into account when deciding how they will respond to an emergency.  It brilliantly combines comedy, suspense, and biting social commentary to create a thought-provoking and entertaining film that I absolutely loved!  My seventh film was FRESH and it gives new meaning to the term "meat market."  Daisy Edgar-Jones plays a woman fed up with dating apps and Sebastian Stan is the charming but psychotic man she falls for after meeting him in the produce section.  It is a gruesome dark comedy but I loved the killer soundtrack.  My eighth film, 892, was another one of my most anticipated.  It is a tense and heartbreaking true story about a former marine who holds up a bank for the $892 disability check that is owed him but is caught up in the bureaucracy of the VA.  It features a riveting and powerful performance by John Boyega.  My ninth film was Living and I selected it because it stars Bill Nighy and I will see anything he is in!  He plays a paper-pushing bureaucrat in post-war London who decides to live a more meaningful life after receiving a terminal diagnosis.  It is very slow but charming and features a lovely performance by Nighy, especially in a scene where he sings on a playground swing that he helped build.  My tenth film was Call Jane, the first of two films I saw about a real-life underground collective that helped women have access to abortions in the late 1960s.  This is a fictionalized account about a suburban housewife (Elizabeth Banks) who finds the group when she needs a life-saving abortion and the hospital refuses to perform it.  The lighthearted tone didn't quite work for such an important and timely subject, although I really enjoyed Sigourney Weaver's irreverent performance.  I got a last minute ticket to my eleventh film, After Yang, because it received such glowing praise and it definitely didn't disappoint.  When an android companion malfunctions, his owner accesses his memories and they cause him to reevaluate the nature of humanity.  This is beautiful, contemplative, and moving with lovely performances from the whole cast.  I loved it!  My twelfth film was Master which follows the recent trend of using the horror genre to explore the theme of racism.  A young Black student at an elite New England college is haunted by an incident from the past and plagued by an ongoing problem in the present.  In my opinion the social commentary works better than the supernatural elements do but they both contribute to a very palpable sense of dread.  My thirteenth film was Dual and I chose it because I absolutely loved The Art of Self-Defense and was eager to see another film by Riley Stearns.  I am a huge fan of dark absurdist comedies and this is a fantastic satirical exploration of identity in which a woman is forced to fight her clone in a duel to the death.  Karen Gillan's deadpan delivery as both characters really worked for me because it emphasizes the dehumanization they both experience.  My fourteenth film was Resurrection and I don't know what this says about me because it is absolutely bonkers but I loved it.  Rebecca Hall is brilliant as a woman who comes undone when an emotionally manipulative former lover suddenly reappears in her life and it is her committed performance that makes the bizarre twist in the third act seem completely plausible.  My fifteenth film was Lucy and Desi, a touching portrait of Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz that emphasizes their enduring legacy.  It is a very straightforward documentary but it is at its best when it utilizes their own voices culled from hours of audio tapes provided by their daughter Lucie Arnaz.  My sixteenth film, Cha Cha Real Smooth, was one of the biggest crowd-pleasers of the festival and I was lucky enough to snag a ticket when more were released.  This is a heartfelt and charming coming of age story about a recent college graduate trying to navigate life and love and features incredibly appealing performances from Cooper Raiff and Dakota Johnson.  Even though I am a bit older (ahem) than the target audience I really related to the main character because I also felt completely lost during this period in my life.  I loved everything about this film!  My seventeenth film was Brian and Charles and this put a huge smile on my face.  It is a hilarious mockumentary about an eccentric inventor in Wales who builds a robot to be his friend and it reminded me of the British comedies I loved as a teenager.  My eighteenth film, Honk For Jesus. Save Your Soul, was another mockumentary this time about a pastor of a megachurch and his wife as they attempt to rehabilitate their tarnished image after a scandal.  It is laugh out loud funny but it is also a scathing indictment of the hypocrisy so often found in the megachurch culture.  Regina Hall is fantastic, especially when the cameras stop rolling and the mask drops.  My nineteenth film was LAST FLIGHT HOME and it was incredibly difficult for me to watch having recently lost my own father.  This documentary is a beautiful and moving tribute from a daughter to her extraordinary father as he ends his life on his own terms.  I cried through most of it.  My twentieth film was The Janes and I was really eager to see this having watched Call Jane.  This documentary explores the same underground collective that helped women gain access to abortions in Chicago during the late 1960s but it is much more compelling because it puts the real names and faces to the characters in the fictionalized story.  My final film was the funny and delightful Am I OK?  I loved this story about friendship and self-discovery with yet another fantastic performance from Dakota Johnson.  It was nice to end on such a lighthearted note after so much heavy content.

