Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

As I huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise, I was so excited to see the Wizarding World expand into a new series.  Unfortunately, I thought Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was a bit underwhelming and The Crimes of Grindelwald was absolutely awful.  I even contemplated skipping The Secrets of Dumbledore but ultimately decided to see it last night and, to my surprise, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  While the bar was set very low, I think it is the best movie in the franchise.  Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) is prevented from fighting against Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) because of a blood pact taken when the two were in a relationship so he recruits Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a Magizoologist, Theseus Scamander (Callum Turner), an Auror in the British Ministry of Magic, Eulalie "Lally" Hicks (Jessica Williams), a Professor at Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizadry, Yusuf Kama (William Nadylan), a French Wizard, and Jacob Kowalski (Dan Folger), a Muggle, to stop his quest for Wizard domination.  Grindelwald is acquitted of his crimes by the International Confederation of Wizards (ICF) and is now running as a populist candidate (there is a bit of commentary on the rise of fascism that is pretty interesting) against Vicencia Santos (Maria Fernanda Candida) of Brazil and Liu Tao (Dave Wong) of China to be the Supreme Head of the ICF.  One of Newt's magical creatures overturns a manipulated election and Dumbledore's protection of Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller) breaks the blood pact leading to an epic confrontation with Grindelwald.  Unlike the first two, I think this tells a more complete story that ties up most of its loose ends (I credit the improvement to Steve Kloves who co-wrote the screenplay with J.K. Rowling).  If this is to be the last movie in the franchise, as has been speculated, I think the resolution is a fitting conclusion to the trilogy.  As with the other movies my favorite moments involve Newt Scamander interacting with the magical creatures, particularly a hilarious scene when Newt must rescue Theseus from prison and an affecting scene where he saves a newborn creature.  There are also some exciting action sequences, including a duel between Dumbledore and Credence and the climactic battle, and some fun references to the Harry Potter movies (I loved the use of the original score).  Finally, I think recasting Mikkelsen as Grindelwald is a huge improvement over Johnny Depp, who was rather bland in the role, because he is much more menacing and he has great chemistry with Law.  I liked this movie enough to recommend it, especially to those who are already fans of the franchise.

Thierry Fischer Conducts Haydn 11, Arlene Sierra, Nielsen & Elgar

Last night's Utah Symphony concert will definitely be another one of my favorites this season!  It began with a small chamber group playing Symphony No. 11 by Franz Joseph Haydn.  This piece is very delicate with beautiful melodies and I especially enjoyed the themes played by the strings and the horns in the third movement.  Next, the full orchestra was joined by Anthony McGill as the soloist for Carl Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto.  This piece is very lively and energetic with what seems like a great battle between the clarinet and the snare drum but I found the ending to be quite surprising because it is almost anticlimactic as the melody just fades away in resignation.  I loved it!  As someone who played the clarinet, very badly, all through school beginning in the fifth grade, I loved hearing someone play the instrument brilliantly.  I loved watching McGill's fingers fly up and down the holes and keys and there was a small part of me that wished that I had kept playing.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed the world premiere of Bird Symphony by Composer-in-Association Arlene Sierra.  I must admit that it was absolutely thrilling to be the first to hear a brand new piece commissioned by the Utah Symphony!  I loved it and I think I enjoyed it even more than Sierra's Nature Symphony which was performed last weekend.  I especially liked the second movement because it features a recording of a birdsong and the orchestra interacts with it.  The concert concluded with In the South ("Alassio") by Edward Elgar.  I always think of Elgar's music as stately and dignified and this piece is no exception.  It was written while the composer was on holiday in Italy and it is meant to represent life during the Roman Empire.  I especially loved the theme played by the solo viola.  I enjoyed every piece performed during this beautiful concert and I cannot recommend tonight's performance of the same program enough (go here for tickets).

Note:  The adorable ladies who sit by me asked me if I had renewed my subscription for next season and they cheered when I told them that I had.  It will be Thierry Fischer's final season as Music Director and I am looking forward to so many concerts, including ones featuring Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff, and Prokofiev (go here to explore the season).

