The Phantom of the Opera at the Eccles

The first time I saw The Phantom of the Opera was on Broadway in 1998 with my sister Kristine when we were on a girls trip to New York City.  I absolutely loved it and have now seen it at least a dozen times, including once on my most recent trip to NYC.  The production of The Phantom of the Opera that I saw at the Eccles Theatre on Thursday night is an all new touring version directed by Laurence Connor (the original is still performed on Broadway) and, for the most part, I really liked it.  The story about a disfigured madman living in the catacombs underneath the Paris Opera House and his love for the ingenue Christine Daae remains the same as does Andrew Lloyd Webber's magnificent music.  The biggest difference in this production is the set (there is still a crashing chandelier) which portrays a darker, grittier, and more realistic theatre and we definitely see more of the backstage areas.  There is a giant rotating cylinder on a turntable that opens up to reveal Christine's dressing room, the Managers' office, the rooftop of the theatre, and the graveyard (my favorite change to the set).  This cylinder also becomes a spiral staircase by which the Phantom leads Christine to his underground lair and I also really liked this change because it actually felt like they were under the theatre rather than in some fantasy.  The choreography is also more realistic and the operas performed seem like actual productions rather than caricatures.  The only change that I didn't like, and I really hated it, was the staging and the choreography for "Masquerade" which has always been my favorite number in the show.  The dramatic staircase is no longer used and the choreography employs more ballet than the stylized dancing of the original.  I also didn't really like the new costumes because they weren't as theatrical as I thought they should be since it is a masquerade ball. Another change from the original is the emphasis on the relationships between the Phantom, Christine, and Raoul.  The encounter between the Phantom and Christine during "The Music of the Night" is much more passionate, in my opinion, as is their performance of "The Point of No Return."  I have always believed that Christine should end up with the Phantom (although the only person who agrees with me is my sister) and in this version she seems really torn between him and Raoul in "Down Once More."  I usually think of Raoul as a fop but I also really enjoyed his encounter with Christine during "All I Ask of You."  I could really see the appeal of both of them for Christine and I appreciated this change in staging.  Quentin Oliver Lee is a fantastic Phantom and I loved his performance of "The Phantom of the Opera" and "The Music of the Night."  I sometimes couldn't hear Eva Tavares as Christine because the music seemed to overpower her but her version of "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again" gave me goosebumps.  I enjoyed this new production and I am glad that I got to see it (every performance is sold out!).

Summer Reading: The Women in the Castle

The next selection on my summer reading list, The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck, is one that I absolutely could not put down! I loved it! This novel is set in Germany during and after World War II and gives a fascinating perspective on the collective guilt felt by Germans. Three women, all widows of men involved in a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler, come together to live in a crumbling Bavarian castle after the war. Marianne von Lingenfels views the events of the war in black and white and holds herself and her children above the former Nazis around her. Beautiful Benita Flederman, who married her wealthy husband to escape her life of poverty in a small town, cares nothing for politics and wants life to return to normal as soon as possible. Ania Grabarek is tormented by the guilt she feels over her complicity in the events of the war and about the secret she is keeping. Over the course of the novel the three women must come to terms with what has happened to each of them, what has happened to their country, and what they have done to each other. The characters are very sympathetic and memorable (I felt very emotionally connected to all three of them for different reasons) and the story is extremely compelling because well-known events are told from a different vantage point than that of most World War II fiction. I found it interesting that the women crave understanding rather than forgiveness and I never felt like Shattuck was in any way condoning the more horrific events of the war. It is one of the most thought-provoking novels I have read in a long time because I have always wondered how Germans could have allowed the rise of Hitler to happen and how they rationalized it to themselves once the full extent of the atrocities were made public. Conversely, I've also wondered what it was that motivated people to risk everything in order to resist when so many did nothing. This gave me some context and I highly recommend it!

Note:  Have you read The Women in the Castle?  What did you think of it?

Hanna Camping Trip 2018

My sister and her husband have a really nice trailer and, just like last year, they took it up to a campground in Hanna (where my brother-in-law went camping when he was a kid) and they plan to leave it there for the month of July so that they and their friends and family can use it.  Like last year I availed myself of this opportunity for a little camping trip this week.  It was absolutely wonderful to be up in the mountains with the small of pine and the fresh air.  After being there for only a few minutes I felt so relaxed (just driving through Wolf Creek Pass, which was beautiful, rejuvenated me).  I love being in the great outdoors and, while you might think that being up there alone would be scary, I loved the solitude.  It was so quiet and peaceful.  Every morning I would wake up as soon as it got light and wander around, usually to the river, then I would spend the afternoon reading (I finished two books), and in the evening I would build a great big fire and make s'mores.  I loved being able to see all of the stars and I loved listening to the rain as I fell asleep!  It was perfect and I was a little sad to leave (but not too sad because I have a ticket to Phantom of the Opera!).

