Thierry Fischer Conducts Messiaen, Smetana & Sibelius 2

Even though I was not familiar with any of the pieces performed by the Utah Symphony last night, I thoroughly enjoyed the concert because each one was so stirring.  The orchestra began with The Moldau by Bedrich Smetana and this was definitely my favorite piece of the evening.  It is one of a series of symphonic poems about the composer's homeland and it is meant to represent the the course of the Moldau River as it flows through fields and woods where peasants are celebrating a wedding then past castle ruins and then into the heart of Prague (which is one of my favorite cities).  It is very atmospheric and I especially liked the theme played by the clarinet and violas, which represent the joining of two springs to become a river, and the theme played by the horns, which represent a jubilant hunting party.  Next the orchestra played two movements from Des canyons aux etoiles (From the Canyons to the Stars) by Olivier Messiaen with Utah Symphony musicians Jason Hardink on piano, Keith Carrick on xylorimba, and Eric Hopkins on glockenspiel as soloists.  This piece is inspired by the beautiful red rocks and bird song encountered by the composer during visits to Bryce Canyon, Cedar Breaks, and Zion National Park.  I especially liked all of the percussion, particularly the wind machine and the chimes, the theme played by the piccolos, and the melodies played by the horns.  The Utah Symphony will be performing this piece in its entirety at the O.C. Tanner Amphitheater (with Zion National Park as a backdrop) in a few weeks.  The concert concluded with Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius.  This piece eventually became a symbol for Finnish independence and I loved it.  I especially enjoyed the second movement, with themes played by the basses and cellos that are quite dark and melancholy (possibly representing death and defeat), and the finale, with stirring themes that are triumphant (possibly representing life and resurrection).  This concert was absolutely spectacular and if you are interested in attending tonight's performance of the same program go here for tickets.

The Drowsy Chaperone at the Empress

I really love the musical The Drowsy Chaperone because not only is it one of the funniest shows I've ever seen but it is a poignant ode to the power that musical theatre has to transport you away from the real world and all of your problems to a place where happy endings are possible for a few hours.  I saw a production at the Empress Theatre last night and I had so much fun!  Man in Chair (Ryan Fallis) is feeling a little bit blue so he decides to listen to the cast recording of The Drowsy Chaperone, a popular musical from 1928.  As he listens to the record, the actors appear in his apartment and bring the show to life with frequent pauses for his commentary on all of the theatre tropes used in the show.  Mrs. Tottendale (Chalise Craig) and her Underling (Brian Mecham) are hosting the wedding of oil tycoon Robert Martin (Patrick Hawkins) and Broadway star Janet Van De Graaff (Alayna Bria), who is giving up her glamorous career for love.  Robert is leaving the wedding details to George (Ezekiel Petersen), his best friend and best man, while Janet's Chaperone (Candice J. Jorgensen), who gets "drowsy" when she drinks, is charged with keeping the couple apart to avoid bad luck.  Broadway producer Feldzieg (Nate Fairclough) is unhappy about losing his biggest star and sets out to stop the wedding by hiring a Latin lover named Adolpho (Michael Ricks) to seduce the bride.  An investor in the Feldzieg Follies is also worried about losing its biggest star and hires two gangsters (Trae Fairclough and Nathaniel DiVall), disguised as pastry chefs, to stop the wedding.  A ditzy chorus girl named Kitty (Kandace Keddington) is hoping to take Janet's place.  Mayhem ensues, especially when Main in Chair puts the wrong record on at the beginning of Act 2 and the cast starts performing a song from Message From a Nightingale instead, but the happy ending comes eventually when Trix the Aviatrix (Marie Roe) is enlisted to marry four couples on her plane while flying to Rio.  The best part of this show is Fallis as Man in Chair because he is absolutely hilarious when he joins in with the choreography during "Toledo Surprise" and "Bride's Lament" but he also shows a lot of vulnerability when he compares the show to his life during a rant against the song "Love is Always Lovely in the End."  I also really enjoyed it when he spontaneously interacted with audience members (including me!).  Other standouts in the cast are Hawkins (I loved his tap dancing in "Cold Feets" and his roller skating in "Accident Waiting to Happen"), Ricks (I loved every entrance he makes), and Jorgensen (I loved it when she pushes Janet out of the way during "As We Stumble Along").  Once again, the use of the intimate space is incredibly clever with the Man's apartment at one end of the stage and an Art Deco hotel lobby complete with elevator at the other.  I also loved the plane and the staging of "I Do, I Do in the Sky."  I laughed and laughed through the entire show and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for one of the two remaining performances.