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The Pink Cloud

Last night I took a break from Sundance to see The Pink Cloud, a movie that premiered at Sundance last year, at the Broadway.  It has an intriguing, and incredibly prescient, premise and I found it to be very unsettling.  Giovana (Renata de Lelis) and Yago (Eduardo Mendonca) meet and have a one night stand on the beach.  Their tryst is interrupted by a warning to take shelter immediately because toxic pink clouds, which kill people within ten seconds of exposure, are mysteriously appearing around the world.  Even though they are little more than strangers, Giovana and Yago end up quarantining together in her mother’s spacious and luxurious apartment and, at first, it seems like an adventure as they wait for the clouds to dissipate.  However, weeks turn to months then years and the tension begins to mount.  Giovana is ever hopeful that her former life will resume at any moment but Yago is perfectly content to make a life with her in their beautiful apartment and suggests that they have a child.  She is reluctant but eventually agrees.  The birth of her son Lilo causes her to spiral into a deeper depression because she views his life as hopeless and she retreats even further from reality while Yago and Lilo become more comfortable in it.  This movie begins with a title card stating that it was written in 2017 and shot in 2019 so any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental.  However, I couldn't help but view this movie through the lens of my own experience in lockdown.  I was particularly struck by the subplot involving Giovana's friend Sara (Kaya Rodrigues), who succumbs to loneliness, because I had to quarantine by myself and I also felt very cut off from the world.  Sometimes what happens on the screen made me uncomfortable, and even angry (when the couple reacts differently to the situation it is the woman who is pressured to give in), but the narrative is compelling and the images are beautiful.  I loved the ethereal pink color palette that suffuses almost every shot and I also enjoyed the meticulous production design as the apartment changes and deteriorates as time goes on.  Lelis and Mendonca have great chemistry and give powerful performances as they portray the ebb and flow of a complicated relationship.  This is an atmospheric psychological thriller that might hit a little too close to home but I definitely recommend it.

Note:  I am looking forward to seeing some of the movies premiering this year at Sundance at the Broadway when they are given a wide release!  I am compiling a list!

Utah Opera's Flight

I usually do not like operas based on contemporary librettos or ones that are sung in English so when Utah Opera announced the 2021-2022 season I was not very interested in Flight.  However, the more I heard about it, the more excited I became to see it.  I had the opportunity last night and, to my surprise, I really loved it.  A Refugee (John Holiday) has been living at an international airport for weeks because he lacks the documentation to leave while a Controller (Abigail Rethwisch) watches everything that happens from high above in her tower.  She enjoys having the power to send planes into the sky while he is powerless.  Soon they are joined by Bill (Daniel O'Hearn) and Tina (Julia Gershkoff), a couple going on a tropical holiday to try and rekindle the spark in their marriage, an insecure Older Woman (Deanne Week) waiting for her much younger fiance, whom she met on holiday in Mallorca, to join her, a Steward (Evan Hammond) and Stewardess (Edith Grossman) involved in a passionate relationship whenever they can find a stolen moment to be together, and the Minskman (Stephen Pace) and his pregnant wife, the Minskwoman (Elise Quagliata), on their way to a diplomatic assignment in Minsk until she has second thoughts about going and he leaves without her.  When a dangerous electrical storm grounds every flight, they are stranded in the terminal together all night.  This brings out the worst in them and the Controller laments the fact that her domain has been invaded by people.  In the morning, when flights are resumed, the Minskman returns because he cannot live without his wife and she goes into labor.  The birth of the child causes everyone to regret their behavior the night before, particularly their behavior towards the Refugee.  When the Immigration Officer (Seth Keeton) arrests the Refugee, many of them intercede on his behalf but the officer is unmoved.  The Refugee then relates how he came to be in the airport which causes the Controller to plead for mercy.  The officer ultimately decides to turn a blind eye and allow him to remain at the airport and, after the others board their flights, the Refugee is welcomed home by the Controller.  I found this narrative to be incredibly compelling and, while I certainly enjoyed the beautiful music and the outstanding performances by everyone in the cast, I loved the search for belonging that is a theme running through every character's arc.  It is very powerful, especially when the Controller finds belonging with the Refugee.  I also loved that the airport represents a sort of limbo (anyone who has ever had a long layover before reaching a destination can attest to this) for the characters which allows for an intriguing exploration of human nature.  The minimalistic set, which is a modern departure lounge of an unnamed international airport with large windows showing a plane on the tarmac, arrival and departure monitors, a gate, a podium, and rows of black seats (which reminded me of those at LAX), is highly effective and the costumes are fun, especially the uniforms worn by the Steward and Stewardess.  Finally, I loved the lighting effects used to mimic the takeoff and landing of a plane.  I am so glad that I gave this opera a chance (I probably would not have gotten a ticket if I wasn't a season subscriber) because I loved it so much more than I thought I would.  There are two more performances (go here for tickets) and I definitely recommend taking a flight with Tri-Star Airlines!

