Zion National Park

Since I was already in Southern Utah for the Shakespeare Festival, I decided to take the scenic way home through Zion National Park.  This is one of my very favorite places because my family took a lot of road trips here when I was young and I have so many happy memories.  It has been a while since I have been here so I spent several hours wandering around.  It was really wonderful!

Summer Reading: Beneath a Scarlet Sky

When I began reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, the next selection on my summer reading list, I was waiting for an outdoor concert to begin and a random woman sat down next to me to tell me how much she and her book club loved the book. She absolutely gushed about it so I was very eager to continue reading. It tells the true story of seventeen year old Pino Lello, a typical young man living in Milan during World War II who loves jazz, fast cars, and girls. As the bombing of Milan escalates, Pino is sent to a monastery high in the Alps for safety and he begins leading Jews through the mountains on treacherous journeys to elude the Nazis. When he reaches the age of conscription, his parents, hoping to keep him relatively safe, convince him to join the German army. He eventually becomes the driver and interpreter for General Hans Leyers which puts him in a position to observe the goings-on of the Nazis. He is recruited as a spy for the resistance and risks his life on many occasions to ultimately become a hero. I really wanted to like Pino's story but the manner in which it is told is rather bland. Sullivan tells us, in very simple declarative sentences, what happens rather than shows us and one event happens after another without a lot of dramatic tension or suspense. Even though this is purported to be a true story, much of what happens seems to be the result of a series of improbable coincidences. Pino just happens to be in the right place at the right time to meet many of the most important members of the Gestapo, as well as Mussolini himself, and he just happens to witness the major events that happen in Italy during the war. It strains credibility at times (it actually reminded me a little bit of the movie Forrest Gump which I dislike for the same reason). Pino also has a lot of abilities which manifest themselves just when they are needed, such as when he is able to maneuver the general's car away from a plane dive bombing it after recently learning to drive. What I did really enjoy was learning about the Italian experience during the war. Even after reading countless fiction and nonfiction books about World War II, I had little knowledge about the major events during the German occupation of Italy. After hearing such a glowing recommendation I was a little bit disappointed in this selection but that might mean others will enjoy it more than I did.

Note:  Have you read Beneath a Scarlet Sky?  What did you think?  I hear there is a movie in the works starring Tom Holland.

Utah Shakespeare Festival 2018

This week I drove to Cedar City for my annual trip to the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  I was able to see three plays this year and I enjoyed all of them.  Tuesday night I saw The Merchant of Venice, one of my very favorite Shakespeare plays, and I thought this production was very powerful.  There were some very interesting casting choices, including having two women play traditionally male roles.  Bassanio (Wayne T. Carr) asks his friend Antonio (Leslie Brott) for 3,000 ducats to woo Portia (Tarah Flanagan).  Antonio doesn't have the money but, knowing that he has three ships on their way to port, he borrows the money from Shylock (Lisa Wolpe), a Jewish moneylender.  Bassanio is successful in his quest for Portia's hand in marriage, in some highly amusing scenes involving other suitors, but Antonio's ships are lost and he must pay the bond to Shylock which is a pound of flesh.  Portia, feeling responsible for the situation, pleads for mercy but when Shylock refuses she finds a loophole which saves Antonio and condemns Shylock.  My sympathy is always with Shylock and this production really emphasizes the cruelty towards him, at one point one character even knocks him down.  His daughter Jessica (Aidaa Peerzada) is portrayed as feeling guilty about converting to Christianity and I loved the scenes where she recites Jewish prayers.  Wolpe is absolutely brilliant in the role, especially in the "Do we not bleed?" speech!  I also really enjoyed Josh Innerst as Gratiano, Jamil Zraikat as the Prince of Morocco, and Geoffrey Kent as the Prince of Arragon because they infused a bit of levity into an otherwise somber piece.