Fireflies at PTC

Last night I saw Pioneer Theatre Company's charming production of Fireflies and I thoroughly enjoyed this simple story about two people finding love late in life.  Eleanor Bannister (Joy Franz) is an uptight and lonely retired teacher living in the small town of Groverdell, Texas.  She is very set in her ways and is known as the most respected person in town but she has started questioning who she is and what she wants out of life after experiencing a panic attack.  Abel Brown (David Manis) is just passing through town when he notices that a recent storm has damaged the roof on a cottage that belongs to Eleanor.  He seeks her out and offers to repair it and she reluctantly agrees to let him.  A romance slowly blossoms between them but is he ready to settle down and is she right to trust him?  Franz is absolutely delightful as a curmudgeonly woman who delights in correcting everyone's grammar but she also imbues Eleanor with a little bit of vulnerability.  She has great chemistry with Manis and I loved her reaction when he kisses her.  As much as I enjoyed Franz and Manis, my favorite character was Eleanor's nosy neighbor Grace (Joy Lynn Jacobs).  Many of her over the top antics were greeted with hoots of laughter from the audience.  I also enjoyed it when Eugene Claymire (Tito Livas), a police officer who is also Eleanor's former student, spontaneously recites the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge when he is questioned about Abel but, as a former English teacher, I was probably the only one laughing at this!  All of the action takes place in Eleanor's well lived-in kitchen over the course of one week.  I really liked the attention to detail because the kitchen looks a bit tidier during every scene as if Eleanor is trying to impress Abel.  Another aspect of the production that really struck me was the lighting design, particularly the sunsets and night skies that are visible through the windows of the kitchen.  The whole show feels very authentic with likable characters who find an unexpected connection and I found it very heartwarming.  Fireflies runs at PTC through April 16 and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Like A Sister

My April Book of the Month selection was Like A Sister by Kellye Garrett (the other options were The Good Left Undone by Adriana Trigiani, Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole by Susan Cain, and True Biz by Sara Novic). Once again, none of the selections really jumped out at me so I defaulted to the thriller and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would. Lena Scott is a graduate student at Columbia who could not be more different from her reality star half-sister Desiree Pierce. She has been estranged from her sister for the past two years because of her addictions and self-destructive behavior so, when Desiree's body is found at a playground near Lena's house in the Bronx, she feels tremendous guilt because she believes that Desiree was attempting to see her when she died. The police have ruled Desiree's death as an accidental overdose due to the heroin in her system but Lena knows that she would never shoot heroin because of her fear of needles. She is obsessed with finding out what really happened to her sister and begins trying to reconstruct her final days. Lena reaches out to her former reality show co-star, her new best friend, her on-again off-again boyfriend, and an old family friend who recently reentered her life. She must also reestablish contact with her father, the man who abandoned her and her mother when she was a child to start a new life with Desiree and her mother. All of these encounters lead to some uncomfortable truths about her sister and her family and they also put her life in danger. There are lots of twists and turns which kept me engaged with the murder mystery aspect of the narrative but I think I enjoyed the commentary on race, class, social media, and celebrity even more. Lena is an entertaining first-person narrator and I really appreciated her perspective on what it is like for a young Black woman to navigate life in today's society, particularly interactions with the police. Much of this novel is set in the world of hip-hop music (Lena and Desiree's father is a wealthy and influential music producer) and, while I did miss more than a few references, I found it to be fascinating. I especially enjoyed all of the scenes that take place backstage at various concerts because I have always wanted to know what really goes on before a performer takes the stage. I was also really intrigued by how social media is used to solve the mystery, especially posts on Instagram. It is a bit frightening how much someone can learn about you from your posts! I don't think I would have picked this novel if left to my own devices (one of the reasons why I like BOTM) but I really enjoyed it and would definitely recommend it to fans of thrillers.

Mothering Sunday

Mothering Sunday is a British period drama (my favorite genre) set during the aftermath of the Great War (a time in history that fascinates me) featuring Colin Firth and Olivia Colman (two actors I admire greatly) about a forbidden romance between a servant and the son of an aristocratic family (swoon).  It seems to be a movie made especially for me and I went to see it last night believing that I would absolutely love it.  I didn't love it.  In fact, I found it to be quite underwhelming.  Jane Fairchild (Odessa Young) is a maid in the home of Godfrey (Firth) and Clarrie (Colman) Niven, a couple who are almost debilitated by grief because both of their sons were killed during the war.  On Mother's Day the Nivens give Jane the day off because they are joining their friends, the Sheringhams and the Hobdays, for lunch to celebrate the forthcoming marriage of their children Paul Sheringham (Josh O'Connor) and Emma Hobday (Emma D'Arcy).  The lunch is fraught with tension because Emma was going to marry Paul's older brother James but he also died in the war and she seems ambivalent about marrying Paul.  It turns out that Paul is only marrying Emma out of a sense of obligation and, instead of joining the families for lunch, he invites Jane, with whom he has been having a passionate affair, to his estate for a tryst.  They enjoy the morning together in bed and, after he leaves to attend the lunch, she stays and wanders around the house (completely naked, as one does) admiring the paintings and books.  Later in the day she receives some devastating news and makes the decision to leave service.  These episodes are periodically interrupted by scenes in the near future when, while working at a bookstore, Jane meets her future husband Donald (Sope Dirisu) who convinces her to use her experiences to become a writer.  It ends with an older Jane (now played by Glenda Jackson) winning a prize for her writing.  The images on the screen are beautiful and lyrical but they don't really amount to much of anything because they are a series vignettes rather than a cohesive narrative.  I was often bored with what was happening (so many close-ups of characters smoking) and, despite some great performances, I didn't feel a connection to the characters.  I was never really sure if this was an indictment of the rigid class system (there is a bewildering reference to a race horse running free at the beginning and end), an exploration of grief, or a portrait of the artist as a young woman.  None of these themes are explored with any depth and I spent most of the runtime waiting for something, anything, to happen.  I wanted to love this but I left the theater feeling disappointed.  I recommend giving it a miss.

