Mill Creek Canyon Bonfire

There are two weeks left of summer vacation.  What?  Now is the time when I usually start freaking out thinking about all of the things I wanted to do over the summer but haven't done yet.  While I have been doing pretty well with my summer bucket list (a few things are coming up), I definitely haven't spent enough time camping and hiking so Marilyn and I decided to spend the day in Mill Creek Canyon yesterday.  We brought a picnic (whenever I mention picnic you should interpret that to mean we stopped at Subway on the way) and spent most of the afternoon reading.  It rained for a little while but we were under a big pine tree and didn't get wet.  Everything smelled so fresh and clean after the rain storm!  Eventually we built a fire and made s'mores.  We forgot all of our roasting sticks so I channeled my inner Girl Scout and whittled some for us.  It was the perfect day!

Wicked

While Les Miserables will always be my sentimental favorite, Wicked is definitely a close contender!  I love this show so much because I think it is extremely clever!  It tells the back-story of the Wicked Witch of the West, Glinda the Good, and the Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  After all, a lot happened before Dorothy dropped in!  Oh and by the way, the music happens to be fantastic!  I think anyone who has ever felt a little bit different can relate to the songs "I'm Not That Girl" and "Defying Gravity" and I think everyone who has ever had a good friend in their life can relate to "For Good."  Last night I had the opportunity to see Wicked again at the Capitol Theatre and it was such a good production!  I thought that both lead actresses were spectacular!  I loved Chandra Lee Schwartz's rendition of "Popular."  In every production I have ever seen, the actress playing Glinda has added her own touch to this particular song.  Schwartz was absolutely hysterical, especially with the tossing of the hair!  Emma Hunton was incredibly powerful as Elphaba.  I think she blew the roof off the Capitol Theatre in "Defying Gravity" and I had goosebumps during "No Good Deed."  I think she was one of the best Elphabas I've seen!  Nick Adams (Fiyero) was a fabulous dancer (and pretty easy on the eyes).  He and Hunton had great chemistry, especially in "As Long As You're Mine."  The rest of the cast was great but I was not a fan of Madame Morrible (Alison Fraser).  I thought her voice was really raspy and I had a hard time understanding her sometimes (it seemed to come and go so she may have had a cold).  As always, I loved the set, costumes, and the choreography.  The whole production was wonderful and I had such a good time watching one of my favorites! I highly recommend seeing it if you have the opportunity.  Wicked will be playing at the Capitol Theatre until Aug. 24.

Utah Festival Opera's Les Miserables

When I was in high school I watched a documentary on PBS about the making of a new musical called Les Miserables.  I fell in love with the story, the music, the costumes, and the staging.  I bought the original Broadway recording (on vinyl) and listened to it over and over.  My greatest wish was to see this show!  I knew that I would be spending some time in London while I was studying abroad in France so I tried to get tickets.  Every show was sold out and I was devastated!  My Dad gave me an article about the West End in London from the travel section of the newspaper which said you could sometimes get tickets to sold out shows at kiosks throughout the city on the day of the show.  I decided to try it.  There were four tickets available but I would have to buy all four.  Such was my mania to see this show that I bought them (I couldn't really afford one ticket, let alone four).   When I got back to my hotel, I asked another student if she knew of anyone in our group who would like to go.  A man staying at the hotel overheard me and offered to buy the three tickets for himself, his wife, and his daughter.  He let me ride in the cab with them, bought me a program, and bought me a drink at intermission.  Hearing those opening notes was the biggest thrill of my life!  I have now seen Les Miserables at least twenty times (that would be a conservative estimate) and I still get goosebumps when I hear those opening notes!  Yesterday my friend Mel and I drove to Logan to see Utah Festival Opera's production of Les Miserables (I literally just saw this show six weeks ago in West Yellowstone but I never get tired of it) and we both loved it.  The Utah Festival Opera did a lovely job of staging this amazing story of one man's redemption with a very innovative set.  I was very impressed with the actor playing Jean Valjean (Patrick Miller).  He had an incredibly beautiful voice and his emotional rendition of "Bring Him Home" was very moving.  At first I thought Daniel Cilli looked much too young to play Inspector Javert but his powerful performance of "Stars" definitely won me over!  Ever since I saw Eddie Redmayne's tour de force performance as Marius in the movie version, I judge every actor who plays the role against him.  Patrick Massey held his own in "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."  Finally, I have always judged every production by Eponine's performance of "On My Own" (my favorite song in the show).  Tyler Olshansky made me cry!  I thoroughly enjoyed watching my favorite musical...again and I had a lovely day with my friend Mel!