Wednesday afternoon I saw the hilarious comedy The Foreigner.  I have seen this play several times and I very much enjoyed this production.   Sgt. Froggy LaSeuer (Chris Mixon) brings his painfully shy friend Charlie Baker (Michael Doherty) to stay at a boarding house in Georgia run by Betty Meeks (Colleen Baum) while he is on maneuvers there.  Froggy tells the inhabitants that Charlie is a foreigner who cannot speak English to save him from having to make conversation.  Because everyone believes that he can't understand them, he overhears all of their secrets to great comedic effect.  Doherty is absolutely hysterical in this very physical role!  I laughed and laughed when Ellard (Rob Riordan) tries to teach him English and again when he is asked to tell a story in his native language.  Seriously, I couldn't breathe!

Wednesday evening I saw The Merry Wives of Windsor.  Sir John Falstaff (John Ahlin reprising the role after playing it in Hanry IV Part Two) is down and out and has come to Windsor to woo two wealthy women, Mistress Page (Stephanie Lambourn) and Mistress Ford (Tarah Flanagan).  He sends them both the same letter so they conspire to get revenge on him, and fool their husbands, in some absolutely hilarious scenes.  Meanwhile, Mistress Ford's daughter, Mistress Anne (Cailen Fu), has three suitors pursing her (Lance Rasmussen, Michael Elich, and Ty Fanning).  Both Mistress Ford and Mistress Page as well as the three suitors use Mistress Quickley (Leslie Brott) to deliver notes and chaos ensues.  I usually do not like it when the source material is changed but this production takes place in the early 1900s and uses popular songs from that era to emphasize plot details and I thought that was very effective.  I also really liked how they introduce the dramatis personae at the beginning of the play.  It is extremely clever!  Mistress Quickly is portrayed as more of the town busybody and she is hilarious.  Elich is completely over the top as one of the suitors, especially when he is preparing for the duel.  Ahlin is an absolute master of physical comedy and I laughed out loud when he is placed in a laundry basket, when he has to dress as a woman, and when he dresses as stag to meet Mistress Ford.  It is a really fun production.  I had so much fun at the festival this year!  I enjoyed all three plays and I was able to have lots of my favorite tarts!

Note:  I am beyond excited for next year because two of my favorites will be performed, Hamlet and Macbeth.  I can't wait!

Tag

In all honesty, Tag is the kind of movie that I would never see if left to my own devices because I am not a fan of these type of comedies.  However, I feel like I haven't spent very much time with my niece this summer and, when I suggested to her that we see a movie together, she mentioned Tag or Uncle Drew.  I picked the lesser of two evils.  Ha ha!   I actually ended up liking it more than I thought I would.  A group of childhood friends, Hogan Malloy (Ed Helms), Bob Callahan (Jon Hamm), Randy "Chilli" Cilliano (Jake Johnson), Kevin Sable (Hannibal Buress), and Jerry Pierce (Jeremy Renner), have been playing a game of tag during the month of May for the past 30 years.  Jerry has never once been tagged during the entire game so when Hogan finds out that he is getting married, and will therefore be at specific location at a specific time,  he recruits the other three in a wild plot to finally get him.  The story, based on a real-life group of friends, is compelling and the message about friendship is incredibly heartwarming.  The action sequences are especially fun to watch because the characters go to extraordinary lengths to catch each other, particularly during chases through a golf course and an apartment building.  All of the performances are great but I really enjoyed Isla Fisher (who plays Hogan's incredibly competitive wife) because she is so over the top and Buress whose deadpan delivery is hilarious.  While I did laugh a lot at this movie, I didn't really appreciate the crude humor which exists for no other reason than for shock value.  I think this movie has enough going for it without having to resort to raunchy gimmicks (it was a little bit awkward watching this with my seventeen-year-old niece).  However, if you like these sort of comedies, this one is pretty good.

Note:  It was nice to see footage of the real friends going to great lengths to tag each other and I laughed and laughed during the cover of a Crash Test Dummies song during the credits.

