Encore: A Musical Review at the Eccles

Even though I just saw him in concert last summer at the SCERA Shell, I was so excited to be able to see Jeremy Jordan again, this time with fellow Broadway stars Kara Lindsay and Jessica Vosk, yesterday at the Eccles Theater.  I went to the matinee with my friend Wendy (we have had Broadway at the Eccles season tickets next to each other since the theater opened) and we had so much fun (we were practically screaming like thirteen year old girls during Jordan's entire set).  Voss took the stage first and began with a stirring rendition of "Don't Rain on My Parade" from Funny Girl which got the crowd cheering (not for the first time).  She continued with "Almost Like Being in Love" and "Both Sides Now" and then Lindsay joined her for the beautiful duet  "I Will Never Leave You" from Side Show.  She followed this with a fun version of "Gimme, Gimme" from Thoroughly Modern Millie and then told a funny story about having to go on as Golde in Fiddler on the Roof unexpectedly in Act 2 (she told lots of stories) before singing an amazing mash-up of "Do You Love Me?" from Fiddler, "I Don't Know How to Love Him" from Jesus Christ Superstar, and "Everybody Says Don't" from Anyone Can Whistle.  She ended her set with a powerful version of "Heart of Stone" from SIX with everyone in the audience singing along (this was a really cool moment).  Lindsay took the stage next with "Not for the Life of Me" from Thoroughly Modern Millie.  She gave a hilarious performance of "Adelaide's Lament" (complete with props) and then the crowd went absolutely crazy when she sang "Watch What Happens" followed by "Something to Believe In" with Jordan (she originated the role of Katherine Plumber and he originated the role of Jack Kelly in Newsies).  I saw Lindsay as Glinda in Wicked when the Broadway touring company came to SLC (she is one of the best Glindas I've seen) so I was really excited when she sang "Popular" next.  She ended her set with lovely renditions of "My House" from Matilda and "Goodnight My Someone" from The Music Man.  Jordan began his set, as he did when I saw him last summer, with "Something's Coming" from West Side Story and then gave us a preview of the upcoming musical The Great Gatsby by singing "For Her."  He continued with "Broadway Here I Come" from the TV show Smash and "Movin' Too Fast" from the movie The Last Five Years.  Voss joined him for an incredible version of "You Matter to Me" from Waitress and then he had an audience member play Audrey II for his amusing rendition of "Grow for Me" from Little Shop of Horrors.  I was hoping for "Santa Fe" from Newsies and he obliged me with a performance that gave me goosebumps!  He was such a goofball on stage and I loved it so much!  This was a wonderful show and I'm so glad Wendy offered me the ticket!

Robot Dreams

Last night I went to the Broadway for an early access screening of Robot Dreams, a nominee for the Best Animated Feature Academy Award this year, and it made me feel all the things.  Dog lives a lonely life in a small apartment in the East Village where he spends his time playing video games, watching TV, and eating microwaved dinners.  He sees an ad for a Robot companion and decides to order one. Soon Dog and Robot are inseparable, riding the subway, roller skating in the park, rowing on the lake, eating hot dogs from street vendors, and watching The Wizard of Oz together.  At the end of the summer they take a trip to the beach and spend a fun day swimming and sunbathing but the water makes Robot rust in place and, when Dog cannot move him, he reluctantly leaves in order to get the tools to fix him.  Unfortunately, when he returns, the beach is closed for the winter and he can't get to Robot.  While they wait for the summer, Robot has a series of hopeful dreams in which he reunites with Dog while Dog goes on with his life trying to find another connection.  Eventually, Robot ends up in a scrap yard and is rebuilt by Rascal the Racoon and Dog buys another Robot named Tin.  When Robot sees Dog on the street he decides not to approach him because Dog has formed a new friendship with Tin and he has done the same with Rascal.  I found the message that friendships sometimes grow apart through no fault of anyone involved to be incredibly moving (and not at all what I was expecting) and it actually brought me to tears.  I loved that this is able to convey just about every emotion imaginable without any dialogue (I especially loved Robot's expression of wide-eyed wonder) and I loved the colorful 2-D animation.  The depiction of New York City in the 80s is perfectly realized with lots of little details that put a smile on my face and the sound design featuring the background noise of the city is very effective. Finally, the use of "September" by Earth, Wind & Fire is a lot of fun in the roller skating scene but it becomes increasingly more poignant and the movie progresses.  I do think that some of the dream sequences go on longer than they need to but I loved this more than I was expecting to and I highly recommend it when it gets a wide-release this summer.

