The Sound of Music

I helped care for my mom during the last year of her life and we watched The Sound of Music every day (sometimes twice if she was having a bad day) because she loved it and it would soothe her.  Now whenever I watch it I am reminded of her.  It is back in theaters with a 4K restoration as part of the Fathom's Big Screen Classics series to celebrate its 60th Anniversary and, of course, I had to see it last night.  There was a large crowd and they were pretty vocal so it was a lot of fun (and a little bittersweet) listening to all of the iconic Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, including "The Sound of Music," "Maria," "I Have Confidence," "Sixteen Going on Seventeen," "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "The Lonely Goatherd," "Edelweiss," "So Long, Farewell," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," and "Something Good."  I had to try really hard not to sing along!  My mom did not like the Baroness (Eleanor Parker) so she would hiss every time she appeared on screen and she clapped during the entire wedding sequence because that was her favorite.  These scenes definitely put a big smile on my face!  I always enjoy watching the young actress who plays Gretl (Kym Karath) because she is concentrating so hard on her part (watch her during the music festival) and it is adorable!  My favorite scenes are when the Captain (Christopher Plummer) and Maria (Julie Andrews) dance the Ländler (I am not exaggerating when I say that I have seen this movie hundreds of times and last night was the first time I noticed that all of the other couples are also dancing the Ländler inside) because Plummer is so handsome and it is incredibly romantic and when Maria and the children sing "Do-Re-Mi" because all of the locations remind me of a trip I took to Salzburg (I especially love the scenes in the Mirabell Gardens because I immediately recognized them from the movie when I was there).  I saw this on the big screen several years ago but it was even more meaningful watching it last night and I am so happy that I had the opportunity (go here for more upcoming releases presented by Fathom Events).

Note:  It is really jarring to me whenever I see the stage version because it differs significantly from the movie (I feel the same way about Grease).

Little Shop of Horrors at CPT

Little Shop of Horrors is such a fun show and I loved seeing a fantastic production at CPT with my sisters and nephew last night. Seymour (Jake Heywood) and Audrey (Janae Klumpp-Gibb) both work in a run-down flower shop on Skid Row but the owner, Mr. Mushnik (Robert Gibbons), decides to close it because there are no customers. Seymour thinks that an unusual plant, which he found during a total eclipse of the sun and named Audrey II after his co-worker, will bring more business. The shop becomes wildly successful but Mr. Mushnik is concerned because Audrey II isn't thriving. Seymour inadvertently discovers that Audrey II likes drinking his blood after he cuts himself on a thorn and, eventually, it grows to a giant size demanding more and more blood. When Seymour can't spare any more of his blood, he feeds it the body of Audrey's abusive boyfriend Orin Scrivello (Brock Dalgleish), a sadistic dentist who has an unfortunate laughing gas accident, which wins him the love of Audrey but makes Audrey II even more insatiable. Seymour enjoys the notoriety Audrey II brings him but soon feels guilty about everyone who has died so he could feed it. He decides to get rid of it but eventually he and Audrey succumb to Audrey II's evil plan for world domination! There is a girl group, including Crystal (Kortney King-Lives), Ronnette (Tory Sandoval), and Chiffon (Alexandria Bird), that narrates the show with music combining rock and roll, doo-wop, and Motown and it sounds amazing. I really loved Klumpp-Gibb's performance because she has a beautiful voice and her versions of "Somewhere That's Green" and "Suddenly Seymour" brought the house down. Heywood is awkwardly adorable in "Grow For Me" and Dalgleish is completely over the top in "Be A Dentist" but Austin Payne steals the show as the voice of Audrey II by singing the blues in "Feed Me (Git It)." All of the puppets used for Audrey II, which get bigger and bigger, are incredible and the way that they are manipulated by puppeteer Mitch Gibb is so much fun to watch! Finally, I loved the set which features a street on Skid Row with lots of really fun details (my favorite is the fire escape where the girls often appear). The exterior of Mushnik's Flower Shop opens up to reveal an interior that gets more elaborate as the show goes on, including more and more of Audrey II's tendrils which eventually reach out into the audience during "Finale Ultimo (Don't Feed the Plants)." The cute couple sitting next to me told me that I had a smile on my face during the whole show and I'm sure that I did because I had such a great time watching it. I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) during its run on the Mountain America Main Stage through October 14.