Big

Yesterday I saw Big, the next selection in the TCM Big Screen Classics series, and it was a lot of fun.  I remember seeing this movie on the big screen during its first release and, since that was 30 years ago, it was incredibly nostalgic (and it made me feel old).  Thirteen year old Josh Baskin (David Moscow) asks a fortune telling arcade machine called Zoltar Speaks to make him big after being denied admission to a carnival ride in front of the girl he likes.  Overnight he is transformed into a 30 year old man (now played by Tom Hanks).  When his Mom (Mercedes Reuhl) doesn't believe him, he seeks out his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton).  They try to find the arcade machine but the information won't be available for six weeks.  In the meantime, Josh goes to New York, finds a job at a toy company, and gets a girlfriend (Elizabeth Perkins).  When he and Billy find the arcade machine, will he want to be a kid again?  Most people seeing this movie for the first time might find the story to be a bit improbable with lots of plot holes but it is just so charming and what makes it work is the delightful performance of Tom Hanks.  He exhibits a wide-eyed wonder at every new experience and he replicates Moscow's awkward mannerisms to perfection.  I especially enjoyed the interactions between Hanks and Rushton because they both seem like thirteen year old boys, especially in the scene with the silly string.  I also really enjoyed the interactions between Hanks and Perkins, especially when they have the sleepover in the bunk beds and whenever he gets that goofy grin on his face.  I was happily reminded of why Tom Hanks is one of my favorite actors to this day!  This movie will be screened again on Wednesday (go here for tickets) and I highly recommend it for some nostalgic fun!

Note:  My favorite scene in the movie is when Josh and the CEO of the toy company he works for (Ben Loggia) play "Heart and Soul" and "Chopsticks" on a foot operated piano at FAO Schwartz.  I remember being so disappointed when I first visited the famous toy story on a trip to New York and discovered that the piano on display was much smaller than the one specially made for the movie!

Sorry to Bother You

Last night I went to my second independent film in as many nights, the absolutely hysterical Sorry to Bother You.  It is full of scathing social commentary but, if you are willing to suspend your disbelief, it is a wild and wacky ride that will keep you laughing from beginning to end as well as make you think.  In a dystopian future Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) is a young man living in Oakland who longs to make something of himself.  He gets a job as a telemarketer and soon becomes one of the company's best callers just as his fellow co-workers begin a strike for better wages and benefits.  He decides to cross the picket lines to take a promotion but soon discovers that he is promoting a company called Worry Free which has questionable practices.  Because he likes his new lifestyle he continues despite the protests of his girlfriend (Tessa Thompson) and co-workers (Steven Yeun and Jermaine Fowler) until he meets the eccentric CEO of Worry Free (a hilarious Armie Hammer).  This movie has a lot to say about identity, selling out, exploitation, and corporate greed but it never feels heavy-handed because it is a comedy of the absurd with a third act that will either work or not work for audiences.  It worked for me and most of the other members of the audience (another packed screening for an independent film!).  The visual style is surreal and I especially loved the scenes where Cassius is transported to the homes of the people he calls (these calls always seem to happen at an inconvenient time) and when his apartment is transformed in front of our eyes as he makes more and more money.  There is a really funny subplot involving a reality show called "I Got The S*@# Kicked Out Of Me" which has an interesting message about the pleasure we take in seeing the misfortunes of others and another one involving someone becoming famous after a video goes viral which is an interesting commentary on the nature of celebrity.  Stanfield is fantastic as is Thompson and the aforementioned Hammer.  This film is quite irreverent with a lot of profanity but it is one of the funniest and most original films I've seen in a long time!

