Mozart's Requiem

One of my all-time favorite movies is Amadeus.  I have a very vivid memory of watching it for the first time on HBO when I was in high school because, for some reason, I was in my parents' room instead of the family room downstairs.  They wanted to go to bed but I was so engrossed that they let me continue watching it to the end.  It was the first movie that I owned (on VHS) and I watched it obsessively.  I also bought the soundtrack (on vinyl) and I loved it so much that my parents took me to my first Utah Symphony concert because the program featured Mozart's Requiem.  I will never forget that concert because it was my introduction to hearing classical music performed live (I have been a Utah Symphony subscriber ever since) and I was completely overcome hearing a piece that I loved so much (my parents both fell asleep).  The program for last night's Utah Symphony concert included three pieces by Mozart that are featured in Amadeus and I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself (I have been looking forward to it since the season was announced a year ago).  The orchestra began with the Overture to The Magic Flute and, even though it is not my favorite opera by Mozart (that would be Don Giovanni), I really enjoyed it because it is very playful, especially the unexpected use of the brass in the opening notes.  Next came Symphony No. 25 and, while I love all of it, the first movement is my favorite because it is incredibly stirring (I love the syncopation) and I know every single note because it is played over the opening credits in Amadeus as Salieri is rushed through the streets of Vienna after attempting suicide (I saw this scene in my mind as I listened to it).  After the intermission, the orchestra was joined by Soprano Deanna Breiwick, Mezzo-Soprano Cecelia Hall, Tenor Matthew Newhouse, Baritone Levi Hernandez, and the Utah Symphony Chorus for the Requiem.  I am fascinated by this piece because it is hauntingly beautiful and, while the movie definitely takes many liberties with how it was composed, the true story is still very intriguing because it is believed that a mysterious figure commissioned a Requiem Mass with the intention of passing it off as his own and, of course, it is incredibly tragic that Mozart died before completing it.  The performance was spectacular and I had goosebumps many times throughout but my favorite sections were the Kyrie because the double fugue is so intense, the Confutatis because I love the arpeggios by the strings as the women sing (this is what Mozart is writing with Salieri on his deathbed in the movie), and the Lacrimosa because it is atmospheric and mournful (this is what plays during Mozart's funeral in the movie).  I loved this concert so much and I am sure that I will be on a high from it for days!  I highly recommend getting a ticket for tonight's concert featuring the same program (go here) but act quickly because there were very few empty seats last night.

Note:  Now I want to watch Amadeus again!

Sacramento

Yesterday I went to a matinee of Sacramento at the Broadway (there are so many movies that I want to see playing at the Broadway right now so I have to fit them in when I can) and I found it very charming.  The free-spirited Rickey (Michael Angarano) meets a woman named Tallie (Maya Erskine) before learning of his father's death.  One year later, after he is kicked out of his grief support group, he arrives unannounced at the home of his estranged friend Glenn (Michael Cera).  The uptight Glenn is about to become a father and is filled with anxiety to the chagrin of his exasperated wife Rosie (Kristen Stewart).  Rickey notices how stressed Glenn is acting and spontaneously suggests a road trip from Los Angeles to Sacramento and, when Glenn refuses to go, he tells him that the purpose of the trip is to scatter his father's ashes even though he has another motive for wanting to go there.  Glenn suspects that Rickey is lying but agrees to go because he is worried about him.  As they argue over who is having a bigger breakdown, Glenn helps Rickey face up to his responsibilities and Rickey helps Glenn calm down.  This is both funny and heartwarming and plays to the strengths of Angarano and Cera as actors.  I laughed out loud when Rickey and Glenn end up at a boxing gym, for reasons, and end up going at each other in the ring and when they wrestle each other to the ground in the middle of a parking lot because they are just like twelve year old boys.  I also laughed at the lengths to which Rickey goes to keep Glenn on the trip with him, especially arranging for his car to be towed.  There is also an incredibly poignant scene where Rickey helps Glenn through a panic attack and reassures him they will both be okay.  Stewart and Erskine don't have a lot of screen time but they really ground the story.  I enjoyed this buddy comedy (I think it is a more lighthearted version of A Real Pain) and I recommend it to fans of the actors.

