The 39 Steps at the Grand Theatre

I was so excited to see a new production of The 39 Steps at the Grand Theatre last night because it is one of the funniest plays I have ever seen!  It is a hilarious spoof of the 1935 spy movie of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock and features many references to other movies by the director, including Psycho, Strangers on a Train, Rear Window, North By Northwest, and Vertigo.  There are only four actors performing all of the roles and the action is lightning fast with scene changes and costume changes happening right on stage.  Nicholas Dunn plays Richard Hannay, a man at loose ends who becomes embroiled in a plot to stop a ring of spies from stealing military secrets after a mysterious woman named Annabella Schmidt is stabbed to death in his apartment.  Mara Lefler plays Annabella and several other women who become romantically involved with Hannay when he travels to Scotland to clear his name.  Michelle Lynn Thompson and Max Huftalin play every other character, including actors, traveling salesmen, policemen, innkeepers, farmers, spies, and more.  All four actors have brilliant comedic timing and I especially enjoyed it when Thompson and Huftalin performed several different characters in the same scene simply by changing hats and accents!  I also really enjoyed the physicality of the performances, such as when Dunn and Lefler get stuck trying to climb over a turnstile and when the two of them try to get undressed for bed while handcuffed together.  The audience sits right on the stage so it is an intimate space that is perfect for this show.  The sets and props are very minimal with pieces that are moved and reconfigured to become various locations such as Hannay's flat in London, a music hall, a train, a bridge, the moors, a crofter's cottage, a manor house, a hotel, an assembly hall, a police car, and the London Palladium.  The lighting design is brilliant, especially a sequence where Hannay is being pursued by planes across the moor, during another chase sequence on a train, and when Hannay jumps off a bridge.  The costumes are a lot of fun and are used to great effect to distinguish between the different characters.  I laughed out loud during the entire show and I had a wonderful time.  It is a Backstage at the Grand production and runs Thursday-Saturday until March 11 (go here for tickets).  I highly recommend it!

The Writing Retreat

My February Book of the Month selection was The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz (the other options were Someone Else's Shoes by Jojo Moyes, River Sing Me Home by Eleanor Shearer, Georgie, All Along by Kate Clayborn, and Maame by Jessica George) and I liked it but I didn't love it. Alex has always wanted to be a writer so, when she is unexpectedly offered a spot at an exclusive writer's retreat at the estate of her favorite author Roza Vallo, she jumps at the opportunity. When she arrives at Blackbriar, however, Alex discovers that things are not what they seem.  Roza has assembled the five up-and-coming writers in order for them to compete against each other for a million dollar publishing deal, one of the other participants is Alex's former best friend with whom she has a complicated past, and the estate is remote and isolated (no Wi-Fi or cell service) with a mysterious history involving the occult. When one of the writers disappears, Alex wonders if the supernatural is involved or if one of the participants has sinister intentions. This psychological thriller is incredibly suspenseful and I couldn't put it down but there is a lot going on in this novel and not everything worked for me. I really enjoyed Alex as a character as well as the journey she takes in order to accept and then embrace her sexuality and to claim her power as a writer for the first time. I also really enjoyed the pacing of the novel because the tension builds and builds as information about each character is slowly revealed in order to subvert expectations. I didn't enjoy the supernatural element because it feels very forced, especially the novel-within-a-novel that Alex is writing as part of the competition (I found it very boring), and I feel that it is not necessary because the human intrigue and the locked-room mystery is compelling enough. Also, I didn't really care for all of the graphic sex scenes or the scenes involving drug use, which don't necessarily bother me per se, but I had a big problem with the lack of consent depicted. I would, ultimately, recommend this because of the intriguing premise and atmospheric setting (it has received lots of rave reviews) but I think there are a few elements that keep it from being great.

Titanic

It's been 25 years and I can still remember the excitement I felt seeing Titanic on the big screen on opening night!  It was the last day of school before Christmas break and, because you couldn't buy advance tickets back then, I went on my lunch break to get them for the first screening that night (which was almost sold out).  I had to stand in a really long line and I was almost late getting back to school (kids today will never know what we went through to get tickets back in the day).  I went to see it with my whole family and I was mesmerized by the love story between Rose DeWitt Bukater (Kate Winslet) and Jack Dawson (Leonardo DiCaprio) as well as the amazing special effects used to depict the sinking of the RMS Titanic.  This was the first movie that I remember feeling really hyped about (the only other movies that I remember standing in line for are The Phantom Menace in 1999 and Spider-Man in 2002) and it was the first movie that seemed like a larger-than-life spectacle that everyone was talking about.  It was also the first movie that I saw multiple times in the theater (I had a lot of time to see it because it was released during Christmas break).  I loved this movie so much that I bought the VHS tapes (it was in two parts) and watched it over and over again.  When I heard that it was going to be re-released in theaters to commemorate its 25th anniversary I knew that I had to see it on the big screen again.  I went with both of my sisters last night and it was just as amazing as I remember it!  Once again, I was so impressed with the special effects (I think they hold up really well), especially when the ship splits in half and then finally submerges.  Even though I know almost everything there is to know about the sinking of the RMS Titanic (I was really obsessed with it for a while and read multiple books on the subject), I still found the final act to be so suspenseful because the tension builds and builds as the water slowly fills the ship (I found myself holding my breath several times).  There are so many indelible scenes (the old couple laying in bed as the water starts to fill their stateroom) and iconic lines ("Titanic was called the ship of dreams.  And it was.  It really was.") and I eagerly awaited every one.  I especially loved all of the transitions from the wreck on the bottom of the ocean to the ship in all of its grandeur.  Both Winslet and DiCaprio are phenomenal (not surprisingly, they both became superstars after this movie) but I was also really impressed with Kathy Bates as Molly Brown and by Billy Zane as Cal Hockley.  Finally, I forgot how much I love the score by James Horner, especially "Hymn to the Sea" and "Rose" because these themes feature haunting vocals by Sissel.  It was almost overwhelming to experience this again and I definitely recommend seeing it while it is back in theaters, especially if you have not seen it on the big screen before!