Leave No Trace

Friday night I went to see Leave No Trace at a screening that was completely full!  I absolutely love it when an independent film gets a lot of buzz and this film certainly deserves the acclaim it is receiving.  It is a brilliant character study about a father and daughter relationship and I had such an emotional response to both main characters.  I have not been able to stop thinking about it.  Will (Ben Foster) is a combat veteran suffering from PTSD living off the land in Oregon with his 13-year-old daughter Tom (Thomasin McKenzie).  Their existence isn't idyllic (the brutal honesty is what makes this film so compelling) but it is what Will needs and it is all that Tom has known (there is not a lot of exposition but the scenes of them quietly going about their daily routine do more to establish their bond than pages of dialogue would).  After they are discovered and come under the auspices of social services, they begin an often perilous journey of discovery that ultimately leads to redemption for both of them.  I understood the choices that both of them make at the end of the film.  Will has a need to live off the grid because he cannot abide the rules and conventions that other people impose upon him and that is often very appealing to me.  Tom loves her father but often questions his choices and his ability to keep her safe.  She longs for stability and connections with other people (her interactions with the people she meets are so poignant in their portrayal of human kindness) and it is heartbreaking when she realizes that his life does not have to be hers.  I can relate to the need to let people go for your own good.  The redemption at the end of the film is painful but it is there.  I had tears in my eyes as the lights came on in the theater because it felt so bleak but there is a scene at the end where Tom leaves food in the forest for another recluse and that felt like a metaphor for Will's well-being. Foster is brilliant as Will but I was so impressed with McKenzie who more than holds her own with him in a physically demanding role.  I highly recommend this this very moving film.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Eccles

The first time I saw The Phantom of the Opera was on Broadway in 1998 with my sister Kristine when we were on a girls trip to New York City.  I absolutely loved it and have now seen it at least a dozen times, including once on my most recent trip to NYC.  The production of The Phantom of the Opera that I saw at the Eccles Theatre on Thursday night is an all new touring version directed by Laurence Connor (the original is still performed on Broadway) and, for the most part, I really liked it.  The story about a disfigured madman living in the catacombs underneath the Paris Opera House and his love for the ingenue Christine Daae remains the same as does Andrew Lloyd Webber's magnificent music.  The biggest difference in this production is the set (there is still a crashing chandelier) which portrays a darker, grittier, and more realistic theatre and we definitely see more of the backstage areas.  There is a giant rotating cylinder on a turntable that opens up to reveal Christine's dressing room, the Managers' office, the rooftop of the theatre, and the graveyard (my favorite change to the set).  This cylinder also becomes a spiral staircase by which the Phantom leads Christine to his underground lair and I also really liked this change because it actually felt like they were under the theatre rather than in some fantasy.  The choreography is also more realistic and the operas performed seem like actual productions rather than caricatures.  The only change that I didn't like, and I really hated it, was the staging and the choreography for "Masquerade" which has always been my favorite number in the show.  The dramatic staircase is no longer used and the choreography employs more ballet than the stylized dancing of the original.  I also didn't really like the new costumes because they weren't as theatrical as I thought they should be since it is a masquerade ball. Another change from the original is the emphasis on the relationships between the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul.  The encounter between the Phantom and Christine during "The Music of the Night" is much more passionate, in my opinion, as is their performance of "The Point of No Return."  I have always believed that Christine should end up with the Phantom (although the only person who agrees with me is my sister) and in this version she seems really torn between him and Raoul in "Down Once More."  I usually think of Raoul as a fop but I also really enjoyed his encounter with Christine during "All I Ask of You."  I could really see the appeal of both of them for Christine and I appreciated this change in staging.  Quentin Oliver Lee is a fantastic Phantom and I loved his performance of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Music of the Night."  I sometimes couldn't hear Eva Tavares as Christine because the music seemed to overpower her but her version of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" gave me goosebumps.  I enjoyed this new production and I am glad that I got to see it (every performance is sold out!).

