Bryce Canyon National Park 2024

After driving through Zion I kept going on Highway 89 to Bryce Canyon (it is a really pretty drive and takes about two hours).  Unlike Zion, Bryce Canyon was absolutely packed and there was nowhere to park at Sunrise Point or Bryce Point.  I was able to stop at all of the other viewpoints and to find a parking spot at Rainbow Point to walk around so I'm calling it good!

I really loved seeing the snow against the red rocks!  This was a fun weekend road trip and I thoroughly enjoyed both Tuacahn and the national parks!  My next road trip will be to Washington for my niece's wedding later this month!

Zion National Park 2024

Zion is one of my favorite places on Earth and, whenever I am in St. George, I usually drive home through the park.  I hadn't planned on doing that this trip but I woke up early yesterday morning and got packed up very quickly so I spontaneously decided to make the detour.  I am so glad that I did because the temperature was perfect and the park wasn't very crowded.  It has been a long time since I really explored or hiked but I do enjoy driving through because it reminds me of all the times my family visited during my childhood.

It was a really nice morning in the park, especially since it wasn't crowded and I could pull into all of the viewpoints to get a closer look at the formations!

Frozen at Tuacahn Amphitheatre

Yesterday I left on a quick road trip to St. George to see Frozen at Tuacahn Amphitheatre.  Tuacahn is the first regional theatre in the U.S. to be given permission by Disney to produce this musical and it was spectacular!  I have seen the Broadway touring production and I think this version might be better!  A young Elsa (Harper Griffith) and a young Anna (Bentley Nulia) have fun building a snowman together but, when Elsa accidentally freezes Anna with her mysterious powers, the King and Queen tell her that she must hide herself away from Anna and the rest of Arendelle.  When the King and Queen are lost at sea, Elsa (Cayleigh Capaldi) must open the doors of the castle for her coronation.  She loses control of herself, with devastating consequences, when Anna (Daisy Wright) requests permission to marry Hans of the Southern Isles (Preston Taylor) and she flees Arendelle.  Anna follows her, hoping to save Arendelle from the endless winter, and is aided by an ice harvester named Kristoff (Joe Caskey) , his reindeer Sven (William Bishop), and Olaf (Kyle Kemph), the snowman she built with Anna when they were girls.  Elsa fears that she is a monster and Anna is injured again but it is her ability to love that ultimately saves Anna and Arendelle.  Tuacahn is known for its big productions and this is the most ambitious one yet!  The large set pieces, special effects, and projections are absolutely amazing!  I knew that the song "Let It Go" would probably be a highlight but I was not prepared for how epic it was.  There were moving set pieces that looked like giant icicles and projections of snow and ice on large LED panels in sync with all of Capaldi's dramatic gestures and her costume change happens in an instant (people in the audience gasped).  It seemed to snow in the entire amphitheatre and the song, which featured an incredibly powerful performance by Capaldi, concluded with fireworks!  I also really loved Capaldi's renditions of "Dangerous to Dream," "Monster," and "I Can't Lose You" with Wright because she has such a beautiful voice filled with so much emotion.  Wright's performance is also outstanding and I loved her voice, as well, but her physicality was so much fun to watch, especially in "Love is an Open Door" and "Fixer Upper."  The entire cast is fantastic (I was impressed with Caskey because he is the understudy) and it features a strong ensemble who made me laugh at all of their antics during the choreography in "Hygge."  The costumes are slightly different from those of the movie and the Broadway production but they are recognizable and gorgeous.  I also loved the puppets for Sven and Olaf.  This show is magical and I am so glad that I got to see it!  It is being performed in repertory with Anastasia and Jersey Boys through the middle of October (go here for tickets).

