Bright Star at CPT

I love the musical Bright Star so I am always happy for any opportunity to see it. Last night I saw a production at CPT and it is absolutely stellar! The story takes place in North Carolina during the 1920s and just after World War II and features incredible bluegrass music by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell. Alice Murphy (Anya Wilson) is a young and rebellious teenager in the small town of Zebulon where she regularly exasperates her mother (Jan Williams Smith) and father (Brent Sloan). She begins a romance with Jimmy Ray Dobbs (Jared Haddock) but his father, the Mayor (John Philpott), conspires to separate them. Twenty-two years later, just after the war, Billy Cane (Alex Young) returns to his hometown of Hayes Creek to visit his father (Chad Wilkinson) and his childhood friend Margo (Abigail Ford). However, he soon decides to try writing for a magazine in Ashville where he meets Alice, now an uptight editor who mentors him. The narrative alternates between both timelines as Alice learns to deal with love, loss, forgiveness, and redemption. Even though I have seen it multiple times (PTC, HCT, and HCTO) and know the big twist, I still find the story to be incredibly powerful and heartwarming. I love all of the songs, especially "If You Knew My Story," "Asheville," "I Can't Wait," "Sun's Gonna Shine,"and "I Had a Vision." Wilson (I saw her in the same role at HCTO) has a beautiful voice that is very well suited to the bluegrass genre and I had tears in my eyes during her emotional rendition of "Please Don't Take Him." I was also very impressed by her physical transformation, which happens right before our eyes, from the uptight editor to the rebellious teenager during "Way Back in the Day." Her wardrobe and hair change but it is her expression and physicality that really distinguishes the younger from the older character. The rest of the cast is really strong, one of the strongest I've seen at CPT, but the standouts for me are Haddock, especially the emotionally charged confrontation with his father in "Heartbreaker," and Ford, because she shows a lot of vulnerability in "Asheville." The set features the bare outline of a rustic cabin (I especially loved the rafters with lanterns hanging from them) with many items, such as barrels, crates, wooden doors, fence posts, chairs, and signs, used in multiple configurations to become a book shop, an office, the Mayor's house, a train, and other locations. The members of the ensemble move these items on and off stage seamlessly and it is extremely clever! The choreography really emphasizes the time and place, especially the square dancing during the town social and the swing dancing in "Another Round," as do the costumes. Finally, I really enjoyed the staging of the pivotal train sequence in the reprise of "A Man's Gotta Do" because it is very dramatic (make sure to look up at the top of the proscenium). My only disappointment is that there wasn't a live bluegrass band on stage because it adds so much to the overall feel of the show. Nevertheless, I was very impressed with this production and it is definitely one of my favorites at CPT!  It runs through October 22 (go here for tickets).

Don't Worry Darling

I was already really intrigued by Don't Worry Darling before all of the drama surrounding the production was revealed but I have to admit that it definitely fueled my interest in seeing it!  I had the chance last night and, while there are a few issues, I actually liked it!  Jack Chambers (Harry Styles) and his wife Alice (Florence Pugh) are a young and passionate couple living in a utopian community known as the Victory Project in the middle of the California desert in the 1950s.  Victory is the brainchild of Frank (Chris Pine), a charismatic leader who aspires to make the world a better place, and his supportive wife Shelley (Gemma Chan).  Every day Jack and the rest of the men in Victory, including Dean (Nick Kroll), Peter (Asis Ali), and newcomer Bill (Douglas Smith), leave their well appointed homes for classified work at a secret installation.  Alice and her friends Bunny (Olivia Wilde), Peg (Kate Berlant), Margaret (KiKi Layne), and Violet (Sydney Chandler) happily cook, clean, and care for their husbands (even meeting them at the door with a drink) while their every want and need is fulfilled.  However, their perfect lives are disrupted when Alice ventures into an off-limits area of the desert and then begins questioning what is happening in Victory.  The best part of this movie is Pugh's performance because she is entirely believable as a woman who comes undone while her husband and everyone around her doubt what is happening to her.  Her terror is absolutely palpable.  Pine is also outstanding because he is so creepy, especially in a scene where Alice confronts Frank.  Styles has been much maligned for his performance but I think he is fine and delivers what the character demands (I won't say any more to avoid spoilers).  The visuals are stunning and I loved the stylish 1950s aesthetic in the production design and all of the gorgeous period costumes.  I found the premise, including the twist (which was not what I was expecting), to be interesting and very thought-provoking but my biggest complaint with this movie is that the resolution is rushed and anticlimactic.  I was left with way too many unanswered questions.  It is, however, so much better than I was led to believe based on the discourse coming out of the Venice Film Festival and I think fans of psychological thrillers will enjoy it!

