Ballet West's Dracula

Two years ago I had the opportunity to see Ballet West's amazing production of Dracula and it immediately became one of my favorites.  I was, therefore, really excited when I found out that it would open the 2023-2024 season and I loved seeing it again last night.  In Act I Dracula (Tyler Gum) emerges very dramatically from a tomb in the crypt of his castle and summons all of his brides who dance at his command.  I really loved the choreography in this scene because the brides, who wear ethereal white dresses, are controlled by Dracula with just a glance or gesture and he works them up into a frenzy as they leap (and sometimes fly) across the stage.  Renfield (Vinicius Lima), Dracula's minion, brings a young woman named Flora (Amy Potter) to the castle in a horse-drawn carriage (the horses are portrayed by dancers Kai Casperson and Phillipp Mergener and their costumes are very macabre).  The brides help Dracula to beguile her and the two of them dance a gorgeous Pas de Deux before he transforms her.  In Act II an innkeeper (Jake Preece) and his wife (Emily Adams) are celebrating the birthday of their daughter Svetlana (Katlyn Addison) with a group of peasants who perform various dances based on the folklore of the area.  The costumes worn by the peasants are very vibrant and colorful and I loved the patterns the women make with ribbons and the ones the men make with staffs in these dances.  Svetlana is in love with a peasant named Frederick (Hadriel Diniz) and, when they become betrothed, they dance another beautiful Pas de Deux.  They also perform a series of solos and I loved it when the choreography has Svetlana spinning on her heels.  Dracula hears of Svetlana's beauty so he sends Flora into the village to capture her and bring her to his castle.  In Act III Flora flies back and forth across the stage directing the other brides to prepare Dracula's bedchamber.  When Svetlana arrives Dracula attempts to beguile her in a stunning Pas de Deux where she appears to glide across the stage (I think Addison is a beautiful dancer and her grace and elegance are really on display in this role) but Frederick and her father interrupt him when they suddenly appear at the castle to rescue her.  A battle, featuring lots of special effects, ensues.  The performances are outstanding and the choreography is exciting but I also loved the atmospheric music by Franz Liszt (after the Utah Symphony concert the previous evening I immediately recognized the use of the Dies irae from the Requiem Mass), the beautiful costumes (including all of those I mentioned previously as well as a cape worn by Dracula which, when unfurled, looks like a bat's wings), and the striking sets (especially the dark and gloomy crypt in the castle).  This production is absolutely perfect for Halloween and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Note:  I decided not to subscribe this season because I wanted to be able to choose performances based on casting.  I really enjoy seeing Katlyn Addison, my favorite dancer in the company, in a main role.

