Utah Opera's Tosca

Last night I went to opening night for Utah Opera's Tosca with my cousin John.  Not only is Tosca one of my favorite operas but this is a marvelous production so it was an incredible evening!  Floria Tosca (Kara Shay Thomson) is a fiery and passionate singer with two men in love with her:  her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (Dinyar Vania), and the Police Chief, Baron Scarpia (Michael Chioldi), who wants to possess her at any cost.  Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi for aiding a political prisoner and sentences him to death.  He tells Tosca that he will release him if she submits to him, promising her that the firing squad will be a ruse.  She agrees but when he embraces her, she stabs him with a knife.  She visits Cavaradossi in the Castel Sant'Angelo to tell him that he must pretend to die and then they will run away when the guards leave.  However, Scarpia has betrayed her so Cavaradossi is actually killed by the firing squad.  Knowing that she will be accused of Scarpia's murder and unwilling to live without Cavaradossi, Tosca leaps to her death from the parapet of the Castel Sant'Angelo.  The music is so beautiful and the three main actors give wonderful performances.  A scene in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at the end of Act 1 where Scarpia reveals his plan to execute Cavaradossi and possess Tosca while a procession sings the Te Deum is absolutely breathtaking.  I also loved Tosca's aria "Vissi d'arte" at the end of Act 2 where she asks God to help her.  But my favorite moment of the entire opera is in Act 3 when Cavaradossi sings the aria "E lucevan le stelle" reminiscing about his love for Tosca as he awaits execution.  Vania sings it so beautifully (and there is an amazing theme played by the clarinets) that I had tears in my eyes!  I really enjoyed the addition of the Choristers of The Madeleine Choir School singing the Te Deum as well.  The sets of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Scarpia's study in the Palazzo Farnese. and the Castel Sant'Angelo are very elaborate and added to the overall dramatic feeling of the opera.  I thoroughly enjoyed this production (I love the tragic operas where desperate lovers die for love) and I would highly recommend it.  Tosca runs at the Capitol Theatre until Oct. 18.  Go here for tickets and more information.

Note:  It now takes me less than 15 minutes to drive to the Capitol Theatre (instead of the usual 45 minutes it used to take me from South Jordan)!  Moving into my new house was the best decision I have ever made!

The Walk

A few months ago I saw a trailer featuring a man climbing out on to the ledge of a towering skyscraper.  When the camera slowly revealed the man's view of the street down below I felt a little bit of vertigo.  Not knowing anything about The Walk, I immediately wanted to see it just because it looked so thrilling!  The fact that it is inspired by Philippe Petit's actual high-wire walk between the towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 made it even more compelling to me.  I finally had the chance to see it last night (I have been preoccupied with another little movie called The Martian...oh, and I also moved into a new house) in IMAX 3D and it is fantastic.  Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Petit and he prepared for the role by learning to walk on a high-wire (he trained with Petit himself) and learning French (I thought his accent was great).  He is absolutely endearing as a street performer who becomes enamored with a picture of the World Trade Center that he sees in a magazine and then becomes obsessed with walking in the air between the towers.  He recruits a series of "accomplices" to help him with his "coup" and these characters are often quite comical (Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony, and Cesar Domboy).  Three-fourths of the film is an Inspector Clouseau-like caper as the team surreptitiously prepares for the walk and the rest of the film is a thrilling adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat.  The views while Petit is out on the wire are spectacular and, even though most of it is CGI, it feels very authentic.  The production design is incredibly stylized, first in black and white as Petit performs in the streets of Paris, then in vivid color as he trains at the circus, and then misty as he walks through the air in New York. I really enjoyed this film and I recommend that you see it in IMAX 3D.

The Martian

Last night my family went to the first screening of The Martian and we all absolutely loved it!  The book seriously blew me away and the movie is an incredible adaptation!  Mark Watney (Matt Damon) is an astronaut with the Ares 3 expedition on Mars.  During a sand storm he is seriously injured and the rest of the crew, thinking that he is dead, initiates an emergency evacuation leaving him behind.  He uses science and his own ingenuity to survive and eventually contacts NASA to formulate a plan for his rescue involving his former crew, now orbiting Mars.  To say that this movie is intense would be an understatement!  I was on the edge of my seat and holding my breath most of the time (and I had read the book!).  This movie also has a lot of comedic moments as well, particularly involving Watney's use of expletives.  The entire cast of NASA engineers and astronauts, including Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jeff Daniels, Sean Bean, Jessica Chastain, Kristen Wiig, and Michael Pena, is outstanding but Damon gives a tour de force performance!  At various times he had me laughing, crying, and cringing (he had to treat his own rather serious wound).  I was literally crying when he established contact with NASA for the first time.  The cinematography is breathtaking with incredible long shots of the barren landscape on Mars.  The sound design is spectacular and I was particularly struck by the sound of Watney's breathing.  I also loved the soundtrack (one of the astronauts left behind an extensive collection of disco).  I think the screenplay is very faithful to the source material.  The book does go into a lot more detail about the actual science of what Watney is doing but its omission does not detract at all.  Some events during Watney's journey to the MAV in the Schiaparelli Crater are also left out but, again, it doesn't lessen the dramatic impact of what he goes through.  I loved it! I really, really loved it and I would highly recommend it!