Note:  This would be a perfect double feature with Past Lives (but only if you have enough tissues).

How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at HCTO

I always love it when I have the opportunity to see a popular show that I haven't seen before and that is what happened at HCTO last night when I got to see their production of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.  It is a charming old-fashioned musical satirizing life on the corporate ladder and I loved it.  J. Pierpont Finch (Josh Valdez) is a lowly window washer for the World Wide Wicket Company with big ambitions.  After consulting the book How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, he impresses the boss J.B. Biggley (David Morley-Walker) and he gets a job working in the mail room.  Despite the attention from Rosemary Pilkington (Morgan Fenner), a secretary who has decided to marry him, and the scheming of Bud Frump (Joseph Paul Branca), Mr. Biggley's incompetent nephew who is jealous of him, he becomes a junior executive in the Plans and Systems Department, then Vice President of Advertising, and eventually takes the place of Wally Womper (Michael D. Fox) as Chairman of the Board.  The best part of this show is the dazzling and innovative choreography and I loved watching the incredibly talented ensemble perform in the big song and dance numbers "Coffee Break," "The Company Way," "A Secretary Is Not a Toy," "Paris Original," "Cinderella, Darlin'," "I Believe In You," and "Brotherhood of Man."  I had a huge smile on my face during all of these numbers and so did everyone in the audience.  The cast is outstanding!  Valdez has just the right combination of earnestness and charisma to shine as Finch and I loved his touching performance in "Rosemary" and his raucous rendition of "Grand Old Ivy" with Morley-Walker (which made me laugh out loud).  The female roles are a bit outdated for a modern audience but Fenner, Lisa Zimmerman (as Hedy LaRue), and McKell Shaw (as the secretary Smitty) add a lot of comedic elements to their performances.  However, it is Branca who absolutely steals the show because he is so petulant as Frump and his physicality and facial expressions are hilarious (I think I laughed at every single thing he did).  The stage features a black and white checkerboard floor, stylized logos for the World Wide Wicket Company (which reminded me of the Pan Am logo), and geometric set pieces that emphasize a 1960s vibe.  These geometric patterns are also used in panels with colored LED lights all around the theater and I loved how the lights flashed in sync with the music.  The period costumes are all a lot of fun, especially the Paris "original" gowns worn by all of the secretaries to a reception.  I definitely enjoyed this show (without really trying) and I recommend it highly (go here for tickets).  It runs every night but Sunday with several matinees through April 13.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

I saw the hilarious show The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at the Utah Shakespeare Festival years ago and I loved it so I was really looking forward to seeing the Terrace Plaza Playhouse's production last night. It was so much fun! A group of actors (Josh Curtis, Jenni Cooper, and Whitney Cahoon), who portray themselves and break the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience, attempt to perform all of Shakespeare's plays in 90 minutes. Hilarity ensues! They begin with a brief biography of Shakespeare, but they mistake the bard for Adolf Hitler, and then continue with the tragedies (Romeo and Juliet, which features commentary about consent, Titus Andronicus, which is presented as a cooking show, and Macbeth, which is performed with incomprehensible Scottish accents, are the highlights). Next they present the comedies as one long play with interchangeable characters (designated by different hats) because they all have the same plot and then perform all of the history plays as a football game with all of the kings as players and a crown instead of a ball (they call a flag on the play when King Lear tries to divide the kingdom between his daughters). At this point they realize that they have forgotten Hamlet but decide that they need a break. After the intermission, they present the sonnets (with help from the audience using Mad-Libs) and then perform an over the top version of Hamlet with lots of audience participation when they decide to psychoanalyze Ophelia. They finish early so they decide to perform Hamlet again in an attempt to break the record for the fastest production (53 seconds) and, when they do that, they decide to perform it backwards! I could not stop laughing during the entire show because it involves a lot of physical comedy.  It also allows for the addition of current pop culture references (I loved the use of Taylor Swift's song "Love Story" at the end of Romeo and Juliet), people and events specific to the area (there were many mentions of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City), interactions with the audience (there was a large group of high school students in attendance which made this really fun), as well as lots of improvisation (especially when props would malfunction). The cast is fantastic with brilliant comedic timing, especially in the scenes where they are portraying multiple characters, and I loved all of their facial expressions. The actors wear white blouses, black pantaloons, white hose, and black Converse high-tops and this allows them to become multiple characters with the addition of different costume pieces (my favorite costume was for the nurse in Romeo and Juliet because the audience howled with laughter at the obviously fake boobs). The stage is very simple with three red curtains, from which the actors make their entrances, and two large trunks on either side containing costumes and props. I had so much fun watching this show and I was really impressed with all of the students in the audience because they definitely picked up on all of the references! I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) during its run with shows Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays through April 6.

