The Last Duel

When I found out that Adam Driver had been cast in The Last Duel I decided to read the book by Eric Jager (upon which the movie is based).  I was absolutely fascinated by the true story about the last legally sanctioned trial by combat in France and I immediately began anticipating the release of the movie.  I was able to see it last night at a Thursday preview (in a packed theater) and I think it is outstanding.  The movie opens with preparations for the duel between former friends Jean de Carrouges (Matt Damon) and Jacques Le Gris (Driver) and then depicts the events leading up to it from three different perspectives.  In the truth according to Jean de Carrouges, he saves the life of his squire Le Gris in battle but, in return, Le Gris ingratiates himself to their Lord, Count Pierre d'Alencon (Ben Affleck), and is rewarded with land that was meant to be a part of his wife's dowry and with a captaincy held by his father than was meant to be his upon his father's death.  He is angry with Le Gris for this betrayal but instigates a rapprochement to keep the peace.  When he returns home from battle, his wife Marguerite (Jodie Comer) informs him that she was raped by Le Gris.  When Marguerite tells him that she wants Le Gris to pay for his crime against her, he demands justice from King Charles VI (Alex Lawther) in the form of a duel.  In the truth according to Jacques Le Gris, he defends Carrouges for disobeying the Count's orders in battle and earns the land and the captaincy for services rendered to the Count.  Carrouges lashes out against him but he instigates the rapprochement because of their former friendship.  He can't help himself from falling in love with Marguerite and believes that she also has feelings for him.  He forces himself on her but asserts that he has done nothing wrong because her resistance is perfunctory.  He protests his innocence but agrees to the duel because he does not want to appear cowardly.  In the truth according to the Lady Marguerite, she has no importance in society beyond her dowry and her ability to produce an heir but she is capable and runs the estate better than her husband during his absence.  She views Le Gris as handsome and intelligent but untrustworthy and, when he attacks her, she fights him but is overpowered.  Carrouges flies into a rage when he hears of the rape because he sees it as an affront to his honor and demands a duel even though it puts her life in jeopardy.  The movie concludes with the duel and its aftermath.  I think the structure is absolutely brilliant because the characters view the same events very differently based on their experiences (Carrouges believes he is the hero, Le Gris believes he is justified, and Marguerite believes that she is a victim of the patriarchy) and it is up to the audience to determine the ultimate "truth."  While the rape scenes are hard to watch, the subtle differences between the two perspectives are very powerful.  My only problem is with Le Gris' version because it deviates from the book.  He always maintained that he didn't attack her at all and there was evidence, albeit disputed, that he had an alibi.  The scenes involving medieval combat are spectacular and I was particularly impressed with the portrayal of the duel.  Finally, I loved every performance.  Damon and Driver are fantastic and Affleck steals every scene he is in but Comer is absolutely amazing!  This might not be for everyone (it could be very triggering for some people) but I loved it and I highly recommend it to fans of historical epics.

Utah Opera's The Barber of Seville

Last night I had so much fun at The Barber of Seville, Utah Opera's first full-length production since the pandemic started, because it is absolutely hilarious!  Count Almaviva (Matthew Grills) has fallen in love with Rosina (Sarah Coit) but her guardian Dr. Bartolo (Matthew Burns) wants to marry her himself and keeps her under constant supervision.  Almaviva disguises himself as a poor student named Lindoro and hires a band in order to serenade Rosina under her balcony.  She falls in love with him, too, but they lament the fact that they cannot be together.  Almaviva enlists the help of Bartolo's barber, Figaro (Michael Adams), in order to infiltrate his household to get close to Rosina.  Figaro devises several plots, including having Almaviva impersonate a drunken soldier with orders to be billeted at Bartolo's house and having him impersonate a music teacher to replace Rosina's regular teacher, Don Basilio (Adam Lau).  Chaos ensues!  This is the funniest opera production I have ever seen and I loved it!  I normally do not like it when the source material is changed for effect but sometimes it works and, since the libretto for this opera is actually quite nonsensical, the changes work really well here.  The setting is now the 1960s and the production design is inspired by the movies of Pedro Almodovar with sets that feature bold patterns and colors and costumes that are reminiscent of the circus (one member of the ensemble is on stilts, another sells balloons and cotton candy, and others throw confetti whenever they are on stage).  The entire cast is incredibly strong and they sing their roles beautifully (Adams is especially charismatic) but I was most impressed with how adept each of them are with the physical comedy!  I especially loved the scene where Almaviva practices yoga and plays the sitar as a hippie music teacher, the scene where Bartolo gives an eye exam (he is an ophthalmologist) to a terrified patient while trying to discover what Rosina is up to, and the scene where the police come to arrest Almaviva for causing a disturbance and then create an even bigger disturbance.  I laughed out loud the entire evening!  I think this particular production is one that most everyone will enjoy (I saw quite a few laughing children in the audience) because it is very accessible.  The plot is easy to follow since it is basically a love triangle, the music is instantly recognizable, the recurring sight gags (mainly involving chickens) are laugh-out-loud funny, and the length is under three hours (including the intermission).  Even if you are not a fan of opera I highly recommend getting a ticket to one of the two remaining performances (go here).