Wicked at the Eccles

I really love the musical Wicked because not only is it a powerful ode to anyone who has ever felt different but it is also extremely clever in the way it sets up the events in The Wizard of Oz and the music is so stirring.  I love it so much that I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing it (the usher, who talks to me before every show, asked me how many times I've seen it and I think the number is now ten).  It was so much fun to see it again last night at the Eccles Theatre, especially now that I have seen the movie (I cannot wait for the second part now).  I am really glad that it is still the original production and that it hasn't been changed to conform to the choreography, costumes, and production design of the movie because I've always really enjoyed all of these elements in the stage version (although I thought the projections for the tornado were really underwhelming this time around).  I noticed that the pace is so much faster in comparison to the movie with scenes moving very quickly but I actually appreciated this because I always sit with great anticipation for all of my favorite numbers.  The two leads in this production, Austen Danielle Bohmer as Glinda and Lauren Samuels as Elphaba, are wonderful and I especially enjoyed Bohmer's hilarious rendition of "Popular" (I loved it when she hunched down to get her wand working) and Samuels is incredibly powerful in "The Wizard and I," "Defying Gravity," and "No Good Deed" as well as very affecting in "I'm Not That Girl" (my favorite song in the show).  They also sound great together in "What Is This Feeling?" and "For Good" although their physicality is a bit off because Samuels is very slight in stature (I always think that Elphaba should be larger and more awkward than Glinda).  I also really liked Xavier McKinnon as Fiyero because he is charismatic (and is a great dancer) in "Dancing Through Life" and he has a lot of chemistry with Samuels in "As Long As You're Mine."  He is especially awkward with Samuels when she leaves Shiz for the Emerald City as well as with Bohmer during "Thank Goodness."  Aymee Garcia is one of the sassiest Madame Morribles I've seen and Blake Hammond is suitably smarmy as the Wonderful Wizard of Oz but I found Erica Ito and Alex Vinh to be a bit bland as Nessarose and Boq, respectively.  This show will always be a favorite and I absolutely loved seeing so many people around me experience the stage version for the first time after being introduced to the story by the movie.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) through the run at the Eccles Theatre which continues through May 25.

Note:  After seeing the movie, I decided to read Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire.  It is extremely dark and very weird (Elphaba and Glinda do not even interact very much) and I definitely prefer the stage adaptation.

A Chorus Line at West Valley Arts

Last night I went to a production of A Chorus Line at the West Valley Performing Arts Center and it is outstanding in every way! A large group of dancers are vying for a chance to be part of the ensemble of a new Broadway show. The director Zach (Joseph Spear) observes as his assistant Larry (Madison Valgardson) takes the group through the choreography and all of the dancers express the hope that they will be cast. Eventually, the group is narrowed down to Cassie (Bailee Johnson), Kristine (Annie Jones), Richie (Phil Lewis), Bebe (Sophi Keller), Diana (Celeste Palermo), Connie (Ally Choe), Mark (Alec Foote), Greg (Dylan Panter), Al (Remy Talanoa), Paul (Angel Martinez), Bobby (Michael Avila), Maggie (Summer Sloan Alvey), Mike (Cameron Robbins), Val (Rosalie Wasser), and Sheila (Heather White). Zach wants to learn more than what is listed on their resumes so he asks them to talk about their experiences and what made each of them want to be a dancer and they do so in a series of stirring musical numbers. My favorite songs are "I Can Do That" as Mike talks about accompanying his sister to dance class, "At the Ballet" as Sheila, Bebe, and Maggie recount how they used ballet as an escape from their unhappy childhoods, "Gimme the Ball" as Richie describes how he almost became a kindergarten teacher before becoming a dancer, and "Dance: Ten, Looks: Three" as Val brags about getting more work after having plastic surgery. As the group learns the choreography for a number from the show, Zach confronts Cassie and it is revealed that she was once the star of one of his shows, as well as his former lover, and he doesn't think she will fit in with the chorus and he also has a poignant moment with Paul as he describes the difficulty he has had with his sexuality. The group rehearses "One" and Zach selects the final eight dancers who then perform this number in the show. The entire cast is stellar, one of the strongest I've seen at West Valley Arts, but the standouts for me are Johnson because I loved her mesmerizing performance in "The Music and the Mirror" and Martinez because his delivery of Paul's monologue is incredibly emotional. I wondered about the staging of this show because the theater is in the round but it is very clever. Zach initially observes the group from a platform above one of the wings but then we only hear his disembodied voice coming from various areas of the theater and this allows the dancers to face different parts of the audience as they speak to him. The choreography is also very clever (I have become a huge fan of co-director and co-choreographer Izzy Arrieta) because, while it is recognizable from other versions of this show that I have seen, lots of different patterns are created on stage so there is always something to look at. I also loved the use of the company as the individual characters perform their solo numbers, particularly during "And..."  The set is minimal because the audition takes place on a bare stage but I really liked the use of clear plexiglass panels around the perimeter because they are somewhat reflective and replicate the mirrors one would find in a ballet studio and the way that actual mirrors are incorporated into "The Music and the Mirror" is very effective. The costumes during the audition are also minimal but the sparkly gold ones used in the finale are quite spectacular (as is the dramatic lighting during this number). This stunning show is definitely one that you do not want to miss! It runs at the West Valley Performing Arts Center through May 3 with performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays (go here for tickets).

