Direct from Sweden: The Music of ABBA

Last night the Utah Symphony was joined by Direct from Sweden: The Music of ABBA, an incredible ABBA tribute group, and to say that I had fun at this concert would be an understatement!  I don't think I have ever seen such a boisterous crowd at Abravanel Hall because people were enthusiastically singing and dancing to every song!  This group looks and sounds just like ABBA with costumes (I loved the cat mini dresses with white go-go boots), choreography, and vocal performances that are incredibly authentic.  They introduced themselves at Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid and they stayed in character all night with lots of amusing interactions with the crowd (especially a group from Sweden).  The first set included "Mamma Mia," "Super Trouper," "Knowing Me, Knowing You" (my favorite ABBA song), "When All Is Said and Done," "Ring Ring" (which was sung in Swedish), "S.O.S.," "Fernando" (which sounded amazing with the orchestra), "The Name of the Game," "Money, Money, Money," and "Waterloo" (with video footage from when ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1974).  After the intermission, they performed "Voulez-Vous" and then passionate renditions of "I Have a Dream" and "The Winner Takes It All."  They continued with "Chiquitita," "Take a Chance On Me," "Does Your Mother Know," and then ended this set with a rocking version of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)."  For the encore, they performed "Thank You for the Music" and ended the evening with "Dancing Queen" complete with a disco ball.  I love the music of ABBA and I have so many memories of listening to it when I was a child (it was part of my family's road trip playlist) so this whole concert was incredibly nostalgic for me (it always amazes me when I can immediately remember lyrics from song I haven't heard in a long time) and I loved every minute.  I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for tonight's concert but act quickly because it was almost sold out last night!

Bitter Lemon at Plan-B Theatre

I loved Melissa Leilani Larson's adaptation of Pride and Prejudice so I was very excited to see her take on a minor character from Macbeth (one of my favorite Shakespeare plays) in Plan-B Theatre's production of Bitter Lemon last night. It is absolutely brilliant and I loved it just as much as the earlier play. Lady Helen Macduff (Yolanda Stange) has been alone for an indeterminate amount of time in a liminal space between life and the afterlife longing to be reunited with her children. She is suddenly joined by Finlay Macbeth (Bobby Cody), the man she holds responsible for her death and the death of her children, and she is justifiably angry. At first he doesn't remember her or the circumstances of his death but, when his memories do return, they are of their romantic relationship from long ago. As more memories return, they engage in a tense back and forth as they try to figure out why they have both been left in purgatory together and what they can do to escape. As Helen lashes out at Finlay, he blames her for turning him into who he became by deserting him and pushing him into the arms of the ambitious Marion and then he blames her husband Andrew Macduff (I love that all of the characters now have first names) for betraying him before he finally takes responsibility for his actions and begs her to forgive him. It is very intriguing when marginalized characters from literature are reimagined and given some agency and this play presents Lady Macduff as not just a strong character but one that is integral to the whole narrative. Stange is outstanding at portraying her righteous anger and her grief but I also enjoyed seeing her eventually come to the realization that she must forgive her enemy for her own sake (the final moment is so dramatic). Cody plays Macbeth as a charismatic leader who was justified in doing what he did because he believed that would be a better king and it is fascinating to see that facade break down bit by bit as the play progresses. The moment he asks for forgiveness is so affecting. The minimal set, featuring a series of neutral panels as a backdrop and randomly placed stone blocks which are used as seating, makes the subtle changes in the lighting even more dramatic and the sound design, which reminded me of white noise, is quite unsettling. I wish that the costumes were period rather than contemporary but this did not detract from my enjoyment in the least. This is an incredibly powerful and thought-provoking piece about the nature of forgiveness and I highly recommend getting a ticket. It runs in the Studio Theatre at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts through April 28 with Thursday and Friday evening performances and Saturday and Sunday matinee performances (go here).

