Scrooge: A Christmas Carol at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

I will be attending three different versions of A Christmas Carol this week and I started last night with the musical Scrooge: A Christmas Carol at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse. I was really excited because I had never seen this version before. I saw the musical by Alan Menken at CPT several years ago and, while I definitely prefer that version, I thought this was very charming and it put a huge smile on my face. It tells the well-known story by Charles Dickens about the reclamation of a miser named Ebenezer Scrooge (Kim Florence) by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Jacci Florence), Present (Don Wilhelm), and Future (Jacob Taft) but it includes original music by Leslie Bricusse. The songs are not especially memorable, my favorites were "December the Twenty-Fifth" by Mr. Fezziwig (Duane Beesley), "The Beautiful Day" by Tiny Tim (Beckett Ronnow), and "Thank You Very Much" by Tommy Jones (Shane Alvey), but the cast is very enthusiastic and the choreography is a lot of fun (especially "Thank You Very Much" because it involves dancing on a coffin) so I enjoyed every number. I was really impressed with the number of performers on the stage, including lots of children! I really enjoyed Florence as Scrooge because, while he is still the curmudgeonly misanthrope we all know, he is more a figure of fun who is ridiculed by those who owe him money than a villain who is feared (at one point several characters stick their tongues out at him). Even though he is a bit of a buffoon, his character arc is still really moving to watch because he becomes more and more affected by every vignette shown from his past, present, and future. I also liked Jim Alvey as Bob Cratchit and Tracie Davies as Mrs. Cratchit because their interactions with each other and with Ronnow (who is absolutely adorable as Tiny Tim) are so tender and genuine. The way the intimate space at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse is used is always really clever and this production is no exception. Scrooge's Counting House is located on a platform to the right of the stage and the entrance to his house (the transformation of the knocker into Jacob Marley's face is a great effect) is located on another one to the left.  The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future lead Scrooge all around the theatre, including behind the soundboard, to various locations.  A cobblestone street in 19th Century London is depicted on a backdrop and various sets are moved on and off the stage.  I was impressed with the attention to detail in Fezziwig's factory, Bob Cratchit's house, and Fred's house as well as the white silhouettes used to depict Scrooge's childhood with his sister Fan and the giant clock in Scrooge's bedroom. The period costumes are really beautiful, with the possible exception of the strange red tutu worn by the Ghost of Christmas Past (I thought she looked like a deranged Sugar Plum Fairy and her shtick went on far too long). This production is filled with so much heart that you can't help but be filled with a big dose of Christmas cheer and I highly recommend it.  There are nightly performances through December 23 with matinees December 10 and 17 (go here for tickets).

Note:  I have seen HCT's version of A Christmas Carol more times than I can count (I almost have the entire show memorized) so it was really fun to see a different interpretation.

Happy 18th Birthday Sean!

Yesterday my family celebrated Sean's birthday (it was actually on Saturday) with dinner, presents, and cake.  I can't believe that he is 18!

He asked for Amazon gift cards and accessories for his computers!  I don't like giving gift cards but he was so happy to receive them!

We have a tradition of having an ice cream cake from Baskin-Robbins for birthdays and Sean has picked this same polar bear cake three times (go here and here).  We had so much fun celebrating with Sean and I hope that he had a very happy birthday!

Ballet West's The Nutcracker 2022

One of my favorite holiday traditions is attending Ballet West's annual production of The Nutcracker and I am so happy that I had the opportunity to see it last night!  I love everything about this ballet and I await every scene with great anticipation, especially the party where the Christmas tree is revealed to all of the children and Clara (Olivia Humeniuk) is given a nutcracker by Dr. Drosselmeyer (Tyler Gum), when everything is magically transformed to an enormous size and the nutcracker defeats the Mouse King (Jake Preece) with Clara's help, when the nutcracker becomes a handsome prince (Noel Jensen) and takes Clara to the land of the Snow Queen (Jenna Rae Herrera) and the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy (Amy Potter), and when all of the divertissements arranged for Clara's entertainment are performed.  I always really love the Arabian dance because it is so exotic and the Russian dance because the leaps and spins are so athletic but last night I was also really impressed with the Waltz of the Flowers because Emily Adams and Hadriel Diniz danced the Pas de Deux so beautifully.  As always, my favorite moment in the entire ballet is the Grand Pas de Deux between the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier (Brian Waldrep) because the music by Tchaikovsky used for this dance is one of the most romantic pieces in the classical cannon and William Christensen's original choreography really complements it.  This is the first time that I have seen Potter dance the role of the Sugar Plum Fairy and I thought her performance was so beautiful because she seemed to glide across the stage and whirl effortlessly through the air!  I also really enjoyed the young dancers in the cast, particularly Bean Shane because he was the naughtiest Fritz I've ever seen and all of dancers hiding in Mother Buffoon's skirt because they were adorable!  The sets and costumes were updated a few years ago and I love the jewel tones used in the party scene and the pastels used in the land of the Sugar Plum Fairy.  All of the special effects are magical, particularly when the Christmas tree grows in size, when the snow falls in the land of the Snow Queen, and when Clara flies away with her prince in a sleigh.  No matter how many times I see this ballet it always puts a smile on my face and I highly recommend getting a ticket.  There are evening and matinee performances at the Capitol Theater through December 24 (go here for tickets).

