Paul McCartney in Las Vegas

I have loved Paul McCartney since I was in 5th grade.  It was then that I discovered a song called "Coming Up" and, even though I didn't actually know who sang it, I played it incessantly.  My dad said it was Paul McCartney and if I liked that song I should listen to the Beatles.  He presented me with his copy of Rubber Soul (he eventually gave me all of his Beatles records) and thus began my obsession with McCartney and the Beatles.  I have been lucky enough to see him in concert several times by now so I really debated whether or not I should get a ticket for his latest North American tour, especially since I would have to travel to get to a show.  I ultimately decided that I would be so sad to miss seeing him again and got a ticket for the show at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas (an incredible venue!).  I took a quick road trip this weekend (I had to drive in a torrential downpour for half of it) and, as is usually the case, I am so glad I did because the concert was amazing!  One of the reasons for my hesitation, besides the cost, was McCartney's voice.  He seemed to really struggle the last time I saw him but I think he sounded great Saturday night!  His voice was obviously not what it once was but I realized that it didn't really matter because he and the songs are so iconic.  He played for close to three hours with his usual band (Paul "Wix" Wickens on keyboards, Rusty Anderson on guitar, Brian Ray on bass, and Abe Laboriel, Jr. on drums) as well as an incredible horn section (Mike Davis on trumpet and fugelhorn, Paul Burton on trombone, and Kenji Fenton on saxophone and clarinet) and I was so impressed with his stamina because he sang and played either guitar or piano for every song (even when the band took a break).  He opened with "Help!" which whipped the crowd into a frenzy because this is the first time he has performed it solo.  He played quite a few other Beatles songs, including "Got to Get You Into My Life," "Drive My Car," "Getting Better," "I've Just Seen a Face," "Love Me Do," a beautiful acoustic version of "Blackbird," "Lady Madonna," "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," "Something" while playing the ukulele as a tribute to George Harrison, "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" with lots of audience participation, "Get Back," and "Let It Be."  The older gentleman sitting two seats down from me was openly weeping for most of these but what reduced me to tears was when he played the new Beatles song "Now and Then" because it reminds me of my dad.  He played the usual Wings songs "Let Me Roll It," "Let 'Em In," "Jet," "Band on the Run," and "Live and Let Die" (complete with the most extensive pyrotechnics I've ever seen) but he also played "Letting Go" which I had never heard live before.  I loved hearing his solo songs "Coming Up" (obviously), "Come On to Me," "My Valentine" which he dedicated to his wife Nancy who was in the audience, and "Here Today" which he dedicated to John Lennon but my favorite moment was when he played "Maybe I'm Amazed" because I love this song so much (I also love watching Rusty play the guitar solo).  He ended the main set, as he often does, with a rousing rendition of "Hey Jude" and this was a lot of fun!  For the encore, he sang "I've Got a Feeling" with John Lennon using footage from the rooftop concert (this was really cool), "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "Helter Skelter," "Golden Slumbers," Carry That Weight," and "The End."  Seeing an artist that I have loved for most of my life was such an incredible experience and I will be on a high from it for a long time.

