National Theatre Live: Mrs. Warren's Profession

Yesterday I went to a screening of the National Theatre Live production of Mrs. Warren's Profession which was filmed earlier this year from the Garrick Theatre in London's West End and presented by the Tanner Humanities Center and Salt Lake Film Society.  I had never seen George Bernard Shaw's scandalous play before (it was written in 1893 but not performed publicly until 1925 due to censorship laws) and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  Vivie Warren (Bessie Carter), a modern young woman who has recently graduated from university, reunites with her long absent mother Kitty (Imelda Staunton) after spending much of her life boarding with others.  Mrs. Warren arranges for Vivie to meet her friend Mr. Praed (Sid Sagar) and her business partner Sir George Crofts (Robert Glenister) as possible suitors but Vivie prefers her ne'er-do-well neighbor Frank Gardner (Reuben Joseph).  His father the Rev. Samuel Gardner (Kevin Doyle) objects to his relationship with Vivie because Mrs. Warren is not socially acceptable so she asks her mother why.  Mrs. Warren finally confesses that her childhood of poverty compelled her to work as a prostitute because she felt that it was a better way of achieving independence than the life of drudgery to which she was doomed by her class and gender.  Vivie is shocked but comes to respect her mother for her determination to succeed.  However, she is horrified when Sir George reveals that he and her mother own several brothels and that she now works as a madam.  This leads to an epic confrontation in which Vivie rejects her mother, and her money, to take an office job in the city and Mrs. Warren responds by saying that her profession is what provided Vivie with an education and choices that she never had.  I really enjoyed the thought-provoking narrative because, at various times, I found both characters to be guilty of, and victims of, hypocrisy and I think the audience is left to decide the morality of their actions.  Imelda Staunton and Bessie Carter are outstanding and, because they are mother and daughter in real-life, their interactions have an added poignancy.  I was especially impressed by the scene in which Vivie accuses her mother of exploiting women and Mrs. Warren accuses her daughter of ingratitude because it is incredibly emotional and crackles with energy.  The only drawback is that, with such powerful performances from the women, the men are often overshadowed.  I loved the minimal set which begins as a beautiful garden filled with flowers and ends up as a stark gray office because this represents the journey from illusion to truth.  I also loved the inclusion of a large female ensemble, who are dressed as prostitutes and gradually remove all of the set pieces and props until the stage is bare, because it symbolizes the way such women are used.  This was another great production by NT Live and I am so glad that I had the opportunity to see it.  Upcoming screenings at the Broadway include The Fifth Step on February 21, Hamlet on March 21, and Life of Pi on April 11.

Markus Poschner Conducts Tchaikovsky's "Pathetique" Symphony

I was thrilled to attend the Utah Symphony concert last night because the future Music Director Markus Poschner was on the podium!  I am already such a big fan of his, especially when he conducts without a score (which he did last night).  It ended up being an absolutely glorious evening of music and you should probably stop reading now and get a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program because there were not many empty seats in Abravanel Hall last night.  The orchestra was joined by the Utah Symphony Chorus, soloist Shea Owens, and Jason Brown, a chorister of the Madeleine Choir School, for Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and it was beautiful.  I love Mozart's Requiem because it is incredibly dramatic but Fauré's version is much more comforting because he saw death as a release rather than something to be feared.  He used excerpts from the Requiem Mass but also included other liturgies to create something different to reflect his own beliefs about death.  I especially loved the Sanctus because it featured beautiful arpeggios played by the harp accompanied by a rising melody performed by the violins.  A fanfare by the horns followed while the male voices sang "Hosanna in excelis."  The female voices answered softly as the harp repeated the arpeggios before it ended with the full choir accompanied by the organ.  It was lovely.  The  Pie Jesu was performed by Brown (he did an amazing job) and hearing this prayer sung with such an angelic voice was incredibly moving and it was definitely the highlight for me.  The line "In paradisum deducant angeli (May angels lead you to paradise)" sung by the sopranos in the In Paradisum also gave me goosebumps.  This piece was lush without being overpowering and I really enjoyed it.  After the intermission, the orchestra played Symphony No. 6 "Pathetique" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and this was another beautiful performance.  I think all of Tchaikovsky's music is emotional but this is even more so because it was composed shortly before his death and many believe it to be his farewell (he said himself that it was the best and most sincere of all of his compositions).  I loved the intensity of the first movement with the powerful themes performed by the brass intertwined with solos played by the woodwinds, the whimsical third movement with themes played by the strings that eventually reach a triumphant climax (the audience applauded at the end of it), and the haunting final movement that ends with a gong and themes played by the cellos and basses that seem to disappear into nothingness.  It was a wonderful concert, one of the best Utah Symphony performances I've seen in a while, and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Dear Evan Hansen at PTC