Summer Reading: The Women in the Castle

The next selection on my summer reading list, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, is one that I absolutely could not put down! I loved it! This novel is set in Germany during and after World War II and gives a fascinating perspective on the collective guilt felt by Germans. Three women, all widows of men involved in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler, come together to live in a crumbling Bavarian castle after the war. Marianne von Lingenfels views the events of the war in black and white and holds herself and her children above the former Nazis around her. Beautiful Benita Flederman, who married her wealthy husband to escape her life of poverty in a small town, cares nothing for politics and wants life to return to normal as soon as possible. Ania Grabarek is tormented by the guilt she feels over her complicity in the events of the war and about the secret she is keeping. Over the course of the novel the three women must come to terms with what has happened to each of them, what has happened to their country, and what they have done to each other. The characters are very sympathetic and memorable (I felt very emotionally connected to all three of them for different reasons) and the story is extremely compelling because well-known events are told from a different vantage point than that of most World War II fiction. I found it interesting that the women crave understanding rather than forgiveness and I never felt like Shattuck was in any way condoning the more horrific events of the war. It is one of the most thought-provoking novels I have read in a long time because I have always wondered how Germans could have allowed the rise of Hitler to happen and how they rationalized it to themselves once the full extent of the atrocities were made public. Conversely, I've also wondered what it was that motivated people to risk everything in order to resist when so many did nothing. This gave me some context and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Have you read The Women in the Castle?  What did you think of it?

Hanna Camping Trip 2018

My sister and her husband have a really nice trailer and, just like last year, they took it up to a campground in Hanna (where my brother-in-law went camping when he was a kid) and they plan to leave it there for the month of July so that they and their friends and family can use it.  Like last year I availed myself of this opportunity for a little camping trip this week.  It was absolutely wonderful to be up in the mountains with the small of pine and the fresh air.  After being there for only a few minutes I felt so relaxed (just driving through Wolf Creek Pass, which was beautiful, rejuvenated me).  I love being in the great outdoors and, while you might think that being up there alone would be scary, I loved the solitude.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  Every morning I would wake up as soon as it got light and wander around, usually to the river, then I would spend the afternoon reading (I finished two books), and in the evening I would build a great big fire and make s'mores.  I loved being able to see all of the stars and I loved listening to the rain as I fell asleep!  It was perfect and I was a little sad to leave (but not too sad because I have a ticket to Phantom of the Opera!).

I'm hoping to be able to go up again later in the month.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

I had the chance to see Ant-Man and the Wasp at a Thursday preview in an IMAX theater with a large and boisterous crowd and it was so much fun!  I absolutely loved Ant-Man (much more than I expected) so I have been looking forward to this for a long time.  In the aftermath of the events in Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest until he is once again drawn into the activities of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) who  believe that Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) is still alive.  Since Lang entered and returned from the quantum realm, where Janet has been lost for thirty years, Pym and Hope want his help to rescue her through a quantum bridge they have created.  However, a former colleague of Pym's, Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), wants this technology to help Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), the victim of a botched quantum experiment which has left her in an unstable state, and Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), a black market dealer, who wants the technology for its potential value.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), an FBI agent, is chasing Lang for violating house arrest and Pym and Hope for their role in breaking the Sokovia Accords.  Lang and Hope become Ant-Man and the Wasp and they recruit Luis (Michael Pena) in order to elude everyone pursing them and to rescue Janet.  This movie doubles down on everything that made me love the first one!  Rudd is incredibly engaging, once again full of witty one-liners, and his interactions with Lilly are hilarious.  The action sequences are fantastic with objects becoming larger and smaller as needed.  My favorite sequence involves a giant Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser!  Finally, Michael Pena, once again, steals the show, especially in a truth serum fueled monologue that had me and everyone else in the theater laughing out loud!  I loved this movie!  It is the perfect summer blockbuster and I highly recommend it for a good time (especially after the devastation wrought in Infinity War).

Note:  It goes without saying that you should stay through the credits!  There is a mid-credits scene that links directly to Infinity War and a fun post-credits scene.

