Into the Woods at West Valley Arts

I really love the musical Into the Woods and the production I saw last night at West Valley Arts is the best one I've seen there!  A Baker (Jared Lesa) and his Wife (Annie Ferrin), a Witch (Dianna Graham), Cinderella (Chloe Victoria), Jack and the Beanstock (Ren Cottam), and Little Red Riding Hood (Sibley Snowden) must go into the woods in order to make all of their wishes come true but they eventually learn that actions sometimes have unintended consequences and that wishes do not always turn out happily ever after. The entire cast is absolutely stellar and it is hard for me to single out just a few performances because every actor is so well-suited to his or her role and every musical number gave me goosebumps. However, the highlights for me were "Agony" because Chase Peterson as Cinderella's Prince and Woody Brook as Rapunzel's Prince are so hilariously overwrought with over the top facial expressions and gestures, "It Takes Two" because it is such a turning point and both Lesa and Ferrin give spirited performances, "Last Midnight" because Graham's rendition is incredibly powerful, and "No One Is Alone" because it is such a poignant moment between the Baker, Jack, Cinderella, and Red and Lesa, Cottam, Victoria, and Snowden sing it beautifully (I may or may not have had a tear in my eye). Another performance that I really enjoyed was Dan Radford's as the puppeteer for Milky White because he is very humorous during his interactions with Cottam (and the design for Milky White is fantastic). The choreography is innovative and perfectly suited to the small and intimate space. I was particularly impressed with "Into the Woods," "So Happy," "Ever After," and "Children Will Listen" because of the sheer number of people on the stage and the intricate patterns they are able to create. I also loved the staging of "First Midnight" and "Second Midnight" because all of the actors enter the stage carrying illuminated lanterns and it is quite dramatic. There are a lot of really fun special effects and I especially liked when the Baker saves Red and her Grandmother (Natalie Peterson) from the Wolf (Chase Peterson) and when the Stepmother (Kerilyn Johnson) mutilates the Stepsisters' (Sydney Claire and Jaymie Lambson) feet to fit into the gold slipper. The set is absolutely magical with giant moss-covered tree stumps on the main stage, groups of trees located in the areas above the wings, and trees that come down from the rafters. The costumes are some of the best I've seen at WVCArts and I was really impressed with the attention to detail. My favorites were the Witch's gown after her transformation and Cinderella's ball gown. I truly loved everything about this production and it is definitely one that you don't want to miss (go here for tickets).

Suzume

I really enjoyed Your Name so I have been anticipating the release of Makoto Shinkai's latest film, Suzume, for quite some time.  I was able to see it yesterday and I really loved it (even more than I was expecting).  Suzume (Nanoka Hara) is a 17-year-old girl who lost her mother at a very young age and continually dreams about searching for her after their neighborhood was destroyed by an earthquake and the subsequent tsunami.  She believes she can see her mother in a beautiful field but she cannot reach her.  One day she encounters a handsome and mysterious young man named Souta (Hokuto Matsumuro) who is looking for ruins.  She directs him to an abandoned resort and then impulsively decides to follow him.  She finds a free standing door and, when she opens it, she sees the same beautiful field where she thinks her mother is and tries to enter it.  But, instead of finding her mother, she finds a relic which unleashes something devastating into the world.  The relic is transformed into a cat named Daijin (Ann Yamane) who escapes and, without the relic guarding the door, a supernatural worm which causes earthquakes is allowed to escape.  Souta and Suzume are able to close the door and prevent the earthquake but Daijin curses Souta and turns him into a chair.  Suzume and Souta now must chase Daijin to various abandoned places all over Japan to close the doors he opens and to convince him to return Souta to his body.  It is only when Suzume learns to reject death that Daijin becomes the relic once again and Souta becomes whole again.  This has so many important messages about the connection between the spiritual and the natural world but I really liked the lesson that Suzume learns about overcoming her trauma and embracing life and new relationships (there are so many beautiful scenes where she and Souta are helped by kind strangers) and I found it to be incredibly moving.  There are some fantastical elements that might be problematic for some people but I think they work very well because they are grounded in the reality of the natural disasters that plague Japan.  The animation is absolutely beautiful, especially the use of light and color in natural settings, and I also really loved the emotionally charged score.  Definitely go see this, especially if you are a fan of Shinkai’s previous films or of Japanese anime in general.