Note:  The Utah Festival Opera continues through Aug. 9.  They are also performing Oklahoma, Vanessa, and The Student Prince.  Go here for more information.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky

One of the reasons I like being in a book club is that it forces me to read books I wouldn't necessarily choose on my own.  I did not vote for the July selection, Under the Wide and Starry Sky by Nancy Horan, because a biography about Robert Louis Stevenson sounded perfectly dull to me.  Of course, I couldn't put it down!  I was completely drawn into the fictionalized account of the relationship between Robert Louis Stevenson and his American wife, Fanny Osbourne.  I was fascinated by Fanny because she was so unconventional, especially for the time.  At age 35, she takes her three children to Belgium, where she hopes to become a painter, in order to escape from her unfaithful husband in San Francisco.  She eventually meets the much younger Stevenson in France and they begin a passionate affair. They live an extraordinary life wandering from Scotland, to Switzerland, and, finally, to Samoa searching for a climate conducive to Stevenson's tubercular lungs. Much of the novel deals with Fanny's total devotion to and care of Stevenson (often to the neglect of her children, her own health, and her own artistic ambitions) which enabled him to write Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.  Horan definitely makes the point that it is extremely difficult to be the woman behind a genius; although, Louis (as his is known to his friends and family) has such a magnetic personality that it is easy to see why Fanny loves him so much and, in the end, he gives her the life of art and adventure she was in search of when she left San Francisco. This novel is meticulously researched and Horan uses many of their letters and journals to bring the characters to life.  Her writing is rich and colorful and pulls you into the world of Fanny and Louis, describing wherever they happen to be with such verisimilitude. However, this is a long book. It seems as if Horan wanted to account for every moment the couple spent together so the pace really slows down towards the end of the book. There is an ever changing cast of characters surrounding the couple and they are not as fully developed as Fanny and Louis are.  I sometimes had trouble keeping track of who was who. Nevertheless, Under the Wide and Starry Sky is a compelling love story which I enjoyed very much and I highly recommend it.

Note:  The title of the book comes from a lovely poem by Robert Louis Stevenson called "Requiem."   I definitely want to read more of his work now.

Russia

After a whole day on a bus and some drama at the border, I was tired, hungry, and traumatized (international travel is not for the faint of heart) by the time we made it to Russia.  I really just wanted to come home!  But after a good dinner, a good night's sleep, and a new tour guide (who was awesome) I was ready to go again.  St. Petersburg did not disappoint.

Our first visit was to the Alexander Nevsky Monastery which was founded by Peter the Great in 1710.

Holy Trinity Cathedral is located inside the monastery and it was magnificent.

Since we were at the monastery, I asked our guide if we could visit the Tikhvin Cemetery.  I have such a passion for Russian music and literature and many famous composers and authors are buried there.  He asked me who I wanted to see and I told him Dostoevsky, one of my favorite authors.  He was thrilled!  I said that The Brothers Karamazov was one of the greatest books ever written and he replied, "Yes of course.  But I really like Demons."  We had a great conversation about both books!  He took me to Dostoevsky's grave (L) and Tchaikovsky's (R)

Next we visited St. Isaac's Cathedral

Monument to Nicholas I

The Peter and Paul Fortress is where all of the Russian Czars, including Nicholas II and his family, are buried.

The inside is absolutely spectacular!  The chapel is where Nicholas II and his family are buried.

The Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood

Palace Square.  I had chills standing here because this is where the Russian Revolution began.

The Alexander Column

The Winter Palace

Inside the Palace 

The Grand Ballroom!  As I walked through the Winter Palace I kept thinking about The Russian Ark, an amazing movie about Russian history, which was filmed there.  I wish that I could have attended a ball during the time of Catherine the Great!

My favorite room was the Throne Room.  So much history!

Inside the Hermitage Museum which contains over three million pieces of art.  It was almost overwhelming!

I really loved all the lapis lazuli vases that were in every room.

The next day we went to the Gulf of Finland to visit Peterhof, an amazing palace built by Peter the Great.  Here are some highlights.

The fountains are incredible and represent important events in the reign of Peter the Great.  My favorite is the fountain in the middle showing Samson killing a lion signifying Peter's defeat of Sweden (above, right).  I know everything there is to know about the Great Northern War with Sweden after reading Peter the Great: His Life and World by Robert Massie (My guide was impressed that I had read it).  The fountains run completely on water pressure!

When we got back to St. Petersburg I asked our guide where the Bronze Horseman was located.  This statue, commissioned by Catherine the Great as a memorial to Peter the Great, was the inspiration for the epic poem by Pushkin (another favorite author).  He had the driver turn around to take me there to get a picture!  He told me I had to read the poem in Russian because the meter mimics the sound of the horse galloping.

That evening my guide was able to get me tickets to the ballet Swan Lake performed in the Winter Palace Theatre!  This is where Catherine the Great watched performances!  It was an absolutely incredible experience, both watching the dancers and listening to the music of Tchaikovsky.  I've always felt that Russian music sounds so much better when performed by Russian musicians because they are so passionate!  I've seen Swan Lake before but never performed so beautifully!  When Prince Siegfried battles Rothbert in Act 4 it was so intense that I was holding my breath!  It was a lovely way to spend my last night in the beautiful city of St. Petersburg!

Lithuania

Latvia

Estonia