The Fall Guy

Last night I went to see The Fall Guy looking for a fun summer blockbuster and that is exactly what I got!  After an accident on set Colt Seavers (Ryan Gosling), the stunt double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), walks away from the movie business and his camerawoman girlfriend Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt).  Eighteen months later producer Gail Meyer (Hannah Waddingham) convinces him to return to Tom's latest movie because it is being directed by Jody and she has requested him.  When he gets to set he discovers that Jody is not over their break-up and that Gail really summoned him to locate Tom because he has mysteriously disappeared.  Soon he is being blown up, shot at, and set on fire both on set and in real life as he tries to find Tom.  Eventually, he becomes the fall guy in more ways than one and it takes the stunt coordinator Dan Tucker (Winston Duke), Jody, and the entire crew to help him clear his name in an epic stunt.  The story is an absolute mess (I think they should have spent more time developing the central romance rather than the mystery) but the action sequences, and the accompanying adrenaline-fueled soundtrack, are so much fun.  It is definitely an homage to stunt work, and filmmaking in general, and I enjoyed seeing glimpses of what it takes to create the stunts we see on the screen as well as all of the nods to recognizable stunts from other movies.  Gosling, especially, and Blunt are charismatic as the leads and they have sizzling chemistry with each other (as previously mentioned they should have had more interactions together).  Some of the humor doesn't quite land but I laughed out loud during a relationship montage to "All Too Well" by Taylor Swift and several scenes involving a French speaking stunt dog named Jean-Claude.  There are flaws but it is wildly entertaining and the perfect start to the summer blockbuster season.

The Hello Girls at HCTO

My great-grandfather John Johnston emigrated to Canada in his late teens but, when war was declared between England and Germany, he returned home to Scotland and enlisted in the Gordon Highlanders.  He was wounded at the First Battle of Ypres and was left on the battlefield for dead.  His brother returned later hoping to retrieve his body and discovered that he was still alive.  I loved hearing all of these stories when I was a child and, consequently, World War I has always held a particular fascination for me.  Many of my favorite books, movies, and theatre productions deal with the subject and now I can add the musical The Hello Girls to that list.  I had the chance to see it at HCTO last night and it is one of the best shows I've seen this year!  After the U.S. enters World War I in 1917, General Pershing (Reese Phillip Purser) is frustrated because the male telephone operators in the Signal Corps do not know French and are much slower than the women who work for Bell Telephone back home.  He tasks Captain Joseph Riser (Dallin Bradford) with recruiting a unit of bilingual women to join the American Expeditionary Forces in France.  Grace Banker (Megan Heaps), a no-nonsense supervisor at Bell, Suzanne Prevot (Kennedy Bradford), Grace's adventurous best friend, Helen Hill (Emily Paxman), an inexperienced farm girl from Idaho, Bertha Hunt (Shannon Eden), the wife of a soldier already serving overseas, and Louise LeBreton (Makenna Ashby), an underage French woman who has lived in the U.S. for several years, are among those selected for the first group stationed at the AEF headquarters in Chaumont.  These operators overcome many hardships and ultimately help turn the tide of the war.  What I loved most about this story is how inspiring it is.  These women had to fight just to be allowed to join the Army ("We Aren't in the Army"), they had to work harder than their male counterparts to prove themselves to their commanding officer ("Riser's Reprimand"), they had to fight to be allowed to go to the front ("Twenty"), and then they had to fight for over sixty years to receive the benefits they deserved as veterans ("Making History").  The music is incredibly stirring and my favorite songs were the big anthems "Answer the Call," "Hello Girls," "Lives on the Line," and "Making History."  The backdrop features wooden panels set with rows of lights to represent the switchboards used by the women (upon which period photos and videos are projected) and the set includes multi-level wooden platforms connected by wooden ramps to represent various locations.  The dynamic choreography uses this space very well.  I especially loved a sequence when the soldiers at the front reach their hands towards the women at their switchboards during a dramatic battle to show how much of a lifeline they are.  It gave me goosebumps. I also loved the authenticity and attention to detail in the uniforms worn by both the soldiers and the women, especially the puttees, the helmets, and the haversacks carrying the gas masks (I am such a nerd for knowing World War I uniforms).  Finally, the cast is superb and they do a brilliant job in bring these forgotten historical characters to life.  Heaps, one of my favorite local actors, was the standout for me because she brings so much emotion to the role, particularly in her scenes with Bradford as she fights for more opportunities.  I always really appreciate it when a theatre company programs something new, especially when it is based on a subject of interest to me, and I loved everything about this production.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) during it run through June 1.