The Nightingale

For its September selection, my book club chose The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah. The novel takes place during the occupation of France during World War II and depicts the lives of two sisters, Vianne and Isabelle, as they cope, very differently, with the horrors of war. There is a framing device involving an elderly woman in present day who discovers a trunk of memorabilia from the war and then recounts the story of the sisters.  Vianne is rendered almost helpless as her husband, Antoine, joins the army and eventually ends up in a POW camp.  She spends the war trying to keep life and limb together for herself, her daughter, and her Jewish neighbor, doing whatever is necessary, even exploiting her relationship with the German officer billeted in her home.  Isabelle, restless and headstrong, joins the Resistance and leads downed airmen back to safety through the Pyrenees Mountains. The unknown woman, once again in present day, then travels to France for a reunion with several of the characters. The reader does not know which of the sisters is depicted in this framing device until the very end and that definitely kept my attention throughout. However, I thought this novel was good but not great. I enjoyed reading about the perspectives of women fighting the war at home but many of the historical details didn't ring true to me (The Nazis didn't advertise that Jews were being sent to concentration camps on posters).  Certain events seemed too coincidental to be believed (Did everyone in France have a secret place in their homes where Jews and resistance leaders could hide?).  I sometimes got the impression that Hannah thought of every horrifying event that happened in France during World War II and then applied it to these two sisters and the town of Carriveau (Why were there so many German officers in this little town?).  I also found the romances to be cliched and melodramatic (Of course Vianne will develop feelings for the handsome German officer so far from home who is only following orders.  Of course Isabelle will fall for a dashing resistance fighter after a dramatic brush with death). Most people will probably enjoy this novel; in fact, everyone seems to be gushing about it but, in my opinion, it does not equal All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr (which it is often compared to) or Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky.  I would recommend reading those.

Shop 'Till You Drop

I do not like shopping!  I am completely undone by salespeople and I have actually had panic attacks in stores with particularly aggressive salespeople.  I once told a saleswoman at Bath & Body Works that I was definitely going to make a purchase as long as she left me alone.  When she kept on bugging me, I told her that she had just lost a sale and walked out of the store.  I am a minimalist.  Too much stuff around me makes me nervous and everything must be put away in its proper place or I can't sleep at night.  Consequently, I usually don't get very attached to things.  I would rather spend money on experiences than on things.  Finally, I am very frugal (when it comes to things, not experiences).  When given the choice, I almost always choose the cheapest item.  With the exception of my sleigh bed and my sectional sofa, most of my furniture was given to me by friends and family as hand-me-downs or gifts.  I've always been nervous about spending money and I've usually settled for something less, thinking that someday I would get what I wanted.  My new house is a very different color palette than my old house and I decided to get a new comforter for my bed.  I found one online at Target and I went to get it on Saturday...with my sister.  Once I found the comforter, my sister convinced me that I needed all new bedding to match and, even though I thought my pillows were perfectly fine, apparently they were not and I had to get new ones.  Then I needed all new towels and my sister literally forced me to get the most expensive ones (they are absolutely wonderful).  I shudder to think about what I spent on towels alone!  Then I found a ruffly accent pillow for my bed.  Marilyn was openly weeping about the fact that I spontaneously selected a completely frivolous item!  Then I needed rugs for the bathroom.  Not just one rug, but two!  I was practically hyperventilating over how much money I was spending but Marilyn told me not to think about it because I had the money to spend.  She told me that I have worked really hard all of my life and that I deserve to have exactly what I want for my new house.  I think she has created a monster!  I have always wanted a black pub table for my dining room and I found it at R.C.Willey.  I have always wanted industrial metal bar stools and I've ordered them along with a charcoal gray club chair that I couldn't resist.  I'm going back to R.C.Willey to get a console table that I fell in love with (it's expensive but I want it) and I'm getting the bookcases and desk I've been pining over at IKEA.  Pretty soon I will have the house I've always imagined in my mind and I can't believe how much fun I have been having shopping!  I think Marilyn put a spell on me...

Note:  Next weekend I will be buying a new TV and I'm terrified.  I've never bought a TV before.  When I moved into my first apartment I took the TV I had in my bedroom as a teenager.  When I received my Master's Degree, my parents bought me an upgrade as a graduation present.  When that TV died, my sister gave me one that was left over from a benefit auction at her work.  I figure it's time for a flatscreen so I can, as my sister says, join the 21st Century.  Wish me luck!