Money Monster

Thursday night I went with my Mom and Marilyn to see the movie Money Monster.  George Clooney plays Lee Gates, the flamboyant host of a slick investment advice television show (also called Money Monster), and Julia Roberts plays Patty Fenn, his exasperated producer.  Walt Camby (Dominic West), the CEO of Ibis, is scheduled to be a guest on the program to explain why the company's stock inexplicably crashed losing investors over $800 million.  Just as the show is about to go live, Gates learns that Camby is believed to be in Geneva and that Diane Lester (Caitriona Balfe), CCO of Ibis, will be taking his place via a live feed from their corporate office.  As the show gets under way, a man named Kyle Budwell (Jack O'Connell) storms on set with a gun and places a vest, with enough Semtex to blow up the entire building, on Gates holding him hostage on live TV.  Budwell invested his entire nest egg in Ibis stock, on a recommendation from Gates, and wants answers about why it crashed.  As Gates tries to keep Budwell calm, Fenn, trapped in the control room, and Lester, from the IBIS corporate office, work to uncover a conspiracy that stretches from Johannesburg to Seoul to Reykjavik.  It is a taut and entertaining thriller with highly nuanced performances by both Clooney and Roberts, as well as a riveting performance by O'Connell.  It is incredibly suspenseful because the characters are trying to find answers in real-time in the claustrophobia of the set and the control room while the cameras are rolling.  Director Jodie Foster uses the perspectives of the various cameras on the floor quite effectively.  The script is very intelligent, making complicated stock manipulation understandable for a lay audience, and it is often quite funny, especially when a low-level producer is sent running from place to place multiple times.  It seems that indictments of Wall Street have become de rigeur in Hollywood lately and, while this installment isn't quite as scathing as The Big Short, it does, however, show the human cost of corporate greed.  I really enjoyed this movie but both my Mom and sister found all of the profanity to be a bit off-putting.

Three Medals

This week Tashena competed for the final time at the District Track & Field Championships.  She entered three events (discus, long jump, and shot put) and won medals in all three of them!

In the discus she broke a district record that has stood for thirty years!

Discus Champion (Look at those guns!).  She has won the discus championship for three years in a row!

Long jump champion.

Third place in shot put.  I am so proud of this girl!  I can't wait to see what she does next year in high school!

Harbor Lights Cruise

On my first night in New York City I decided to take a Circle Line Harbor Lights Cruise (most theatres are dark on Monday night) and it was absolutely spectacular!

Some views of the iconic New York City skyline.

Some beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty at dusk.

Some views of the Brooklyn Bridge at dusk.

Views of the Manhattan Bridge.

The beautiful city lights reflecting in the water.  New York City is magical and it was a lovely way to spend my first night in the city that never sleeps!

The Count of Monte Cristo at PTC

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas is one of my all-time favorite books and, when PTC announced that they were going to stage a new adaptation during the 2015-2016 season, I was thrilled and decided to reread the classic in anticipation.  That may have been a bad thing!  The thrilling tale of betrayal and revenge begins when Edmund Dantes is promoted to captain of the Phaeron, much to the dismay of the purser, Danglars, and becomes engaged to the beautiful Mercedes, much to the dismay of his jealous rival, Mondego.  They accuse Dantes of treason when they discover that Dantes has been asked to deliver a letter to Noirtier, a notorious Bonapartist.  Dantes is arrested and brought before the magistrate, Villefort, who is the son of Noirtier.  Fearful of being exposed as the son of a Bonapartist, Villefort imprisons Dantes in the Chateau d'If where he languishes for years.  Dantes eventually meets the Abbe Faria, another prisoner, who teaches him languages, history, culture, and science.  Faria also reveals the location of an immense treasure on the island of Monte Cristo just before he dies.  Dantes takes the place of Faria and is thrown into the sea where he eventually locates the treasure and uses it to intricately and painstakingly plot and execute his revenge against Danglars, Mondego, and Villefort.  My favorite part of the book is how elaborate and clever Dantes' plans are and the lengths to which he is willing to go to exact revenge against those who have betrayed him.  I was quite disappointed that this adaptation chose to spend less than ten minutes on revenge (during the song "Too Much is not Enough") and, instead, focus on the resumption of the love story between Dantes and Mercedes (which does not happen in the book).  I realize that source material is often altered to enhance the storytelling but I feel that playwright Jack Murphy changed the entire focus of the story from an exciting tale about the dangers of letting revenge consume you into a tepid romance.  The songs are incredibly beautiful, especially "Forever," "I Will Be There," "I Know Those Eyes/ This Man Is Dead," "All This Time," and "The Man I Used to Be."  The lead actors give powerful performances, particularly Matt Farcher as Dantes and Briana Carlson-Goodman as Mercedes, and Dathan B. Williams just about steals the show as Abbe Faria (although, because of the altered story, crowd favorite Max Robinson is completely underutilized as Monsieur Morrell).  The set, with a giant revolving staircase, is impressive, the period costumes are very well done (other than the strange black leather pants worn by the count), and the choreography is exciting, especially the fight scenes.  PTC does everything right but I just couldn't get past the changes to the story and ultimately left the theatre disappointed.  Perhaps knowing nothing about the book is an advantage because everyone around me seemed to love it!  The show runs through May 21 and tickets may be purchased here.

NYC!

Times Square in New York City

A few years ago I was able to take a theatre trip to London with Pioneer Theatre Company.  I saw an advertisement for the trip in a playbill and spontaneously signed up to go even though I didn't know a single person who was going and I had to take a week off from school in April.  It was the trip of a lifetime and I have always looked back on this experience with fondness because I got to see a revival of My Fair Lady with Anthony Andrews, a brilliant production of Stones in his Pockets, and an incredible performance of King Lear at the Old Vic with Timothy West (who was amazing) in the title role.  I also got to see The Lion King and Mamma Mia for the first time (I cried when the elephants walked by me in The Lion King).  I literally met my roommate for the first time at the airport but I had a blast running around London with her.

Last fall I saw a similar advertisement in a playbill, this time for a theatre trip to New York City with Hale Centre Theatre.  Once again, I didn't know a single person who was going (including my roommate) and I had to take a week off from school in May (which, in case you were wondering, is not a good time to be gone) but I spontaneously signed up and I am so glad that I did! I got to see seven musicals in five days (including Hamilton which absolutely blew my mind), I got to do some fun touristy things (like visit the Statue of Liberty and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge), and I met some of the most amazing people who love theatre as much as I do (my roommate and I talked until 2:00 in the morning every night!).  I will recap my adventures in the next few weeks but here are some details if you are thinking of visiting New York City.   Where to stay:  I loved the Belvedere Hotel in Midtown Manhattan because it was conveniently located near Broadway and Times Square.  What to do:  I had a 7-day Unlimited Ride MetroCard, which lets you ride the subway and all MTA buses, and a 7-day New York Pass, which gives you admission to most tourist attractions (and lets you jump to the head of the line at said attractions) as well as a two-day Hop-on Hop-off Bus Ride.  My tour also included four Broadway musicals but I got tickets to three more shows here and here.  Where to eat:  My favorite restaurant while I was in New York was Amarone.  I recommend the Eggplant Fritters!

Note:  Don't be afraid to do something that is outside your comfort zone.  Amazing things can happen when you say yes to opportunities that come your way.  I usually don't regret the things I do but I almost always regret the things I don't do.