The Long Walk

I am a huge fan of Stephen King but the movie adaptations of his books are hit or miss with me (The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, and The Shining are among my favorites and The Dark Tower is definitely my least favorite) so I was both excited and nervous to see The Long Walk last night with my nephew.  I am happy to report, Constant Readers, that it is in the former category!  It is set in a dystopian future in which an economic collapse after a devastating civil war has led to a totalitarian regime.  Circumstances have become so dire for the population that thousands of young men volunteer to be part of an annual televised event called "The Long Walk."  Fifty are chosen to compete and they must walk at a steady pace of 3 miles per hour (those who fall below that pace are given three warnings and then are executed by soldiers) along a predetermined route until only one is left to be declared the winner and rewarded with a substantial cash prize and the fulfillment of a wish.  The contest is overseen by the Major (Mark Hamill) who taunts the boys as they battle against fatigue, the elements, and their own inner demons.  At the start of the race Ray Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) says an emotional goodbye to his mother Ginnie (Judy Greer), befriends Peter McVries (David Jonsson), Hank Olsen (Ben Wang), Arthur Baker (Tut Nyuot), Collie Parker (Joshua Odjick) and Billy Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), and antagonizes Gary Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer).  As the race continues for four brutal days and nights and the boys are killed one by one, Ray and Peter form a meaningful friendship and help each other survive as long as they can.  This is one of the bleakest movies I have ever seen because, not only is the story about people so desperate that they are willing to participate in an ordeal of state-sanctioned violence in which they have almost no chance of success just for the possibility of bettering their lives, it features color grading that is washed out and muted as well as locations that reflect the economic depression in the country (all of the towns they walk through seem abandoned and the spectators look as if they could be extras in The Grapes of Wrath).  However, I loved the portrayal of friendship and how the boys are able to comfort and support each other in moments of extreme duress and, even though the ending is ambiguous, I interpret it as somewhat hopeful for the fate of humanity.  I was very surprised by how compelling this movie is (I didn't think the premise could be sustained for so long) and this is due, in large part, to the dynamic performances of Hoffman and Jonsson (some of their interactions brought tears to my eyes).  I especially loved a monologue delivered by Jonsson in which he says that his whole life has been a long walk and that you just have to keep going.  This is extremely well done and I highly recommend it with the proviso that the violence is very graphic.