Ambulance

I am not a big fan of Michael Bay (a major understatement) but I thought the trailer for his latest movie, Ambulance, looked intriguing and I heard enough positive word of mouth to warrant seeing it last night.  I didn't hate it.  In fact, I liked it more than I thought I would!  Will Sharp (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) is a decorated combat veteran who is trying desperately to find the money for an experimental surgery that his wife needs.  He turns to his estranged brother Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal), a notorious bank robber, for a loan but gets drawn into his latest heist.  The job goes awry when an officer (Jackson White), spurred on by his partner (Cedric Sanders), enters the bank in order to make a date with one of the tellers and is shot by Will.  There is a dramatic shoot-out with the police and Danny and Will are the only members of the crew to make it out alive.  They hijack the ambulance transporting the injured officer and take Cam Thompson (Eiza Gonzalez), the cynical EMT treating him, hostage as they lead police, led by SIS Agent Monroe (Garrett Dillahunt) and FBI Agent Clark (Keir O'Donnell), on a high speed chase through rush hour traffic on the streets of Los Angeles.  Their escape is complicated by the need to keep the officer alive and by the involvement of one of Danny's criminal associates (A Martinez).  The action sequences are as chaotic as you would expect from Michael Bay (I saw it in IMAX and found all of the angles and fast cuts to be quite disorienting at times) but the story is surprisingly compelling with high stakes and characters that you actually care about.  I was especially invested in Will's fate and I was actually dreading what I imagined would be the inevitable conclusion (it was not what I was expecting).  Fans of the director are sure to enjoy this but I would also recommend it to anyone who enjoys action thrillers because it is a wild ride, especially on a Saturday night with a big tub of popcorn.

Hilary Hahn Plays Ginastera and Sarasate

I have been looking forward to last night's Utah Symphony concert for quite some time because it featured the return of fan favorite Hilary Hahn for the second time this season!  The orchestra began with Prelude a L'apres-midi d'un faune (Prelude to the afternoon of a Faun) by Claude Debussy and it was lovely.  I think this piece is incredibly romantic and it always reminds me of Spring (I once saw a beautiful performance by Ballet West to this music).  I especially enjoyed the themes played by the flute and the harp.  Next on the program was the U.S. premiere of Nature Symphony by Composer-in-Association Arlene Sierra.  According to the composer, each movement represents different processes within and against nature such as the migration of butterflies, the destruction of the landscape by fracking, and the rebellion of a bee colony.  I particularly liked the second movement because the main theme repeats and builds and builds in intensity (I loved the percussion).  After the intermission, Hahn joined the orchestra for Alberto Ginastera's Violin Concerto.  I was not at all familiar with this piece or this composer but I enjoyed it because it was very surrealistic.  The opening passage by the solo violin is incredibly technical and Hahn performed it brilliantly.  When the rest of the orchestra eventually joins the soloist it is very dramatic, especially the timpani and the brass.  Hahn returned once again for Fantasy on Bizet's Carmen by Pablo de Sarasate.  This is an adaptation of the Aragonaise, the Habanera, an interlude, the Seguidilla, and the Gypsy Dance from the well-known opera and it is meant to be a showpiece for the violin soloist (it often seemed like the orchestra was accompanying the violin).  It is another highly technical piece and, once again, Hahn gave an amazing performance.  This was definitely my favorite piece of the evening because I love Carmen so much.  It was the first opera that I saw performed live so it will always be among my favorites.  Hearing this version performed by Hahn and the orchestra pretty much blew me away!  The entire concert was pretty spectacular so I would definitely recommend getting a ticket to tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Everything Everywhere All at Once