Warfare

The second movie in the double feature at the Broadway with my nephew last night was Warfare.  It was quite a shift in tone from our first movie because it is incredibly intense!  In 2006 the Navy SEAL platoon Alpha One is sent on a surveillance mission looking for insurgents in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Ramadi.  They commandeer the house of a local family and begin to monitor the market located across the street after it shows an elevated level of activity.  In the ensuing firefight with the insurgents, several members of the platoon are injured and require evacuation but this proves to be incredibly dangerous until Alpha Two eventually reaches their position.  It focuses on Erik (Will Poulter), the Officer in Charge, Ray (D'Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai), the communications officer, Elliott (Cosmo Jarvis), the lead sniper injured in the firefight, Sam (Joseph Quinn), the LPO injured by an IED, Tommy (Kit Connor), a relatively inexperienced gunner, and Jake (Charles Melton), the Assistant Officer in Charge.  Ray Mendoza, the communications officer in the actual Alpha One platoon, is the co-writer and co-director and he wanted the movie to serve as a memory of the events for the injured Elliott Miller and, as such, it is one of the most accurate portrayals of war that I have ever seen.  It is incredibly immersive, especially a scene where the soldiers use smoke to mask their movements and the scenes depicting the explosion of an IED, because the visual effects and sound design put the audience in the middle of the action which is shown in real-time.  The scenes showing a plane strafing the street as a "show of force" are especially visceral.  This is definitely an experience rather than a narrative (although there is more of a story arc than I was expecting) and I was particularly struck by the moments of tedium as the soldiers wait for something to happen juxtaposed with the total chaos and terror of battle.  It is very powerful but, in my opinion, it is quite neutral in its message about war in that it is merely an objective look at what actually happens and the audience is meant to take away their own interpretation.  I highly recommend it but it may be difficult for some to watch.

The Ballad of Wallis Island

I really enjoyed The Ballad of Wallis Island at Sundance this year (it was one of the few comedies at the festival that actually worked for me) so I was secretly happy when my nephew expressed an interest in it because that meant I had an excuse to see it again!  It was the first in a double feature at the Broadway last night and he liked it as much as I did (I liked it even more upon a second viewing).  The awkward and eccentric Charles (Tim Key) retired to a remote island after winning the lottery not once but twice.  On the five year anniversary of the death of his wife Marie, he uses some of his winnings to bring Herb McGwyer (Tom Basden), one half of their favorite folk duo McGwyer Mortimer, to the island to perform a concert.  Charles is a very enthusiastic fan and Herb soon finds the whole arrangement to be strange, especially when he learns that Charles will be the only one in the audience, but he stays because he needs the money to finance a solo album.  Complications ensue when Nell Mortimer (Carey Mulligan), the other half of the folk duo, arrives on the island with her husband Michael (Akemnji Ndifornyen).  There are unresolved tensions between Herb and Nell stemming from their messy break-up both personally and professionally but, as they rehearse, Herb begins to romanticize their time as a duo because he is unhappy with the direction of his solo career.  Charles also romanticizes their music because it reminds him of his late wife and this is keeping him from pursuing a relationship with Amanda (Sian Clifford), the owner of a shop on the island.  Both Herb and Charles must learn to let go of the past in order to move forward into the future.  The story is incredibly charming and I love how music (my nephew and I both loved all of the songs) is used as a way to evoke memories because I am instantly transported back to a certain time and place whenever I hear some songs.  The humor is really dry (you have to listen very carefully to all of Charles's one-liners because they are absolutely hilarious) and it was a lot of fun to hear the large crowd laughing out loud with me because I was sometimes the only one laughing during the Sundance screening.  This is a movie with a lot of heart and I definitely recommend it!

