Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is my biggest movie surprise of 2018!  I went into the theater fully expecting to hate it and I ended up loving it!  I loved it so much that I canceled my plans for Friday night and saw it again with my Mom and sister and then the three of us saw it yet again Saturday morning.  I am a huge fan of Abba's music and I absolutely love the stage musical (I've seen it countless times including on Broadway and in London's West End).  Because I've seen incredibly talented Broadway stars perform this music live I was so disappointed in the movie adaptation because I thought most of the singing was awful.  Listening to Pierce Brosnan sing was actually painful and Colin Firth (whom I love) was not much better.  I know I had unrealistic expectations but I didn't like it so I dismissed the sequel out of hand.  The only reason I decided to see it was because the trailers intrigued me.  Before the first number was over I was completely enthralled.  Donna Sheridan (Meryl Streep) has been dead for a year and Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) has rebuilt the hotel to continue her dream.  Everyone has been invited to the grand opening including Tanya (Christine Baranski), Rosie (Julie Walters), Harry (Colin Firth), Bill (Stellan Skarsgard) and Sam (Pierce Brosnan).  Since Sky (Dominic Cooper) is away, she is helped by her hotel manager Fernando Cienfuegos (Andy Garcia).  As she thinks about her mother's dream there are flashbacks to when Donna (now played by Lily James) comes to the island, meets Harry, Bill, and Sam (Hugh Skinner, Josh Dylan, and Jeremy Irvine, respectively), and discovers that she is pregnant.  When Sophie discovers that she is pregnant, she finally understands that her mother's dream was all about her not the hotel.  What drew me in was the charismatic performance of James who can really sing and dance.  In fact, I loved all of the younger versions of the characters, especially Jessica Keenan Wynn as Tanya (she looks and acts so much like Christine Baranski that I thought they had digitally altered her to look younger).  I really loved all of the Abba songs, especially some of the more obscure ones like "Why Did It Have to Be Me," "Andante, Andante," "I've Been Waiting For You," and "My Love, My Life," and I loved how all of them were staged, particularly "Waterloo" and "Dancing Queen" which is so fun (watching Colin Firth's antics on the boat had me laughing out loud!).  The singing in this movie is so much better than the original because Lily James and Amanda Seyfried, the best singers of the group, do most of it with other characters singing with them or as an ensemble.  Finally, I need to gush for a moment about Cher who plays Sophie's grandmother.  When she sees Fernando across the crowded room I started laughing out loud again because I knew what was coming and it was everything I could have hoped for!  I had so much fun watching this movie, much to my surprise, and I highly recommend it!

Sutton Foster at Deer Valley

One of my very favorite summer activities is to see a Utah Symphony concert up at the Deer Valley Mountain Resort.  I love packing a picnic, heading up to the mountains where it is a lot cooler than the valley, and listening to some fabulous music.  I try to see at least one concert during the summer and this year I picked one featuring Kristen Chenoweth.  Unfortunately, she had to cancel because of an injury but then I learned that Sutton Foster would be replacing her!  I saw her when she performed a Christmas concert with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and she was amazing.  I knew this would be a wonderful concert and it was.  Sutton Foster is known for her many roles on Broadway and the program featured songs from the Great White Way.  She began with "Cockeyed Optimist" from South Pacific and then a lovely medley from Thoroughly Modern Millie, Annie, and Little Women which showcased her most famous roles.  She continued with "I Get a Kick Out of You" from Anything Goes.  Next she performed three songs from her most recent album Take Me to the World: "C'est Magnifique," "Give Him the Ooh-La-La," and "Stars and the Moon."  My favorite moment of the concert was when she sang "It All Fades Away" from The Bridges of Madison County.  This was absolutely beautiful and it gave me goosebumps!  She closed the set with the title song from Anything Goes.  After the intermission she sang a really fun medley of "If I Were a Bell" from Guys and Dolls and "Singing in the Rain."  She continued with "The Nearness of You" and "Down With Love."  Next she was joined by Megan McGinnis, her co-star from Little Women, and they performed "Some Things Are Meant To Be" from that show which was another favorite moment because it was so beautiful!  She dedicated "Sunshine on My Shoulders" to her mother like she did at the Christmas concert.  She continued with "Being Alive" from Company and the ended the set with "Take Me to the World" from her new album.  For the encore she sang "Gimme Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie which left me saying gimme gimme some more!  I loved this concert so much!  It was really windy at Deer Valley Saturday night but it was Foster's voice that blew us all away!  Not only was her performance amazing but she was just so charming and personable.  I'm so glad I got to see her again!  Go here for more information about the remaining Utah Symphony concerts at Deer Valley.

Bryce Canyon National Park

After visiting Zion National Park I decided to make another detour to Bryce Canyon National Park to see all of the stunning rock formations.  As soon as I got to the viewpoints, it started raining and it eventually turned to hail.  I did manage to get to most of the viewpoints and despite the fact that I was completely drenched by the time I was done I did manage to get some pictures.

Zion National Park

Since I was already in Southern Utah for the Shakespeare Festival, I decided to take the scenic way home through Zion National Park.  This is one of my very favorite places because my family took a lot of road trips here when I was young and I have so many happy memories.  It has been a while since I have been here so I spent several hours wandering around.  It was really wonderful!

Summer Reading: Beneath a Scarlet Sky

When I began reading Beneath a Scarlet Sky by Mark Sullivan, the next selection on my summer reading list, I was waiting for an outdoor concert to begin and a random woman sat down next to me to tell me how much she and her book club loved the book. She absolutely gushed about it so I was very eager to continue reading. It tells the true story of seventeen year old Pino Lello, a typical young man living in Milan during World War II who loves jazz, fast cars, and girls. As the bombing of Milan escalates, Pino is sent to a monastery high in the Alps for safety and he begins leading Jews through the mountains on treacherous journeys to elude the Nazis. When he reaches the age of conscription, his parents, hoping to keep him relatively safe, convince him to join the German army. He eventually becomes the driver and interpreter for General Hans Leyers which puts him in a position to observe the goings-on of the Nazis. He is recruited as a spy for the resistance and risks his life on many occasions to ultimately become a hero. I really wanted to like Pino's story but the manner in which it is told is rather bland. Sullivan tells us, in very simple declarative sentences, what happens rather than shows us and one event happens after another without a lot of dramatic tension or suspense. Even though this is purported to be a true story, much of what happens seems to be the result of a series of improbable coincidences. Pino just happens to be in the right place at the right time to meet many of the most important members of the Gestapo, as well as Mussolini himself, and he just happens to witness the major events that happen in Italy during the war. It strains credibility at times (it actually reminded me a little bit of the movie Forrest Gump which I dislike for the same reason). Pino also has a lot of abilities which manifest themselves just when they are needed, such as when he is able to maneuver the general's car away from a plane dive bombing it after recently learning to drive. What I did really enjoy was learning about the Italian experience during the war. Even after reading countless fiction and nonfiction books about World War II, I had little knowledge about the major events during the German occupation of Italy. After hearing such a glowing recommendation I was a little bit disappointed in this selection but that might mean others will enjoy it more than I did.

Note:  Have you read Beneath a Scarlet Sky?  What did you think?  I hear there is a movie in the works starring Tom Holland.