The Official Release Party of a Showgirl

I listened to The Life of a Showgirl the second it was released late Thursday night and my first reaction was that it is not Taylor Swift's best album and it is not my favorite Taylor Swift album but I liked it, especially "Opalite" and "CANCELLED!"  After a few more listens I started liking it more and more and "Elizabeth Taylor" and "Ruin the Friendship" joined my list of favorites.  After seeing The Official Release Party of a Showgirl in a packed theater with my sister last night, I now love the entire album, including "Honey" which was the only song I was still feeling lukewarm about, and I am even more convinced that Swift is a brilliant songwriter!  The premiere of the video for "The Fate of Ophelia," Marilyn's favorite song on the album, is included at the beginning after which Taylor describes the meaning behind the imagery.  I love how she embodies the ways in which women have been depicted through the ages, from subjects of Renaissance paintings to pin-up girls, cabaret singers, dramatic actresses on stage, dancers in Busby Berkeley spectacles, showgirls, and pop stars.  Lots of behind-the-scenes footage of the making the video is shown (it was fun to see all of the Eras Tour dancers again) and interspersed between these vignettes are lyric videos with introductions by Swift about the meaning and inspiration for each song.  I loved the metaphor comparing an opalite, a man-made version of a opal, to the way we can make our own happiness in "Opalite," still my favorite song on the album.  I was very surprised by my emotional reaction to her description of "Eldest Daughter" because I really related to what she said about perfectionism and not wanting to let anyone down.  The crowd laughed out loud when she said the innuendo-filled "Wood" is about superstitions with a big smirk on her face (the lyric videos feature the clean versions of the songs and some of the word changes also elicited much laughter).  Finally, her descriptions of "Wi$h Li$t" and "The Life of a Showgirl" really got me thinking that this might be a farewell album because, in the former, she says that all she wants now is to settle down with Travis and, in the latter, that she is passing the torch to Sabrina and a new generation of singers.  I basically spent $15 to see videos that will be available online Sunday night (Swift is a marketing genius) but I regret nothing because it was so much fun to be with lots of fans who were as excited about the new album as I was (a surprisingly broad demographic of people).  I will now be listening to The Life of a Showgirl on repeat for the foreseeable future.

Some Like It Hot at the Eccles

The 2025-2026 Broadway at the Eccles season began with a tap dancing extravaganza! I was really excited to see Some Like It Hot last night because I love the movie but had never seen the stage adaptation before. The musical follows the basic plot of the movie but it leans more heavily into the theme of identity and being true to yourself and I really liked it. During the Prohibition era in Chicago, two struggling musicians, Joe (Matt Loehr) and Jerry (Tavis Kordell), accidentally witness a mob hit by their boss Spats Colombo (Devon Goffman). In order to flee from the city without being caught, they are forced to disguise themselves as women, Josephine and Daphne, in order to join an all-female band, led by Sweet Sue (Dequina Moore), traveling to San Diego. Complications ensue when Joe disguises himself as an Austrian screenwriter to pursue the singer Sugar Kane (Leandra Ellis-Gaston), when the eccentric millionaire Osgood Fielding III (Edward Juvier) pursues Daphne, and when Spats eventually finds them. It turns out that Joe must discard Josephine and Kip von der Plotz and Jerry must embrace Daphne for them to find success and happiness. The choreography in this show is amazing! I am always impressed by tap dancing and I absolutely loved the dazzling performances in the dynamic high-energy numbers "You Can't Have Me (If You Don't Have Him)," "I'm California Bound," "Take It Up a Step," "Zee Bap," "Some Like It Hot," "Let's Be Bad" (the synchronization in this blew me away), "Dance the World Away," and "Baby, Let's Get Good." However, the number that impressed me the most is "Tip Tap Trouble" because the entire cast is involved in an epic chase sequence while tap dancing through constantly moving doors in the Hotel del Coronado. The precision and timing required for the complicated staging of this number is impressive, to say the least, and it is executed to perfection! Loehr and Kordell are outstanding dancers, especially when they dance in heels, and the ensemble is one of the best I've seen. This production features two powerhouse voices because both Moore and Ellis-Gaston just about blow the roof off the Eccles Theatre in "What Are You Thirsty For?" and "Ride Out the Storm," respectively. There are some really poignant moments, especially when Sugar sings about wanting to be a star in "At the Old Majestic Nickel Matinee" and when Osgood tells Daphne to just be herself in "Fly, Mariposa, Fly," but, like the movie, this show is really funny with lots of witty one-liners. I especially loved a running bit about how old Josephine looks but I laughed out loud at just about everything Osgood says and does (Juvier's hilarious performance is definitely one of the highlights). Finally, the Art Deco inspired sets and the glamorous costumes are a lot of fun. I had a blast watching this Tony Award-winning show and highly recommend getting a ticket (go here) for one of the five remaining performances.

Note: I have been sitting next to the same group of people ever since the Eccles Theatre opened (they have pretty much adopted me). This season they decided to give up one of their seats and my friend Angela was able to buy it. I had so much fun watching this show with her so I am really looking forward to the rest of the season.

The Lost Bus

Yesterday my nephew and I went to a matinee of The Lost Bus.  I didn't know anything about this movie until I saw a trailer last week (it seems like it is not being promoted at all) and I could only find one theater showing it (which was a bit out of the way) but I am glad I made the effort because both my nephew and I really liked it.  Kevin McKay (Matthew McConaughey) is a down on his luck school bus driver who has recently moved back to the city of Paradise in northern California to care for his disabled mother Sherry (Kay McCabe McConaughey) and to reconnect with his estranged son Shaun (Levi McConaughey).  When a devastating fire erupts after a downed power line ignites dry brush, the Cal Fire battalion chief Ray Martinez (Yul Vazquez) eventually orders a full evacuation of Paradise and the bus dispatcher Ruby (Ashlie Atkinson) requests a volunteer to collect 22 children who have not yet been picked up by their parents from a nearby school.  McKay volunteers because, even though he is worried about his mother and son, he has a contentious working relationship with Ruby and is hoping to redeem himself.  He gets the children and their teacher Mary Ludwig (America Ferrera) on board but, because the fire has spread rapidly and so many people are trying to evacuate at once, they become trapped and he must go to extraordinary lengths to get them to safety.  Director Paul Greengrass is known for frenetic hand-held camerawork that puts the audience in the middle of the action and I was practically holding my breath the whole time (my nephew said his heart was racing) because it is so intense!  The sound design is incredibly immersive because you can hear the fire crackling all around you and the visuals are fantastic (they are eerily realistic).  McConaughey does a great job portraying McKay's quiet heroism and his interactions with Ferrera and the children add emotional weight to the spectacle.  This will begin streaming on Apple TV+ October 3 but I think it is definitely a movie that should be seen on the big screen!

Satisfied

I began the month of September by seeing the proshot of Hamilton on the big screen so it is only fitting that I ended it by seeing Satisfied, a documentary about the actress who originated the role of Angelica Schuyler, last night.  Renee Elise Goldsberry always dreamed of being a mother and a Broadway star but pursuing one dream always made the other one more difficult.  This intimate portrait includes personal iPhone vlogs, interviews with colleagues and family members, and behind the scenes footage of the making of Hamilton from its beginnings as a workshop to its unprecedented success on Broadway as she chronicles her fight for both of her dreams.  She has early success on Broadway as Nala in The Lion King, Mimi in Rent, and the original Nettie in The Color Purple but struggles to get pregnant and suffers several miscarriages.  She is on a break from performing after finally giving birth to her son Benjamin and adopting her daughter Brielle when she is asked to audition for Angelica Schuyler in the workshop for Hamilton.  She turns it down multiple times but changes her mind after hearing a rough version of "Satisfied" and memorizes it in one day for the audition.  She makes the decision to sacrifice time with her family because she is incredibly passionate about the character and knows the show will become something special but it is demanding and her determination to be there for her children in the morning while performing every night takes a tremendous toll on her.  In one particularly poignant scene she is crying in her dressing room before a show because she is so tired but tells herself that she needs to get it together because people in the audience have paid so much money to see her.  In another she has her son come to her dressing room before a show so that she can spend more time with him but feels guilty after seeing him cry when the nanny comes to take him home.  However, there are also lots of joyous moments and I loved seeing footage of when the cast performed at the White House and the camaraderie of the "Ham4Ham" performances for the crowds outside the Richard Rodgers Theatre.  I was really impressed by her vulnerability and by the encouragement of her husband Alexis Johnson, especially when he says that he decided to do everything he could to support her after he heard her sing "Shadowlands" because that showed him that she has a talent that must be nurtured at all costs (it is my favorite song from The Lion King and hearing her sing it with the Utah Symphony brought me to tears so I understand his perspective).  The documentary concludes with a full-circle moment at the Tonys when she thanks God in an emotional speech for allowing her to have her children and the Tony Award.  Fans of Hamilton will love all of the never-before-seen footage from the show but this is also an inspiring story of resilience and perseverance that I highly recommend.  There are two more opportunities to see it in theaters (go here for tickets and information).