A Case for the Existence of God at PTC

I had heard great things about PTC's production of A Case for the Existence of God but I didn't have a chance to see it until last night. I'm glad I was finally able to get to it because this existential exploration of an unlikely friendship that provides hope in a precarious world is very powerful and I was incredibly moved by it. Keith (Jon Hudson Odom) is Black, gay, well educated, sophisticated, and comes from an affluent background. Ryan (Lee Osorio) is white, straight, uninformed, aimless, and comes from a working class background. He works at a yogurt factory in Twin Falls, Idaho and is currently going through a divorce but he hopes to purchase land that once belonged to his family in order to make a better life for his daughter. He reaches out to Keith, a mortgage broker who has a daughter at the same daycare as his daughter, to help him complete the purchase but there are many obstacles because he has a poor credit history. While working together, they begin disclosing personal details and it turns out that both men have preconceived ideas about the other. Keith sees Ryan as the popular and confident boy who bullied him in high school while Ryan believes that Keith lives a privileged life free from worry. However, Ryan reveals that had a dysfunctional childhood with parents who were addicts and Keith eventually confides that he could lose his foster daughter to a biological relative. They forge an uneasy bond over their shared sadness but it is this bond that ultimately provides them with hope for the future when they both suffer devastating setbacks. Both Osorio and Odom give highly nuanced performances, particularly in the way they communicate so much about their characters with just their body language and mannerisms (the play opens with both men sitting in silence for several minutes and this gives the audience more information than pages of dialogue). I especially loved Odom's portrayal of a panic attack because it is very realistic and I also enjoyed Osorio's drunken reaction to a piece of music. I had tears in my eyes when the two characters are finally able to comfort each other because the actors have such a believable rapport in this scene. All of the action takes place in a cramped cubicle at Keith's brokerage firm with just enough room for a desk and two chairs and I really appreciated the subtle changes in the position of the chairs (and the even subtler changes in wardrobe and lighting cues) to denote the changes in their relationship. The set evolves, as do the characters, during the conclusion and I think the final message is really beautiful. I will definitely be thinking about this for a long time and I highly recommend it. Unfortunately, there are only two more performances left (go here for tickets).

Drop

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of Drop because I thought the premise looked intriguing.  I went in with very few expectations and I found it entertaining enough.  Violet (Meghann Fahy) is a single mother who is finally ready to go on a date after surviving an abusive marriage.  She meets Henry (Brandon Sklenar), a handsome and charming man with whom she has been communicating on a dating app for three months, at an upscale restaurant while her sister Jen (Violett Beane) watches her young son Toby (Jacob Robinson) at her house.  Violet is nervous but soon becomes annoyed when she receives several AirDrops from someone nearby.  She and Henry attempt to discover which of the restaurant's patrons is sending them but the messages become increasingly threatening until she is forced to follow a series of instructions in order to prevent her son, who has been taken hostage, from being killed.  When she is told to kill Henry by poisoning his drink, she becomes desperate to save both him and her son from the anonymous caller.  There are some great twists and turns with a few exciting action sequences in the third act but it drags in the second act because, in my opinion, the mystery is belabored for longer than it should be and I found the big reveal to be a bit anticlimactic.  You must also suspend your disbelief a lot (why would someone stay on a date with a woman who is continually staring at her phone and frequently leaving to use the restroom and why wouldn't you just turn AirDrop off after the first innocuous message?).  However, I really liked the stylized production design (the restaurant is seriously cool), the disorienting camera angles that emphasize Violet's claustrophobia, and all of the visual effects that integrate what is happening on Violet's phone (especially the way her home camera feed is portrayed in a tension-filled scene).  I also really enjoyed Fahy's performance because she very effectively communicates Violet's terror (there are many close-up shots on her face) and Jeffery Self is hilarious as an aspiring comedian working as a waiter.  This is definitely not a great movie but I enjoyed it enough to recommend it for a fun night out but nothing more.

A Nice Indian Boy

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway last night was A Nice Indian Boy.  I am not a huge fan of romantic comedies but I decided to see this because the trailer made me laugh out loud!  Megha and Archit Gavaskar (Zarna Garg and Harish Pateal, respectively) are overjoyed when their daughter Arundhathi (Sunita Mani) marries the nice Indian boy (Sachin Sahel) that they and his parents arrange for her.  They only wish that their son Naveen (Karan Soni), who they begrudgingly acknowledge is gay, will be next.  Eventually the mild-mannered and awkward Naveen meets the outgoing and dramatic Jay Kurundkar (Jonathan Goff), a former foster kid who is white but was adopted by an Indian couple.  They bond over the Bollywood musical Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge (the source of much amusement throughout the movie), fall in love, and get engaged (twice).  Complications ensue when Naveen introduces Jay to his parents and when Arundhathi announces that she wants to divorce her husband.  What I loved most about this heartwarming story is that Megha and Archit, who had a traditional arranged marriage, realize that they actually love each other after all of these years (in some hilarious scenes) and that, once Arundhathi and Naveen finally communicate how they feel, they are a lot more accepting than their children assumed they would be (in some really moving scenes).  The central romance is a lot of fun, especially their meet-cute in a Hindu temple and when Naveen reenacts the song from Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge that Jay embarrassed him with when he sang it to him on the street.  All of the performances are great (Soni and Groff have believable chemistry) but I especially enjoyed Garg when the overwrought Megha plans the elaborate wedding (with printed invitations).  This is incredibly charming and I had a lot of fun watching it so fans of romantic comedies will love it.

