The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at PTC

Last night I attended Pioneer Theatre Company's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and I loved it.  It is a musical about six painfully awkward misfits who come together for a middle school spelling bee and hilarity ensues!  Chip Tolentino (Jacob Hoffman) is the girl crazy winner of last year's bee who is disqualified in an early round because of an "unfortunate distraction."  William Barfee (Kendal Sparks) is a highly-strung asthmatic who had to pull out of last year's bee in the final round for medical reasons.  Leaf Coneybear (Austin Archer) is a free-spirited home-schooled student who is participating because the winner and first runner-up of his local bee had to drop out to attend a bat mitzvah.  Marcy Park (Shannon Tyo) is an over-achieving Catholic school student who skipped two grades and speaks six languages but just wants to have fun.  Olive Ostrovsky (Emily Walton) can't pay her entrance fee because her mother is living in an ashram in India and her father has not yet claimed the seat she has been saving for him.  Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre (Elise Groves) desperately wants to please her two fathers who have been coaching her for this moment for years.  Mary Fanning Driggs plays Rona Lisa Peretti, the moderator and former winner of the bee, while Jeff Talbot is hilarious as Douglas Panch, the vice principal who has had to step in as the announcer at the last minute after being banned from the bee for the past five years.  Talbot is responsible for many of the funniest moments when he reads the definitions and uses the words in sentences!  Rounding out the cast is Erick Pinnick as Mitch Mahoney, an ex-con completing his community service requirements by giving the eliminated spellers a juice box.  Additional spellers are added from the audience each night which adds a bit of spontaneity to the show.  Last night there was a young girl who had to be given quite a few words before she was eliminated (I think she stole the show).  All of the performances are fabulous and I loved all of the songs, especially "I'm Not That Smart" by Leaf, "I Speak Six Languages" by Marcy, and "Magic Foot" (which had some great choreography) by William.  I also loved it when Chip came out into the audience selling candy for a fundraiser during the "snack break" (intermission).  I was literally laughing out loud through much of the show.  It is a delightful homage to teenage angst and  I highly recommend it!

Note:  I enjoyed last season at PTC so much that I decided to get a seven-play season ticket this year and I am really looking forward to some of the upcoming productions!

Jordanelle Then & Now

When I mentioned that my family likes to camp at Jordanelle in the fall, I wasn't kidding!  I found some pictures of Tashena from September of 2009 in many of the same poses as Sean from our most recent trip!

I sure have had a lot of fun with these kiddos over the years (even if one of them did lose a shoe in the mud).

Jordanelle Camping Trip

Last weekend my family went camping at Jordanelle State Park.  It is one of our favorite places to camp, especially in the fall.

Sean and I went down to the water and ended up getting really dirty!  It was a lot of fun, though.  Sometimes the best adventures are messy!

Saturday night we made dinner in the Dutch oven and sat around the fire.  It was absolutely wonderful!

 Of course we made s'mores!

Sunday morning Marilyn made breakfast in the Dutch oven and then we started packing up to come home.

By the time I got home I was tired, sore, dirty, sunburned, and everything I owned smelled like smoke!  In other words, it was a great trip!

