I Heart Christmas Music!

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is having the opportunity to hear Christmas music performed live.  I don't think of myself as a religious person but there is something about Christmas music that gets me every time!  I had the opportunity to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform Christmas music last Sunday morning and it was glorious.  Every Sunday the choir gives a concert for the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast (which, incidentally, is the longest continuing broadcast in the world) and in December this broadcast features Christmas music.  It is held in the LDS Conference Center (which is quite the building) and it is free to the public.  It was a wonderful concert featuring "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Dance and Sing," "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly," "And The Glory of the Lord" from Messiah by Handel, "Noe! Noe!," "The First Noel," and "Carol to the King."  I can' think of a better way to listen to Christmas music than to hear it performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I loved it so much that I have decided to go back every Sunday in December!  Go here for more information about upcoming broadcasts.

Note:  I have a friend who sings in the choir and it was fun for me to see him.

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!