Wicked Little Letters

I have been looking forward to seeing Olivia Colman and Jessie Buckley together in Wicked Little Letters ever since I saw the trailer and I finally had the chance last night at the Broadway.  I loved this charming British period piece and I laughed out loud more times than I can count (as did the entire audience).  Edith Swan (Colman), a devout spinster who lives with her controlling and misogynistic father Edward (Timothy Spall) and her sympathetic mother Victoria (Gemma Jones) in Littlehampton, England during the 1920s, has been receiving anonymous letters that are deeply disturbing to her because they contain vulgar insults and profanity.  She suspects that her neighbor Rose Gooding (Buckley), a wild and foul-mouthed single mother from Ireland, is responsible for these letters and has the dim-witted Constable Papperwick (Hugh Skinner) arrest her.  Rose denies writing them and a female police officer named Gladys Moss (Anjana Vasan) believes her because there is no credible evidence against her.  However, Chief Constable Spedding (Paul Chahidi), who is under pressure from Parliament to solve the case, dismisses her concerns so she enlists several eccentric women from the village (Joanna Scanlan, Lolly Adefope, and Eileen Atkins) to help her find the proof to clear Rose.  Colman is absolutely hilarious as a seemingly pious woman who is secretly delighted by all of the attention she is receiving from this scandal and I wanted to cheer when she finally confronts her father.  Buckley is always a lot of fun when she plays a brash young woman but she is very affecting as a mother who wants a better life for her daughter.  I also really enjoyed Vasan's performance as a woman undaunted by discrimination she faces in the police department and the rest of the cast is delightful.  I figured out the mystery, based on a true story, early on but it didn't matter because the characters are all so engaging.  This is a crowd-pleaser that I recommend to fans of British comedies with the proviso that it obviously includes a lot of profanity (albeit with very charming accents).

Jazz vs. Nuggets

Last night I went to my final Utah Jazz game of the season with my friend Angela and it was against a team that I love to hate!  Unfortunately, the Denver Nuggets are really good (they are battling for the number 1 seed in the Western Conference) and the Jazz have been struggling lately without Lauri Markkanen, Jordan Clarkson, John Collins, and Walker Kessler.  The shorthanded Jazz did play with a lot of heart all night and, whenever it looked like Denver would break the game wide open, the Jazz would find a way to stop them and, while the Nuggets had the lead for the entire game, Utah got within six multiple times and within three late in the third quarter (which got the Delta Center cheering as if it was a playoff game).  Horton-Tucker is one of the biggest reasons why the Jazz were able to stay in the game and ended the night with 24 points including the electrifying three-pointer to get the team within three.  Yurtseven also had a good night with 20 points and I thought he did a good job matching up with Jokic who is so good (at one point he had such an amazing three-pointer that even I had to admire it).  Semanic ended with 15 (including the first double-double of his career) and George (I really like him) and Sensabaugh each had 10 points but it wasn't enough and the Jazz ended up losing their 13 straight game 111-95.  I am usually a good luck charm for the Jazz but clearly not this season because I only saw them win once!  At least I have had a lot of fun watching the games with Angela!

Gone with the Wind

Last night I got to see Gone with the Wind on the big screen in honor of its 85th anniversary and it was an amazing experience to see this epic movie presented as it was meant to be seen!  On the eve of the Civil War, the spoiled and petulant Scarlett O'Hara (Vivien Leigh) thinks only of attending genteel parties at neighboring plantations and of catching the eye of the soft-spoken Ashley Wilkes (Leslie Howard).  Her life is forever changed when war is declared and when Ashley marries Melanie Hamilton (Olivia de Havilland).  Through sheer determination and force of will she does whatever it takes to survive the horrors of the war and keep Tara, her family's plantation, during the turbulent days of Reconstruction all while continuing to pine for Ashley.  However, she meets her match in the rakish blockade runner Rhett Butler (Clark Gable) and she eventually marries him despite the fact that she doesn't love him.  It takes a tragedy for Scarlett to realize that her love for Ashley was an illusion, just like life in the South before the war, and that Rhett is the one she truly loves.  She begs him for a reconciliation but he tells her that it is too late which prompts her to return to Tara which is the source of her strength.  While this movie is very problematic, especially how it romanticizes the Antebellum South as a time of chivalry with knights and their ladies fair and the portrayal of slaves as docile and content to be owned by their benevolent masters, I really love the underlying story about perseverance in the face of overwhelming odds (especially by a woman), the iconic performances of both Leigh and Gable, and the stunning cinematography (the wide shot of Scarlett walking among the Confederate dead and wounded and the silhouettes against the burning of Atlanta are breathtaking).  It was so much fun to see this with a crowd because there were cheers during all of the familiar quotes and applause at the end.  There is one more chance to see this as part of Fathom's Big Screen Classics series (go here for information and tickets) and I highly recommend it.