Downton Abbey: A New Era

My sisters and I haven't been able to do anything together for over two years because one of us was always taking care of our parents so it was really fun (and a little bittersweet) for the three of us to be able to go to an early access screening of Downton Abbey: A New Era last night.  We are huge fans of the PBS series (we even saw the first movie together) so it was great to catch up with the Crawley family once again.  Violet (Maggie Smith) calls the family together to inform them that she is altering her will.  It seems that she has inherited a villa in the south of France and intends to bequeath it to her great-granddaughter, Sybbie.  Robert (Hugh Bonneville) and Cora (Elizabeth McGovern), Edith (Laura Carmichael) and Bertie (Harry Hadden-Paton), Tom (Allen Leech) and Lucy (Tuppence Middleton), and Lady Bagshaw (Imelda Staunton) all decide to travel to France to meet the current owners of the villa to unravel the mystery of Violet's past.  Meanwhile, Mary (Michelle Dockery) stays behind because a director (Hugh Dancy) wants to use Downton Abbey as the location for a film starring Guy Dexter (Dominic West) and Myrna Dalgleish (Laura Haddock).  Chaos ensues when the movie suddenly becomes a "talkie" and when the downstairs staff, including Barrow (Robert James-Collier), Mrs. Carson (Phyllis Logan), Mrs. Patmore (Lesley Nicol), Molesley (Kevin Doyle), Baxter (Raquel Cassidy), Daisy (Sophie McShera), Andy (Michael Fox), and Anna (Joanne Froggat), are roped into being extras.  Everything about this movie is simply delightful and fans of the series are sure to love it.  The locations and costumes are stunning and, even though there are a lot of characters to keep track of, the story is really engaging.  I particularly enjoyed the character arcs for Barrow, Molesley and Baxter, and Violet.  I laughed out loud many times and I had a tear in my eye at the resolution (series creator Julian Fellowes has stated that he is happy with the resolution if this is the last movie and so am I but I hope there is another one).  My sisters enjoyed it as much as I did (we were the last people out of the theater because we had to discuss it at length immediately afterwards).  I recommend this installment to people who love the series as much as my sisters and I do!

Note:  I think the next movie should be a prequel featuring the exploits of a young Violet.

Hello, Dolly! at PTC

Pioneer Theatre Company is ending the 2021-2022 season with a wonderful production of Hello, Dolly! starring Broadway star and TV personality Paige Davis.  I saw it last night and I loved it!  At the turn of the century, the irascible Horace Vandergelder (Kris Coleman) wants to get married again so he will have someone to do all of the chores at his Hay & Feed store in Yonkers, New York.  His niece Ermengarde (Hannah Balagot) wants to marry an artist named Ambrose Kemper (Myles Tracy Woolstenhume) but her uncle objects because he doesn't have a steady income.  His clerk Cornelius Hackl (Alexander Mendoza) is longing for an adventure in New York City so he convinces his fellow clerk Barnaby Tucker (Michael J. Rios) to come along with him and they vow not to return to Yonkers until they have both kissed a girl.  They soon meet Irene Molloy (Kelly McCormick), who owns a millinery shop in NYC but wants a rich husband to take her away because she hates hats, and her assistant Minnie Fay (Dori Waymer).  A recently widowed matchmaker named Dolly Levi (Davis) is hired to find a wife for Vandergelder but she decides that she wants to marry him herself.  She just needs to convince him!  She eventually arranges for all of the couples to meet for a memorable evening at the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant in NYC and merriment ensues!  This is a big old-fashioned musical and I loved all of the exuberant song and dance numbers, especially "Put on Your Sunday Clothes," "Dancing," and "Hello, Dolly!" because they feature dynamic choreography with a large ensemble.  I also really enjoyed the songs "Before the Parade Passes By" and "It Only Takes a Moment" because they both have poignant messages about life and love.  The sets are fantastic, particularly Vandergelder's Hay & Feed store and the Harmonia Gardens Restaurant, and I loved the elaborate period costumes, especially the lavish gown worn by Dolly at the Harmonia Gardens.  Davis is incredibly charismatic in the role of Dolly and I was really impressed with her singing and dancing!  The rest of the main cast is also really strong with Mendoza and McCormick as standouts.  I was absolutely delighted by this production and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) before the parade passes by.

Note:  The role of the judge is being performed by various notable people from local government and the media.  Last night it was the former state epidemiologist Dr. Angela Dunn and she was great!

Happening

Another highly acclaimed film that I was unable to see at Sundance this year was Happening but it is now playing at the Broadway so I had the opportunity last night.  It is incredibly timely, given what is happening with Roe v. Wade in this country right now, and very powerful.  Anne (Anamaria Vartolomei) is a bright and talented university student in France in the early 1960s.  Her parents are working class owners of a cafe who have sacrificed much to enable her to go to school and they are justifiably proud of her accomplishments.  When she learns that she is unexpectedly pregnant, she sees her promising future slipping away.  However, she doesn't have many options because abortion is illegal.  She tries to persuade several people, including two different doctors, to help her get one but they all fear the possibility of prison and refuse to even speak about it.  Exams are looming and she becomes more and more desperate so, despite the pain, she attempts to terminate the pregnancy herself with a knitting needle but is unsuccessful.  Eventually, she finds someone willing to perform an abortion in secret but is forced to sell most of her possessions to pay for it and suffers devastating consequences.  The fact that Anne is not able to get a safe abortion is appalling, in my opinion, but I also found the shaming that she endures from the other girls in her dormitory for being sexually active to be just as deplorable.  There is a very poignant scene where one of Anne's friends confesses that she had a relationship over the summer and the only reason she didn't get pregnant is because she is luckier than Anne.  Vartolomei gives an affecting central performance in which Anne's despair is palpable.  The scenes involving Anne's two attempts at an abortion are quite visceral and very difficult to watch but there is another scene where she cries silently that is absolutely gut-wrenching.  This film is set in the 1960s but it may as well be today, which is a terrifying thought, and for that reason it should be seen by everyone.