The Iron Claw

Last night I saw The Iron Claw as part of a double feature at the Broadway and I loved this incredibly moving true story about the Von Erich family.  Fritz Von Erich (Holt McCallany) was once a major star as a professional wrestler but he was never able to win the NWA (National Wrestling Alliance) World Heavyweight Championship so, now that he is a father to Kevin (Zac Efron), David (Harris Dickinson), Kerry (Jeremy Allen White), and Mike (Stanley Simons), he exerts tremendous pressure on them to win the title for him as a wrestling promoter.  He compels them all to wrestle despite the fact that Kerry and Mike have other interests, he pits the brothers (who are fiercely loyal to each other) against one another for opportunities, promotion, and approval, he pushes them to the limit in their training, and he berates them mercilessly when they fail to live up to his expectations.  After a series of unimaginable tragedies befall the family, Kevin goes to extreme lengths, even jeopardizing his relationship with his wife Pam (Lily James) and his children, to win the championship for his father.  The story is incredibly compelling with powerful themes about toxic masculinity and the perils of unrealistic parental expectations.  It is unbelievably tragic but I really appreciated the message of hope portrayed in a beautiful scene between Kevin and his two young sons at the end that brought me to tears.  All of the performances are amazing but Efron is almost unrecognizable with his physical transformation for a role that is also emotionally demanding and he has never been better in my opinion (I wish he was getting more awards buzz).  I am not very familiar with professional wrestling but I found the sequences in the ring to be exhilarating, especially a montage to "Tom Sawyer" by Rush which is played in its entirety (apparently it was their signature song).  Finally, I really liked the production design, costumes, and hair because they evoke the time period so well.  This movie will make you cry but it is a must-see this holiday weekend.

Note:  After watching this movie I wanted to know more about the Von Erich family.  I was shocked to discover that their story is even more tragic than what was portrayed on the screen.

Mamma Mia at the Eccles

The first time I saw the musical Mamma Mia was in London on a theatre trip.  The older gentleman sitting next to me sang every word of every song at the top of his lungs and, at first, I thought it was really annoying but by the end of the show I was singing along, too!  The second time I saw it was on a trip to London with my mom.  She was incredibly reserved but she was dancing in the aisle during the finale!  This show is just so much fun you can't help singing and dancing!  I loved seeing the Broadway touring production again last night and I don't think I will ever get tired of it.  Sophie Sheriden (Alisa Melendez) is getting married and she wants her father to walk her down the aisle but she doesn't know who he is!  She discovers that there are three possibilities and decides to invite all three of them, Sam Carmichael (Victor Wallace), Bill Austin (Jim Newman), and Harry Bright (Rob Marnell), to her wedding without telling her mother, Donna (Christine Sherrill).  Chaos (and nearly two dozen Abba songs) ensues!  Sherrill is great as Donna and I especially enjoyed her poignant performance of "Slipping Through My Fingers" and her powerful rendition of "The Winner Takes It All" (which both occur in the same scene).  I also really enjoyed Wallace's version of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (which is my favorite Abba song).  Jalynn Steele, as Tanya, adds a bit of soul to "Does Your Mother Know" and I loved Carly Sakolove, as Rose, because her physicality as she tries to hit her poses in "Dancing Queen" and as she chases Bill in "Take a Chance on Me" is hilarious. I have really enjoyed some local productions of this show but I absolutely love the original choreography in the Broadway version, especially when Tanya uses a hair dryer as a microphone in "Chiquitita," when the boys dance in flippers during "Lay All Your Love on Me," when the dancers freeze whenever Sophie talks to Sam, Bill, and Harry during "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" and "Voulez-Vous," when the flippers make another appearance in "Under Attack" (my favorite number in the show), and when Pepper (Patrick Park) tries to impress Tanya in "Does Your Mother Know." I also love the original set (a white stucco taverna that is reconfigured several times) and the original costumes (the colorful spandex jumpsuits during the performance of "Dancing Queen" and "Waterloo" during the finale are awesome) in the Broadway version.  I had a blast and I was definitely dancing at the end (I defy anyone to remain seated during "Dancing Queen").  There are a few more performances at the Eccles and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  This was my final live theatre performance of 2023.  I ended up seeing 81 shows this year and my favorites were Into the Woods at SCERA, Beauty and the Beast at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse, Oliver and Pride and Prejudice at HCTO (I loved everything at HCTO this year), The Prom at PTC, and Titanic The Musical at HCT.

