SIX in Las Vegas

Yesterday my sister Kristine and I went on a quick road trip to Las Vegas to see SIX at the Smith Center.  Both of us are huge fans of the music in this show (we listened to the cast recording during the whole drive) and we were so excited to finally have a chance to see it!  The former wives of King Henry VIII, including Catherine of Aragon (Gerianne Perez), Anne Boleyn (Zan Berube), Jane Seymour (Amina Faye), Anna of Cleves (Terica Marie), Katherine Howard (Aline Mayagoitia), and Catherine Parr (Sydney Parra), get together to perform a concert with their Band, The Ladies in Waiting (Katie Coleman on Keybords, Sterlyn Termine on Bass, Liz Faure on Guitars, and Caroline Moore on Drums).  Since they have no leader, they decide that it should be the one who has suffered the most heartache and then each Queen proceeds to tell her story.  Catherine of Aragon (Divorced) agreed to leave her homeland at age 15, come to a country where she didn't speak the language, marry a man, spend seven years in a nunnery after he died, and then marry his brother but she didn't agree to be replaced in "No Way."  Anne Boleyn (Beheaded) is sorry not sorry because she was just trying to have a little fun (what was she meant to do?) in "Don't Lose Ur Head."  Jane Seymour (Died) loved Henry but she knows that his love for her was only because of her son in "Heart of Stone."  Anna of Cleves (Divorced) was rejected by Henry for being ugly but brags about getting a castle out of it in "Get Down."  Katherine Howard (Beheaded) says she couldn't help it if she drove all the boys wild and that they used her for one thing in "All You Wanna Do."  Catherine Parr (Survived) argues that even though she survived her marriage she sacrificed true love for it in "I Don't Need Your Love."  However, they ultimately decide that they do not want to be defined by Henry and that they should lead the group together in "Six."  This is the ultimate ode to girl power and each Queen's song embodies her history so well (this show is so clever!).  I loved the fact that each performance is inspired by a real life pop star (Aragon by Beyonce, Boleyn by Avril Levigne, Seymour by Adele, Cleves by Nicki Minaj, Howard by Ariana Grande, and Parr by Alicia Keyes).  The costumes have a Tudor silhouette but feature the fabrics and bling of contemporary pop princesses and the dramatic lighting is so much fun (my favorite moment was when Henry swipes left then right while looking at profile pictures in "Haus of Holbein").  I enjoyed every Queen but I had goosebumps during Faye's performance of "Heart of Stone" because she just about blew the roof off the Smith Center!  Both Kristine and I really loved this show and we both agreed that it was definitely worth the drive to Las Vegas (we both hope that it comes to SLC at some point).

Note:  I am so glad that my sister was able to get the time off to go because she is the one who introduced this show to me and we had so much fun together!

