Newsies at PTC

There was a time when the Disney musical Newsies was at the top of my list of shows that I wanted to see.  Such was my mania to see it that I went to Los Angeles to see it at the Pantages Theatre only to learn that the Broadway touring company would be coming to SLC the following year.  Now it seems as if it is everywhere.  The Tuacahn Amphitheatre produced it last summer and both PTC and HCT have the popular show in their 2017-2018 schedules.  I had the chance to see it at Pioneer Theatre last night (I have a ticket to Hale's version next June) and it is fantastic!  It definitely rivals the Broadway versions that I've seen!  In 1899 a group of newspaper delivery boys, let by Jack Kelly (Jonathan Shew), goes on strike to protest Joseph Pulitzer (William Parry) raising the price of newspapers.  With a little help from an intrepid reporter named Katherine (Nadia Vynn) and Governor Roosevelt (Richie Call) himself, the newsies score a victory for all of the working children in New York.  The staging and choreography stays true to the original on Broadway with just a few new touches to keep it fresh and exciting.  The highlight of this show has always been the dancing and the dancers in this show are exhilarating!   The audience practically cheered out loud with every high energy leap and spin!  The big production numbers are so much fun including "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," "Once and For All," and my favorite song in the show, "The World Will Know."  Shew is as handsome, charismatic, and talented as any Jack I've seen before and I loved his affecting rendition of "Santa Fe."  Vynn just might be my favorite Katherine and I was tapping my toes to "Watch What Happens."  I also really liked Stephen Michael Langton as Davey (he played Davey in the Broadway touring company).  Do yourself a favor and take your teenagers to see this show (If they are anything like the students of Hunter High I bet they are dying to see it) but get tickets soon because the theatre was packed on a Monday (go here for tickets).  It runs at PTC until Dec. 20.

Note:  I currently have what I call Joseph fatigue because Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is performed so often in Utah.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen with this show.

Sean is a Teenager!

Yesterday was Sean's thirteenth birthday so he is now officially a teenager!  He is really excited about that!  As is tradition the birthday boy gets to pick where he has his birthday dinner and this year he picked the Old Spaghetti Factory.  That was an excellent choice!  The waitresses sang Happy Birthday to him!  He was a little bit embarrassed but I think he secretly loved it!  Then we came back to his house for presents and the traditional Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake!

He was pretty spoiled with lots of ear buds, games for his Xbox, gift cards to buy more games, and a cool pop-up tent.  With all of his presents I think he was most excited about an entire batch of fudge that his Grandma made him!  He loves his Grandma's fudge!  I sure do love this kid...er...teenager!

Winter Ball 2017

Last night was the Winter Ball for Bountiful High School.  Tashena went with a boy named Josh and her group of friends.  I absolutely loved her dress!

The boutonniere!

The corsage.

Tashena and Josh.

Sydney and Kaleb

The girls.

The boys.

The whole group!

I really love Tashena's sense of style!  She picks the most beautiful dresses!

The Man Who Invented Christmas

Yesterday afternoon (I broke my rule about not seeing movies on a Saturday afternoon and I bitterly regret it) I saw the delightful and charming movie The Man Who Invented Christmas.  It tells the story of how Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) came to write the beloved classic A Christmas Carol.  As someone who has seen this play performed more times than I can count, I absolutely loved seeing how Dickens found inspiration for the story and I loved how the characters came to life as he was writing, especially Christopher Plummer as Ebenezer Scrooge.  As Dickens struggles to finish the book, certain autobiographical details are revealed which suggest that the book is about the reclamation of his soul as much as it is Scrooge's and the scenes where he makes amends are just as affecting as those where Scrooge does it in the book.  Dan Stevens is so charming in the role and Christopher Plummer is fantastic, as ever.  The production design is very successful in bringing Dickensian London to life and I especially loved the lighting throughout.  This movie is just the thing to give you a boost of Christmas spirit!  I would have enjoyed it immensely were it not for the theater full of kids under five who had absolutely no interest in this movie.  This is not really a movie for young children because a little familiarity with the source material is required to understand what is going on.  I highly recommend it with that proviso.

Note:  Unruly and disruptive children are the bane of my existence (hence my rule about Saturday matinees).  The teacher in me wanted to quiet them!

Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony

It was an evening featuring the music of Camille Saint-Saens last night at Abravanel Hall and it was absolutely lovely.  Several years ago one of my colleagues, knowing how much I enjoy classical music, recommended a concert featuring Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony and I enjoyed it immensely.  Now I try to see it whenever I can and when I learned that the Utah Symphony would be performing it this season I immediately got a ticket.  While I picked this concert for the Organ Symphony, I really loved the other Saint-Saens pieces that were performed as well.  The orchestra began with the "Bacchanale" from the opera Samson and Delilah.  I had never heard this before and it is incredibly exotic and stirring.  The finale is absolutely spectacular featuring a crescendo of timpani!  This was followed by Trois Tableaux symphoniques d'apres La Foi, which is incidental music for a play of the same name by Eugene Brieux, and I have to say that this is now one of my favorite pieces because it is beautiful.  I loved the themes played by the harp which are also incredibly exotic.  Harpist Louise Vickerman gave me goosebumps!  I also really loved the themes played by the woodwinds and the trombone solo.  After the intermission the orchestra was joined by Paul Jacobs, the chair of the organ department at The Julliard School, for Symphony No. 3, better known as the Organ Symphony.  It was magnificent!  I especially loved the second movement because there is a theme played by both the organ and the strings in unison with an accompaniment of timpani and cymbals.  So dramatic!  I enjoyed this entire concert so much and I recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program (go here for tickets).

Note:  This concert was recorded for commercial release as part of the Utah Symphony's project to become the first American symphony to record all five of Saint-Saens' symphonies.  I will definitely be purchasing these CDs because Saint-Saens is becoming one of my favorite composers.