Rachmaninoff's Symphony No. 2

Last night's Utah Symphony concert was a fun way to celebrate the spooky season with Halloween-themed pieces on the program and moody lighting on the stage.  The orchestra began with Danse macabre by Camille Saint-Saens which is based on a legend where Death plays the fiddle on Halloween as skeletons dance on their graves.  I really enjoyed the theme played by a solo violin and the use of the xylophone to depict the rattling of skeleton bones.  Next came Totentanz ("Dance of the Dead") by Franz Liszt with Utah favorite Joyce Yang as soloist.  This is an incredibly fiery piece that features the Dies irae theme about death and judgment from the Requiem Mass and a number of variations.  I loved the percussive opening from the piano followed by dramatic variations from the brass and the woodwinds.  I also loved the swelling themes by the strings punctuated by short piano interludes that varied in volume and intensity and it was fun to see Yang's fingers literally flying up and down the keyboard (she also leaned back and wiped her brow theatrically after a particularly challenging run).  She received a thunderous standing ovation and, in return, favored the audience with an encore.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed Symphony No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff.  I absolutely love Rachmaninoff because I think his music is so emotional (something he has in common with many of the Russian composers I love) and this particular piece is incredibly lush!  I especially loved the instantly recognizable fanfare (also inspired by the Dies irae which fascinated Rachmaninoff all throughout his life) played by the horns at the beginning of the second movement and then repeated throughout.  The third movement includes some of Rachmaninoff's most beautiful music with themes and variations played by the violins, with an interlude by the clarinet, that are unbelievably romantic.  I also loved the percussion, especially the timpani and crash cymbals, at the beginning of the exuberant final movement as well as the recapitulation of the major themes.  It was a brilliant performance!  This same program will repeated again tonight and I recommend it for some seasonal fun (there are also Halloween activities, photo ops, and concessions in the lobby before the performance).  Go here for tickets.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Last night I had the chance to see an early screening of Killers of the Flower Moon in a packed theater at the Broadway.  It is a masterpiece and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time to come because it is so intense and unsettling.  The Osage Nation becomes unbelievably wealthy when oil is discovered on their land in Oklahoma in the 1920s but it also brings trouble as the white men in the nearby towns lie, cheat, manipulate, steal, and eventually, murder, to gain control of the money.  One such man is William King Hale (Robert De Niro), a wealthy cattle rancher who has evil intentions but presents himself in the guise of a benefactor to the Osage.  When his nephew Ernest Burkhart (Leonardo DiCaprio) returns home from the Great War and begins working for him, Hale suggests that he woo and marry an Osage woman named Mollie Kyle (Lily Gladstone) in order to gain control of her headshares from the oil profits.  After the wedding, Hale and Burkhart begin plotting to kill members of Mollie's family one by one so that their headshares will be transferred to Mollie but these murders eventually get the attention of Tom White (Jesse Plemons), an agent of the new Bureau of Investigation.  Much has been made of the long runtime (three and a half hours) but I feel like it is earned because it is an incredibly compelling story that is equal parts epic Western, lurid crime drama, tragic love story, and scathing commentary on greed and corruption and my attention never wavered.  Frequent Scorsese collaborators De Niro and DiCaprio are outstanding (some of the best work of their careers) but Gladstone is absolutely captivating in a restrained performance in which she portrays every emotion imaginable (sometimes with just a glance).  One specific scene near the end of the movie where Gladstone's character silently accuses DiCaprio's character with just her eyes is devastating and left me reeling.  The supporting cast is also great and I was particularly impressed by Tantoo Cardinal, Cara Jade Myers, JaNae Collins, and Tatanka Means who all make the most of limited screen time.  All of the technical elements, from cinematography to production design to editing, are brilliant and I also really loved the score by Robbie Robertson because it really adds to the tension.  This is one of Scorsese's best movies and, while it won't be for everyone because of the dark themes and melancholy tone, I highly recommend it.

When I'm Dead

My October Book of the Month selection was When I'm Dead by Hannah Morrissey (the other options were Starling House by Alix E. Harrow, Wellness by Nathan Hill, The Unmaking of June Farrow by Adrienne Young, The Unsettled by Ayana Mathis, and The Leftover Woman by Jean Kwonk). It should come as a surprise to no one that I picked the thriller but this one ended up being good not great. Axel Winthorp, a homicide detective, and his wife Rowan, a medical examiner, are frequently called away to investigate murder scenes in the crime-ridden town of Black Harbor, Wisconsin (Morrissey takes great pains to remind the reader that Black Harbor is extremely violent every other page). This means that their teenage daughter Chloe, who has undergone a radical change in personality in recent months which her parents have largely ignored, is often left to her own devices and she bemoans this fact by saying that they will only pay attention to her when she's dead. Axel and Rowan are inevitably called away from Chloe's performance in the school musical to investigate the death of a young girl who appears to have been strangled and they are dismayed to discover that it is the body of Chloe's best friend, Madison Caldwell. After they finish processing the scene, they discover that Chloe never made it home and, when they cannot reach her, they realize that she is missing. They initially suspect that Chloe's disappearance and Madison's murder are connected but, in the course of their investigation, they learn that Madison and another girl named Sari Simons were bullying Chloe and spreading rumors about an inappropriate relationship between her and the theatre teacher which may or may not be true. When Sari becomes the next victim, they are forced to question how well they know their daughter as well as confront the possibility that she might be involved in these murders. This is a dark and atmospheric police procedural told from the perspectives of Rowan, who believes that her daughter's disappearance is retribution for a past transgression, Axel, who is tormented by the fact that he may have failed to protect his daughter from a predatory teacher, and Libby, a teenager who lives next door to the Winthorps and has a strange obsession with Chloe. It is very suspenseful with lots of possible suspects, twists and turns, and red herrings which definitely kept me guessing. However, the psychological examination of the main characters, which rehashes the same events over and over again, and the endless descriptions of the poverty, despair, and crime found in Black Harbor slow down the pace after a strong beginning (but that didn't stop me from reading well into the night to find out what happens). Also, there are quite a few elements that seemed very unrealistic to me, particularly having a detective be involved in his own daughter's case and the lack of urgency in the police department's efforts to find her. While I didn't love this, I did enjoy it (it is especially appropriate for October) and found the resolution to be very intriguing so I would recommend it.

