We Are the Brennans

My Book of the Month selection for July was We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange (the other options were Sisters in Arms by Kaia Alderson, Razorblade Tears by S. A. Cosby, The People We Keep by Allison Larkin, and 56 Days by Catherine Ryan Howard) and I really loved it. In fact, I stayed up reading into the early morning hours several times because I was so riveted by the story. Sunday Brennan wakes up in a Los Angeles hospital room with severe injuries from a car accident after a night of drinking. She eventually decides to return home to New York to be with her close-knit Irish-Catholic family to recover and deal with her legal situation. However, it turns out that she abandoned her father Mickey, her brothers Denny, Jackie, and Shane, and her fiance Kale (who has since married someone else) and fled to California five years ago without explanation after a traumatic incident and has never spoken to them about it. She tries to reconnect with her loved ones but she is not the only one who has been keeping secrets and the repercussions of her secret threaten to destroy the happiness and security of all of the Brennans. The family members love each other fiercely and they think that sparing each other from any unpleasantness is an act of kindness but it is driving them apart. Ultimately, they must learn to trust each other to get through their problems together. This family is incredibly dysfunctional and each character makes terrible decisions but I still found them all to be very sympathetic. The family dynamic feels authentic because it is informed by Lange's own experiences growing up with a large Irish-Catholic family and the interactions between the family members are both humorous and heart-breaking (and incredibly relatable). I was the most invested in the relationship between Sunday, Kale, and his wife Vivienne because it is so awkward, especially when Sunday and Kale realize they still have feelings for each other, and it is tragic because they could be together if they had only communicated with each other. The narrative alternates between multiple perspectives and Lange uses the device of ending a chapter with a conversation that is picked up in the next chapter by a different POV which is incredibly effective at drawing in the reader because I literally couldn't put this book down! It seems like a new secret is revealed in every chapter, several of which really surprised me, and I really appreciated the fact that every problem isn't magically solved in the end but the resolution still feels incredibly hopeful. If you love a good generational saga as much as I do, I highly recommend We Are the Brennans.

Black Widow

Last night I finally had the chance to see the long-awaited movie Black Widow at a Thursday preview and it was both entertaining and surprisingly poignant.  In a flashback scene set in 1995, a young Natasha Romanoff (Ever Anderson) and Yelena Belova (Violet McGraw) are surrogate daughters to Alexei Shastakov (David Harbour), a Russian super-soldier akin to Captain America named Red Guardian, and Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz), a Black Widow, to help maintain their covers as part of a sleeper cell in Ohio.  When the mission ends, both Natasha and Yelena are subjected to psychological reprogramming in the Red Room training facility to become Black Widows themselves.  The action resumes in the immediate aftermath of the events in Captain America: Civil War with Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) on the run from Secretary of State Thaddeus Ross (William Hurt).  Yelena (Florence Pugh) is still a Black Widow subject to chemical mind control by the head of the Red Room, General Dreykov (Ray Winstone).  However, while on a mission, she comes in contact with the antidote that removes the Red Room's control and sends it to Natasha who comes looking for her in Budapest.  Yelena's story brings up unsettling memories of a former mission (we finally find out what happened in Budapest with Clint Barton) so Natasha decides to find and destroy the Red Room with the help of Alexei and Melina who also have ties to Dreykov.  The action is absolutely thrilling, especially in the many hand-to-hand combat sequences, and I was really impressed by Pugh because she definitely holds her own with Johansson who is as kick-ass as usual.  I have always really enjoyed the character of Black Widow but I especially loved her arc in this movie because she is forced to confront the demons from her past and is able to find a bit of redemption.  I also loved the exploration of what it means to be a family and the interactions between Natasha, Yelena, Alexei, and Milena are highly emotional as they process the trauma they have all been through but they are also often quite humorous, particularly a running gag about the superhero landing pose.  My only complaint is that the stakes are not as high as they could have been because we know Natasha's fate and that casts a bit of a pall on the proceedings.  Nevertheless, this is a worthy send off for Scarlett Johansson and the Black Widow character and I would highly recommend seeing it in IMAX.

Note:  This also feels like a beginning for Florence Pugh in the franchise but I am not sure how I feel about the set-up for her character (it goes without saying that you should definitely stay for an end credits scene).