Silent Sky at Parker Theatre

I have seen two very different productions of the play Silent Sky, an elaborate and stylized one at HCT and a more stripped down version at the Empress Theatre, so I was really eager to see what Parker Theatre would do with it. I had the opportunity last night and I think the staging falls somewhere in between the two and I loved it just as much. It is a beautiful story about the real-life astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (Emma Widtfeldt) and her trailblazing discovery that allowed future astronomers to calculate the distance between galaxies. She begins working in the Observatory at Harvard University in 1900 as a human computer along with Annie Cannon (Emily Parker Holmgren) and Williamina Fleming (Hillary McChesney) and, even though they are not allowed to use the university's refracting telescope because they are women, her questions about the universe compel her to work long hours analyzing the images on the glass photographic plates taken from the telescope. However, her dedication to her work puts her at odds with her sister Margaret (Jalyn Bender) over family obligations and with her supervisor Peter Shaw (William McAllister) over their romantic relationship but her legacy is secured. What I love most about this story, besides seeing a group of strong and determined women defy societal expectations, is the exploration of what a legacy means through the juxtaposition of the two sisters. The play opens with Margaret receiving a marriage proposal and Henrietta receiving a job offer and this is very effective because it establishes that Margaret believes in home and family while Henrietta believes in opportunity and hard work. Then, in the epilogue, we learn about Margaret's children and grandchildren as well as the lasting impact of Henrietta's work (including the Hubble telescope) and that both legacies are equally valuable. Widtfeldt gives a lovely performance that is more subdued in the portrayal of Henrietta's romance with Peter but more passionate in her search for answers than I have seen before. I especially enjoyed her excitement when she makes an important connection while listening to her sister play the piano and her exhilaration at seeing her work published. The rest of the cast is also outstanding and I particularly loved McChesney's imperiousness (I laughed out loud at her sash and pamphlets) and McAllister's awkwardness. The set is simple but effective and includes an academic office with desks and stools (I loved the way the glass photographic plates are displayed) and smaller set pieces for Margaret's home in Wisconsin, Henrietta's apartment in Cambridge, and an ocean liner. There are stunning images from space projected on scrims multiple times throughout the show and the depiction of the telescope is very dramatic. The lighting design is also very dramatic, especially the spotlights on characters as they read letters to Henrietta. While each production that I've seen has been very different, the commonality is a beautiful and inspiring story and I highly recommend getting a ticket Parker's version playing Fridays and Saturdays through October 11. Go here for tickets.

National Theatre Live: A Streetcar Named Desire

Yesterday afternoon I was able to see a screening of the National Theatre Live production of A Streetcar Named Desire which was filmed in 2014 at the Young Vic in London and presented by the Tanner Humanities Center and Salt Lake Film Society.  I was blown away by this bold interpretation of the classic play by Tennessee Williams!  Blanche DuBois (Gillian Anderson) arrives unannounced at the New Orleans apartment of her sister Stella Kowalski (Vanessa Kirby) and tells her that she has lost Belle Reve, their ancestral home in Mississippi, and has taken a leave of absence from her teaching job.  She intends to stay for an indeterminate amount of time and this, along with her obvious disdain for the cramped apartment in a working class neighborhood, earns her the enmity of Stella's husband Stanley (Ben Foster).  The genteel Southern belle shows her contempt for the crude and often violent mechanic on a daily basis until he discovers that she is not quite as respectable as she pretends to be.  When Stanley ruins Blanche's chances with a new suitor (Corey Johnson), the two of them have a highly charged physical confrontation which forces Stella to choose between her sister and her husband.  This is over three hours long and I was completely riveted!  The most intriguing aspect of this production is the set because, not only is it very modern and minimalist (everything is a bright white and looks like it came from Ikea), it continually revolves which provides a 360 degree view of what is happening.  This staging allows the audience to see the characters during moments when they are not part of the action and this really emphasizes the claustrophobia of the Kowalski apartment.  It also gives a new perspective on the characters and I found them to be much more sympathetic than I usually do (especially when Stanley sits on the fire escape and overhears Blanche tell Stella to leave him and when Blanche soaks in the bathtub and overhears Stanley criticize her).  I think this was probably even more powerful live because the camera often dictates where the audience should look in the filmed version.  The three central performances are all outstanding but Anderson is absolutely brilliant because you can actually see moments of fragility behind the haughty exterior.  The scene when she comes undone in a ball gown, a rhinestone tiara, and smudged lipstick is very powerful but I found her expression when trying to summon her dignity before being led away by the doctor to be one of the most poignant things I've seen on stage (or screen).  My only criticism is that some of the anachronistic dialogue should have been cut to fit the more contemporary set, costumes, and music (I found the line about Edgar Allan Poe in reference to the Kowalski apartment to be incredibly incongruous).  I loved seeing this (I wish I could have seen it live) and I am looking forward to the upcoming National Theatre Live productions of Inter Alia on October 18 and Mrs. Warren's Profession on November 8 at the Broadway.