The Friend

Last night I went to the Broadway for a double feature and I started with The Friend because I have a soft spot for dogs.  It is a slow-moving but poignant exploration of how an unlikely friendship helps a woman come to terms with her grief (bring tissues).  Walter (Bill Murray) is a successful author and professor with a messy personal life which includes three troubled marriages, countless affairs with students, and an estranged daughter.  The only constants in his life are Iris (Naomi Watts), a friend and former student who is also an author, and Apollo (Bing), a 150-pound Great Dane.  Iris is devastated when Walter commits suicide but she is surprised and annoyed when she learns that he has chosen her to care for Apollo.  This completely disrupts her life because her rent-controlled apartment has a strict no-dogs policy and, since Apollo is also mourning the loss of Walter, he dislikes being alone which keeps her from working on her current novel.  She eventually forms a bond with Apollo so, in a last ditch attempt to avoid being evicted, she meets with a therapist to certify that she needs him as an emotional support animal only to discover that she actually does.  Anyone who has ever had a dog will definitely relate to how much comfort they can provide and I cried several times, particularly when Iris wishes that Apollo could live as long as her.  Even though Watts and Murray are outstanding, especially in an emotional scene where Iris imagines confronting Walter about abandoning Apollo (who is a stand-in for her), I absolutely loved Bing's performance because he is so expressive.  I enjoyed this touching movie and highly recommend it (but please heed my suggestion about the tissues).

The Amateur

My nephew and I have been eagerly anticipating the release of The Amateur since the first trailer dropped (he actually sent me the trailer and we discussed it endlessly) so we were both absolutely thrilled to go to an early access screening last night.  I am really biased (spy thrillers are one of my favorite genres of both movies and books and I am a huge fan of Rami Malek) but I loved it!  CIA analyst Charlie Heller (Malek) receives information from an anonymous source which implicates his boss, Deputy Director Alex Moore (Holt McCallany), in unsanctioned black ops missions around the globe.  When his wife Sarah (Rachel Brosnahan) is killed in a terror attack in London, he tracks down those responsible but Moore seems hesitant to take action against them.  He decides use the information from his source to blackmail Moore into allowing him to go after the terrorists himself and trains with Robert Henderson (Laurence Fishburne) who determines that Heller doesn't have the killer instinct to be an operative.  However, he uses his own specific skills to chase his wife's killers but it takes the help of his informant (Caitriona Balfe), and another unlikely ally within the CIA (Julianne Nicholson), to stay ahead of Henderson and the other operatives sent by Moore to stop him.  The story is entertaining with lots of twists and turns and I enjoyed the clever methods used by Heller to exact revenge as well as the message about the toll that killing can take on someone whether justified or not.  All of the different locations around the world are fabulous and I like that we actually see Heller using his skills to get from place to place.  This is a role that is very well suited to Malek's strengths as an actor (the character reminded me a lot of Elliot Alderson) and I loved his performance.  My only complaint is that there are some pacing issues.  I started to get a bit restless when there were still two terrorists left to track down (but I did find the resolution to be thrilling).  I had so much fun watching this with my nephew (he loved it, too, and is hoping for a sequel) and I highly recommend it!

