We Are the Light

My November Book of the Month selection was We Are the Light by Matthew Quick (the other options were The Wilderwomen by Ruth Emmie Lang, The Last Party by Clare Mackintosh, White Horse by Erika T. Wurth, and Someday, Maybe by Onyi Nwabineli). I selected this because it deals with important topics such as PTSD and mental health and I really wanted to like it but, unfortunately, I didn't. Lucas Goodgame, a high school counselor in the town of Majestic, Pennsylvania, is the survivor of a mass shooting that claimed the life of his wife, Darcy. He is really struggling but his Jungian analyst, who also lost his wife in the tragedy, has terminated his sessions and is now refusing to answer his letters. Eli, the younger brother of the shooter, is also struggling because he saw his brother's behavior become erratic but said nothing and now blames himself for what happened. Lucas comes to believe that helping Eli through his trauma will be the way forward in healing himself as well as the people of Majestic. The narrative is completely from the perspective of Lucas because it is in the form of letters written by him to his analyst and this is why I didn't entirely like it as much as I expected to given the subject matter. I found Lucas to be an incredibly unsympathetic character despite his trauma and the obvious mental health issues stemming from his childhood (he was in analysis before the tragedy) and, while I understand that he was suffering, I just couldn't get past my dislike of him as a character and that made it very difficult for me to be invested in what happens to him. Also, I could not understand the motivation for why all of the other characters literally do everything they can to help him, especially his wife's best friend Jill who sells her house and neglects her business to care for him, because we never get their perspectives. Finally, I found all of the constant references to Jungian analysis (phallic energy?) to be incredibly off-putting. Most people seem to have enjoyed this more than I did but it just wasn't for me.

The Little Mermaid at HCT

I went to see Hale Theatre's production of The Little Mermaid last night and it is one of the most immersive and magical shows I've ever seen! I loved everything about it! This musical tells the well-known story of a mermaid named Ariel who just wants to be where the people are so she defies her father and trades her voice for a pair of legs to make a prince fall in love with her. What I loved most about this show is that you actually feel like you are under the sea during the first act because all of the characters, especially Ariel and her sisters, fly through the air with lots of really cool water effects. I also really loved the amazing costumes and puppets for all of the sea creatures because they are absolutely incredible! Ursula wears an elaborate gown of black sequins with dancers who manipulate her eight tentacles while Flotsam and Jetsam are in silver lamé with segmented puppets that twist and turn around each other!  The song "Under the Sea" features neon colored fish carried by dancers with headdresses that look like coral reefs, stingrays that flutter above the audience, giant whales and groups of turtles that come in from the wings, and aerialists who spin around on globes that look like bubbles! It is quite the spectacle! Sebastian is covered from claw to claw in red sequins while Scuttle is covered in white features. Ariel and her sisters each have their own color with jewel encrusted gowns and mermaid tails made of organza and King Triton has regal robes of gold and turquoise. Also, I was impressed by the sheer number of sets and my favorites were Prince Eric's ship, Ariel's grotto filled with her collection, and the lagoon where Eric takes Ariel on a boat ride (the hanging vines and all of the lanterns are so beautiful). I also loved all of the clear glass bulbs, which resemble bubbles, around the perimeter of the stage and up in the rafters. The staging of several of the numbers is absolutely magical, especially when Ariel saves Eric after he falls overboard because they seem to float and the aforementioned "Under the Sea!" Finally, the cast is phenomenal!  Sophia Marie Guerrero is the perfect Ariel because not only does she have a beautiful voice but she also has a look of wide-eyed wonder that makes the songs "Part of Your World" and "Beyond My Wildest Dreams" so much fun to watch! Eric was played by the understudy Scott Hendrickson last night and, honestly, I thought he was fantastic! He has great chemistry with Guerrero and is incredibly endearing in "Kiss the Girl." Luseane "Lucy" Pasa, as Ursula, just about blows the roof off HCT with her gospel rendition of "Poor Unfortunate Souls" with Jason Buonforte (Flotsam) and Gunnar (Jetsam) as her back up choir! The same could be said for Alec Powell, as Sebastian, because his rendition of "Kiss the Girl" also had a gospel feel that I really liked. I had so much fun at this show (it is definitely the best production of The Little Mermaid that I have ever seen) and the children sitting around me were mesmerized! You definitely do not want to miss this wonderful show which runs on the Young Living Centre Stage through January 28 (go here for tickets) but act quickly because many shows are sold out!