Scapin at PTC

I am a huge fan of Moliere (Tartuffe and The Imaginary Invalid are two of my very favorite plays) but I had never seen Scapin before so I was really looking forward to the contemporary retelling of this classic play now being performed at PTC. I had the chance to see it last night and it is an absolute riot! The setting is Naples in the 1960s and, while their mothers have been away, Octave (Alex Walton) has secretly married Hyacintha (Andrea Morales) and Leandre (Adrian Baidoo) has fallen in love with Zerbinette (Lucy Lavely) despite the fact that both women are unsuitable and their mothers have already made far grander marriage plans for them. When Arganta (Celeste Ciulla) and Geronta (Sofia Jean Gomez) return to Naples, their sons are desperate. They beg Leandre's servant Scapin (Kate Middleton) to intervene with their mothers on their behalf and hilarity ensues when she uses lies and tricks to keep the young couples together! The happy ending is assured when the identities of Hyacintha and Zerbinette are revealed and Scapin is forgiven by Arganta and Geronta. One of my favorite elements of this new adaptation is the use of Zerbinette's band, The Gypsies, as a sort of Greek chorus to explain and comment upon the action with pop songs (my favorites were "Trouble" by Taylor Swift, "(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party)" by The Beastie Boys, "Material Girl" by Madonna, and "Oops!...I Did It Again" by Britney Spears). Another favorite element is the comedic physicality of the performances! At one point Scapin enlists the help of Octave's servant Sylvestre (Xavier Reyes), usually mild-mannered, to threaten Arganta and when he brandishes his sword and accidentally stabs his own foot the crowd erupted in laughter and applause. I also laughed out loud when Scapin has Geronta hide while she pretends to fight imaginary bandits. In addition to Middleton, Ciulla, Gomez, and Reyes, I also enjoyed Baidoo's over the top performance, especially when he is interrogating Scapin. Since this adaptation is set in the 1960s, the costumes are absolutely fantastic with lots of bold colors and patterns. I particularly loved an embroidered frock coat worn by Leandre! The set of a colorful courtyard in Naples, featuring a trattoria on one side (with a portrait of Sophia Loren inside), a cafe on the other, and a working fountain in the center, is truly a sight to behold with lots of fun details. I loved the cafe lights strung across the stage, the parked Vespa, the vegetable stands (the contents of which become amusing props), the potted plants, and the gelato cart (which makes an appearance in the second act). I loved this show (I don't think I stopped laughing all night) and I highly recommend it for a bit of fun!  It runs at PTC until October 1 (go here for tickets).

Note: I had the chance to visit Pere Lachaise Cemetery on a trip to Paris. Most people ask for directions to Jim Morrison's grave but I asked for directions to Moliere's.

The Addams Family at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

Last night I had the chance to see The Addams Family at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts. This is such a fun show and I thoroughly enjoyed this production! The Addams family is not like other families because they are all obsessed with the macabre and rely on their dead ancestors, including a conquistador (Daniel Cespedes), a saloon girl (Emily Thompson), a caveman (Kooper Throckmorton), a 1950s girl (Olivia Hymas), a Civil War soldier (Brennan Salazar), a flight attendant (Tiffany Gibbons), a Puritan (Austin Simcox), a flapper (Emma Rollins),a pirate (Scott Welty), a nurse (Samantha Osmond), an aristocrat (Brenner Finch), and a ballerina (Savannah Ogden), to help them through life. Things start to go wrong when Wednesday (Sydney Swalberg) falls in love with a normal Midwestern boy named Lucas Beineke (Danny Kenny). She wants to introduce his uptight parents, Mal (Joel Griffiths) and Alice (Lauren Slagowski), to her family which includes her father Gomez (Garrett Smit), her mother Morticia (Lauren Billings), her brother Pugsley (Iuli Peters), her uncle Fester (Samuel Benson), her Grandma (Alyssa Perez), and their undead butler Lurch (Merick Masters). She arranges a dinner party and begs her family for just one normal night.  Chaos ensues when a mishap happens involving one of Grandma's poisonous potions and a game of full disclosure goes awry! It is up to Uncle Fester, with the help of the ancestors, to convince everyone that love is the answer! My favorite part of this production is the choreography and I especially enjoyed all of the big song and dance numbers involving the ancestors, such as "When You're An Addams," "But Love," "Secrets," "The Moon and Me," and "Move Toward the Darkness." The entire cast is outstanding but Smit and Billings are absolutely perfect as Gomez and Morticia! I laughed out loud at just about everything they said and did! Smit is quite the Latin lover in "Trapped" and "Not Today," Billings is an absolute hoot in "Just Around the Corner," especially her interactions with the Grim Reaper and the fantastic kick-line with the ancestors, and the two of them are incredibly sultry together in "Tango De Amor." The costumes are a lot of fun, especially Morticia's slinky gown, Gomez's pinstripe suit, and Wednesday's black and purple houndstooth dress.  The costumes for all of the ancestors are quite elaborate with lots of quirky details to enhance the characterization for each of them (every production that I have seen of this show has had its own distinctive group of ancestors).  The set of the Addams home is fantastic with a central staircase, a fireplace, patterned wallpaper in greens and golds, portraits of the ancestors, and a panel that opens up to reveal a Medieval torture chamber. There is also a backdrop featuring a cemetery with gravestones and a wrought iron gate and this, along with the use of fog, creates a very spooky atmosphere. This is a perfect show for Halloween (my favorite holiday) and is particularly appropriate for the whole family because of the message about the importance of families!  It runs through Oct. 8 and tickets may be purchased here.