Utah Symphony at the Waterfall

It was a lovely night for an outdoor concert last night!  This Utah Symphony concert at the Waterfall Amphitheatre at Thanksgiving Point is always one of my favorite events of the summer and I really missed it last year!  It felt so good to be sitting outside listening to wonderful music!  I brought a blanket, a picnic, and a book and happily waited in the sunshine for the orchestra, under the baton of Conner Covington, to take the stage for a stirring and patriotic program.  The concert began with Liberty Fanfare by John Williams and continued with Variations on America by Charles Ives (I loved all of the different versions of the theme from My Country, 'Tis of Thee in this piece).  Then the orchestra played the Overture to West Side Story and this made me really excited for the new movie coming in December.  Next came Semper Fidelis, which is the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps, by John Philip Sousa and this was quite stirring!  The first set concluded with Lincoln Portrait by Aaron Copland.  It was narrated by Lt. Governor Deidre Henderson and it was amazing because it combined the words of Abraham Lincoln with incredible music.  After the intermission, the orchestra played Silver Fanfare by Peter Boyer, Olympic Fanfare and Theme by John Williams (this made me realize that the Summer Olympics will be on in just a few weeks!), "Hymn to the Fallen" from Saving Private Ryan by John Williams, and "Nimrod" from Enigma Variations by Edward Elgar (which was absolutely beautiful).  The final piece, Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture, is a Utah Symphony summer tradition and I am really happy that it is back!  It is absolutely epic and the final theme (you can probably hear it in your head right now) gave me goosebumps!  I loved it!  For the encore, they played a rousing rendition of Stars and Stripes Forever by John Philip Sousa which ended in a spectacular fireworks show!  I had so much fun at this concert (I love outdoor performances) and I am looking forward to seeing the Utah Symphony perform several more concerts at the Deer Valley Music Festival this month (go here for information and tickets).

Guys and Dolls at HCT

Last night I saw HCT's wildly entertaining production of the old favorite Guys and Dolls and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The story, which is a bit dated but still a lot of fun, revolves around the romantic struggles between Nathan Detroit (Blake Barlow), who runs the oldest established permanent floating crap game in New York, and Miss Adelaide (Kelly Pulver), his long-suffering fiancee of fourteen years, as well as Sky Masterson (Preston Taylor), a charismatic professional gambler, and Sarah Brown (Jisel Soleil Ayon), an uptight sergeant with the Save-a-Soul Mission who is trying to reform him. When Nathan Detroit bets Sky Masterson that he can't take Sarah to Havana, chaos ensues! All four leads give wonderful performances but I found Taylor to be incredibly appealing as Sky, especially in "Never Been In Love Before," and I laughed out loud at Ayon's drunken antics in "Havana" and "If I Were a Bell." The choreography in this show is fantastic and "Luck Be a Lady" and "Sit Down You're Rockin' The Boat" are absolute showstoppers! I also really enjoyed Miss Adelaide's performances of "Bushel and A Peck" and "Take Back Your Mink" with the Hot Box dancers. The period costumes are a lot of fun, particularly all of the patterns used in the men's suits (I loved the pinstripes) and all of the details on the Save-A-Soul Mission uniforms. I am almost always impressed with the set design at Hale but Kacey Udey really outdid himself with this show. I loved the bold primary colors used in Mindy's Cafe, the Hot Box, and the Save-a-Soul Mission and I loved the contrast with the tropical pastel palette used in the Havana scenes. The projections on the giant LED screens are very well-done and enhance, rather than detract from, what is happening on stage. Finally, the technical aspects of this show are also outstanding. There are set pieces coming in from the wings, up from the pit, and down from the rafters for nearly every scene and it is quite impressive how seamlessly this happens (especially so early in the run). This is a fun, colorful, and energetic show that everyone will enjoy (the tween sitting next to me loved it) and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here). It plays on the Young Living Centre Stage through August 14.

Note:  Also, don't forget Always Patsy Cline playing on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage through August 28 (go here for tickets).

Always...Patsy Cline at HCT

Last night I went to see Always...Patsy Cline which is currently being performed on the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage at Hale Centre Theatre. I must say at the outset that I am not much of a country music fan (it is probably my least favorite genre of music) but the portrayal of an improbable friendship is quite poignant and I certainly appreciated the talented musicians who performed live on stage! The show is basically a series of performances by Patsy Cline (Cori Cable Kidder) of all of her hits at various venues, including the Grand Ole Opry, interspersed with commentary from a real-life fan named Louise Seger (Adrien Swenson) who met Cline at a performance in Houston and then corresponded with her until her untimely death. I found the story to be a bit contrived but the music is outstanding! Kidder is fantastic in the role, looking and sounding enough like the iconic singer to be believable without seeming like a campy impersonation, and I especially enjoyed her renditions of "Walking After Midnight," "I Fall to Pieces," "Your Cheatin' Heart," "Sweet Dreams," "Crazy," and "True Love."  The band, consisting of Kelly DeHaan (director and music director) on piano, Bryan Hague on guitar, Mark Maxson on lap steel guitar, Mark Robinette on bass, Aaron Ashton on fiddle, and James Densley on drums, is also fantastic and I really liked their spontaneous interactions with Kidder. Swenson is enthusiastic and fully committed to Louise's over-the-top persona but, in my opinion, the role itself is a little bit problematic because, in reality, there's not a lot for her to do. The shtick gets tedious after a while and sometimes detracts from the music. I was, as always, impressed with the set design, which features fun projections on cowboy boots and hats, and the many different costumes worn by Cline during her performances. This was not really my cup of tea (I don't think I will ever see it again) but it is an outstanding production with amazing performances and I'm sure that fans of country music and of Patsy Cline will appreciate it much more than I did.  It runs on the Jewel Box stage until August 28 and tickets may be purchased here.