Hairspray at the Eccles

Last night I had the chance to see Hairspray at the Eccles Theater and it is such a fun production!  Plus-sized Tracy Turnblad (Niki Metcalf) dreams of dancing on The Corny Collins (Billy Dawson) Show, of being noticed by teen heartthrob Link Larkin (Nick Cortazzo), of integrating the show so that her Black friends can dance with her, and of becoming Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962.  Velma Von Tussle (Addison Garner), the former Miss Baltimore Crabs, and her daughter Amber (Ryahn Evers) do everything they can to stop her but Tracy and her friends Penny Pingleton (Emery Henderson) and Seaweed J. Stubbs (Charlie Bryant III) and her parents Edna (Andrew Levitt AKA Nina West) and Wilbur (Ralph Prentice Daniel) prove that you can't stop the beat and make all of their dreams come true!  The main cast is outstanding but I was really impressed with Metcalf as Tracy because she is incredibly charismatic and can really sing and dance.  I also really enjoyed Lauren Johnson as Motormouth Maybelle, because her rendition of "I Know Where I've Been" just about blew the roof off of the Eccles Theater, as well as Levitt and Daniel, because their antics had the audience hooting with laughter during "Timeless to Me."  The ensemble is also fantastic, especially the dancers on The Corny Collins Show and the Dynamites (Sydney Archibald, Melanie Puente Ervin, and Jade Turner), because they execute the high-energy choreography very well, particularly in "The Nicest Kids in Town," "I Can Hear the Bells," "Welcome to the '60s," "Run and Tell That," "The Big Dollhouse," and "You Can't Stop the Beat."  My favorite song in the show is "Mama, I'm a Big Girl Now" and I really like how they staged it with the girls and their mothers in front of their vanities.  The sets have a fun retro vibe (although some of the set pieces seemed to be a bit unwieldy to move on and off the stage) with my favorites being Motormouth Maybelle's Record Shop and the Baltimore Eventorium (the giant can of Ultra Clutch Hairspray is awesome) and the period costumes are colorful and sparkly.  The humor is really suggestive so keep that in mind but I highly recommend this show for the great message about loving yourself and standing up for what you believe in.  It runs at the Eccles through April 16 (go here for tickets).

The Only Survivors

My April Book of the Month selection was The Only Survivors by Megan Miranda (the other options were Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls, Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfield, Camp Zero by Michelle Min Sterling, Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler, Ana Maria and the Fox by Liana De la Rosa, and Advika and the Hollywood Wives by Kirthana Ramisetti). I picked this because I really liked Miranda's previous novel, All The Missing Girls, and I enjoyed this one just as much.  Ten years ago Cassidy Brent and eight other students survived a tragic accident with multiple fatalities involving two vans on a school trip. When one of the survivors commits suicide on the one year anniversary of the crash, the others decide to meet every year at a beach house on the Outer Banks in order to keep tabs on each other. After ten years Cassidy begins to feel like the retreat is doing her more harm than good so she decides not to go but she changes her mind when another survivor commits suicide. Now there are only seven of them at the beach house and tensions are already running high after another survivor goes missing and a terrible storm threatens the coast. However, when Cassidy discovers that one of them may have been revealing the damaging secrets about the accident that they have been keeping all of these years, she begins to wonder what each of them are still willing to do to survive. There is one timeline in the present from Cassidy's POV over the course of the seven days at the beach house and another one in the past revealing the events surrounding the crash from every survivor's POV in reverse chronological order. This narrative structure is very effective because it kept me engaged and reading well into the night (All The Missing Girls also uses this structure). It is a slow-burn mystery so I definitely found the timeline in the past to be more compelling because all of the emerging details about the accident eventually inform what is going on in the present. There is an incredibly tense atmosphere because of the storm, which keeps them trapped in the house without electricity, and because of all of the secrets and the tension keeps escalating as Cassidy comes to suspect each survivor of misdeeds both in the present and in the past. There are lots of twists and turns, and a bit of misdirection, that kept me guessing until the very end with a startling revelation about the crash that I was not expecting. I also really enjoyed the exploration of survivor's guilt and how trauma impacts people and keeps them from moving on. My only complaint is that Miranda uses a very complex syntax with lots of clauses separated by commas and I often had to reread certain sentences in order for them to make sense but this did not detract from my enjoyment. This is a thoroughly engrossing psychological thriller that I highly recommend to fans of the genre.

Avalanche vs. Oilers

Yesterday I went on my first road trip of 2023 to Denver to see the Colorado Avalanche play the Edmonton Oilers last night.  It was my first Avalanche game since I lost my Dad and I really missed him!  When I picked this game I was looking at dates rather than opponents but I think I subconsciously picked the game against the Oilers because my Dad and I were big fans when I was a teenager (because of Wayne Gretzky) and we watched almost every game together in the basement!  As much as I loved the Oilers back in the day, I am definitely an Avalanche fan now and I really wanted them to win!  Both are high scoring teams so this was a defensive showdown with stellar performances from both goaltenders, especially Alexandar Georgiev who stopped 38 shots.  It was my first time seeing Georgiev in action and I was really impressed with him.  The Avalanche scored first with a goal by Ben Meyers four minutes into the first period (which was really exciting) and then Mattias Ekholm scored for Edmonton 34 seconds later (which deflated all of the energy in Ball Arena).  No other goals were scored in regulation but it was still a really exciting game with several penalties and scoring opportunities from both teams.  I particularly enjoyed it when Georgiev saved a shot from a breakaway by Connor McDavid (who is an amazing player) in the second period.  The final minutes of the third period were really intense because Edmonton had a penalty and Colorado did everything but score (I think everyone in my section was standing up the last few minutes).  Just like the previous two meetings between these two teams, the game went into overtime but, unlike those other games, Edmonton scored on a power-play goal by Evan Bouchard to win (I think it is really unfair to call a penalty in overtime unless it is really egregious).  It is always a little disappointing to see the Avalanche lose, especially after driving eight hours to see the game, but I am really glad that I came because it was very cathartic for me.  It made me feel very close to my Dad (I cried a few times) because I have so many memories of Avalanche games with him.

Note:  The Avalanche did get a point for the overtime loss and, because the Minnesota Wild lost their game last night, they clinched home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs!