A Star Is Born

It seems like I've been anticipating A Star Is Born for such a long time and I finally had the opportunity to see a Thursday preview last night.  Wow!  Bradley Cooper plays Jackson Maine, an alcoholic and drug-addicted rock star who clearly has many inner demons.  Strung out after a gig, he has his driver find a bar where he can continue getting wasted but, instead, he finds Ally (Lady Gaga), a young singer/songwriter who is so insecure about her looks that she pretends to perform in drag.  He is captivated by her and, after she sings him one of her original songs, he pulls her on stage to perform it with him.  She eventually joins him on tour and gets noticed by a record producer who offers her a contract.  Conflict arises as Ally becomes successful and Jack's addictions become more severe.  I saw the Barbra Streisand/Kris Kristofferson version so long ago that, while I knew the basic premise of the story, I didn't remember many of the details so I was completely blown away by my emotional response to the tragic love story.  Bradley Cooper is hit or miss with me but his performance is incredible and so affecting, especially in a scene where Jackson breaks down and apologizes to Ally.  I've always respected Lady Gaga as a gifted musician despite her rather outlandish stage persona and she, as expected, gives a tour de force performance while on stage but she is also very believable in the role of a singer who doubts herself.  The chemistry between Cooper and Gaga is palpable and I really cared about their relationship.  I also really enjoyed seeing Anthony Ramos as Ally's friend Ramon.  Cooper wrote many of the songs with Lukas Nelson, the lead singer of Promise of the Real (the band appears in the movie as Jackson's band), and he sings and plays the guitar live on screen as well which really impressed me!  I was also impressed by Cooper's direction (it is his directorial debut) because he gives such an intimate portrait of two flawed characters.  I loved this movie!  It is definitely one of my favorite movies of the year and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I have seen Promise of the Real in concert and I really like their sound so I loved the music (I downloaded the album before the credits finished).

Ragtime at CPT

Last night my Mom and I went to see my niece Tashena perform in the ensemble in Ragtime at CenterPoint Legacy Theatre. Of course I thought she was amazing! I really like this musical and seeing Tashena perform made it even more memorable. Ragtime tells the story of America at the turn of the 20th Century. Mother (Annie Ferrin) is the matriarch of an upper-class family living in the suburb of New Rochelle. Everything changes when Father (Dan Frederickson) leaves on a voyage to the North Pole forcing her to make decisions for the first time in her life. Tateh (Shelby Ferrin) is an Eastern European Jew who brings his daughter to America for a better life. Coalhouse Walker, Jr. (Timothy Drisdom) is a Harlem piano player looking for justice after the death of his fiance Sarah (Olivia Lusk).  Their stories converge along with those of the most notable figures of the day: the illusionist Harry Houdini (Nick Morris), a showgirl named Evelyn Nesbitt (Janessa Zech) who gets caught up in the Crime of the Century, the African-American leader Booker T. Washington (Everett Spencer), the financier J.P. Morgan (Rob Severinson), the inventor of the Model-T Henry Ford (Brett Sloan), and the anarchist Emma Goldman (Katelyn Johnson). Through it all ragtime music is used as a metaphor for the changes taking place in American life before World War I and it is a compelling story filled with wonderful songs. My favorite songs in this show have always been "Sarah Brown Eyes" and "Back to Before" and they were performed beautifully last night but "Till We Reach That Day" was especially beautiful and very affecting. I also really loved "Gettin' Ready Rag" because the choreography is spectacular and my niece can really dance!  It was so much fun for my Mom and I to watch her in that number! This is a big and complicated show so I really appreciated the understated sets, which mimicked industrial iron girders, as they could be configured and reconfigured very quickly. I was especially struck by the iron gate which held the immigrants back as they entered America from Ellis Island in "A Shtetl in Amereke" because it is very dramatic.  The entire cast is outstanding but Drisdom as Coalhouse and Ferrin as Mother are particularly strong. I highly recommend this show (and not just because my niece is in it) which runs until Oct. 27.  You can purchase tickets here (if you want to see my niece, she is in the T H S cast).

Fall Camping Trip

Since I had Friday off as compensation for parent teacher conferences earlier in the week, I decided to take a trip down south to my very favorite KOA.  This little camping trip was very much needed and it was so relaxing!

