Rachmaninoff's Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini

When I was a little girl in Canada my family lived next door to an older couple from Russia.  They were unable to have children of their own so they regarded me as a sort of surrogate granddaughter.  My parents warned me not to bother them but I loved going over to their house as often as I could because it was dark, exotic, and filled with the most magical objects, including an exquisite samovar that had pride of place in their living room.  They spoke Russian to me and served me pryanik, a type of Russian cookie, when they had tea in the afternoon.  I loved them dearly!  Because of this early influence, I have always been fascinated with all things Russian (I've been to Russia twice).  I love Russian history and Russian literature but I especially love Russian music because it is so passionate.  Last night's Utah Symphony concert featured three Russian composers, including my favorite Rachmaninoff, and I loved it so much!  In fact, my heart was almost bursting with emotion throughout the entire evening!  The orchestra began with Night on Bald Mountain, a moody and atmospheric tone poem composed by Modest Mussorgsky and arranged by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov.  This piece is especially appropriate right before Halloween because it depicts a Witches' Sabbath and I always picture a group of witches dancing around a fire whenever I hear it.  I especially like the dramatic theme played by the brass throughout.  Next came the amazing Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  I have always loved this piece, including all of the Themes and Variations, because it is equally fiery and passionate, grand and stirring, wild and tempestuous, and unbearably romantic.  If I had to pick a favorite, like everyone else, I would pick Variation 18 because it is so beautiful and plaintive (perhaps you have heard it because it is featured in many movies, including Somewhere in Time).   Guest soloist Lukas Vondracek played it brilliantly!  I really enjoyed watching his fingers fly up and down the keyboard and his performance garnered a spontaneous standing ovation (and an encore) immediately after its conclusion.  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Symphony No. 5 by Sergei Prokofiev.  This piece was written during the height of World War II as a tribute to the triumph of the human spirit and I particularly loved the final movement because it is so energetic.  This concert was absolutely sublime and I think you should get a ticket (go here) to tonight's performance of the same program.  

Thriller 2019

It has been a long and stressful week so I was really happy to be able to relax and attend Odyssey Dance Theatre's production of Thriller last night.  This Halloween themed dance extravaganza is one of my favorite traditions and I look forward to it all year.  Sometimes I think that maybe I don't need to see it every year because I've seen it so many times but, as I sit in the audience anticipating each dance, I know that I would feel really sad if I missed it.  It seems like everyone in the audience feels the same way that I do because they cheered out loud at the beginning of all the old favorites, including the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nighmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of chainsaw wielding Jasons in "Jason Jam" (an audience favorite), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number), demonic dolls in "Chucky-Rama," and acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys."  It is always really fun to see subtle differences in the choreography or in the staging year after year and I love seeing returning members of the company.  This year there were also some new dances including a dance-off between dinosaurs in "Dino Dance," demonic possession in "Annabelle of the Ball," a tap dancer at odds with himself in "Jekyll & Hyde," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  For the past several years there have also been performances by the artists of Aeris Aerial Arts in between the dance numbers.  They were all spectacular but my favorites were "Full Moon," with seven aerialists performing on a spinning globe, and "Phantom of the Opera," with two aerialists performing as the Phantom and Christine Daae on silks.  I really don't know how they can make their bodies do what they do!  I had so much fun last night and I highly recommend getting a ticket to one of the few remaining shows (go here).  Whether you have never seen the show before or whether you go every year like me, you are sure to be impressed by the talented dancers of ODT!

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

I didn't especially like the movie Maleficent but I really enjoyed Angelina Jolie's performance and for that reason I decided to see the sequel, Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, yesterday.  I liked it so much more than I thought I would.  Even after reversing the curse on Aurora (Elle Fanning), Maleficent (Jolie) is still viewed as a villain so Aurora rules as Queen of the Moors in her place.  Prince Phillip (Harris Dickinson) proposes to Aurora and she accepts, hoping that their marriage will unite the fairies of the Moor and Phillip's kingdom of Ulstead.  Maleficent is not happy about this marriage but agrees to attend a dinner in their honor hosted by Phillip's parents King John (Robert Lindsay) and Queen Ingrith (Michelle Pfeiffer).  Tensions brew during the dinner and King John falls under a spell for which Maleficent is unjustly blamed, causing Aurora to turn against her.  As Maleficent flees, she is shot with iron and collapses in the sea.  She is rescued by Conall (Chiwetel Ejiofor), another fey with horns and wings like her, and taken to an underground cavern where the remaining fey left in the world are forced to live.  Conall urges her to remember her daughter and pleads for peace but Borra (Ed Skrein) and the other fey want war.  During an epic confrontation between the fairies and the humans, Aurora and Maleficent must remember the bond that brought them together in some really touching scenes (I may or may not have had a tear in my eye).  What I didn't like about the first movie is what the sequel absolutely gets right.  The visuals are stunning in this movie and I was completely drawn into the world inhabited by these fantastical creatures.  The CGI is a vast improvement on the original, in my opinion, and even those silly pixies (Imelda Staunton, Lesley Manville, and Juno Temple) didn't bother me this time.  Once again, Jolie gives a riveting performance and I particularly enjoyed the development of her character's conflicted feelings about her place in the world.  Pfeiffer is also sensational as a villain and I loved the scenes where Maleficent and Ingrith go toe to toe (I can't decide which character had the best costumes).  I liked the message about fighting against fear and intolerance and I found it to be quite moving, especially during a scene where one of the creatures is used to test the effectiveness of a deadly potion and another scene where a creature sacrifices herself to save the others.  I went into this movie expecting not to like it but I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would definitely recommend it!