Bob Trevino Likes It

My nephew and I went to the Broadway last night for Bob Trevino Likes It and it is one of the most heartwarming movies I've seen in a long time!  Lily Trevino (Barbie Ferreira) had a traumatic childhood with an absent mother and her father Bob (French Stewart) continues to be narcissistic and manipulative.  She is desperate for a relationship with him, so after he cuts off contact with her, she tries to reach out to him by searching for him on Facebook.  She finds a profile without a picture for a Bob Trevino and sends him a friend request.  Even though he doesn't know her, this Bob Trevino (John Leguizamo) accepts it, starts liking her posts, and begins communicating with her.  They eventually meet and, because Bob had a tragedy in his past that has left him feeling just as alone as Lily, their interactions help both of them heal.  The story about a young woman who is so isolated and starved for affection that she seeks a connection anywhere she can find it is incredibly moving and there were several scenes that reduced me to tears, particularly one that takes place at an animal shelter.  The message about the importance of found families to fill the void left by dysfunctional or absent biological families is also really powerful and I found it very hopeful.  Ferreira gives a raw and emotional performance and it is easy to root for her character as she finally learns how to put herself first in her dealings with her abusive father.  She has wonderful chemistry with Leguizamo, who gives one of the best performances of his career, and I absolutely loved his character because he is so kind, gentle, and caring (everyone needs someone like Bob in their lives).  The cathartic ending is earned rather than manipulative, in my opinion, and it left me a blubbering mess (several people walking out of the theater were also wiping their eyes).  I cannot recommend this enough!

Life of Pi at the Eccles

I really love the book Life of Pi by Yann Martel and I also enjoyed the movie adaptation but I wondered how it would translate to the stage because the book is very interior and the movie is incredibly cinematic.  I had the chance to see the Broadway touring production at the Eccles Theatre last night and I was blown away by the spectacular staging and an incredible central performance.  After surviving 227 days at sea, Piscine "Pi" Patel (Taha Mandviwala) is washed on shore in Mexico as the sole survivor of a Japanese freighter that was sunk during a storm.  He is questioned by officials and begins recounting his life at his family's zoo in India, their decision to emigrate to Canada with the animals, the sinking of the ship, and his fantastical journey at sea trapped in a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.  The officials do not believe his story about coexisting at sea with a dangerous animal so he tells them a more plausible one and leaves it up to them to determine which one is true.  I loved the emphasis on the power of storytelling and that sometimes the better story requires you to believe something without proof.  I also found the emphasis on survival and the need to create a story in order to live with what was done in the name of survival to be very compelling.  The interiority of the novel is very cleverly portrayed by having characters physically appear to Pi during his darkest moments at sea to give him instructions for survival (the admiral, portrayed by Sinclair Mitchell, who reads to Pi from his survival guide was my favorite).  The visuals used in this production are absolutely stunning and I especially loved the projections and fog used to represent the undulating ocean waves all around the lifeboat and the lighting effects that mimic a starry night at sea.  The set is absolutely brilliant and the transitions from the hospital, to the zoo, to the ship, to the lifeboat, and back to the hospital again happen in an instant.  The animals are portrayed by the most amazing puppets (they were designed by Finn Caldwell who also worked on the puppets in War Horse) and the way the puppeteers manipulate them is ingenious!  I was giggling out loud watching the orangutan swing from branch to branch in the zoo as well as the iridescent fish swimming around the lifeboat but the appearance of Richard Parker (performed by Jon Hoche, Anna Vomáčka, and Andrew Wilson) took my breath away because his movements are so lifelike and I couldn't take my eyes off him whenever he was on stage.  Finally, this production is worth seeing for Mandviwala's energetic physical performance alone.  This is one of the most mesmerizing shows I've seen and it is certainly my favorite from the 2024-2025 Broadway at the Eccles season (which is ironic because I wasn't especially looking forward to it).  There are five more performances left at the Eccles and I highly recommend getting a ticket for one of them (go here).

Jersey Boys at The Ruth

I really love the jukebox musical Jersey Boys because it reminds me of my dad.  He was a big fan of The Four Seasons and, because he would always play their music on family road trips, I know the words to every song!  I went to see a production at The Ruth last night and I had to try very hard not to sing along!  Frankie Valli (Kristian Huff), Tommy DeVito (Brock Dalgleish), Nick Massi (Chase Petersen), and Bob Gaudio (Scott Hendrickson) each take a turn narrating the story of The Four Seasons from their own perspectives, including their rise from four guys singing under a streetlamp in New Jersey to superstardom and then their downfall after the pressure of fame tears them apart, because everyone remembers it the way they need to.  As previously mentioned, I love the music in this show and the performances from the four leads are amazing!  I was especially impressed with Huff, because he captures Valli's falsetto perfectly, but I really appreciate that the four of them sing and dance in a way that is instantly recognizable as The Four Seasons but they don't just replicate the original performances (or what other productions have done).  The ensemble, who all play multiple roles, is also outstanding and so is the live band (I loved seeing all of the racks of guitars).  I think the staging is very clever and, because it is so fast-paced, I particularly liked the use of large screens on the two-story set and around the stage to denote locations as well as the quick costume changes (so many different jackets!) that happen right on stage.  Watching the songs as they are being performed in specific locations, such as "Sherry" on American Bandstand and "Rag Doll" (my favorite song by the group) at their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, is so much fun because we become the audience at these venues but, in my opinion, "Dawn (Go Away)" on The Ed Sullivan Show is a highlight because they turn away from the actual audience to sing for screaming fans shown in black and white images on the screens.  Finally, this updated version does not contain the profanity used in the original (this makes the show more accessible to audiences and I don't think it detracts from the story at all) and the suggestive elements during "December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)" are really toned down.  I've seen several versions of this show (including the Broadway touring production) and this one might be my favorite because it feels so intimate.  I loved it and I highly recommend seeing it (go here for tickets) if you are a fan of The Four Seasons.  It runs at the Smith Grand Theater through May 10.