The Woman King

The next movie on my list was The Woman King and I went back to the Broadway to see it last night.  I loved it so much!  The Kingdom of Dahomey has been under attack by the Oyo Empire who sell their fellow Africans as slaves to Europeans in return for guns so King Ghezo (John Boyega) is preparing for war.  General Nanisca (Viola Davis), the leader of an all-female group of warriors in Dahomey known as the Agojie, decides to train a new generation to fight in this war after a battle with many casualties.  Nawi (Thuso Mbedu) is left at the palace by her father for refusing to marry a man who beats her and she is soon enlisted to train with the Agojie by a veteran named Izogie (Lashana Lynch).  Nawi's independent spirit and recklessness attract Nanisca's attention but she also reminds her of a past trauma that affects her judgement in battle.  Ultimately, the Agojie are are instrumental in defeating the Oyo but Nanisca must fight a more personal battle.  There are a few subplots, including a possible romance between Nawi and a Portuguese visitor with ties to Dahomey and an attempt by one of Ghezo's wives to discredit Nanisca, that are not quite as compelling but I was definitely riveted by the relationship between Nanisca and Nawi and I may or may not have cheered out loud during a key moment between them.  The battle sequences are spectacular and it is actually quite thrilling to see all of these women engaging in hand-to-hand combat with cinematography that is incredibly immersive.  I loved the production design, especially the beautiful costumes and all of the rituals and ceremonies, as well as the atmospheric score.  Davis gives a brilliant and physically transformative performance that shows not only Nanisca's strength but also her vulnerability.  Mbedu is also outstanding as a young woman searching for her place in the world and Boyega gives several stirring speeches that gave me goosebumps but my favorite performance belonged to Lynch because her character is such a wisecracking bad ass (she steals every scene she is in)!  I love historical epics and this is a really good one!  I highly recommend it!

See How They Run

There are so many new releases this weekend and I want to see most of them!  I'm a little bit behind but I started with See How They Run at the Broadway last night and, as a huge fan of Agatha Christie, I really enjoyed it!  While the cast and crew celebrate the 100th performance of Agatha Christie's play The Mousetrap in London's West End, Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody), a sleazy Hollywood director trying to adapt the play into a film, is killed by a mysterious man in a dark overcoat and a felt hat.  The cynical and often inebriated Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and the eager but prone to jumping to conclusions Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) are sent to investigate.  As they interview the stars of the play, Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson) and Sheila Sim (Pearl Chanda), theatre impresario Petula Spencer (Ruth Wilson), film producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith), and screenwriter Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo), they realize that everyone had a motive to kill him.  When all of the suspects arrive at the estate of Dame Agatha Christie (Shirley Henderson) and her husband Captain Mallowan (Lucian Msamati), it seems as if life is imitating art with a resolution similar to The Mousetrap but then it becomes even more meta!  This is a hilarious spoof of the whodunit genre (it works better as a spoof than it does as a murder mystery) with lots of Easter eggs from the theatre world and Christie's works, my favorite being when a character breaks the fourth wall at the end to admonish the audience not to reveal the murderer (just as characters do in the play).  I loved the glamorous 1950s London aesthetic in the production design, especially the clothes, cars, theatres, and hotels.  Ronan is fantastic with great comedic timing and Rockwell is a lot of fun as her straight man but the entire cast is outstanding (I loved Oyelowo and his mustache).  I had a lot of fun with this but your enjoyment might depend on knowing a little bit about The Mousetrap (I saw it last year at HCT).