Sara Bareilles at the Maverik Center

I was once a very casual Sara Bareilles fan.  I liked "Love Song" and I loved "Brave" but I didn't really know any of her other material.  Then I saw the musical Waitress (Bareilles wrote the music and lyrics) on Broadway and I was completely blown away by it.  I especially loved the song "She Used to Be Mine" because Jenna, the main character, sings this song when she acknowledges to herself that her life has not turned out the way she had hoped it would and she needs to find the courage to change it.  It is highly emotional and I have cried during it both times I've seen the show.  This song made me respect Bareilles more as a songwriter and now I would consider myself a big fan of hers.  When I found out that she was coming to the Maverik Center I bought a ticket hoping against hope that she would sing it and she actually did!  She sang it (along with "Safe Place to Land," "You Matter to Me," and "Bad Idea" from Waitress) last night in the middle of her set and it was incredibly powerful!  She told the crowd that she wrote it for both Jenna and for herself and, as always, I cried all the way through it!  She sang quite a few songs from her new album Amidst the Chaos including "Fire," "Armor," "If I Can't Have You" (which she sang with Emily King who opened for her), "Eyes on You," "Miss Simone," "Orpheus," "No Such Thing," "Poetry by Dead Men," and "Saint Honesty."  I wasn't very familiar with these songs but I really liked them, especially "Poetry by Dead Men."  She also sang "Love Song" and "Brave," which were highlights for me, as well as "Gravity," "Let the Rain," "Uncharted," and a rousing rendition of "King of Anything."  The stage felt very intimate with all of the musicians in a semicircle around Bareilles on piano.  She was obviously thrilled to be performing again after a six year hiatus and her banter with the crowd was genuine and filled with appreciation for her fans.  She told lots of amusing anecdotes before most songs, even noting that she needed to stop talking or she would run out of time!  I really appreciated her messages about taking action for things you believe in, especially when the world feels like it is on fire, and accepting people for who they are.  It was a great show!

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels at PTC

I am a huge fan of PTC's concert series!  I have seen their productions of The Rocky Horror Show, Chess, In the Heights, and La Cage aux Folles (and enjoyed them immensely) but my favorite is definitely this year's production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.  I saw this show last night and I can't remember when I've laughed so hard!  Concert versions are stripped down performances where the actors use scripts (because they have a very short time to rehearse) and there are minimal costumes, sets, and props to let the music take center stage.  Dirty Rotten Scoundrels is the perfect musical for this format because the songs are absolutely hilarious as they are without much staging.  The story follows Lawrence Jameson (Brent Barrett), a charming and sophisticated international playboy, as he cons a wealthy woman named Muriel Eubanks (Elizabeth Ward Land), who is visiting the French Riviera from Omaha, by pretending to be a prince fighting a revolution to reclaim his country.  Soon an amateur con artist named Freddy Benson (Matthew Hydzik) comes to the Riviera and Jameson decides to take him under his wing to keep him from stealing his marks. When he tries to con Jolene Oakes (Talya Groves), an heiress from Oklahoma, he enlists Benson's help to get him out of an accidental engagement.  When they both take credit for the success of the plan, they bet each other that they can each con $50,000 from Christine Colgate (Kate Fahrner), an heiress from Cincinnati, and chaos ensues!  Benson pretends to be a paralyzed soldier and Jameson pretends to be a Viennese psychiatrist but who is conning who?  Even though there isn't a lot of blocking and choreography, there is still quite a bit of physical comedy and both Barrett and Hydzik are brilliant, especially during the songs "All About Ruprecht" and "Ruffhousin' Mit Shuffhausen."  I also really liked "Great Big Stuff," "The More We Dance," and "Love Is My Legs" because they are completely over the top and made me laugh out loud!   Barrett and Hydzik have wonderful comedic timing and great chemistry together and the ensemble is highly entertaining!  The band, which is on stage during the performance, is fantastic and music director Phil Reno is incorporated into the action with amusing results. I don't think I stopped laughing through the whole show so I highly recommend it for a fun night out!  There are only two more performances today so act quickly (go here for tickets).