Aftersun

I was able to check off another movie on my impossibly long list by seeing Aftersun last night at the Broadway.  I loved it but it is one of the most quietly devastating movies I've seen in a long time.  Calum (Paul Mescal) takes his 11-year-old daughter Sophie (Frankie Corio), who lives with her mother most of the time, on a holiday to a run-down resort in Turkey that he cannot really afford.  He is a very young father and he seems to be struggling with life in general but it is obvious that he loves his daughter and is doing the best he can to give her a fun holiday.  There are sun-dappled vignettes where Calum and Sophie seem to be enjoying the pool, the beach, and various tourist destinations, which are often captured by and replayed on Calum's video camera, but there are also moments where Calum is alone and succumbs to despair.  Sophie is still a child but there are subtle indications that she is starting to break away from her father and to notice the darkness that he tries to hide from her, especially in a scene where she arranges for a group of tourists to sing for his birthday to cheer him up.  Interspersed between these memories are sequences in a dark nightclub with disorienting strobe lights where an adult Sophie (Celia Rowlson-Hall) searches in vain for her father (shown at the age he was when she was a child).  These seem to imply that he is no longer in her life and I kept waiting for something dramatic to happen during their holiday.  However, in my opinion, the haunting final shot is more heartbreaking than something more explicit would have been.  It can sometimes appear as if nothing is happening (it is definitely more character driven than plot driven) but I think most people's memories of childhood are episodic and fragmented so this structure is highly effective.  The hazy cinematography is also quite brilliant because images of Calum are often reflected (through mirrors, windows, water, TV screens, and table tops) to emphasize how distorted Sophie's memories of her father are.  Both Mescal and Corio, in her debut, give highly nuanced performances that beautifully capture the complexities of a relationship between a father living with regret and a daughter just starting to live.  I was absolutely gutted by this movie but it will probably be one of my favorites this year!

Cash on Delivery at the Empress

Last night I went to see the British farce Cash on Delivery at the Empress Theatre and it was so much fun!  Eric Swann (Alexander Richardson) has been defrauding the office of Social Services by accepting payments for nonexistent lodgers at his house ever since he lost his job at the Electric Company two years ago.  When Social Services becomes suspicious of so many payments being sent to the same residence, a Mr. Jenkins (Jeremy Jonsson) is sent to investigate.  Swann must enlist the help of his actual lodger Norman McDonald (Tanner Larsen) and his uncle George (Bob Skeen) in order to fool not only Jenkins but also his wife Linda (Cheryl Richardson), Norman's fiancee Brenda (Michelle Gardner), a grief counselor (Audrey Jones), an enthusiastic undertaker (Jennie Jonsson), a marriage counselor (Crystal Ahlemann), and Jenkins' uptight supervisor Ms. Cowper (Emily Jameson).  Chaos ensues as each of them are forced to tell one outrageous lie after another as well as impersonate fictional characters, including one who is supposed to have gout, one who is supposed to be deaf, and two who are supposed to be dead, until the whole thing unravels with hilarious consequences!  This show is so funny because eventually you can't remember who is impersonating whom and I, along with the entire audience, laughed and laughed at all of their antics!  Every member of the cast has brilliant comedic timing, but Richardson and Larsen are particularly fun to watch because they become more and more overwrought as their plans go awry. The fast-paced physical comedy is an absolute hoot, especially when one of the characters who is pretending to be dead is stuffed into a window seat and when all of the characters run around slamming doors.  I thoroughly enjoyed this show and I highly recommend it but it is a limited engagement so get your tickets (go here) soon.

Stephen Hough Performs Rachmaninoff

Last night I got to hear Stephen Hough, one of my favorite soloists, perform Rachmaninoff, one of my favorite composers, with the Utah Symphony and it was simply amazing!  Before the Rachmaninoff the orchestra played two pieces by Richard Wagner and I really enjoyed them both.  The first was the Overture to Tannhauser, an opera about a Medieval singer and songwriter named Tannhauser who has a virtuous maiden and a goddess vying for his love.  The music portrays his downfall into the profane and then his redemption and I found it, like much of Wagner's music, to be incredibly stirring, especially the themes played by the brass.  Next came Das Rheingold which serves as the prologue to the operas in the Ring cycle.  The piece begins with a long and sustained note from the basses which is then joined by the oboes then the horns and, finally, by the rest of the orchestra as it builds and builds.  This is meant to represent the depths of the Rhine River which hides the gold that is eventually used to make a ring to rule the world and it is quite dramatic.  I loved the sudden climax of this note followed by the introduction of the ring theme played by the woodwinds.  I also loved all of the percussion, especially the use of anvils which represents the enslavement of the Nibelungs, and the four harps which represent the churning of the Rhine in the epic conclusion.  It was so cool!  I would really love to see the Ring cycle someday (it is definitely a bucket list item).  I spent the entire intermission anticipating what was to come because I love Rachmaninoff!  Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff is considered by many to be the most difficult piano piece in the repertoire but Hough made it look easy with his fingers gliding up and down the keyboard at the speed of light!  I think this piece is incredibly moody and atmospheric and I especially love the main theme, which is introduced by the piano in the first movement and then repeated in variations by the orchestra throughout, because it is so quintessentially Russian.  It is very melancholy but also dignified!  I also love the romantic theme played by the piano in the second movement because it becomes increasingly more passionate and, of course, the conclusion is unbelievably exhilarating!  I loved this performance because Hough was absolutely brilliant and, as always, I highly recommend getting a ticket for the same program tonight (go here for tickets).