Bones and All

The next movie in my Saturday double feature was Bones and All and I have to admit that, while I was really looking forward to seeing it because of all the buzz from the fall film festivals, I was also a bit nervous because a movie about cannibalism did not sound appealing.  It is definitely incredibly thought-provoking (and not as graphic as I feared).  Maren (Taylor Russell) is a young woman with a secret craving for human flesh but it is becoming harder and harder for her to control her urges.  After an incident with a fellow student, her father Frank (Andre Holland) is forced to relocate with her once again but he soon abandons her once she reaches her 18th birthday.  He leaves her a small sum of money and a tape with information about the mother she never knew so, without many options, she decides to go in search of her.  Along the way, she meets Sully (Mark Rylance), another "eater" who takes a proprietary interest in her and tries to introduce her to the lifestyle, but she is unnerved by him and soon flees.  Then she meets a drifter named Lee (Timothee Chalamet) who shares her same proclivities and they begin a relationship as they travel to find Maren's mother.  She is horrified by the lengths to which Lee will go in order to feed but she ultimately participates until she finds her mother (Chloe Sevigny) and learns that she is also a cannibal and that she voluntarily admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital to control her urges.  Maren vows that she will never be like her mother and leaves Lee but, because she loves him, she seeks him out again and convinces him to live a conventional life with her.  But can they overcome the odds?  I really enjoyed the effective blending of the romance and horror genres (I think Guadagnino gets the tone exactly right) and the performances are all outstanding (Russell and Rylance are amazing and this is Chalamet's best work, in my opinion, because he is understated but still incredibly powerful).  The social commentary about people who are relegated to the fringes of society for being different is brilliant and I think cannibalism could be a metaphor for many things (I'm leaning towards addiction but it could also just as easily be queerness, generational trauma, or poverty) that are difficult to outrun.  I will certainly be thinking about its themes for some time to come.  There are some brutal and grisly scenes but the aftermath is often shown rather than the violence itself (characters are covered in blood after feeding).  Honestly, the worst scene for me was more shocking for what was heard rather than what was shown.  This might be too disturbing for some but I definitely recommend it.

Devotion

In an attempt to get caught up on a few movies that I missed last weekend, I opted for another double feature yesterday.  I started with Devotion and I loved this inspirational true story about the friendship between two navy fighter pilots during the Korean War.  When Lieutenant Tim Hudner (Glen Powell) is transferred to Fighter Squadron 32 at the Quonset Point Naval Air Station in 1950, he immediately tries to befriend Ensign Jesse Brown (Jonathan Majors), the first Black airman to complete the Navy's flight training program.  Brown has had a difficult time in the Navy, only able to achieve his position by being strong (he keeps a notebook of every racial slur used against him and repeats them to himself to psych himself up to fly) and occasionally by breaking the rules, so he keeps himself at a distance and initially rebuffs Hudner's attempts at friendship.  Brown eventually relents and invites him home to meet his wife Daisy (Christina Jackson) and daughter Pam.  However, as they are drawn into the conflict in Korea, Brown is angry when Hudner intervenes on his behalf after he disobeys orders in battle saying that he doesn't want Hudner to save him but to be his wingman when it really counts.  I really enjoyed the portrayal of friendship because it is incredibly poignant and Powell and Majors have great chemistry together so the emotion at the resolution feels very earned.  Both leads, as well as the rest of the cast, give great performances but Majors is especially powerful in several scenes which brought me to tears.  The action sequences, most of which involve practical effects with actual F4U Corsair planes, are absolutely thrilling!  I actually felt like I was in the middle of an aerial dogfight with anti-aircraft guns firing all around the planes (I found it comparable to the action sequences in Top Gun: Maverick).  Finally, it was really interesting to learn more about the Korean War because it definitely is America's forgotten war.  This movie got a bit lost in the shuffle over the long Thanksgiving weekend but I definitely think it is worth seeking out because it is really good!