Utah Opera's Tosca

Utah Opera is slowly but surely converting me into a fan of modern librettos and more artistic interpretations of traditional operas but I will always be a fan of the classic tragedies where desperate lovers die for love and I will always prefer productions that stay true to the time and place in the source material.  For this reason, I have been looking forward to Tosca for what seems like forever!  Not only is this one of my very favorite operas but the performance last night was amazing!  Floria Tosca (Katie Van Kooten) is a fiery and passionate singer with two men in love with her:  her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (Dimitri Pittas), and the Police Chief, Baron Scarpia (Stephen Powell), who wants to possess her at any cost.  Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi for aiding a political prisoner and sentences him to death.  He tells Tosca that he will release him if she submits to him, promising her that the firing squad will be a ruse.  She agrees but when he embraces her, she stabs him with a knife.  She visits Cavaradossi in the Castel Sant'Angelo to tell him that he must pretend to die and then they can run away together when the guards leave.  However, Scarpia has betrayed her and Cavaradossi is actually killed by the firing squad.  Knowing that she will be accused of Scarpia's murder and unwilling to live without Cavaradossi, Tosca leaps to her death from the parapet of the Castel Sant'Angelo.  The music by Giacomo Puccini is incredibly beautiful (Conductor Steven White has a very light touch and I really enjoyed his interpretation of the music) and the three main actors give brilliant performances!  There were so many moments that took my breath away, including a scene in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at the end of Act 1 where Scarpia reveals his plan to execute Cavaradossi and possess Tosca while a procession sings the Te Deum (I loved the Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School in this scene), Tosca's aria "Vissi d'arte" at the end of Act 2 where she asks God to help her, and the scene in Act 3 where Cavaradossi sings the aria "E lucevan le stelle" reminiscing about his love for Tosca while awaiting execution (my favorite moment in the opera).  The sets of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Scarpia's study in the Palazzo Farnese, and the Castel Sant'Angelo are very elaborate and they add to the overall dramatic feeling of the opera.  I also loved the sumptuous costumes, especially Tosca's magenta dress (which is unceremoniously removed by Scarpia).  I loved everything about this opera and I highly recommend getting a ticket for one of the remaining performances (go here).

Note:  The young man sitting next to me was attending his very first opera.  He definitely picked a good one!

The Cartographers

My March Book of the Month selection was The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (the other options were Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse, The Verifiers by Jane Pek, and The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James). The novel begins as an intriguing murder mystery when Nell Young is informed that her estranged father, Doctor Daniel Young, has been been found dead at his desk in the Map Division of the New York Public Library under suspicious circumstances. When she returns to the NYPL after an absence of seven years to deal with her father's estate, she finds a worthless gas station map of New York state from the 1930s in a secret drawer. This map was the source of a bitter argument between the two of them and she wonders why he still has it in his possession.  As she begins investigating its origins, she discovers that there is much more to this map than meets the eye and that it may even be the reason her father was murdered. It is at this point that the novel becomes a fantasy with elements of horror as clues lead her to her father's friends from university and a dangerous group known as The Cartographers who are willing to stop at nothing to get the last copy of this map. I stayed up reading until the wee hours of the morning because I had to know why the map was so valuable and I was not disappointed because the reason is so clever and imaginative! The narrative alternates between Nell's investigation in the present and flashbacks to her early childhood as her mother and father begin their careers in cartography and this is very effective in building suspense. There are lots of twists and turns as each of the characters from Daniel's past tell Nell their stories and reveal a little bit more of the mystery. Nell is an incredibly compelling protagonist because she begins to experience the same dark obsession that set these events in motion and I enjoyed her character arc. As a bit of a history buff, I found all of the detailed descriptions of historical maps and the intricate processes (and secrets) involved in making them to be fascinating. I also loved all of the supernatural elements because, even though the plot is fantastical, it is grounded in reality. I absolutely loved this novel and would definitely recommend it, especially to fans of mysteries and magical realism (and nerds like me who appreciate an academic setting).

Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella at CPT

Last night my sister Marilyn and I took our Mom to see Cinderella at CenterPoint Theatre and we had so much fun! My Mom has late stage dementia and she also has some mobility issues but she loves the show so much and really wanted to go. Since she had a good day yesterday we called the box office and were able to get ADA accessible seats (the CPT box office is, hands down, the best in the SLC valley). It was a lot of work to get her there but she absolutely loved it so it was worth all of the effort! The Rodgers & Hammerstein version of the story is definitely not my favorite! I don't like the commentary on class structure or the fact that Cinderella is a social reformer who must rescue the prince from the advisors in his court who are deceiving him about the conditions in his kingdom. I also don't like the portrayal of the stepsisters as silly girls, rather than mean ones, who end up as Cinderella's sympathetic co-conspirators. However, I really enjoyed HCT's production a few years ago because it infused the magic back into the more contemporary story. CPT's production is just as magical! The cast is incredibly strong and I especially loved Mailee Halpin as Ella and Cynthia Klumpp as Marie/ Fairy Godmother. The songs require an impressive range and these actresses more than deliver in the songs "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Glass Slipper/ It's Possible," and "There Is Music In You." Halpin has great chemistry with Doug Wadley, as Prince Topher, and their songs "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful" are incredibly romantic. Jaycee Harris (who is my brother-in-law's niece) as the stepsister Charlotte just about steals the show in "Stepsister's Lament" and "A Lovely Night" because her facial expressions are absolutely hysterical. She received more applause and laughter than any one else for good reason. The choreography is so much fun and I really loved how "The Prince Is Giving A Ball" with all of the townspeople in the town square and "The Pursuit" after the ball are staged, especially the transformation of the Fox (Kirsi Jarvis) and the Raccoon (Caleb Hodson) after the stroke of midnight. Speaking of transformations, Cinderella's change into her sparkling ball gown and tiara is absolutely magical and her coach, including horses made of puppets, is spectacular. I loved how the lights around the proscenium blinked in coordination with the Fairy Godmother's wand. Finally the set pieces for Cinderella's cottage, the prince's castle, the woods, and the town square are some of the best I have seen from CPT. I also loved the projection showing the chiming clock at midnight because it is so dramatic! I really feel like CPT has stepped up their game this season because I was also really impressed with the set for The Play That Goes Wrong! My Mom thought the whole show was beautiful (that was what she kept saying on the drive home) and I had such a great time watching her experience it! I would highly recommend Cinderella with the proviso that it is quite different from the Disney version that young children are more familiar with (the little girls in front of me seemed really bored at times but they seemed to enjoy the spectacle). It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through April 9 (go here for tickets).

I Am Here

Last night I went to my favorite art house theater to see the documentary I Am Here and I found it to be incredibly inspiring.  On the occasion of her 98th birthday, Ella Blumenthal gathers her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around her in order to tell them the story of her survival during the Holocaust for the first time.  Through interviews in the present, archival footage, and animation sequences, she describes the German occupation of Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the horrors of the Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belson concentration camps.  She also recounts her guilt at being one of only two survivors in her family, meeting her husband Isaac Blumenthal, starting her own family, and her decision to remove her tattoo and put her experiences behind her.  Blumenthal is incredibly vibrant and charismatic and her story is very affecting.  I was particularly struck by the use of animation to tell the darker aspects of the story because, in my opinion, it made the images more palatable without taking away from the impact.  The symbolic use of blue butterflies, which represent rebirth, is incredibly effective in portraying her fight to survive, especially during a scene where she returns to Warsaw after the war and confronts all of the damage to the city.  I also really enjoyed her message of forgiveness and that one should not return hate with hate because that does not solve the problems found in the world today.  She wakes up every morning with gratitude for every day that she is allowed to live and that is such a lovely attitude, especially after everything she has gone through.  My only disappointment is that a letter by Blumenthal to a Holocaust denier offering compassion and conciliation introduced in an opening montage about the rise of hate crimes around the world is never referenced again (I was waiting through the whole film for this to be explored more fully).  Nevertheless, Blumenthal's story is a powerful one and I highly recommend this documentary.

The Foreigner at West Valley Arts

Last year I had the opportunity to volunteer as an usher at the West Valley Performing Arts Center and I had a lot of fun while getting to see some great shows. Unfortunately I am not able to do it any more because of family responsibilities but I went back as a patron last night to see The Foreigner which is an absolutely hilarious show. Froggy LeSueur (Xander Richey) is a British demolition expert who is visiting rural Georgia to conduct training sessions at an army base. Froggy brings his friend Charlie Baker (Joseph Paul Branca) with him because he is depressed over his marital difficulties and installs him at a fishing lodge owned by Betty Meeks (Vicky Pugmire) while he is on maneuvers. Charlie doesn't like this arrangement because he is painfully shy and fears having to interact with strangers but Froggy solves the problem by telling Betty that Charlie is a foreigner who doesn't speak English. The other guests at the lodge are drawn to Charlie because they believe he can't understand them. Catherine (Amanda Anne Dayton) pours her heart out to him because he is a good listener, Ellerd (Brandon Green) gains confidence by successfully "teaching" him English, and David (TJ Thomas) inadvertently reveals a plot he has hatched with a local member of the Ku Klux Klan (Oran Marc de Baritault). Chaos ensues until Charlie begins to feel like he belongs. The show is incredibly funny because it exaggerates the idea of being a fish out of water but there are also some really important deeper themes about fearing those who are different so, even though I was laughing out loud through most of it, I was also thinking about how much we need a little understanding in the world right now. The entire cast is fantastic but the standouts for me are Green (who I have seen in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Peter and the Starcatcher at CPT and Is He Dead? and Arsenic and Old Lace at HCT) and Branca. Ellerd is a little bit slow so when he tries to teach Charlie the words to a few of the items in the lodge (fork has somehow become a two syllable word) it is absolutely hysterical because of Green's facial expressions. At one point, Charlie is asked to tell a story in his native language, which is completely made up, and Branca's delivery is the highlight of the show!  I couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard. The set of the fishing lodge is a lot of fun and I was particularly impressed with the attention to detail (I loved all of the knickknacks everywhere). My only complaint with this show is a really strange costuming decision which put the Ku Klux Klan members is army fatigues instead the white robes they would normally wear (I've seen this show several times). I understand that the production team might have wanted to be sensitive in their portrayal of this group but it is very clear from the beginning of the play who they are so the robes wouldn't have been a surprise and this decision lessened the impact of the climax in my opinion.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and would definitely recommend it.  It runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through March 26 and tickets are very reasonable (go here).