Problemista

Last night I had another double feature at the Broadway starting with Problemista.  I saw a preview for this last fall and it really piqued my interest but it got delayed so I've been waiting a long time to see it.  It was worth the wait because I loved this imaginative and whimsical take on the American dream.  Alejandro (Julio Torres) is an aspiring toy designer from El Salvador who keeps getting rejected from a development training program at Hasbro.  In the meantime, he works at a cryogenics facility and is tasked with monitoring the frozen body of an artist named Bobby (RZA) but an incident with the power generator gets him fired which puts his work visa in jeopardy.  On his way out he meets Bobby's eccentric wife Elizabeth (Tilda Swinton), an art critic who has alienated everyone in the art world with her outrageous and deranged behavior.  She decides to hire Alejandro, after he lies about knowing FileMaker Pro (a hilarious running joke), to help her curate a show of Bobby's paintings.  She promises him that she will sponsor him on his visa application if the show is a success but she is almost impossible to please and seems to create obstacle after obstacle.  However, he ends up being the one person who understands her and she ends up giving him the confidence to go after his dream.  As someone who has had dealings with the immigration system in the U.S., I found the surrealistic portrayal of the bureaucracy involved to be both hilarious and poignant, especially when Alejandro must climb through an endless maze that gets him nowhere as the sands in an hourglass fall faster and faster.  I also loved the personification of Craigslist (Larry Owens) as a genie, who Alejandro uses to find jobs that pay under the table, to be really clever.  Torres gives a subdued performance as Alejandro shuffles through (literally) all of the outlandish situations in which he finds himself and this is highly effective in juxtaposition to Swinton's over the top portrayal of entitlement on steroids.  This is definitely a social satire about inequality but it is one with a highly original vision that mostly succeeds and I couldn't stop laughing!

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire

I actually had a lot of fun with Ghostbusters: Afterlife so I decided to see the latest installment in the franchise, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, last night.  There is a good movie in there somewhere but, unfortunately, it is overstuffed with nostalgia, unnecessary characters, and distracting subplots.  Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), her children Trevor (Finn Wolfhard) and Phoebe (McKenna Grace), and her boyfriend Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) are now living in the iconic fire station in NYC and working as ghostbusters.  Their latest exploit leads to a lot of collateral damage which gets the attention of Mayor Walter Peck (William Atherton) who wants to shut them down.  He settles for suspending Phoebe because she is a minor.  This leads the rebellious Phoebe, who feels useless and left out, to befriend Melody (Emily Alyn Lind), a restless ghost desperate to reunite with her family who died in a fire.  Meanwhile, Nadeem Razmaadi (Kumail Nanjiani) sells an ancient artifact once owned by his grandmother to Ray Stanz (Dan Aykroyd) because he is now collecting cursed objects.  A demonic god named Garraka, who uses fear to lower the temperature to absolute zero, is trapped inside but Melody, who hopes that Garraka will reunite her with her family, uses Phoebe to free it from the artifact which unleashes a new ice age on NYC.  Phoebe must join forces with Melody and Razmaadi, who has heretofore unknown powers as the Fire Master, to stop it.  This story takes a really long time to get going but it is the best part of the movie.  However, it becomes a convoluted mess with the addition of nostalgia characters such as Peter Venkman (Bill Murray), Winston Zeddemore (Ernie Hudson), and Janine Melnitz (Annie Potts), who do nothing but provide callbacks to the original movie, unnecessary characters such as Podcast (Logan Kim) and Lucky (Celeste O'Connor), who do nothing but provide callbacks to the last move, and characters, such as Dr. Lars Pinfield (James Acaster) and Dr. Hubert Wartzki (Patton Osward), who exist only to provide endless exposition dumps.  There are also some subplots, including Trevor's desire to to be taken seriously as an adult, Gary's struggle to be a father figure, and Ray's fear of irrelevance, that don't really come together.  I liked Phoebe's arc and I really enjoyed Nanjiani because he provides a lot of comic relief but the rest of it is a slog to get through.  I wouldn't recommend it unless you are a die hard fan of the franchise but, honestly, Afterlife is a much better legacy sequel.

Note:  I think, going forward, the movies should only focus on the younger Spenglers or it might be time to end this franchise.

Tashena's Bridal Shower

Yesterday afternoon my sister Marilyn and I hosted a bridal shower for our niece Tashena.  The theme was Around the Clock and every guest was assigned a specific time of day in order to bring a gift that could be used at that time.  The invitations featured gold and silver clocks and so our decorations were gold and silver and we had cute clocks as cupcake toppers.  This theme was really fun because the gifts were so unique, such as the ingredients to make brunch, cooking items (a cock pot, an instant pot, and a wok) to make dinner, games to play in the afternoon, etc.  We served chicken salad sandwiches on croissants, fruit cups, punch, and chocolate cupcakes.  We only played one game (it is called bride babble), but it got everyone laughing out loud, and then Tashena opened her presents.  It was really great to see so many of Tashena's family members and friends come and support her!  Marilyn and I weren't sure if we could pull this off (huge thanks to Trent, Kristine, and Sean, especially during the balloon arch incident) but Tashena was happy and everyone seemed to have a good time so we are calling it a success!