May We All at HCT

Last night I had a chance to see May We All, a new jukebox musical featuring songs by Brooks & Dunn, Chris Stapleton, Dolly Parton, Florida Georgia Line, Johnny Cash, Kacey Musgraves, Keith Urban, Kenny Chesney, Little Big Town, Loretta Lynn, Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Sara Evans, Tim McGraw, and Zac Brown Band, and, despite a really cheesy story, some exaggerated performances that feel more like caricatures than real people, and a genre of music that I usually dislike, I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would (I almost didn't go because I thought I would hate it). Jenna Coates (Dawn Deitlein) returns to her hometown of Harmony, Tennessee after struggling to pursue her dream of becoming a country music star in Nashville for two years.  However, going home again is not as easy as she expected because Harmony is facing a hard economic future, her parents Crystal (Adrien Swenson) and Harley (Brock Harris) and her sister Kylie (Savannah Carrasco) are hurt that she has seemingly abandoned them for fame and fortune, her best friend Liz (Libby Ferguson) is struggling with the loss of her brother, and her ex-boyfriend Dustin (Nathan Bowser) is seeing someone new (Teaira Burge) who just happens to want to bring a big box store to Harmony. She eventually realizes how important her friends and family, and Dustin, are to her and that the best way to help Harmony is to bring the music back. However, what will happen when her biggest Nashville dream suddenly comes true? The story follows the plot of every Hallmark movie ever made (which is not necessarily a bad thing but I am not a fan) so I didn't find it very compelling. I also didn't like the portrayal of some of the characters because the performances (especially those of Swenson and Harris), the costumes, and the hair really lean into stereotypes (to be fair I don't really know many people from this area of the country but it seemed a bit overdone for laughs to me). I am not a big fan of country music but, to my surprise, the musical performances are what I enjoyed the most. An insanely talented band, including Kelly DeHaan on keyboards, Eric Noyes on keyboards, Memphis Hennesy on guitar, Bryan Hague on guitar, Davin Tayler on bass guitar, Julie Beistline on fiddle, and Todd Mitchell on drums, are located on stage in the wings and they sound great! The female leads are also outstanding, particularly Deitlein and Ferguson. I loved Deitlein's performance of "Born to Fly," "Play Something Country" with Ferguson, "Can't Go Back" with Bowser, "Rainbow" with Carrasco, and "Back to My Boots" (an original song by Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard) with the company.  As always, the set is phenomenal and I loved the use of large wooden panels suspended from the rafters for projections and live feeds during the musical numbers. This wasn't really my cup of tea but I'm glad I saw it and I'm sure fans of country music will absolutely love it! This runs on the Young Living Centre Stage through June 8 with lots of tickets (go here) available.

Come From Away at the Eccles

I was able to see Come From Away the last time the Broadway touring company made a stop in SLC and I loved it so much!  The only time I stopped crying was when I was laughing out loud!  I was so happy for the chance to see it again last night and my response was pretty much the same because not only is it a touching and entertaining true story about the power of community and the indomitable human spirit but it is also makes me feel incredibly nostalgic for Canada (all of the pop culture references made me smile).  After the 9/11 attacks, U.S. airspace is restricted and 38 international flights have to be diverted to the airport in the tiny town of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada.  The nearly 7,000 stranded passengers almost double the population of Gander but the townspeople willingly do everything they can to provide them with food, clothing, shelter, and comfort.  This show features an outstanding ensemble cast of twelve who seamlessly, with just the addition of a article of clothing or a prop, play multiple roles to tell the stories of both the townspeople and the stranded passengers and crew.  My favorites involve a local woman named Beulah (Kristin Litzenberg) comforting a passenger named Hannah (Candace Alyssa Rhodes) when she cannot locate her firefighter son in New York, two lonely passengers, Diane (Molly Samson) from Texas and and Nick (Stanton Morales) from England, who begin a relationship after being thrown together, and a member of the local ASPCA (Kathleen Cameron) who sneaks on board the empty planes to care for the animals left behind (including a pregnant bonobo chimpanzee).  I love all of the music in this show but my favorite songs are "Prayer" because it incorporates elements of multiple religions into a beautiful message of comfort, "Screech In" because it is a hilarious ceremony to become an honorary Newfoundlander involving copious amounts of alcohol and a codfish, and "Something's Missing" because it perfectly captures that hollow feeling I remember in the days after the attacks (I also have to give a shout-out to a rendition of "My Heart Will Go On" during an impromptu karaoke session).  The set is very minimal but it is impressive how just a few tables and chairs are quickly configured to represent the airport, buses, planes, the legion hall, and emergency shelters and I loved how the lighting design portrays the fear and confusion of the passengers as they arrive in Gander in "Wherever We Are" and "Darkness and Trees."  This is a show that will restore your faith in humanity and I highly recommend it (just bring tissues because everyone around me was also crying).  There are four more performances at the Eccles Theatre through Sunday, April 28 (go here for tickets).

