Rhapsody in Blue

Last night I spent an absolutely delightful evening at Abravanel Hall listening to the Utah Symphony and guest soloist Kevin Cole play the music of George Gershwin.  It was a lovely way to end a very busy week!  The orchestra began with Gershwin's Cuban Overture.  I really enjoyed all of the percussion and Latin rhythms.  I was practically dancing in my seat!  Next the orchestra was joined by Kevin Cole on piano for Gershwin's Second Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra.  I liked how the main theme was repeated by the various sections in the orchestra.  After the intermission Kevin Cole joined the orchestra once again for "I Got Rhythm" Variations for Piano and Orchestra.  It was a lot of fun listening for all of the different versions of this popular song.  Next came Promenade "Walking the Dog" which Gershwin wrote for the scene in the movie Shall We Dance where Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire walk a dog on a luxury liner.  It was very lively and I heard the man sitting in front of me giggling at the end of it!  The orchestra and Kevin Cole concluded with the main event, Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.  I waited all evening to hear this piece and I loved it!  I especially enjoyed the instantly recognizable opening solo played by Principal Clarinet Tad Calcara because it is so whimsical.  It was very entertaining watching Cole's fingers flying up and down the keyboard and he received a thunderous standing ovation (which prompted, not one but, two encores).  Gershwin can always be counted on for a wonderful concert and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance which will be less formal (go here for information and tickets).

Note:  The orchestra also played a piece called Sacred Geometry by Andrew Norman, the Composer in Association with the Utah Symphony.  I must admit that I didn't really care for it because I found it to be quite jarring.

Charlie's Angels

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of the latest installment of Charlie's Angels.  This movie is basically just an excuse to watch girls kick ass around the world with some fun gadgets while wearing fabulous clothes but I am so there for that!  The Townsend Agency has gone global with multiple teams of Angels and Bosleys running missions around the world.  A computer scientist at Brock Industries named Elena Houghton (Naomi Scott) discovers that the Calisto Project, a technology she created which taps into the Earth's magnetic core to produce clean energy, can be weaponized.  When her concerns are ignored by her boss Alexander Brock (Sam Claflin), she enlists the help of Angels Sabina Wilson (Kristen Stewart) and Jane Kano (Ella Balinska) to investigate.  After stopping an assassination attempt on Elena, they discover a conspiracy within Brock Industries to sell Calisto to the highest bidder.  With the help of Rebekah Bosley (Elizabeth Banks), the Angels try to stop this powerful weapon from getting into the hands of an unexpected enemy.   This movie is exactly what I was expecting and I really enjoyed watching it.  I am a big fan of Kristen Stewart (I think she is very underrated) and it was a lot of fun seeing her in a more lighthearted role.  She is great in the action sequences and I found her to be surprisingly funny with some fabulous throwaway lines.  The themes of female empowerment and teamwork really worked for me and I like the fact the Angels are strong and capable rather than overtly sexual (this idea is hilariously spoofed in the opening sequence).  In my opinion, the action sequences are fun rather than spectacular, especially when Elena worries about dying during a car chase and when Sabina verbally spars with an assassin during hand-to-hand combat.  I liked Charlie's Angels and I recommend it as the perfect girls night out movie.

Harriet

Whenever my Mom and I would see the trailer for the movie Harriet, she would whisper to me that she really wanted to see it.  Of course I told her that I would take her the week it came out and we made plans to see it last Wednesday.  When I went to pick her up, I realized that she wasn't feeling up to going out but she was really distressed at the thought of missing the opportunity to see it.  I promised her that I wouldn't see it without her and we made new plans for last night.  We both loved it!  Araminta "Minty" Ross (Cynthia Erivo) is a slave owned by Gideon Brodess (Joe Alwyn) in Dorchester County, Maryland in the mid-1800s.  When she learns that Brodess intends to sell her further south, she decides to run away to freedom.  After a harrowing escape, she makes it hundreds of miles on her own to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where she meets abolitionist William Still (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and a boardinghouse owner named Marie Buchanan (Janelle Monae).  She begins a new life (and changes her name to Harriet Tubman) but she is uneasy about the fact that she is free while her husband and family are still slaves.  Against the objections of William and with the help of Marie, she returns to Maryland to get her husband John (Zackary Momoh) but she learns that, thinking her dead, he has remarried and is expecting a child.  She wonders why she was directed by God to save her husband and decides to rescue her brother instead but he brings eight other people with him.  She ultimately leads all nine to safety.  William is astonished by what she has done and introduces her to members of the Underground Railroad where she becomes one of the most successful conductors.  This is an amazing movie about the courage and tenacity of one woman who believed that she was being directed by God to save as many people as she could and I love that it didn't shy away from portraying her faith.  Even though I was familiar with Harriet Tubman's story, I found the scenes where she and the other slaves are being pursued to be incredibly intense because of the quick-cut style in which they were edited.  I found myself holding my breath many times.  Erivo gives a powerful and heart-felt performance that is definitely worthy of the Oscar buzz it is generating.  The scene where she learns that her husband has remarried is gut-wrenching.  I also love the beautiful song "Stand Up" performed by Erivo in the final credits.  It gave me goosebumps.  This is an inspirational movie about a courageous woman that both my Mom and I highly recommend!