I'm hoping to be able to go up again later in the month.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

I had the chance to see Ant-Man and the Wasp at a Thursday preview in an IMAX theater with a large and boisterous crowd and it was so much fun!  I absolutely loved Ant-Man (much more than I expected) so I have been looking forward to this for a long time.  In the aftermath of the events in Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) is under house arrest until he is once again drawn into the activities of Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) and Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) who  believe that Janet Van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) is still alive.  Since Lang entered and returned from the quantum realm, where Janet has been lost for thirty years, Pym and Hope want his help to rescue her through a quantum bridge they have created.  However, a former colleague of Pym's, Bill Foster (Laurence Fishburne), wants this technology to help Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), the victim of a botched quantum experiment which has left her in an unstable state, and Sonny Burch (Walton Goggins), a black market dealer, who wants the technology for its potential value.  Meanwhile, Jimmy Woo (Randall Park), an FBI agent, is chasing Lang for violating house arrest and Pym and Hope for their role in breaking the Sokovia Accords.  Lang and Hope become Ant-Man and the Wasp and they recruit Luis (Michael Pena) in order to elude everyone pursing them and to rescue Janet.  This movie doubles down on everything that made me love the first one!  Rudd is incredibly engaging, once again full of witty one-liners, and his interactions with Lilly are hilarious.  The action sequences are fantastic with objects becoming larger and smaller as needed.  My favorite sequence involves a giant Hello Kitty PEZ dispenser!  Finally, Michael Pena, once again, steals the show, especially in a truth serum fueled monologue that had me and everyone else in the theater laughing out loud!  I loved this movie!  It is the perfect summer blockbuster and I highly recommend it for a good time (especially after the devastation wrought in Infinity War).

Note:  It goes without saying that you should stay through the credits!  There is a mid-credits scene that links directly to Infinity War and a fun post-credits scene.

Summer Reading: To Capture What We Cannot Keep

The next selection on my summer reading list was To Capture What We Cannot Keep by Beatrice Colin. This is the type of book that I keep reading hoping that it will get better. It didn't. Caitriona Wallace is a recently widowed Scottish woman with limited financial means. She accepts a position as a chaperon to siblings Jamie and Alice Arrol on a European tour. While in Paris, she has a chance encounter with Emile Nouguier, an engineer working on the construction of the Eiffel Tower. She is dazzled by him but soon must return to Scotland with her charges. In despair she is about to enter a marriage of convenience with a wealthy man she does not love when she is suddenly given the opportunity to return to Paris as chaperon to the Arrols once again as Jamie, an aspiring engineer, has been given an internship to work on the Eiffel Tower. She is soon reunited with Emile and they embark on a forbidden romance. Gag! The pace of the narrative is so slow! It takes forever for Caitriona and Emile to get together!  When they finally do get together I didn't really buy into the conflict because the reasons why they can’t be together are preposterous.  I didn't understand Emile's hesitation. He comes from a wealthy family and worries about his mother's reaction but he has defied her at every turn, refusing to work in the family business to pursue building the tower. Why does her opinion suddenly matter? I also didn't understand the shocked reaction from his contemporaries because every other character's behavior is very Bohemian. Why the sudden judgement? Apparently Caitriona is too respectable for Emile to dally with (his fellow artists have no problem with his on-again off-again relationship with an opium addicted prostitute) but not respectable enough for his mother. Then she decides to break it off with him, despite the fact that he now realizes that he loves her, because she suddenly has a big secret (which has not been referenced before) and must leave him for his own good without telling him the reason. To me this is such lazy storytelling and it is the reason why I don't really like romantic comedies. If characters would only talk about their issues all of this heartbreak could be avoided but then again there wouldn't be any conflict. It is so contrived! Another weakness is that the narrative spends a great deal of time on the antics of Jamie and Alice Arrol and I found them to be incredibly unsympathetic. The two of them make one bad decision after another but there are no consequences for their behavior. Every issue is resolved rather conveniently, especially a subplot involving Alice (I think I rolled my eyes at this explanation). Finally, I was baffled by the epilogue. Years later, when Emile finds Caitriona again, they have this special moment but nothing is actually resolved. I suppose we are meant to think that they live happily ever after because they embrace dramatically. Ugh! I did really enjoy the details surrounding the building of the Eiffel Tower but these were not enough to overcome the uninspired story. Does anyone want my copy?

Note:  Have you read To Capture What We Cannot Keep?  What was your reaction?  I am definitely in the minority on this one.