Bonnie & Clyde at PTC

I have been looking forward to Bonnie & Clyde at PTC ever since the 2023-2024 season was announced so I braved the wind driving to and the snow driving from the theater to see a matinee yesterday. It was worth it because I really loved this show (I had never seen it before). A young Bonnie Parker (Elisabeth Wilkins) wants to be a star on the big screen just like Clara Bow while Clyde Barrow (Daniel Michael Sorokine) spends his youth yearning for the excitement of being an outlaw like Billy the Kid. When they meet during the height of the Great Depression, Bonnie (Alanna Saunders) is a waitress and Clyde (Michael William Nigro) is an escaped convict but they both want to leave West Dallas. They fall in love and Bonnie is drawn into Clyde's life of crime, first when she helps him escape from prison again and then when they go on the run in her 1931 roadster. They become heroes to those who have suffered during the depression and, as their fame grows, they escalate from robbery to murder which gets the attention of retired Texas Ranger Frank Hamer (Daniel Simons). As they become more and more reckless and involve Clyde's brother Buck (Dan DeLuca) and his wife Blanche (Gina Milo), their adventure comes to an inevitable end when their car is ambushed on a Louisiana road. The story takes a long time to get going in the first act and then seems a bit rushed in the second act but I still found it to be very compelling, particularly the juxtaposition between the relationship between Bonnie and Clyde and that of Buck and Blanche. The music in this show is fantastic with a blues, gospel, and rockabilly sound. I especially loved "Picture Show" as Bonnie dreams of being on the screen, "This World Will Remember Me" as Clyde dreams of being an outlaw, "God's Arms Are Always Open" as a Preacher (Christian Brailsford) and Blanche try to get Buck to give up his life of crime, "You Love Who You Love" as Bonnie and Blanche realize that they can't help loving the Barrow brothers, "Raise A Little Hell" as Clyde plots to break out of prison, "Made in America" as the people express their desperation over their circumstances, and "Dyin' Ain't So Bad" as Bonnie consoles herself with the knowledge that she and Clyde have lived life on their terms. Both Saunders and Nigro have beautiful voices and give incredible performances that just about blow the roof off the theater. They are matched by the performances of DeLuca and Milo, especially when the four of them sing together. I also really liked Ben Jacoby as Ted Hinton, a policeman who is interested in Bonnie, because exhibits so much longing in the song "You Can Do Better Than Him."  This show features one of my favorite sets at PTC because it is so unique.  The backdrop is a three-story structure made of corrugated metal (it looks like the kind of bleak structure that would exist during the Great Depression) which features the mugshots of Bonnie, Clyde, Buck, and Blanche as well as a giant marquee (it looks like the front of a movie theater) that lights up to show the various locations in the show.  The action takes place in front of the backdrop with the addition of a few minimal props (I loved the roadster) as well as within an area inside that represents the couple's hideout. The lighting design is moody and atmospheric with sepia tones that turn into a dramatic splash of red during the scenes involving violence. The period costumes also feature sepia tones but Bonnie's become more colorful the more notorious she becomes. The story itself could have been more cohesive but I loved every aspect of this production and I highly recommend it (the audience at my performance was the largest I've seen at PTC this season). It runs through March 9 and tickets may be purchased here.