Utah Hockey Club vs. Calgary Flames

My sister Marilyn is not a hockey fan (we are not really sure how this happened) so, when one of her colleagues gave her four tickets to last night's Utah Hockey Club game to thank her for helping him with a big project, she invited me, Kristine, and Trent to go with her because the three of us are huge hockey fans.  We had so much fun (even Marilyn) and I know my dad was so happy that his three daughters were together at a hockey game (especially against a Canadian team because we got to hear "O Canada").  Utah played the Calgary Flames and it was a really important game with playoff implications for both teams so it was very exciting!  Both teams are very evenly matched but goalie Karel Vejmelka was the difference for Utah because he made 33 saves.  Kevin Stenlund scored first for Utah with with a really nice one-timer at the end of the first period and the crowd went crazy!  It looked like Calgary had scored early in the second period when Mikael Backlund's shot hit the skate of Utah's Nick DeSimone but the goal was disallowed after it was reviewed (which also made the crowd cheer).  Thirty seconds later Barrett Hayton scored on a backhander to put Utah up 2-0.  Rasmus Andersson got one by Vejmelka (I thought he had it) mid-way through the second and then there were a few penalties and a fight to end the period.  Calgary had a few good chances in the third but Utah never gave up and the captain Clayton Keller scored (with an assist from my favorite player Dylan Guenther) on an empty net goal in the final seconds to win 3-1.  I was so happy to see them win because they lost the only other time I've gone to a game this season!  We had such a great time so I think Marilyn might be a new fan!

The Penguin Lessons

The trailer for The Penguin Lessons looked really heartwarming so I decided to see it at the Broadway last night.  It is a charming, but superficial, character study about a man whose life is unexpectedly transformed by a penguin.  Tom Michell (Steve Coogan) is an Englishman who takes a teaching position at an exclusive school in Argentina during a military coup in 1976.  He is misanthropic and cynical, disengaged from the tumultuous political situation around him, and largely ineffective in the classroom.  While on holiday in Uruguay, he rescues a Magellanic penguin from an oil slick on the beach in order to impress a woman.  However, once the encounter with this woman is over, he tries to return the penguin to the ocean but it follows him back to his hotel and he eventually smuggles it home.  He attempts to hide the penguin, who he names Juan Salvatore, from the persnickety headmaster (Jonathan Pryce) but soon others at the school show an interest and this leads to friendships with another teacher (Bjorn Gustafsson), the school housekeeper Maria (Vivian El Jaber), and her granddaughter Sofia (Alfonsina Carrocio).  He brings Juan Salvatore to class and his unruly students are captivated and see Michell in a new light.  He also uses Juan Salvatore to strike up a conversation with a military leader to advocate for the release of Sofia after she is arrested.  This is at its best when it focuses on Michell learning how to reengage with the world with the help of his penguin friend.  It is less successful when it attempts to blandly explore the politics of the region through his privileged eyes (there is even a scene where he confesses that he could have intervened when Sofia was arrested but didn't and her distraught grandmother hugs him to make him feel better).  Coogan is great in the role with his signature deadpan delivery (I laughed out loud multiple times) and, of course, the penguin is absolutely adorable.  This is an entertaining and (mostly) feel-good comedy but you can probably wait until it streams to watch it.