One For the Pot at HCT

Last night I went to see Hale Centre Theatre's production of One For the Pot and it was the second madcap comedy that I've seen in as many days. I was not at all familiar with this show but I love British farces and all of the slamming doors and mistaken identities kept me laughing out loud from beginning to end! Jonathan Hardcastle (Mark Fotheringham) is a wealthy mill owner who is trying to find the son of his former business partner to bestow a large amount of money on him. He places an advertisement in the newspaper asking him to come to his manor to confirm his identity and prove that he is his partner's only living relative. Billy Hickory Woods (Bryan Dayley) and his friend Charlie Barnet (Kyle Baugh), who is pretending to be his lawyer in order to benefit from this bequest, arrive on the day that Hardcastle's daughter Cynthia (Megan Heaps) is celebrating her birthday with a dance organized by Hardcastle's sister Amy (Tamari Dunbar). Hardcastle's lawyer, and Amy's boyfriend, Arnold Piper (David Marsden) is on hand as is Cynthia's latest admirer Clifton Weaver (Jamie Rocha Allan). Hilarity ensues when Billy's heretofore unknown brothers Rupert, Michael, and Francois (all played by Dayley) also show up to claim the money, and romance Cynthia, forcing Charlie to enlist the butler Jugg (Jeff Blake) to keep them away from Hardcastle and Billy's suspicious wife Winnie (Jasmine Fuller). The action becomes more and more frenetic as the situation descends into the absurd with characters running in and out, hiding in unusual locations (my favorite was a window seat), incapacitating each other through various means, and impersonating each other. The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious and I was especially impressed with Dayley (I've seen him in other HCT comedies and he is brilliant) because I have no idea how he was able to exit the stage as one character and enter seconds later as another character! What a workout! Most of the brothers end up wearing the same black tuxedo so they are only differentiated by Dayley with an accent and a facial expression. It was amazing because you could immediately see which character he was playing as soon as he came on stage. I laughed at just about everything he said and did! I was also impressed with Heaps because she is the understudy for all of the female roles and her performance as Cynthia was flawless (once again, I must commend all of the understudies who keep these shows open through the madness). Director Ryan L. Simmons added a live band into the mix with a set that rotates on a turntable between the lounge and the ballroom where they perform during the dance. This play is set in the late 1950s so the music is a lot of fun and the musicians (Byran Matthew Hague on guitar, Daniel Pack on bass, and John Nielsen on drums) are outstanding. The only element that didn't really work for me was the audience participation initiated by Baugh because it seemed a bit forced. Otherwise, this show is a delight and I recommend it for a fun night out.  It runs on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through April 2 (go here for tickets).

The Play That Goes Wrong at CPT

I have attended productions of The Play That Goes Wrong at PTC and HCT and, since it is one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, I was really looking forward to Centerpoint Theatre's version last night. I started laughing before the show even began because the sound and lighting technician was searching the audience for a missing dog and I don't think I stopped until the cast had to manually close the curtain at the end. The titular play that goes wrong is the Cornley Polytechnic Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. The cast includes Max (Tyler Clawson) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardener, Chris (Michael Gardner) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (Blake London) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Dylan Padilla) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Mitchell Gibb) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Niki Waite Padilla) as Florence Colleymore. The Director is Chris, the Stage Manager is Annie (Jenni Cooper), and the Sound and Lighting Director is Trevor (Jacob Sommer). The set is slowly falling apart, the props malfunction or go missing, the sound designer 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 constantly breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause, and the leading lady is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced first with Annie and then with Trevor (with scripts in hand) but the show must go on! The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious! My favorite scenes were when Cecil and Thomas have to answer a phone call with their hands full, when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight for the chance to play Florence, when Cecil and Thomas have a sword fight with broken swords, and when Arthur the Gardner and Trevor (who is playing Florence) have an awkward kiss. The cast is one of the best I have seen at CPT and they all have superb comedic timing but I especially enjoyed Gibb because of his facial expressions. The set is also one of the best I have seen at CPT because it falls apart so spectacularly, particularly the second floor study which is the source of much physical comedy. I highly recommend this show because watching this play fall apart is the perfect distraction from a world that seems to be falling apart. It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through February 12 (go here for tickets).

Note:  Since I've seen this play performed by three different theatre companies in as many years, it was really fun for me to notice the subtle differences in the productions. I particularly enjoyed the different ways a fire was staged.