Summer Reading: To Capture What We Cannot Keep

The next selection on my summer reading list was To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin. This is the type of book that I keep reading hoping that it will get better. It didn't. Caitriona Wallace is a recently widowed Scottish woman with limited financial means. She accepts a position as a chaperon to siblings Jamie and Alice Arrol on a European tour. While in Paris, she has a chance encounter with Emile Nouguier, an engineer working on the construction of the Eiffel Tower. She is dazzled by him but soon must return to Scotland with her charges. In despair she is about to enter a marriage of convenience with a wealthy man she does not love when she is suddenly given the opportunity to return to Paris as chaperon to the Arrols once again as Jamie, an aspiring engineer, has been given an internship to work on the Eiffel Tower. She is soon reunited with Emile and they embark on a forbidden romance. Gag! The pace of the narrative is so slow! It takes forever for Caitriona and Emile to get together!  When they finally do get together I didn't really buy into the conflict because the reasons why they can’t be together are preposterous.  I didn't understand Emile's hesitation. He comes from a wealthy family and worries about his mother's reaction but he has defied her at every turn, refusing to work in the family business to pursue building the tower. Why does her opinion suddenly matter? I also didn't understand the shocked reaction from his contemporaries because every other character's behavior is very Bohemian. Why the sudden judgement? Apparently Caitriona is too respectable for Emile to dally with (his fellow artists have no problem with his on-again off-again relationship with an opium addicted prostitute) but not respectable enough for his mother. Then she decides to break it off with him, despite the fact that he now realizes that he loves her, because she suddenly has a big secret (which has not been referenced before) and must leave him for his own good without telling him the reason. To me this is such lazy storytelling and it is the reason why I don't really like romantic comedies. If characters would only talk about their issues all of this heartbreak could be avoided but then again there wouldn't be any conflict. It is so contrived! Another weakness is that the narrative spends a great deal of time on the antics of Jamie and Alice Arrol and I found them to be incredibly unsympathetic. The two of them make one bad decision after another but there are no consequences for their behavior. Every issue is resolved rather conveniently, especially a subplot involving Alice (I think I rolled my eyes at this explanation). Finally, I was baffled by the epilogue. Years later, when Emile finds Caitriona again, they have this special moment but nothing is actually resolved. I suppose we are meant to think that they live happily ever after because they embrace dramatically. Ugh! I did really enjoy the details surrounding the building of the Eiffel Tower but these were not enough to overcome the uninspired story. Does anyone want my copy?

Note:  Have you read To Capture What We Cannot Keep?  What was your reaction?  I am definitely in the minority on this one.

Time for Three at the Waterfall

Last night my friend Angela and I had the opportunity to attend another outdoor concert, this time at the Waterfall Amphitheater at Thanksgiving Point.  It was another concert featuring the Utah Symphony with special guests Time for Three, a string trio made up of Ranaan Meyer, Charles Yang, and Nicolas Kendall.  I saw Time for Three several years ago at Red Butte Garden and I loved their performance so much that I knew I wanted to see them again.  All three of them are classically trained musicians but they come across more like rock stars.  They are known for their mash-ups of classical pieces with contemporary music and this concert was absolutely brilliant!  The Utah Symphony began with "The Star-Spangled Banner" and then Time for Three took the stage with a medley from Hamilton.  Obviously I absolutely loved that!  Then they played three pieces which were written specifically for them, "Vertigo," "Banjo Love," and "Darling Calypso." and I enjoyed all of them.  Then they played a mash-up of "Eleanor Rigby" by the Beatles and "Lacrymosa" from Mozart's Requiem.  This was absolutely amazing and I was pretty much overcome by it.  Before the intermission they did another mash-up, this time it was Saint-Saens' "Organ Symphony" with "Bittersweet Symphony by The Verve which I also really loved.  After the intermission they played yet another mash-up with "Sweet Child O Mine" by Guns N' Roses and selections from Kindertotenlieder by Gustav Mahler.  This was so lovely and atmospheric. They then played a beautiful rendition of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen and concluded the concert with "Songs of Joy" which was an epic arrangement.  As an encore the orchestra played "Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa.  I enjoyed this concert so much.  The Waterfall Amphitheater is such a lovely venue with beautiful gardens all around and the temperature was just perfect for a concert with a slight breeze.  After the concert there was a fireworks show behind the waterfall which was quite festive and got me excited for the Fourth of July!  The perfect ending to a wonderful evening!