I always love coming to the Fillmore KOA because it is far enough from home so I feel like I've gone somewhere and close enough to get there in less than two hours.  The facility is outstanding and the people who run it are some of the nicest people you will ever meet!

I stayed in this cabin Friday and Saturday nights.  It was in a very secluded area and I really enjoyed the solitude.

I spent most of my time sitting on the porch of the cabin reading.  Having time to read without distractions is pretty much my idea of heaven!  I loved listening to the breeze blow through the trees!  In the evening I settled into my cabin and watched movies!

On Saturday night I built a fire and sat next to it until it got really dark.  It was so relaxing!

This little camping trip was exactly what I needed!

Note:  This trip was the first item to be crossed off my fall bucket list!

Fall Bucket List

Fall is my very favorite season and I am determined to enjoy it to the fullest this year!  Here is a list of things I want to do during the month of October!

• Go on a fall camping trip.  I can already cross this off my list because I am currently sitting on the porch of my KOA cabin.
• Go on a fall drive.  Go here for five of my favorite fall drives near SLC.
• Make a fruit cobbler in a dutch oven.  I haven't done this for a really long time and I'm thinking that it needs to happen this year.
• Go to a corn maze.  Sean might think he's too cool to go with me this year.
• Carve a Jack-O-Lantern.  Marilyn and I do this with Sean and Tashena every year except the year we procrastinated buying pumpkins until the day of Halloween and then couldn't find them anywhere.
• Watch the movie Young Frankenstein with donuts and apple cider.  This has been a tradition ever since I moved out on my own and I look forward to it every year.
• Watch a horror movie in the theater.  I'm thinking of seeing the new Halloween movie.
• Eat a caramel apple.  This was the number one thing I wanted to do after I got my braces off!
• Eat chili in a pumpkin bread bowl. My Mom has made chili on Halloween since I was a little girl.  It is one of my favorite traditions.
• Attend ODT's Thriller.  I have been attending this Halloween dance extravaganza for the past 20 years.  It just wouldn't be Halloween without it!
• Make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  We'll see if this actually happens!

There you have it!  I'm so excited for all of it!  Do you have any fall traditions?

Waitress at the Eccles

A few years ago my friend Esther and I went on a quick theatre trip to NYC.  I chose to see the revival of She Loves Me and Esther picked Waitress.  I wasn't really that keen on seeing Waitress but I am so glad that Esther picked it because I ended up loving it!  The original Broadway cast, especially Jessie Meuller, was outstanding and the song "She Used To Be Mine" brought me to tears!  Needless to say I was really excited for the chance to see it again at the Eccles Theatre last night and I loved it just as much as the Broadway production.  It tells the story of how Jenna (Desi Oakley, in her final performance in the role) uses baking to cope with her dead-end job as a waitress in a diner and her unhappy marriage to an abusive husband (Nick Bailey).  When she learns that she is pregnant, and then begins an affair with her gynecologist (Bryan Fenkart), she expresses her hopes, dreams, fears, and frustrations through the names of the pies she bakes each morning for the diner: Deep Shit Blueberry Pie, Berry the Bullshit Pie, A Little Wild Wild Berry Pie, In the Dark Chocolate Pie, etc.  Whenever she is overwhelmed everything freezes and she tells the audience the ingredients for her latest pie, always beginning with "Sugar, Butter, Flour."  In the end, the ingredient she needs is courage!  The songs, written by Sara Bareilles, are fabulous and I especially like "What's Inside," "Opening Up," and "It Only Takes a Taste" because, while they are about baking, they are also metaphors for life!  So clever!  My favorite song is, of course, "She Used To Be Mine" and Oakley performed it with so much passion that I had tears once again!  While I did cry, I also laughed and laughed in many parts of the show, particularly "Never Ever Getting Rid of Me" and "Bad Idea" because the choreography is absolutely hilarious!   It is also really fun to see the live band playing in the diner and to watch the cast actually make the pies on stage!  I really enjoyed watching this show again and I highly recommend it!  Waitress runs at the Eccles Theatre until Sunday and tickets may be purchased here.