Mahler's Symphony No. 1

As much as I love hearing the Utah Symphony perform at outdoor venues (see here and here) during the summer, I have been anticipating their return to Abravanel Hall for weeks!  Last night was not only the opening concert for the Utah Symphony's 2014-2015 season, but it was also the beginning of a two-year project to perform all of Mahler's symphonies in honor of Maurice Abravanel (who recorded many of them) and the 75th Anniversary of the Utah Symphony next season.  I, unfortunately, am not very familiar with Mahler but I hope to learn more about him and his music this season and next and, if last night is any indication, I am in for a treat!  This concert was wonderful!  The orchestra began with The Iron Foundry by Mosolov and I think we all know how I feel about Russian music!  This piece was composed after the Russian Revolution and incorporates Social Realism.  It is meant to convey the worker as a hero and the percussion actually mimics the sound of machinery.  It is a short piece but I thought it was brilliant, especially the theme played by the horns.  It built to such a crescendo that I was stunned for a moment before I realized it was over!  Next came Wellington's Victory by Beethoven.  This piece actually commemorates the Battle of Vitoria rather than the more famous Battle of Waterloo but it is stirring and incorporates bits of "Rule Britannia" and "God Save the King."  The percussion section certainly had a good time creating artillery sound effects (I think some of the percussionists had a little too much fun with the poppers) and I liked the two sets of snare drums on either side of the stage representing the British on one side and the French on the other.  Very entertaining.  Mahler's Symphony No. 1 was performed after the intermission.  It was recorded for commercial release sometime next year and, for some reason, I thought that was a little bit exciting.  I really enjoyed this piece because it is very atmospheric and prominently features the woodwind section (I played the clarinet in school).  I especially loved the third movement, because of the mournful theme played by a solo double bass, and the fourth movement, because of the fanfare played by the standing horn section.  This same concert will be performed again tonight and I highly recommend that you get a ticket if you are local.  If you can't make it tonight, make plans to attend a concert during the upcoming season (go here for more information and tickets).  I promise you won't be disappointed!

The Eagles at Energy Solutions Arena

Some of my very favorite childhood memories involve my Dad's light blue Dodge Ramcharger and the music of the Eagles.  We went on many road trips and my Dad's favorite traveling music was the Eagles' Greatest Hits (1971-1975).  As we drove down the road my sisters and I would sing at the top of our lungs: "I'm standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona and such a fine sight to see.  It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowin' down to take a look at me."  Last night my family got to relive those memories at the ESA during the Eagles concert and it was pretty amazing (it turns out that we can still sing "Take It Easy" at the top of our lungs).  This tour celebrated the history of the band and they played their hits in chronological order.  When they took the stage, they sat on their amplifiers and reminisced about starting the band.  They played "What Ever Happened to Saturday Night" and "Train Leaves Here This Morning" which are some of the first songs they wrote.  Then they played "Peaceful Easy Feeling" and a bluesy version of "Witchy Woman" (which I really liked) from their first album.  They told the crowd that the inspiration for their second album was a book about gunfighters that belonged to Jackson Browne and then, to my delight, they played "Doolin-Dalton."  It is one of my favorite songs by the band and I've never heard it live before!  They also played "Tequila Sunrise" and then "Doolin-Dalton/ Desperado (Reprise)" which gave me goosebumps!  Then they moved onto the album On The Border and played "Already Gone" and "Best of My Love."  Next came One of These Nights and they played the title song, "Lyin' Eyes," and "Take it to the Limit" before the intermission.  When the band came back, they only played one song from Hotel California (saving it for the encore?), which was "Pretty Maids in a Row," and moved on to The Long Run.  Timothy B. Schmit gave a lovely rendition of "I Can't Tell You Why," and then they sang "New Kid In Town," "Those Shoes," and an acoustic version of "Heartache Tonight."  Then they let Joe Walsh off his chain and they performed "In The City," which is one of my Dad's favorites.  Joe Walsh continued by jamming to his solo hits "Life's Been Good To Me So Far" and "Funk #49."  I don't know how many brain cells Joe Walsh has left but he can certainly play that guitar!  He had the ESA rocking!  They continued with "The Long Run" and finished their set with "Life in the Fast Lane."  For the first encore they played "Hotel California" (as predicted) with everyone in the arena singing along!  They came back for a final encore and played "Take It Easy," "Rocky Mountain Way," and "Desperado."  They played for close to three hours and I didn't want it to end!  I am glad that my family was able to make another wonderful memory involving the music of the Eagles!

Note:  When the Eagles came to Salt Lake in 1995 for the Hell Freezes Over tour, I didn't go because I thought $75.00 was too much to pay for a concert!  I find that highly amusing now, especially in light of what I recently paid to see Paul McCartney!