I was so excited to finally see PTC's version of Dear Evan Hansen last night because it is one of my favorite musicals. I've seen the Broadway touring production several times (in Las Vegas and SLC) and I think this definitely rivals it. Evan Hansen (Kyle Dalsimer) suffers from anxiety and he feels insignificant and all alone. His single mother Heidi (Donna Vivino) means well but she is largely absent with her own daunting responsibilities. His one friend, Jared (Larry Saperstein), is only nice to him because their mothers are friends and he is too shy and self-conscious to talk to Zoe (Elyse Bell), the girl he likes. His therapist encourages him to write letters to himself about why each day will be good to build his confidence but, when he does, a deeply troubled fellow student named Connor (Jordan Briggs) intercepts it from the printer because it mentions his sister Zoe. When Connor takes his own life, his parents Cynthia (Marika Aubrey) and Larry (Andrew Samonsky) find the letter and, assuming it to be a suicide note written by Connor to Evan, they reach out to him. To comfort Connor's parents, Evan pretends that they were friends but this falsehood eventually spirals out of control, particularly when Alana (Khadija E. Sankoh), another lonely girl at school, wants to do something to keep Connor's memory alive. When the truth is finally revealed, Evan realizes that he was never really alone. This message is incredibly powerful and, even though some find the narrative problematic because it is set in motion by a lie, I think it highlights the fact that many people, especially young people, feel so alone that they are willing to do anything to form a meaningful connection. As a former teacher, I liked seeing lots of teens in the audience (and hearing their enthusiastic response to every song) because this message is so important for them. This production differs in several ways from the Broadway one but it is no less impactful. Dalsimer is probably the weakest Evan I have seen in terms of his vocal performance (he struggles a little bit with the high notes and is often very tentative at the beginnings of songs) but he is the strongest with his characterization. He embodies Evan's anxiety and awkwardness extremely well and I found his versions of "Waving Through a Window," "For Forever," and "You Will Be Found" to be very moving as a result (the women sitting behind me cried all through the latter song and expressed their fear about what would happen when he got found out during the intermission). I also found his performance of "Words Fail" to be the most emotional one I've seen because his pain is palpable. I really liked what Briggs did with his interpretation of Connor. All of the Connors that I have seen have been very loud and volatile but I liked that Briggs is much more restrained because it makes Connor seem more like Evan (and more believable that they might have been friends). I also really liked Bell's performance of "Requiem," because she really emphasizes Zoe's anger and confusion when Evan's version of her brother doesn't ring true for her, and Samonsky's version of "To Break in a Glove," because you can feel his regret about not having the time for Connor (I loved the choice to have Connor on stage for this song). One of the things I love most about the Broadway production is its clever staging which incorporates the depiction of social media on large panels that move around very minimal set pieces (I think this emphasizes the isolation the characters feel even though they seem to be more connected than ever). PTC's version has a much more elaborate multi-level set and I was a bit concerned when the characters were shown communicating with physical versions of phones and laptops. However, the large panel that descends to show the online response during "You Will Be Found" and its reprise is very dramatic and, therefore, highly effective. I loved this production and think it is a "must see" show for everyone, especially young people, but there are only three performances left (go here for tickets) so act quickly.

Note:  I enjoyed seeing Adam Moore, one of my favorite local actors, as part of the Virtual Community.

Predator: Badlands

I am just a casual fan of the Predator franchise (the first movie scared the crap out of me when I watched it for the first time on cable while babysitting my sisters) but I was excited for Predator: Badlands because a movie from the perspective of the predator was very intriguing to me.  My nephew and I went to an early access screening last night and I really liked it!  Dek (Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi) is the weakest member of his Yautja warrior clan and, even though his father ordered him to be culled from the tribe, his brother Kwei sacrifices himself so that Dek can have the opportunity to prove himself in battle.  He is sent to the inhospitable planet of Genna to hunt the unkillable apex predator Kalisk but struggles to survive against the deadly native plants and animals he encounters.  He is aided by Thia (Elle Fanning), a damaged synth from Weyland-Yutani Corporation who has her own reasons for hunting the Kalisk, and they eventually join together with a native creature Thia names Bud.  When they finally encounter the Kalisk, they realize that they must fight an even greater threat.  What I loved most about this movie is the relationship that develops between Dek and Thia (Fanning is great in the role).  They initially join forces because they need each other to survive (and this provides for some highly amusing interactions) but, as they go on a journey to find the Kalisk, they also go on a journey of discovery in which both of them defy what they have been taught to make different choices (somehow an alien and an android discover their humanity).  I also really loved the world-building on Genna because the plants and animals are so unique (and so deadly) and I enjoyed seeing Dek learn about this environment in order to use it to his advantage in battle.  Finally, the action sequences are tense and exciting even if some of the gore has been toned down for a PG-13 rating.  Purists may miss the brutality of the original predators but I like the direction this installment takes the franchise and look forward to a possible sequel.  This is a lot of fun and I highly recommend it!

If I Had Legs I'd Kick You

The second movie in my double feature at the Broadway with my nephew last night was If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.  I was really excited for this because it got a lot of buzz at Sundance this year but I found it absolutely exhausting to watch.  Linda (Rose Byrne) is a therapist dealing with her daughter's mysterious illness, which requires the use of a feeding tube, and the collapse of the ceiling in her apartment, caused by a broken water pipe (both of which are symbolized by a tunnel through which she travels during hallucinations).  Her husband Charles (Christian Slater) is away on a two-month work trip and, not only does he provide very little support, he chastises her for her inability to cope with their daughter and the repairs in their apartment.  Her therapist (Conan O'Brien) is very cold and distant and becomes exasperated with her escalating erratic behavior.  Her daughter's doctor (Mary Bronstein) takes great pains to reassure her that she is not to blame for her daughter's condition but is extremely judgmental about her daughter's lack of progress.  Her client (Danielle Macdonald), who is suffering from postpartum depression, abandons her baby in her office and this mirrors her own anxieties about being a mother.  She finds release with a neighbor (A$AP Rocky) who enables her drug use but eventually seeks another form of release.  This has a very important message about the unrealistic expectations placed on mothers and the lack of support available to them when things become overwhelming but it is definitely difficult to sit through because the camera work and sound design mimic what it feels like to experience a full psychotic breakdown.  I also had very mixed emotions because the audience is clearly meant to sympathize with Linda but I found her to be a very unsympathetic character (this is probably the point).  Byrne gives a bravura performance (she won the Silver Bear for Best Leading Performance at the Berlin Film Festival this year) and I was also impressed with O'Brien in a more dramatic role.  This is the kind of movie that I think I should like more than I actually do but I wouldn't recommend it.