It's That Time of Year...

A favorite photo of the Student Council at Leadership Camp last July.

Last week I began the process of electing new Student Body and Class Officers.  It is definitely bittersweet.  While it is a lot of fun to get to know a new group of students who are enthusiastic and full of great ideas, it is always really hard to say goodbye to the group you have worked with all year and this group has been especially wonderful.  I'm not sure that I can let them go!   They have worked so hard and accomplished so much this year!  I have grown to love them so much and I am incredibly proud of them!  I know that it is time for them to move on to bigger and better things (I have no doubt that they will all accomplish great things) but I will certainly miss them!  While they have set the bar really high for the 2016-2017 officers, I am hoping that this year is just the beginning of some great traditions at HHS!

Six Months

I have officially lived in my house for six months!  Moving is definitely the best decision I have ever made (I only wish I had made it sooner!).  I feel so completely comfortable in this house and I am now perfectly content to stay at home without constantly thinking of ways to escape!  I have had so much fun buying new furniture and decorating each room.  I love how every room turned out because my house feels like a sanctuary.  My desk is in front of a large window with a view of trees so I don't even mind bringing home papers to grade!  My neighbors are so warm and friendly!  Every one of them made a point of introducing themselves to me and now call me by name and ask about school whenever they see me.  My neighbor right next to me is especially attentive to me, making me feel very safe.  I love living in Bountiful because it is a big city which feels like a small town.  Everyone at my neighborhood grocery store and the post office now knows me by name!  One of my favorite perks of living in this house is that I am now less than 20 minutes from downtown (instead of 45 minutes).  I spend a lot of time downtown and it is so nice to get home from a Jazz game or a performance at 10:00 instead of 10:45.  I definitely eat at my favorite downtown restaurants more often!  Also, even though I am physically farther away, it takes me less time to get to school than it did from South Jordan because I use the freeway for the whole trip.  I love that, especially coming home in the afternoon.  Finally, I love being closer to my family.  My Dad has had a few health scares and it has been very helpful to have me nearby.  Plus, I am now available for all of those impromptu dinner and a movie get-togethers which are really fun.  Every aspect of my life has improved because of this move and, while I went through a lot to get here, I am so grateful that I found the perfect place to live!

Note:  Now that it is spring, I am especially happy about the fact that I don't have to do any of the yard work!

A Tale of Two Musicals

Seeing Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre in London in 2010

When I was in high school I watched a PBS special about the making of a new musical called Les Miserables.  The toast of London's West End was about to make its debut on Broadway and composers Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg were interviewed about the process of bringing Victor Hugo's masterpiece to the stage.  I was fascinated!  I distinctly remember them talking about how they wrote the song "On My Own," because they needed a powerful opening to the second act, and it instantly became my favorite song in the show (I still judge every production by how the actress playing Eponine sings this song!).  To say that I became obsessed with this musical would be an understatement.  I bought a copy (on vinyl!) of the Original London Cast Recording and listened to it over and over (much to the dismay of my family) during every waking moment.  I wanted to see Les Miserables more than I wanted anything else in the world!  When I was in college I had the opportunity to go on a study abroad trip and I knew that I would be in London for a week.  I tried everything in my power to get a ticket but it was sold out!  My heart was literally broken at the thought that I would be in London and wouldn't be able to see it.  Before I left for Europe, my Dad gave me a newspaper article about London's West End which said that you could very often get tickets to sold out shows on the day of the show in kiosks located throughout the city.  I found one in Piccadilly Circus and learned that there were tickets available for that evening but I would have to buy a block of four.  I didn't have a lot of money but such was my mania to see this show that I immediately bought all four.  When I got back to my hotel I asked a friend if she knew anyone who wanted to buy the other three tickets.  A man staying in the hotel overheard me and offered to buy them on the spot.  He even offered to let me ride with him and his family in their taxi to the theatre and, because I was so visibly excited about seeing the show, he bought me a program (which I still have!).  Words cannot describe how I felt when I first heard those opening notes!  To this day, I still get goosebumps when I hear them.