Next up is the wedding in Washington state in May.

Danny Elfman's Percussion Concerto

I always love it when I walk into Abravanel Hall and see lots of percussion instruments on the stage because I know that I am in for a good time!  Last night's Utah Symphony concert featured more percussion instruments than I've ever seen assembled and it was amazing!  The concert began with a spotlight on percussionist Colin Currie as he performed a piece for a solo marimba called Tromp Miniature by Bryce Dessner (who founded the band The National with his brother Aaron).  Currie described it as a lullaby and I found it to be almost hypnotic.  Next, the orchestra joined Currie on stage for Danny Elfman's Percussion Concerto and, as a huge fan of Oingo Boingo, I was beyond excited for this and I loved it!  Currie, as the soloist, played 12 instruments (and assorted other objects) himself but there were also five additional percussionists along with the strings and piano.  The piece was instantly recognizable as an Elfman composition because, like all of his film scores, it is intense and dramatic but also a little bit playful.  I loved the interaction between the percussion instruments in the first movement, the themes played by the strings in the third movement, and the vibraphone in the spectacular final movement.  I also enjoyed seeing Currie run across the stage to reach all of the instruments in order to keep up with the frenetic pace.  I am so glad that I got to hear this thrilling and exciting piece (and I highly suggest that fans of Elfman get a ticket to tonight's performance sooner rather than later because there were very few empty seats in Abravanel Hall last night).  After the intermission, the concert concluded with Symphony No.1 by Johannes Brahms which was also quite exciting and dramatic.  I really loved the slow and somewhat ominous introduction to the first movement by the timpani followed by a palpable tension between the woodwinds and the violins, the themes played by the bassoons and the horns (meant to mimic an alpenhorn) in the second movement, and the themes played by the strings and then repeated by the woodwinds and then the full orchestra (which sounded very similar to "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth Symphony) in the final movement.  This was one of my favorite concerts this season and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets to tonight's performance).

Shrek the Musical at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

Last night I went to see a production of Shrek the Musical at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts featuring an incredibly talented group of high school students belonging to the award-winning acting troupe called Acting Up! I figured that, if they could produce an enjoyable version of a show that I dislike, they would definitely do a phenomenal job with a show I actually do like and I was right! It was so much fun! Shrek (Finn Parks) is an ogre just minding his own business when his swamp is invaded after Lord Farquaad (Mark Triplett) banishes all of the Fairytale Creatures from Duloc. After some encouragement from Pinocchio (Al Sorensen), he decides to visit Farquaad himself to get his swamp back and, along the way, he saves Donkey (Noah Hinckley) from Farquaad's guards and they end up traveling to Duloc together. Farquaad, who wants to be King, agrees to give Shrek back his swamp if he rescues Princess Fiona (Tanya Cespedes) from a tower guarded by a fire-breathing Dragon (Kaisa Judd) so he can marry her. Donkey distracts Dragon so Shrek can rescue Fiona but chaos ensues on the way back to Duloc when Shrek develops feelings for her. Parks is great in the title role because he shows a vulnerability behind the gruff exterior and he displays a lot of charisma in his performance (but I sometimes couldn't hear him during his songs, especially in "Who I'd Be" and "When Words Fail"). Hinckley is a lot of fun because he is fast-talking and frenetic in his physical performance and I loved his version of "Forever" with Judd. Cespedes has a beautiful voice, particularly in the song "I Know It's Today" with Claire Moreira as Young Fiona and Rachel Paz as Teen Fiona (they harmonize so well), but I also enjoyed her physicality, especially in "I Think I Got You Beat" with Parks (the children in the audience absolutely loved the *ahem* sound effects in this number). However, it is Triplett who steals the show! As is often the case in this musical, he portrays Farquaad's short stature by appearing on his knees with tiny fake legs dangling in front of him and a large cape hiding his real legs, but Triplett adds another layer of hilarity with lots of big gestures with his arms and exaggerated facial expressions. I laughed non-stop whenever he was on stage and his songs "What's Up Duloc" and "Ballad of Farquaad" were highlights for me! I was also very impressed by Judd because she gives a fantastic performance while effortlessly manipulating an amazing dragon puppet (with the help of another puppeteer). The outstanding ensemble provided some more of my favorite moments, including "The Story of My Life" and "Freak Flag," with colorful costumes and dazzling choreography. Honorable mentions go to Sorensen as Pinocchio, Sabrina Barker as the Fairy Godmother, Alyssa Abildskov as the Wicked Witch, and Macey South as Gingy. The fabulous stage features a series of steps configured to look like a forest with fun set pieces for Shrek's swamp, Farquaad's castle, the Dragon's keep, and Fiona's tower. I was so impressed with these young actors and I cannot recommend this production enough! Definitely let your freak flag fly and get a ticket (go here) for one of the remaining performances through March 30.