1945

Yesterday I spent a rainy afternoon at the Broadway seeing a compelling foreign film called 1945.  In a rural village in Hungary just after World War II, two Orthodox Jews get off a train and arrange for two large trunks to be taken into the town by wagon.  News immediately spreads throughout the village and everyone reacts with alarm, wondering who they are and what they want.  We slowly learn that many of the villagers were complicit in denouncing a prominent Jewish family before the war and that many profited, unethically, from their arrest.  Intermingled with these frantic scenes of chaos are long shots of the two men slowly following the wagon into town which is a bit menacing as the villagers await their arrival.  As guilt plagues the villagers, with catastrophic results for many of them, we learn the innocuous reason for their visit.  It reminded me a lot of High Noon because the town is anticipating, not gunslingers, but two strangers walking into the town while nervously peering out from behind lace curtains as events unfold in real time.  This is, ultimately, a profound portrayal of guilt and how you cannot escape from the consequences of your actions forever and I am sure that I will be thinking about it for some time to come.  The cinematography effectively uses high contrast black and white to create unbearably beautiful images and the jarring score does much to add to the tension.  It is in Hungarian, and some Russian, with English subtitles and many of the characters look and dress alike (particularly the women) so I had a difficult time following the action at first but I found the images on the screen to be riveting.  I would definitely recommend this film.

Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2

Last night my friend Angela and I went to the final Utah Symphony performance of the 2017-2018 season and it was such an amazing concert!  In my opinion a performance featuring Rachmaninoff was a great way to end what has been a fantastic season!  The orchestra began with a piece commissioned by the Utah Symphony called Reflections by Tristan Murail.  It is very modern but, as explained by Thierry Fischer, it is a contemplative piece where the instruments mimic the tides and the wind and their ability to withstand adversity.  I found it to be very soothing.  Next Concertmaster Madeleine Adkins was the featured soloist in a performance of Korngold's Concerto for Violin and Orchestra.  I had never heard this piece before and I thought it was beautiful.  I especially loved the third movement because it was very lively and the violin sounded a lot like a fiddle.  Adkins gave a spectacular performance (I really like her and I like the fact that the Concertmaster is a woman) and she received a thunderous standing ovation.  After the intermission the orchestra played Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2.  Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite composers so I enjoyed this immensely.  I think that the fanfare played by the horns in the second movement is so quintessentially Russian and I think that the main theme played in the third movement is especially romantic.  It was such a lovely concert and it was a great way to celebrate the end of the school year!

Note:  I am really looking forward to seeing the Utah Symphony perform in some outdoor venues this summer, particularly a performance with Sutton Foster at Deer Valley!

The Rider

Last night I saw The Rider, a film I have been anticipating for weeks, and it is so good!  Brady Blackburn (Brady Jandreau) has suffered a catastrophic brain injury from being trampled after riding a bucking bronco at a rodeo.  Riding broncos is the only thing he knows how to do and it is his sole source of identity.  When he is told that he can never ride again he struggles to find himself again.  It is a beautiful and powerful exploration of what it means to let go of a dream.  What makes this film so remarkable is that it is based on actual events in the life of rodeo star Brady Jandreau, who plays a fictionalized version of himself, and stars his father Tim, his sister Lilly, several of his friends, and a former bull rider named Lane Scott who was paralyzed in a similar accident.  This device lends a certain authenticity to the film.  Footage from Jandreau's accident is used in the film and scenes where he actually trains wild horses are absolutely spellbinding.  Because he lived through these events, his pain and frustration are palpable and I found Brady to be an incredibly sympathetic character.  When he breaks down after visiting Lane in the rehabilitation center, knowing that this could be his fate if he continues, it is one of the most powerful moments I've seen on film.  The scene where he rides his horse for the first time after the accident is also beautiful and the look on his face does much to establish his motivation for wanting to continue in the face of insurmountable obstacles.  It is a remarkable performance.  The film takes place in the South Dakota badlands and the cinematography is stunning.  The beautiful, yet harsh, environment is the perfect backdrop for a character-driven film that is ultimately hopeful but tinged with melancholy.  I loved The Rider (it is now one of my very favorites of 2018) and I highly recommend it!

Summer Reading 2018

There is nothing that I enjoy more than spending an afternoon reading and, now that the school year has officially concluded, I have some uninterrupted time to do just that!  Once again I am sharing my summer reading list and inviting you to read along with me.  This year my list includes popular historical fiction, my very favorite genre, including Everyone Brave is Forgiven by Chris Cleave, We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline, The Alice Network by Kate Quinn, Before We Were Yours by Lisa Wingate, To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir by Jennifer Ryan, and Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly.  I am so excited to get started!  Once again I will review each selection here every Friday and I hope you will join me and tell me what you think in the comments.  Yay for summer reading!

Mamma Mia at PTC

I have seen the Broadway touring production of Mamma Mia several times and I've even seen it in London's West End twice (once on a theater trip with PTC and once with my Mom who danced in the aisle) so I was really curious to see what a regional theater like PTC would do with it.  I am happy to report that I loved their version and I think some of the choreography, especially in "Lay All Your Love On Me" (more about that in a minute) and "Voulez-Vous," even surpassed the Broadway version.  This musical features some of Abba's best known songs, such as "Dancing Queen," "Money, Money, Money," "S.O.S.," "Knowing Me, Knowing You," and, of course, "Mamma Mia."  Sophie Sheridan (Kathryn Brunner) wants her father to walk her down the aisle at her wedding but she doesn't know who he is.  When she reads her mother's diary, she discovers three possibilities:  Sam Carmichael (Brian Sutherland), Bill Austin (Dan Sharkey), and Harry Bright (Paul Castree).  Without telling her mother Donna (Coleen Sexton), she invites all three of them to the wedding and chaos ensues!  The cast is incredible in this show, especially Sexton!  During the fourth performance she broke her foot but decided to continue the run, wearing a boot and occasionally using crutches.  When I heard about this, I worried that this might take me out of the illusion of the show.  But the production team did such a great job of adjusting the costumes, choreography, and lighting (in just 24 hours) that, after her initial entrance on stage, I really didn't notice at all.  Sexton is definitely a trooper (a super trouper?) for continuing to perform with such a severe injury!  As great as the main cast is, I think the male ensemble steal the show with their scuba gear in "Lay All Your Love On Me" and their acrobatics in "Does Your Mother Know?"  This show is so much fun and I absolutely recommend that you take a chance (too much?) on PTC and see one of the remaining performances (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have really enjoyed the 2017-2018 season at PTC!  Highlights have been The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time and Bright Star.