Challengers

I have been anticipating seeing Challengers for a very long time and I was really excited to finally have the chance last night.  I loved it even more than I was expecting to!  Art Donaldson (Mike Faist) is a champion tennis player who is in a slump after recovering from an injury.  His wife and coach Tashi Duncan (Zendaya), herself a former prodigy, suggests that he play as a wild card in a lower level challenger event to boost his confidence before the U.S. Open.  Patrick Zweig (Josh O'Connor) is a down-on-his-luck former prodigy who sleeps in his car and plays in challenger events for the meager prize money.  Art and Patrick end up facing each other in the final of this challenger event and, through flashbacks as they play in this heated match, the audience learns that they have a complicated past with each other and with Tashi and that the stakes are even higher than they realize but not what they imagine.  Zendaya gives an absolutely riveting performance and both O'Connor and Faist match her in intensity.  The three of them have absolutely insane chemistry with each other and I honestly cannot decide what was sexier: a scene in a sauna or a scene involving a churro.  The use of tennis as a metaphor is very clever with all of the back and forth that happens between the characters and I loved the exploration of power and what happens to relationships when the power dynamic shifts.  Having a nonlinear timeline, which can sometimes disrupt the pacing, is very effective in this movie because the flashbacks slowly reveal events that directly inform what is happening on the court in the final match and the tension is palpable (I laughed out loud when I realized how Patrick was going to serve the ball and what it meant within the context of the past).  I don't follow tennis or understand much about the game but the way in which the tennis scenes were filmed is incredibly dynamic and exciting.  I especially loved the scenes from the POV of the ball!  Finally, the techno score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is amazing and really amps up the energy in every scene ("Compress/ Repress" is basically a NIN song and I loved it).  I am sure that this is going to be one of my top movies of 2024 and I highly recommend it!

Abigail

Yesterday I spontaneously decided to see Abigail and I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed it!  A mastermind named Lambert (Giancarlo Esposito) assembles a group of criminals with the pseudonyms Frank (Dan Stevens), Joey (Melissa Barrera), Sammy (Kathryn Newton), Dean (Angus Cloud), Rickles (Will Catlett), and Peter (Kevin Durand) to kidnap Abigail (Alisha Weir), the 12-year-old daughter of a powerful underworld crime boss, for a ransom of $50 million.  They bring her to a creepy and secluded mansion (with lots of atmospheric lighting and creaking floorboards) and are told to hold her there for 24 hours but, when Abigail starts to kill them one by one, they realize that she is not an ordinary girl.  This puts an entertaining spin (pun intended) on the usual tropes by having Abigail be a ballerina because this adds a lot of visual flair (and a score by Tchaikovsky) to the action sequences.  Abigail is also a vampire (I almost wish that this had not be revealed in the trailers because not knowing anything about the killer would have added a lot more tension to the first act) so these action sequences also feature enough blood and gore to keep horror fans very happy.  While the characters are incredibly one-note (they are each assigned a defining trait, from which they never deviate, when Joey proves that she can read people), the campy performances are really fun to watch, especially Stevens, because he steals every scene he is in as his character becomes more and more unhinged (he is having quite the year), and Weir, because she has a very compelling presence as both a terrified little girl and a terrifying villain.  Despite a few flaws, I had a bloody good time with this and I think fans of the genre will, too.

How to Train Your Dragon in Concert

Seeing How to Train Your Dragon, a movie that I love, while the Utah Symphony performed the amazing Academy Award nominated score by John Powell live in front of an enthusiastic capacity crowd last night was so much fun!  The Vikings on the island of Berk are regularly attacked by dragons but Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), the son of the chief Stoik the Vast (Gerard Butler), is deemed too weak and awkward to fight them.  He is apprenticed to the blacksmith Gobber (Craig Ferguson), instead, so he makes a mechanical device which he uses to shoot down the rare Night Fury dragon during an attack.  When he discovers that the dragon was only wounded, he can't bring himself to kill him and sets him free.  He eventually befriends the dragon, naming him Toothless because of his retractable teeth, and makes a prosthetic for his wounded tail fin so he can fly again.  Hiccup ultimately discovers that everything the Vikings know about the dragons is wrong and that they must join together to face an even bigger threat.  The score features lots of booming brass and percussion with elements from Scottish folk music (I wish that there had been a piper on stage) but my favorite pieces featured beautiful themes by the strings, including "Forbidden Friendship" when Hiccup finally gets Toothless to trust him (this received lots of applause from the audience), "Test Drive" when Hiccup learns to ride Toothless, and "Romantic Flight" when Toothless flies Hiccup and Astrid (America Ferrera) through the clouds and the Northern lights.  I also loved the piano in "Where's Hiccup?" in the aftermath of the battle with Red Death.  Since the music is so epic, the experience of hearing it live while watching the movie is incredibly immersive!  I guarantee that if you love the movie you will love the concert!  Due to popular demand, the Utah Symphony has added two more chances to see it (in June) but you need to act quickly because tickets are almost gone (go here).