Death of a Unicorn

Last night my nephew and I went to the Broadway for Death of a Unicorn, a movie we were both looking forward to, and we had a blast watching it.  Lawyer Elliot Kitner (Paul Rudd) and his estranged daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) travel through a wildlife preserve to spend the weekend at the home of Odell Leopold (Richard E. Grant), a wealthy pharmaceutical executive who is dying of cancer, his wife Belinda (Tea Leoni), and his son Shepherd (Will Poulter).  Elliot wants the visit to go well because Odell is a potential client but Ridley is not very enthusiastic and is further traumatized when he hits and kills a unicorn. They eventually confess what they have done to the Leopolds and, because contact with the unicorn has cured Ridley's acne and Elliot's allergies, Odell believes it will cure his cancer and has his scientists experiment on it.  Ridley begins researching the mythology surrounding unicorns and warns against this but, when the dust from the unicorn's horn cures Odell, he, his family, and even Elliot want to sell it to the highest bidders which angers the other unicorns in the area.  This is obviously a satire criticizing the evils of big pharma and corporate greed but, while it is really funny (Poulter and Anthony Carrigan, who plays the silent and put-upon butler Griff, steal the show with their hilarious performances), I especially enjoyed the interactions of Rudd and Ortega as a father and daughter who discover what is really important in life.  The unicorn sequences in the third act are absolutely wild (I was rooting for the unicorns as they hunt all of these despicable people) even if the visual effects are sometimes a bit sloppy.  This has a lot of really bonkers tonal shifts but they all somehow work and it is so much fun.  I recommend seeing it with a large late night crowd.

The Sting at Parker Theatre

Last night I went to see Parker Theatre's production of The Sting (based on the 1973 movie starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman) and I really enjoyed it. It is 1936 and Johnny Hooker (Spencer Hohl) and his partner Luther (Brinton Wilkins) are grifters working in Joliet, Illinois who trick a courier out of $11,000 unaware that the money was to have been given to the powerful mobster Doyle Lonnegan (Owen Richardson). Luther wants to retire and tells Hooker that he should go to Chicago and learn from Henry Gondorff (Roger Dunbar) because he is ready for the big time. When Hooker discovers that Luther has been killed by Lonnegan for revenge, he escapes to Chicago and finds Gondorff living with his girlfriend Billie (MacKenzie Pedersen). He agrees to help Hooker run an elaborate con game to ruin Lonnegan and they enlist Billie and various criminals, including Kid Twist (Mike Hohl) and J.J. Singleton (Anthony Lovato), for "The Set-Up," "The Hook," "The Wire," and "The Shut-Out" but, before they can get to "The Sting," they must deal with Snyder (Duane Stephens), a corrupt policeman from Joliet chasing Hooker for counterfeiting, and Polk (James Parker), an FBI agent searching for Gondorff. This features snappy dialogue and the talented cast delivers it brilliantly. I especially enjoyed the interactions between Spencer Hohl and Roger Dunbar because they play off each other so well. Seeing the criminals play their roles in the con is also a lot of fun. The fast-paced action takes place in multiple settings which are portrayed on stage with projections, moving panels, and set pieces that are moved on and off stage by the ensemble (it was opening night and I was really impressed with with how seamless the transitions were). My favorites were the projections denoting each part of the con (they reminded me of title cards in a movie), the metal beams representing the elevated train in Chicago, and the elaborate set pieces used for the betting parlor. The staging is very clever, particularly the poker game on the train and a chase scene between Hooker and Snyder through the aisles. This production kept me very engaged and I highly recommend it (I have seen the movie but it was so long ago that I had forgotten a big twist at the end). It runs on Fridays and Saturdays (with matinees on Saturday) through May 3 and tickets may be purchased here.

Note:  Last night was the biggest crowd I've seen at Parker Theatre (there were only a few empty seats) so get your tickets now!

The Woman in the Yard

I was very intrigued by the trailer for The Woman in the Yard because the premise looked so unsettling.  I went to see it last night and it is even more disconcerting than I was expecting.  Ramona (Danielle Deadwyler) is almost completely debilitated by depression, guilt, and grief after being seriously injured in a car accident that also killed her husband David (Russell Hornsby).  She is isolated in a rundown farmhouse, which was purchased by her husband as a fixer-upper, in a rural area and is struggling to cope with her two children, Taylor (Peyton Jackson) and Annie (Estella Kahiha).  When a mysterious woman (Okwui Okpokwasili), shrouded in black, suddenly appears in the yard, the tension within the house escalates until Ramona is forced to confront her.  This is a compelling exploration of how mental illness can literally haunt a house and there are moments in the third act that are genuinely scary.  I loved the use of reflected images, shadows, and atmospheric sound design to create a feeling of unease.  Deadwyler is haunting as a mother who is coming undone by the weight of her grief and Okpokwasili is absolutely terrifying.  This features a lot of symbolism and there are several scenes that are open to interpretation, especially the ambiguous ending, but I think there is hope at the end of one of the bleakest sequences I've seen in a long time.  I recommend this to fans of psychological horror with the proviso that one interpretation of the ending could be triggering and upsetting for some.