In January I watched an interview with Lin-Manuel Miranda on 60 Minutes about the staging of a new musical called Hamilton.  This story about the life of founding father Alexander Hamilton set to rap and hip hop music performed by a young and multiracial cast left me spellbound!  The song "My Shot" instantly became my favorite when Miranda said it took him a year to write because he wanted it to be the best song it could possibly be!  To say that I am obsessed with this musical would be an understatement!  I immediately downloaded the Original Broadway Cast Recording and I listen to it every day on the drive to and from school.  I want to see Hamilton so much!  Next month I am going on a theatre trip to New York City and I tried to get a ticket but it is sold out for the next year!  I would be brokenhearted to be in NYC and not be able to see it so, since I am a little bit more savvy than I was in college (not to mention I have a little bit more money), I eventually found a ticket on StubHub.  It cost the equivalent of the gross national product of a small country but such is my mania to see this show that I didn't hesitate to buy it.  I am so excited and I don't know how I am going to wait five weeks before I leave!  I know that it will be the experience of a lifetime just like it was seeing Les Miserables for the first time!

Cowgirls at PTC

Last night I went to see PTC's production of Cowgirls and I must say that I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would!  Country is my very least favorite genre of music but, by the end of the show,  even my foot was tapping just a little bit!  Jo Carlson (Leenya Rideout) has inherited Hiram Hall, her father's country and western saloon, but she has also inherited his debts and the saloon is about to be foreclosed.  In a last ditch effort to repay the debts and save Hiram Hall, she has hired the Cowgirl Trio to perform during the grand re-opening.  Unfortunately, she has, in reality, hired the Coghill Trio, a group of classically trained musicians.  The Coghill Trio has reached the end of a disastrous three month tour and, eager to prove themselves, they convince Jo that they can learn to play country music to the dismay of Jo's waitresses (Karis Danish and Ashlie Roberson) who think they could do a better job.  As she coaches Lee (Jessica Bradish) a cello playing New Age lesbian, Rita (Lindsay Zaroogian), a pregnant pianist afraid of losing her identity when she becomes a mother, and Mary Lou (Angela Chatelain Avila), an uptight violinist, on how to play country music, Jo must deal with the fact that her mother abandoned her for a career in country music.  The songs they sing take each of  them on a journey of discovery and I particularly enjoyed "Kingdom of Country," "Songs My Mama Sang," "Looking for a Miracle," "Don't Look Down," and "Saddle Tramp Blues."  While the plot is simplistic, the songs and choreography are quite entertaining and I was extremely impressed by the fact that the actors play all of their own instruments on stage (much like the actors do in the musical Once).  The set of the saloon also reminded me of the bar in Once with audience members invited on stage to have a drink and watch the final performance of the Cowgirl Trio.  I did grow a little weary of the stereotypical portrayal of the down-on-their-luck and hard-living waitresses (they even sing a song called "Don't Call Me Trailer Trash") and the twang (a big reason why I don't like country music) is definitely over the top!  However, I highly recommend this thoroughly entertaining show about women learning how to take a risk!  Cowgirls plays at PTC through April 9 and tickets may be purchased here.

Eye in the Sky

It has been quite a while since I've been to the Broadway, my favorite art house theater, so last night I decided to see Eye in the Sky, a film I have been anticipating since it premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year. To say that it is intense would be an understatement.  Usually when I say that I was on the edge of my seat it is a metaphor but, during this film, I literally moved to the edge of my seat, balled my hands into fists, and held my breath during a particularly suspenseful scene.  I  may have even yelled, "Hurry!" at the top of my lungs!  Luckily, everyone else in the audience was in a similar state of agitation!  Katharine Powell (the always brilliant Helen Mirren), a general in the British army, has been tracking a British national involved in a terrorist cell for six years.  She receives intelligence about her location, along with two other high profile terrorists including an American, in a safe house in Nairobi and plans a joint operation to arrest her and the other terrorists with the USAF using drones for surveillance.  When the subjects move to a Somali occupied area in Nairobi, the rules of engagement change from a pick up order to a kill order prompting much debate among COBRA, a British intelligence agency comprised of military and political leaders (most notably, Alan Rickman in one of his final roles, and Jeremy Northam, one of my favorite actors).  Using an agent on the ground (with some really cool, yet scary, technology), the team discovers that the terrorists are planning two imminent suicide bombing missions.  This convinces COBRA to authorize dropping the Hellfire missiles on the terrorists.  However, the pilots of the drone discover a little girl who will most certainly be killed as collateral damage prompting more debate.  The film ends during the aftermath of their decision leaving the viewer to  wonder if they made the right one.  This film is highly charged, to say the least, as the various participants try to justify losing one life versus losing many lives as a result of a suicide bomb and multiple perspectives are explored so you are not sure what to think by the time they take action.  The tension builds and builds with incredibly affecting performances, especially Mirren because her character is motivated by personal reasons and she chafes at the inability of the committee to make a decision.  It is a film that will leave you thinking long after you leave the theater and I highly recommend it.