Ballet West's The Sleeping Beauty

I love being a Ballet West season subscriber but one of the disadvantages is that you can't choose individual performances based on casting so I don't often get to see my favorite ballerina, Katlyn Addison, in a principal role.  So I was absolutely thrilled when I discovered that she would be dancing the role of Princess Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty last night!  This ballet is so beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed Addison's performance (and the entire production).  In the Prologue the King (Zachary Brickson) and Queen (Michele Gifford) invite all of the Fairies of the land to the christening of their daughter, the Princess Aurora.  The Fairies bestow gifts of Kindness, Joy, Beauty, and Temperament in dances featuring fun and energetic choreography.  Carabosse (Emily Adams), angry that she wasn't invited to the christening, casts a spell on Aurora saying that she will prick her finger on the spindle of a spinning wheel and die then she flies off the stage dramatically with her minions.  However, the Lilac Fairy (Anisa Sinteral) has not yet bestowed her gift of Wisdom and changes the curse so Aurora will fall into a deep sleep instead and be awakened by the kiss of true love.  In Act I Princess Aurora (Addison) is celebrating her sixteenth birthday and a group of peasants come together in dances of joy (I loved the use of large flower garlands and the instantly recognizable music by Tchaikovsky in these dances).  Four princes vie for Aurora's hand in marriage in a dance with beautiful classical choreography (Addison is absolutely brilliant) and music featuring themes by a solo cello.  An old crone offers her a gift but she turns out to be Carabosse in disguise and the gift is a spindle which pricks Aurora's finger.  She vanishes from the stage (with some spectacular pyrotechnics) but the Lilac Fairy enchants the castle so Aurora and the entire court fall into a deep sleep.  In Act II Prince Desire (Adrian Fry) is leading a hunting party but soon grows bored and is lured away by the Lilac Fairy.  She shows him a vision of Princess Aurora and he becomes enthralled by her (in an incredibly romantic Pas de Deux).  The Lilac Fairy takes him to the enchanted castle where he banishes Carabosse (with more special effects) and awakens Aurora with a kiss.  Act III features the wedding of Prince Desire and Princess Aurora with dances of tribute from fairy tale characters (in spectacular costumes) culminating in a lovely Grand Pas de Deux.  In addition to the amazing choreography, performances, music, and costumes, this ballet also features new and opulent sets by Alain Vaes (the woods used in Act II are especially atmospheric).  I loved this ballet and I would definitely recommend getting a ticket (go here) for a spellbinding night out.

The Pirate Queen at the Empress

I absolutely loved the musical The Pirate Queen when I saw a production at HCT several years ago so I was really excited to see it again at the Empress Theatre last night.  I think they did an outstanding job with a complicated show!  I love the story about two extraordinary women who are enemies but perfect foils to each other because they both face the same limitations as women and ultimately triumph.  Queen Elizabeth I (Kayla Barlow) has just assumed the throne of England and needs to prove herself by conquering the Irish barbarians.  Grace O'Malley (Beck Skeen) has just become the chieftain of the O'Malley clan after proving herself in battle on her father's ship The Pirate Queen but needs to unite the clans to fight against submission to the English Crown.  The music is magnificent (the composers are Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil who are better known for a little show called Les Miserables).  Skeen has a beautiful voice and I loved how it blends with Shatan Duke's, as Tiernan, in the songs "Here On This Night" and "If I Said I Loved You" and with Barlow's in the songs "She Who Has All" and "Woman to Woman."  There are many powerful scenes in this show but my favorites are "Sail to the Stars" when Grace's father is given his final send-off to the sea (I loved the candles), the aforementioned "She Who Has All" between Elizabeth and Grace when a woman in the regalia of a monarch wants what a woman in chains and rags has in her life, and "I'll Be There" when Tiernan has to watch the woman he has loved since childhood marry someone else to unite the clans.  I was really impressed with the staging of "The Pirate Queen," especially when Grace climbs the rigging to free a sail during a storm, and "Boys'll Be Boys," because Hayden Porter, as Donal, gives a hilarious physical performance (I laughed at all of his facial expressions).  The choreography, particularly the Irish dancing in "The Wedding" and "The Christening" and the fight choreography in the battle sequences, is spectacular and a lot of fun to watch.  The Empress always does so much with their small and intimate space and this show is no exception.  The stage features a large backdrop of the prow of a ship in the middle of the ocean (with other set pieces such as a helm and hanging nets that are moved on and off) which is then cleverly draped with luxurious red fabric to become the court of Queen Elizabeth.  The costumes are fantastic, especially the over-the-top gowns worn by Elizabeth and her attendants.  I loved this show so much and I highly recommend it but, unfortunately, there are only two performances left (go here for tickets).