Mad Max: Fury Road (Black & Chrome Edition)

When I first saw Mad Max: Fury Road I was absolutely blown away by it!  The action is intense and unrelenting!  It is set in a post-apocalyptic future where overlords control the scarce resources.  One such overlord is Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne) who sends out a War Rig driven by Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) to search for gasoline.  When she veers off-course, Joe realizes that she has taken his five enslaved wives and so he leads his army of War Boys after her.  Max Rockatansky (Tom Hardy), captured by Joe because he is a universal donor, accompanies the army because he is supplying blood to Nux (Nicholas Hoult), one of the War Boys.  After an epic battle in a sand storm, Max eventually joins Furiosa as they try to escape to the green space Furiosa remembers from her childhood.  I love this movie because it is ultimately about redemption and I think that Furiosa is one of the best female characters in film.  The action sequences are epic, made all the more amazing by the fact that most of them employed practical stunts rather than CGI.  Director George Miller has always asserted that he wanted to shoot this movie in black and white and that the black and white version is the best edition of the movie.  Due to its huge commercial success he was able to release the so-called Black & Chrome Edition on DVD and it was screened in theaters very briefly.  This really intrigued me because the colors are so vivid in the theatrical release but I was unable to see the Black & Chrome Edition when it was shown in SLC.  Luckily the Salt Lake Film Society screened it Friday night as part of their Summer Late Nights series and I finally got to see it!  It is awesome!  The black and white images serve to heighten the sense of desolation and they make Immortan Joe and the War Boys really stand out with their pale white skin which makes them even more terrifying.  I also loved the wind storm in black and white because it seems so surreal.  It was quite the experience seeing this on the big screen with a really rowdy crowd (some were dressed as War Boys) and I highly recommend it!  There is one more chance to see it today at noon at the Tower Theatre.  Go here for more information about the Summer Late Nights Series.

Newsies at HCT

I really love the musical Newsies (go here, here, here, and here for reviews of other productions) so I have been anticipating Hale's production all season. I was really eager to see what they would do with it on their intimate stage and, when I saw it Thursday night, I was certainly not disappointed. It exceeded my expectations in every way.  When Joseph Pulitzer (Ric Starnes) decides to raise the price of newspapers, Jack Kelly (James Bounous) rallies his fellow newsies to strike. With a little help from intrepid reporter Katherine Plummer (Kelly Hennessey Pulver) and Governor Roosevelt (Bradley Moss), the newsies score a victory for all of the children of New York. I loved the entire cast (they are all so incredibly talented) but Bounous and Peter Reid Lambert, who plays Davey, are especially charismatic. I also really liked Pulver's rendition of "Watch What Happens." The big production numbers are absolutely amazing and, as always, I really enjoyed "Carrying the Banner," Seize the Day," "The King of New York," and "Once And For All." I had goosebumps in my very favorite song, "The World Will Know" because it was performed with such passion. The choreography maintains the spirit of the Broadway production (there are plenty of high energy leaps and spins in unison) but there are a lot of touches here and there which keep it fresh and vibrant. I think this production might be the best I've ever seen because the staging is brilliant! I felt so close to the action. The metal towers used to represent the New York City skyline are in the middle of the stage making them three-dimensional and the actors utilize them very effectively. The use of the LED screens around the theatre for Jack's drawings and for the newspaper headlines is extremely clever.  I also loved the use of a vintage printing press during "Once And For All" because it looks like they are really printing a newspaper! I enjoyed this show so much and I highly recommend it!  It runs through September 1 at the Mountain American Performing Arts Centre (go here for tickets) but act soon because tickets will go quickly!