Note:  After the Fugitive Slave Act was passed, Harriet had to lead the escaped slaves to Canada.  She brought many of them to St. Catharines, Ontario which is where my Grandma Johnson lived!

The Lifespan of a Fact at PTC

Last night I went to see The Lifespan of a Fact, the current production at PTC.  The premise of this play was very intriguing to me so I was eager to see it.  When a powerful essay written by John D'Agata (Ben Cherry) lands on the desk of magazine editor Emily Penrose (Constance Macy), she knows it has the potential to impact her magazine's bottom line and possibly win some major awards.  She wants to use it as the cover story but she is on a tight deadline.  She enlists a young Harvard-educated intern named Jim Fingal (John Kroft) to fact-check it over the weekend.  All she wants is a good-faith effort to keep the lawyers happy but Fingal, wanting to do a good job to impress her, obsessively researches every minute detail.  He even goes so far as to fly to Las Vegas to verify some details and to get clarification from the author himself.  D'Agata does not take kindly to having his work questioned so Penrose eventually ends up in Las Vegas to play referee between the two of them (in some highly amusing scenes).  D'Agata argues that he is trying to find a universal truth about the meaning of life through the story of a boy who commits suicide and that the details do not matter.  Fingal argues that, in an age when anyone with a smartphone can verify every fact, he will lose credibility if anything is proven to be false thereby lessening the impact.  I really enjoyed the verbal sparring between the two characters and I found myself agreeing with both sides of the argument (I love and hate it when that happens).  My favorite scene occurs near the end of the play when, after a night of arguing back and forth, Penrose must make a decision whether to publish or not.  The three of them read the paragraph about the boy's final moments before jumping off a building aloud and are incredibly moved.  The audience is left to wonder if the emotional impact of that paragraph would be diminished if the prose was amended to correct a bit of minutiae.  The topic is particularly salient in the age of "fake news" and I think it is very powerful.  All three characters are interesting and compelling and the actors give wonderful performances.  Even though it is very cerebral without a lot of action, the narrative moves at a very steady pace (there is no intermission) so I was always completely engaged.  This play will definitely give you a lot to think about and I highly recommend it!  The Lifespan of a Fact runs at PTC until November 16 (go here for tickets).

The Godfather Part II

I had never seen The Godfather Part II before (I had never seen The Godfather until it was screened as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series a few years ago) so I was really excited to see it yesterday.  This movie tells the parallel stories of how a young Vito Corleone (Robert DeNiro) comes to America and rises to become the Don of the Corleone crime family and how his son Michael Corleone (Al Pacino), after eliminating all of his rivals, consolidates his power as the Don by eliminating anyone who betrays him, including family members.  I think the story is a little bit convoluted and I had a hard time following who was playing whom.  However, Michael Corleone is such a complex and compelling character and I enjoyed seeing his arc in this film.  He was absolutely ruthless in the first film but that was nothing compared to what he does in this one.  The scene where he tells his associate to assassinate his brother Fredo (John Cazale) at the funeral of his mother (Morgana King) is pretty chilling but shutting the door on his wife Kay (Diane Keaton) is particularly harsh.  I think the young Al Pacino is incredibly handsome and he gives a riveting performance.  Pacino keeps his face very stoic but you can see everything he is feeling by looking into his eyes, especially during the final scene where he is alone and bitter.  Equally captivating is DeNiro as the young Vito (he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance).  I loved the scene where he takes his revenge against the man who murdered his family and I was especially impressed with how well he mimicked the mannerisms of Marlon Brando (who played Vito in the first film).  The cinematography and score are moody and atmospheric and I especially enjoyed the period verisimilitude, especially in the scenes in Cuba (even if I didn't really understand what Michael was doing there).  Many people say that this is the best sequel in movie history and I can understand why because it brilliantly portrays the natural progression of Michael Corleone's corruption begun in the first movie.  I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen (go here).