Fiddler on the Roof at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

The musical Fiddler on the Roof is an old favorite of mine and I honestly don't think I will ever get tired of seeing it (I have seen it so many times I have to stop myself from singing along to every song). Last night I saw the second of three productions of this show that I have scheduled this year at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse and it was delightful. Tevye (Duane Beesley) is a poor Jewish dairyman living in the small village of Anatevka in Tsarist Russia. He and his wife Golde (Logan Peterson) cling to their traditional way of life as a protection from the harsh realities of life until their three oldest daughters, Tzeitel (Bria Snow), Hodel (Candra Young), and Chava (Daphne Dixon), push against these traditions when it is time to find a match. This show features a large ensemble cast and they are utilized very well in the small space, especially in "Tradition," "Sabbath Prayer" (I loved the different groups of families located all over the theater), "Sunrise, Sunset," and "The Rumor" (having the action move around the different areas of the stage as the rumor spreads is really effective). Not only is the ensemble used very well but they do a really good job with the choreography, particularly in "To Life" and in the wedding scene (I always love the bottle dance). There was a tiny little boy who was concentrating so hard on the choreography in "Tradition" and I overheard one of the actors on stage near me whisper, "He did it!" This is why I love community theatre! The main cast is also outstanding. Beesley is much more soft-spoken than other Tevyes that I have seen but this made his version of "Do You Love Me?" with Peterson even more endearing and his version of "Little Bird" even more heartbreaking. Peterson is one of the sassiest Goldes I've seen and her facial expressions are hilarious. Other standouts for me are Carla Lambardo Bambo as Yente, Ethan Snow as Motel, Alex Young as Perchik, and Kelsey Porter as the Fiddler (she is integrated into the story a lot more in this production). My favorite part of the show was The Dream Sequence because Fruma-Sarah (Abbie Webb) suddenly emerges from the middle of Tevye and Golde's bed. I was laughing out loud because that was exactly how I appeared when I played Fruma-Sarah and it brought back so many fun memories (one night a little old man was so shocked when I suddenly appeared that he screamed out loud). The elaborate sets for Tevye's house (interior and exterior) and barn are impressive and I also liked all of the smaller set pieces, such as the village inn, Motel's tailor shop, and the railway station, that are located on the platforms on either side of the stage. I firmly believe that seeing all of the old favorites, like Fiddler on the Roof, when I was young is why I love musical theatre to this day and I really encourage people to take advantage of all of the many opportunities to see community theatre performances in the Salt Lake area. This production runs on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays through June 1 (go here for tickets).

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare

I usually really enjoy Guy Ritchie's movies (I have expunged King Arthur: Legend of the Sword from my memory) so I was really excited to see The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare last night.  This is inspired by a true story based on recently declassified files about a daring mission during World War II that led to the formation of the SAS and I had a lot of fun with it.  German U-boats control the Atlantic Ocean making it difficult for the Americans to join the war effort which Prime Minister Winston Churchill (Rory Kinnear) is desperate for them to do to alleviate the stress of constant bombing by the Lutwaffe and to stop his advisors from pushing for an appeasement agreement with Germany.  Brigadier Colin Gubbins (Cary Elwes) and Ian Fleming (Freddie Fox), a member of Naval Intelligence, come up with a bold but unsanctioned plan to destroy the U-boat supply ship, Duchessa d'Aosta, stationed at an island off the coast of West Africa called Fernando Po.  They recruit Major Gus March-Phillipps (Henry Cavill), an insubordinate officer serving time in prison, to lead Operation Postmaster and he assembles his own team, including Henry Hayes (Hero Fiennes Tiffin), Freddy Alvarez (Henry Golding), and Anders Lassen (Alan Ritchson).  Agents Richard Heron (Babs Olusanmokun) and Marjorie Stewart (Eiza Gonzalez) are sent ahead to distract Heinrich Luhr (Til Schweiger), the SS commandant of Fernando Po, while Gus and his crew make a detour to rescue Geoffrey Appleyard (Alex Pattyfer), a saboteur being held in the Canary Islands by the Gestapo.  When their plan goes awry they must use unconventional methods to achieve their mission.  This features everything I love about a Guy Ritchie movie: exciting action sequences, a distinctive score that adds to the mayhem, and a wise-cracking protagonist with a bunch of misfit sidekicks.  Cavill is incredibly charismatic as the agent who is believed to have inspired Ian Fleming to create James Bond and, even though Kinnear is probably the worst Churchill I have seen on film (he doesn't look or sound anything like him), the rest of the cast is *ahem* a lot of fun to watch and they have great chemistry with each other.  The story itself is compelling but I didn't really feel a lot of tension or suspense (the Nazis are dispatched almost too easily).  I was, however, very entertained and I recommend it to fans of Ritchie.