Summer Reading: Before We Were Yours

The next selection on my summer reading list, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, reminded me a great deal of a previous selection, The Orphan Train. They both shed light on a tragic and little known part of history involving the adoption of children during the Depression and they both employ a dual narrative with a contemporary story merging with one from the past. I enjoyed them both immensely! In the present day Avery Stafford, a former federal prosecutor from a wealthy and prominent South Carolina family, is being groomed to take her father's Senate seat. A chance meeting with May Weathers at a political event at a nursing home causes Avery to begin digging into her family's history. In 1939 Rill Floss lives with her family on a riverboat on the Mississippi River. When her mother goes into labor, her father leaves her in charge of her siblings to go to the hospital. The next morning the children are removed from the boat by a group of policemen who tell them they are going to visit their parents. Instead they are taken to an orphanage run by Georgia Tann for the Tennessee Children's Home Society. The children are mistreated and malnourished and Rill soon learns that they are meant to be adopted by families wealthy enough to pay Tann's outrageous fees. The two stories converge in a way that I was expecting but the predictability did not detract from my enjoyment of it. In fact, I found the resolution to be incredibly emotional. Rill's story, based on the real-life experiences of hundreds of children who were victims of Georgia Tann's illegal adoption for profit scheme, is incredibly compelling and my heart broke for these children who were at the mercy of such evil people while their biological parents who, because of their poverty and lack of education, were powerless to intervene. Avery's story is also interesting because she is fighting against her family's expectations of her and against the social conventions of her class (although I did think that the romance was really cheesy and not needed to advance the plot). The characters come alive off of the page and I spent several nights reading well into the morning to find out what happens to them. I highly recommend this novel!

Note:  Have you read Before We Were Yours?  What did you think?

Pirates of the Caribbean in Concert

I have become a huge fan of Utah Symphony's Films in Concert series and seeing the latest, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, last night was an absolute blast!  It has been quite a while since I've seen this movie but I quickly remembered why it is my very favorite in the franchise.  This is where we meet Captain Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp), Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley), Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), and Captain Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) for the first time in a swashbuckling tale about trying to reverse a curse on the crew of the Black Pearl.  The movie has a lot of great action sequences and Johnny Depp is so much fun to watch.  Having the iconic score by Klaus Badelt and Hans Zimmer played live by the Utah Symphony, along with a men's chorus, was absolutely thrilling.  The music is very energetic and I really liked all of the melodies played by the horns.  I particularly liked the music played during Will and Jack's sword fight, during the pirate attack on Port Royal, when Elizabeth finds out abut the curse of the Black Pearl, during the battle between the Black Pearl and the Interceptor, and when the pirates fight the crew of the Dauntless.  There was a huge crowd at Abravanel Hall which added to the festive atmosphere and that crowd erupted into a standing ovation during the final credits.  So much fun.  If you were not in attendance last night, cheer up me hearties because it will be screened again tonight (go here for tickets).

Pool Day With Sean

Sean and I used to go to a pool near my old house every summer (I used to take Tashena to this pool when she was younger, too).  We haven't gone there since I moved but this year Sean mentioned that he wanted to go back.  We were able to go yesterday and it was so much fun.  When we got there Sean was a little bit tentative so I told him that we could do something else if he wasn't having any fun.  Luckily he was able to make a few friends which meant that I could sit poolside and read my book!  Every time I looked over at him he had a big smile on his face.  It was perfect because it wasn't too hot and it wasn't too crowded.

Note:  The first time I took Sean to this pool, he wanted me to buy him some snacks.  The food isn't that great so I convinced him to wait and I would take him to lunch.  There is a Sonic right by the pool and we ate lunch there.  Now it is tradition to get a Sonic shake every time we go to this pool.

Utah Symphony at the Gallivan Plaza

In the summertime there is nothing I enjoy more than attending some kind of performance outside under the stars.  Last night my friend Angela and I went to a free outdoor concert at the Gallivan Plaza downtown featuring the Utah Symphony.  It was absolutely wonderful!  I brought a blanket and a picnic and thoroughly enjoyed the music and the breeze.  The orchestra played Huapango by Jose Pablo Moncayo, Symphony No. 25 by Mozart, Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and Symphony No. 8 by Antonin Dvorak.  For the encore they played Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa.  Such a fun selection of music!  I really enjoyed hearing Mozart but all of the pieces were lively and exuberant, perfect for a summer evening.  The Utah Symphony will be performing in many outdoor venues this summer and I highly recommend getting a ticket to one of these concerts (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  The people watching was superb last night!  Don't get me started on the three couples sitting next to us...