Thriller 2021

I have been attending Odyssey Dance Theatre's Halloween extravaganza Thriller for years and years and it is always so much fun!  It is one of my favorite Halloween traditions!  I was able to see this year's production at Kingsbury Hall (it is being performed in six different venues) last night and I loved it!  I (along with the rowdy and enthusiastic crowd) always look forward with great anticipation to all of the old favorites, including the undead cavorting in a graveyard in "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein" (I am always amazed at how flexible the Bride of Frankenstein is in this number), glow in the dark tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of Jasons who wield various weapons in "Jason Jam" (this gets funnier every year), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number in the show), acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  I am also very eager to see if there are any new numbers in the show and this year there was one called "Annabelle at the Ball."  This involved dancing porcelain dolls inhabited by spirits summoned by a group of schoolgirls and it was really creepy when the lights came on to reveal the dolls in the audience!  As in year's past, artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed in between the numbers and they were absolutely amazing.  In addition to "Siren of the Sea" and "Phantom of the Opera," which were performed last year, this year included a group of six artists costumed as wolves and one as Little Red Riding Hood performing on a spinning globe in "Full Moon" and two artists costumed as snakes performing on silks in "Slytherin." I have no idea how these aerialists do what they do!  My only complaint with this year's show was the return of Giggle Girl and her comedy routine in between the numbers.  I think she is so annoying and I wish they would bring back Bubbles the Clown!  Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I highly recommend adding Thriller to your list of Halloween traditions (go here for information, venues, and tickets).

Note:  This year marked the return of the undead who wander the aisles before the show.  Do not make eye contact with them!  Trust me on this!

The Lincoln Highway

My Book of the Month selection for October was The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (the other options were The Perishing by Natasha Deon, The Ex Hex by Erin Sterling, Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead, and Everything We Didn't Say by Nicole Baart) and I absolutely loved it (almost as much as I loved his previous novel A Gentleman in Moscow which is high praise, indeed).  In 1954 Emmett Watson, age 18, has been released a few months early, in consideration of his father's death, from a work camp in Kansas where he has served 15 months for involuntary manslaughter.  He is driven home to Nebraska by the kindly warden who tells him that he has paid his debt to society and should try to live a productive life.  He learns that his father's farm has been foreclosed by the bank and decides that it would be best if he and his eight-year-old brother Billy make a fresh start in a new state.  After much research he decides that Texas would be a good option because the population is growing and he can use his carpentry skills to buy rundown houses and renovate them in order to sell them for profit.  However, his brother Billy, inspired by his copy of Professor Abacus Abernathe's Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers, wants to go on an adventure to find their mother, who abandoned the family several years earlier.  He suspects that she is in California based on postcards sent to the boys from stops on her journey.  However, the brothers are surprised when they discover that two other inmates, Duchess and Wallace "Woolly" Wolcott Martin, went AWOL from the work camp and stowed away in the trunk of the warden's car.  They have a plan to go to New York to claim $150,000.00 left in a safe by Woolly's wealthy grandfather and offer to split the money with Emmett in exchange for a ride.  The four of them ultimately embark on an odyssey of sorts on the Lincoln Highway, the first transcontinental highway in the U.S., in Emmett's baby blue Studebaker and they have a series of adventures, and misadventures, as they attempt to settle old scores and make a future for themselves. The narrative spans ten days and is told from multiple perspectives, including a myriad of secondary characters encountered in numerous settings, each with a distinctive voice. All four protagonists are incredibly compelling, especially the wide-eyed Billy, and the storytelling, reminiscent of Steinbeck and Twain, drew me in completely.  I really enjoyed the exploration of intention in determining culpability.  The three young men take actions that seem justified given what they have experienced in their lives but, when those actions have unintended consequences, should they be held accountable?  The prose is beautiful and I savored every single word!  After falling in love with A Gentleman in Moscow during the lockdown, I had very high expectations for The Lincoln Highway and it definitely did not disappoint. I highly recommend this thought-provoking tale of friendship, self-discovery, and adventure.

Amy Grant at the Eccles

When I was in college I worked as a counselor at a summer camp and my bunk mate was really into Christian rock.  Some of it rubbed off on me because that was the summer I became a huge fan of Amy Grant.  Some people are surprised when they learn this about me but I love her and I've seen her several times in concert.  I was so excited to see her again last night at the Eccles Theater for a concert to commemorate the 30th anniversary of Heart in Motion, her most mainstream and commercially successful album (although my favorite is Lead Me On).  As such, she played quite a few songs from this album, including "Hope Set High," "Good For Me," "That's What Love Is For," "Ask Me," "Baby Baby," and "Every Heartbeat."  She also played "Don't Ever Want to Lose It" which is a song she began writing when she was working on material for Heart in Motion but never finished.  When she was in the process of releasing a 30th Anniversary edition of the album she decided to finish and record it.  I had never heard it before and I really liked it.  She played "Saved By Love" and "1974" (which I had never heard live before) from my favorite album Lead Me On and I absolutely loved hearing these songs.  She also sang quite a few of my favorites from The Collection (which I listened to over and over again when I was in college), such as "Stay For a While," "Angels," "Find a Way," "El-Shaddai" (one of my favorite moments of the night), "Sing Your Praise to the Lord" (which got the crowd on their feet), and "Emmanuel" (another favorite moment).  She included a few songs from some of her later albums, such as "Say Once More," "If I Could See (What the Angels See)," "Children of the World," "Helping Hand," "Turn This World Around," "Out in the Open," and "Better Than a Hallelujah."  I wasn't as familiar with these songs but I really enjoyed them.  She ended her set with a cover of "Put A Little Love in Your Heart," which she often does, and then came back to perform a heartfelt version of "I Will Remember You" from Heart in Motion as the encore (when she came back to the stage for the encore people started shouting songs they wanted to hear, I wanted "Everywhere I Go," and she said she wasn't singing any of them but she was making a setlist for the next time she came to town).  Grant is a very charismatic performer and last night was no exception because she recounted many amusing stories before each song and she frequently had the audience laughing out loud.  I loved this concert (I sang almost every word) and it was wonderful to be back at the Eccles Theater for such a fun show!