Wonka

My sister and I finally had the chance to see Wonka last night and we both loved this whimsical and delightful prequel to the classic movie.  Willy Wonka (Timothee Chalamet) hopes to make his dream of sharing his chocolates with the world come true by opening a shop in the Galeries Gourmet.  He immediately runs afoul of a Chocolate Cartel comprised of Arthur Slugworth (Paterson Joseph), Gerald Prodnose (Matt Lucas), and Felix Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton) who bribe the chief of police (Keegan-Michael Key) and a priest (Rowan Atkinson) with chocolate to foil Wonka's plans.  He is also tricked into indentured servitude at a lauderette run by Mrs. Scrubitt (Olivia Colman) and her henchman Bleacher (Tom Davis) because he fails to read the fine print.  However, he enlists the help of an orphan named Noodle (Calah Lane), the other captives at the launderette, including Abacus Crunch (Jim Carter), Piper Benz (Natasha Rothwell), Larry Chucklesworth (Rich Fulcher), and Lottie Bell (Rakhee Thakrar), as well as an Oompa-Loompa (Hugh Grant), and uses his delectable chocolates to defeat the Cartel and build his famous Chocolate Factory.  Chalamet is absolutely adorable as Wonka and I was quite impressed with his singing and dancing because I usually think of him more as a dramatic actor.  I especially loved his earnest performance in the songs "You've Never Had Chocolate Like This" and "A World of Your Own."  Lane is very affecting as Noodle (her duet with Chalamet in "For a Moment" is incredibly heartfelt and they have great chemistry together), Joseph is so much fun as the unctuous villain Slugworth, Colman looks like she is having a blast as a landlord straight out of Dickens, and it should come as no surprise that Grant is a hoot as an Oompa-Loompa.  The staging of the musical numbers is effervescent (I particularly enjoyed the use of a large balloon bouquet) and I loved the juxtaposition between the drab and dreary real world and Wonka's colorful imagination in the costumes and production design.  Both Marilyn and I were enchanted by this movie and I think it is perfect for families this holiday season.

Love Actually in Concert

I was back at Abravanel Hall again last night with my sister Kristine and my brother-in-law Trent to see the movie Love Actually on the big screen while the Utah Symphony performed the score by Craig Armstrong live.  I love the films in concert series but I think this one is my favorite because I love this movie (it is one of my favorite Christmas movies) and it was so much fun to for me to see Kristine and Trent (this was their first film in concert) enjoying it!  This movie involves a series of love stories involving many different characters (played by an all-star cast) at Christmas time.  My favorite involves Sam (Thomas Sangster), an eleven-year-old boy mourning the recent loss of his mother, who turns to his step-father Daniel (Liam Neeson) to help him get the attention of his crush Joanna (Olivia Olson).  When Sam's plan, which involves playing drums during Joanna's song at the school Christmas concert, doesn't work, he runs through the airport on Christmas Eve to catch her before she returns home to America (after saying my favorite line in the movie, "Let's go get the shit kicked out of us by love.").  There are so many hilarious moments in this movie that made the audience laugh out loud, especially when the Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) dances, when aging rock star Billy Mack (Bill Nighy) records a Christmas version of "Love is All Around," when the shy actors John (Martin Freeman) and Judy (Joanna Page) act as stand-ins for a sex scene (these scenes got the loudest response), when the socially awkward Colin (Kris Marshall) thinks he can can get more attention from American girls, and when a salesman (Rowan Atkinson) elaborately wraps a Christmas present surreptitiously purchased by Harry (Alan Rickman) for another woman (another highlight for the audience).  The score has a pop sound and prominently features the piano and keyboard, drums, and guitars but there is also a lovely and plaintive theme played by the strings with variations that appear throughout the movie.  I loved the trumpets and trombones in "All You Need is Love" at the wedding of Peter (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Juliet (Keira Knightley) and the clarinet solo when Sarah (Laura Linney) confirms that she is in love with Karl (Rodrigo Santoro).  The three of us had such a great time last night and I think I may have turned Kristine and Trent into fans of the films in concert series.  I definitely recommend getting a ticket to one of the remaining concerts (go here) this season.

The Disappearance of Shere Hite

One of the things I especially love about the Sundance Film Festival is the opportunity to talk to people about all of the films being screened.  Last year many of those I spoke to mentioned The Disappearance of Shere Hite as one of their favorites so I was excited to see it yesterday afternoon at the Broadway.  I thought it was an interesting and compelling portrait of a fascinating woman who was denied her rightful legacy.  While Shere Hite was a graduate student at Columbia University in New York City during the early 1970s, she was inspired by participating in the burgeoning feminist movement to create and distribute a questionnaire about women and sexuality.  She used the results of her study to write a groundbreaking book that became a best-seller despite facing backlash from those who feared the implications of some of her conclusions.  This documentary features lots of archival footage of Hite's many appearances on news programs and talk shows defending her results and methodology and it becomes more and more uncomfortable to watch as she is viciously attacked (an ambush by Maury Povich is especially egregious).  She eventually flees to Europe and dies in relative obscurity after being rejected by the publishers who initially profited from her books.  This documentary suggests that her treatment was scurrilous and that she deserves more recognition for her work.  It also suggests that the erasure of her work has led to the regression of attitudes towards women's sexuality.  I found Shere Hite to be an incredibly vibrant woman ahead of her time and I particularly enjoyed the voice-over narration by Dakota Johnson, which is taken from her writings, because it really brings her to life very vividly.  I enjoyed this thought-provoking documentary and would highly recommend it.