The Goonies in Concert

Last night's Utah Symphony concert featured The Goonies on the big screen while the orchestra played the score by Dave Grusin live.  This movie is such a nostalgic favorite of mine so it was really fun!  The Walsh family is facing a foreclosure on their house so it can be bulldozed to make room for a golf course.  Mikey Walsh (Sean Astin) is spending a final night with his friends, a group of quirky misfits known as the Goonies, including Chunk (Jeff Cohen), Mouth (Corey Feldman), and Data (Ke Huy Quan).  They end up exploring in the attic and find a 1632 doubloon and a map which they believe will lead to a long lost treasure hidden by the pirate One-Eye Willy.  Mikey convinces his friends to use the map to find the treasure because that will enable his family to stop the foreclosure and they are eventually joined by Mikey's older brother Brand (Josh Brolin), Brand's crush Andy (Kerri Green), and Andy's friend Stef (Martha Plimpton).  The map takes them to a series of tunnels leading to a grotto where they find One-Eye Willy's ship, the Inferno.  All they have to do is elude all of the booby traps as well as the Fratelli crime family, made up of Ma (Anne Ramsey), Jake (Robert Davi), Francis (Joe Pantoliano), and Sloth (John Matuszak), who are in hot pursuit.  This movie features a lot of really exhilarating action sequences and the score complements them so well.  I loved the main theme, "Fratelli Chase," because it is so stirring and the brass is featured very heavily with a fun fanfare by the trumpets.  It is first heard during the police chase after the Fratellis break Jake out of jail and it is repeated throughout as the Goonies travel through the tunnels and when they fight the Fratellis on the Inferno.  I also enjoyed the use of the Bond theme and the Superman theme.  As always, hearing the score played live was such an immersive experience and I loved all of the audience participation!  People cheered enthusiastically for all of the iconic lines (especially "Hey You Guys!" and "Goonies Never Say Die!").  I had such a great time last night and, if you haven't attended a film in concert with the Utah Symphony, I highly recommend doing so.  Next in the series is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One in October (go here for tickets).

Jackson Browne at Sandy Amphitheater

I saw Jackson Browne open for James Taylor last year and, even though I only really knew "Somebody's Baby," "Doctor My Eyes," and "Running on Empty," I enjoyed his set so much that I decided to get a ticket to see his headlining show last night at Sandy Amphitheater.  I loved this concert and it was the perfect way to end the summer!  Of course he played all three of the aforementioned songs (he began with "Somebody's Baby" and ended with "Running on Empty") but I actually liked every other song he sang, too.  My favorites from his main set were "The Long Way Around," "Downhill From Everywhere," "In the Shape of a Heart," "Until Justice is Real," and "The Pretender" (which I recognized from his earlier concert because he performed it with James Taylor).  For the encore he sang "Take It Easy" which is an Eagles song but he wrote it with Glenn Frey.  He told us that he didn't like to perform it when he was younger because reviewers always called it an Eagles cover but now he doesn't care and performs it any way!  I'm glad he changed his mind because it was amazing (the audience sang every word).  Browne alternated between playing the guitar and playing the piano (he had a great band backing him) and he was incredibly funny and charismatic!  People kept shouting out names of songs they wanted him to play and his responses were hilarious.  When he started to play a song that had been requested frequently he stopped and shrugged his shoulders when the response was a bit tepid before starting again to massive cheers and applause and he told the crowd to settle down when another song was frequently requested because he would get to it later!  It was a really mellow concert and I enjoyed listening to music performed live under the stars for the last time this season (I also enjoyed the cooler temperature).

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!