Note: This is the third installment in The Black Harbor series but I definitely think it works as a stand-alone because I haven't read the first two and there weren't any references that I didn't understand.

Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour

Last night my sister Marilyn and I relived one of the best concert experiences we have ever had by watching Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour and, while nothing can compare to the exhilaration of actually being in the audience for this concert, the movie comes really close!  We both loved it!  What I enjoyed most about this is the dynamic camera work and editing because you really get a feel for the entire experience with lots of wide shots of the entire stage, the crowd, and the visuals on the screens along with all of the details that might have been missed (especially if you were sitting in the upper levels of the stadium like Marilyn and I were) with close up shots of Taylor and her dancers.  I loved seeing all of her facial expressions and gestures because they definitely enhance the storytelling found in each song.  I particularly loved seeing "willow," as Taylor cavorts in a circle with her coven of dancers wearing green velvet cloaks and carrying glowing orbs, because it is such a theatrical performance and it was cool to have so many different angles to see the overall effect.  I liked seeing "tolerate it" up close because the performance, which features two people in a dysfunctional relationship having dinner, is so intimate and being able to see facial expressions really adds to the vibe of the song.  I was also happy to get to see "the last great american dynasty" up close because I didn't realize that one of the dancers is portraying Rebekah Harkness and that Taylor doesn't come forward until the change in POV.  I was really struck by the emotion on Taylor's face during "marjorie" (she and I both have a grandma named Marjorie who is no longer living) and seeing her give Bianka Bryant the hat in "22" up close also made me emotional because it was such a sweet moment.  The production values are fantastic because the music seems like it has been enhanced (it sounded good live at Empower Field but it sounded great in Dolby surround sound) and the titles for each era are a lot of fun (especially for reputation).  I think Denver Night 2 won for its surprise songs ("Back to December" was a major highlight of the concert for me) but I liked the fact that she featured one from her first album, "Our Song," and one from her latest album, "You're On Your Own, Kid," as surprise songs for the movie.  I was a little bit sad when I heard that "'tis the damn season" was cut (it is one of my favorite Taylor Swift songs) and really surprised that she cut "cardigan" (especially since she included "betty" and "august" from the teenage love triangle) but I didn't miss them, or any of the other songs that were cut, while I was watching.  Since we saw this at a late screening on a Sunday night, it wasn't very full so we missed out on having lots of loud and rowdy fans sing and dance but we wore our concert hoodies and sang at the top of our lungs (even Marilyn who is normally very reserved).  It was so much fun!  I highly recommend this because, if you didn't have the opportunity to see this concert in person, this is the next best thing and, if you did, it will bring back so many memories!

Note:  I even bought the commemorative popcorn bucket and cup!  I almost never buy stuff like this because I abhor clutter but I simply cannot resist the siren song of Taylor Swift merchandise!