Timpanogos Community Theater's The Pirates of Penzance

Last year I was so impressed by Timpanogos Community Theater's production of The Sound of Music that I immediately vowed to come back for another show. I finally made good on that promise by seeing The Pirates of Penzance last night and I'm sorry that I waited so long because I really enjoyed myself! It is one of the funniest versions of this comedic operetta that I have ever seen! Frederic (Adam Moore) has reached his 21st birthday and wishes to leave the band of pirates to whom he has been mistakenly apprenticed. After leaving the pirates, Frederic meets Major-General Stanley (Brett Hansen) and his daughters, falls in love with the youngest daughter Mabel (Kyra Fowler), and enlists the Sergeant of Police (Aaron Bone) and his constables to arrest the pirates. Chaos ensues when the Pirate King (Aaron Williams) and Ruth (Vivian Mathias), Frederic's former nursemaid, tell him that he was born during a leap year and, since he has only had five birthdays, he must continue to serve his apprenticeship. The set is quite simple, consisting of a ship, the seaside, and a graveyard (there is also an amusing miniature ship that is used several times), and the costumes are a lot more straightforward than in other productions of this show that I have seen (the Major-General does not even have any medals) but it matters not because the comedy comes from the brilliant staging, choreography, and performances without having to rely on sight gags. I was laughing from beginning to end at the physicality in all of the scenes but my favorites were Frederic and Ruth's interactions "Oh! false one, you have deceiv'd me" when he learns that she is not as beautiful as she has claimed to be, Frederic hiding in plain sight from the daughters in "Climbing over rocky mountains," when the daughters feign disinterest in Frederic during "Oh, is there not one maiden breast" (Ciara Hulet's facial expressions killed me), when the daughters keep moving closer to overhear Frederic and Mabel in "How beautifully blue the sky," when the pirates and daughters dramatically gasp for breath during "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," and when the constables and the pirates hide in plain sight from the Major General in "Hush, hush! not a word." The ensemble, who all sing and dance as pirates, daughters, and constables, is outstanding and so much fun to watch and I also loved Fowler's beautiful rendition of "Poor wand'ring one" and Williams' enthusiastic version of "Oh! better far to live and die." My favorite performance, however, was that of Moore because he is incredibly appealing as Frederic! He has a beautiful voice, especially when he sings "Stay, Fred'ric, stay," "Ah, leave me not to pine," and "Oh, here is love, and here is truth" with Fowler, but his comedic timing coupled with his earnest expression (and rosy cheeks) is enchanting! Hurrah for this production for putting a big smile on my face! It runs at the Valentine Theater on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through May 4 and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Guitar Celebrations: JIJI Plays Rodrigo's Guitar Concerto

I always love it when I walk into Abravanel Hall and see lots of percussion instruments on the stage but when they are joined by rows of amps and pedal boards it is even more exciting!  Last night's Utah Symphony concert was the culmination of a week long guitar festival conceived by USUO Creative Partner David Robertson featuring the super group Another Night on Earth (including the acoustic and electric guitarists Steven Mackey, Joe Gore, James Moore, Heiko Ossig, Daniele Gottardo, JIJI, and Gretchen Menn) with guitar pieces of every genre.  It was amazing!  The concert began with Mackey's Turn the Key with the composer as soloist.  This piece was very playful with a fun rhythm that was infectious.  I loved the use of lots of different percussion instruments (including the clapping of hands) and the harp solo.  Next came a piece arranged by Robertson and Gore called Falling Through Time: Music from the 1300s which is a collection of medieval music using modern instruments and percussion.  This was seriously cool and I loved how the electric guitar, played by Gore, seemed to take the place of the chanting that is usually heard in this type of music.  This was followed by Moore's Sleep is Shattered with the composer as soloist on electric guitar.  It is inspired by Dante's Divine Comedy and the guitar acts as the impetus for transporting the audience to various states of being and it features lots of interesting distortions.  It might not be for everyone because it was really trippy but I really dug it!  After the intermission Robertson joked that he knew the audience only sat through the other pieces just to get to this one (I really like him because he is so charming) before performing a piece arranged by Leo Brouwer called Beatlerianas with Ossig as soloist on acoustic guitar.  This is a medley of Beatles songs, including "Eleanor Rigby," "Yesterday," "She's Leaving Home," "Ticket to Ride" "Got to Get You Into My Life," "Here, There and Everywhere," and "Penny Lane," and it was absolutely beautiful!  It was obviously my favorite piece of the evening!  The world premiere of Concerto for Guitar and Orchestra by Gottardo came next with the composer as soloist on electric guitar.  This had a jazz sound and I especially liked the second movement because it is a bit melancholy (Robertson described it as nostalgia for something you haven't experienced yet).  The orchestra continued with one of the most popular pieces for guitar, Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo, with JIJI as soloist on Spanish guitar.  I loved all of the guitar solos (JIJI was brilliant and so much fun to watch) throughout and the dramatic themes played by the strings in the second movement. All of the guitarists returned to the stage for an epic rendition of G-Spot Tornado by Frank Zappa which rocked the house to close out the concert!  I thoroughly enjoyed this show and now I really want to start playing my guitar again!  This program will be repeated again tonight (go here for tickets).

Big Fish at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

I have seen the musical Big Fish many times (it is very popular in Utah) but my favorite production just might be the one I saw last night at the SCERA Center for Performing Arts because it is so heartwarming! Now that Will Bloom (Bryson Smellie) is about to become a father he laments the fact that he doesn't know his own father Edward (Mark Gordon) because of all the outlandish stories he has always told him about his life. These include having his fortune told by a witch (Adrienne Hansen) in a swamp, learning how to swim from a mermaid (Shelby Horton), going on the road with a giant named Karl (Rob Crockett), joining a circus owned by a werewolf named Amos (Samuel Benson), wooing his future wife Sandra (Christie Gardiner) with daffodils, and thwarting an assassination of a general (Drew Christensen) during the war. When Will learns that Edward is dying of cancer he returns home to attempt a reconciliation with him and, after a Wild West confrontation between the two of them, he discovers that the truth about his father is more extraordinary than the stories. Gordon is the best Edward that I have ever seen because he portrays his zest for life with an exuberance that is palpable but he is also incredibly affecting in his scenes with Smellie as a father who desperately wants his son to be proud of him and in his scenes as a dying old man hoping that he is leaving a lasting legacy behind. He made me laugh and cry and think about all of the stories my own dad used to tell. Smellie is also outstanding because he plays Will's journey from exasperation with his father to understanding him with so much emotion, especially in the scene with Jenny Hill (Anya Young Wilson) and in the song "What's Next." Gardiner has a beautiful voice and her renditions of "Two Men In My Life" and "I Don't Need a Roof" were also highlights for me. I really love the songs that bring Edward's imaginative stories to life and the costumes and choreography in this production are so fun and whimsical, particularly in "I Know What You Want" with the witch, "Favorite Son" with the townspeople of Ashton, "Closer to Her" with the circus (I laughed out loud at the elephant and the firing of the cannon is so fun), and "Red, White, and True" with the USO (the tap dancing by the ensemble is impressive). The set is very simple with various pieces used to create vignettes (Will's bedroom, Edward's bedroom, hospital rooms, the front porch, etc.) brought on and off the stage by the ensemble but the backdrop used for "Daffodils" is a show-stopper (literally). The use of projections is very effective, especially the different images introducing all of the characters in "Be The Hero" and recapping them in "What's Next." This production reignited my love for this show (which was starting to wane after seeing it so many times) and I would definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here). It runs at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts on Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through May 4.