To be honest, Everything Everywhere All at Once wasn't really on my radar until I started hearing a lot of positive buzz from South by Southwest.  The more I heard about it, the more I wanted to see it!  I had an opportunity to attend an early screening (which was completely packed) at the Broadway last night and I absolutely loved it!  Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh) is a middle-aged Chinese immigrant who runs a laundry, which is being audited by the IRS, with her husband Waymand (Ke Huy Quan).  She is extremely dissatisfied with the choices she has made in life and is disappointed with her relationships with her frivolous husband, her disapproving father Gong Gong (James Hong), and her wayward daughter Joy (Stephanie Hsu).  While meeting with an IRS auditor (a hilarious Jamie Lee Curtis), an alternate version of her husband from a parallel universe confronts Evelyn and explains that there is a threat to the multiverse that only she can defeat.  It turns out that every choice a person makes creates a new universe and Evelyn is given the technology to access all of the alternate versions of herself in order to acquire their skills to use in the fight.  However, Evelyn eventually realizes that she must make peace with all of her perceived failures in order to defeat the threat.  The narrative is chaotic, strange, fantastical, and sometimes even ridiculous but it tells an incredibly touching story about the weight of missed opportunities and the pressures of living up to expectations (after laughing uproariously through most of it I had a tear in my eye at the resolution).  The images on the screen are gorgeous and I loved the fact that each of the multiverses has its own unique visual style with brilliant cinematography and editing.  The fight choreography is intense because most of it takes place inside the IRS building using everyday items found in an office.  My favorite sequence involved the use of a fanny pack to fight a group of security guards.  I enjoyed the entire cast (did I mention that Jamie Lee Curtis is hilarious?) but Michelle Yeoh gives a brilliant performance that showcases her amazing range (she performed most of her own stunts) and, even though it is still very early, I will go on record saying that she should be in contention for all of the Best Actress awards this year.  I am not exaggerating when I say that this is a masterpiece and it is currently my favorite movie of 2022.  See it on the big screen!

Another Jazz Game

My friend Angela invited me to another Jazz game last night and, because we had so much fun last time, I have been looking forward to it for weeks!  The Jazz clinched a playoff spot after winning their last game so several key players, including Donovan Mitchell, were sitting out in order to rest.  They played the Oklahoma City Thunder, who have a really bad record, so the atmosphere at the Vivint Arena was not quite as electric as the last time I was there but it ended up being a great game.  I actually thought it would be more of a rout than it was so I have to give the Thunder some credit for staying with the Jazz, even getting to within two points in the second quarter, until they were completely outplayed in the fourth quarter when the Jazz went on a 27-5 run.  Rudy Gobert was really fun to watch with 20 points and 10 rebounds and Bojan Bogdanovic had a great night with 27 points.  The Jazz ended up winning 137-101 but the best part of the evening was spending time with Angela.  We spent as much time chatting as we did watching the game!

Note:  Because the Thunder have such a poor record, tickets to this game were really cheap!  I paid more to park than I did to watch the game!

School of Rock at HCT

Several years ago I went on a theatre trip to New York with Hale Centre Theatre. On one of our free nights a group of HCT staff went to see the new musical School of Rock. The next morning they were all buzzing about it because it seemed like a good fit for HCT if they could find enough kids who played instruments. When HCT announced the 2022 season, one of the shows was left as TBA and, remembering those conversations, I suspected that it would be School of Rock and I was right! I had the chance to see the show last night and I loved it even more than the Broadway touring production I saw a few years ago! Dewey (Bryan Hague) is kicked out of his band No Vacancy right before the Battle of the Bands and his best friend Ned (Will Ingram), with whom he has been living for several years, is under pressure from his girlfriend Patty (Riley Squire) to get him to pay rent. Desperate to earn some money, Dewey takes a substitute teaching job at Horace Green Prep School that is meant for Ned. The students in his class are being crushed under the pressure put on them by their parents who don't understand them. After hearing them during their music class, Dewey decides to form a band with Zack (Cameron Dietlein) on lead guitar, Katie (Sydney Madsen) on bass, Lawrence (Miles Jeppson) on keyboard, Freddy (Nat Paxman) on drums, and Shonelle (Afton Grace Higbee) and Marcy (Alice Alcorn) on backing vocals. He recruits Billy (Amauree Mack) to be the band's stylist, James (Cade Hixon) as security, Mason (Nolan Reinbold) on tech, and Summer (Katherine Clark), the class know-it-all, as the band's manager. Tomika (Taryn Davis), a shy and insecure transfer student, eventually becomes the band's secondary lead singer. Being in the band gives the students more confidence so Dewey decides to enter them in the Battle of the Bands. He just needs to convince the uptight principal Ms. Mullins (Bailee Morris) to let him take the students on a field trip (in a hilarious scene involving the song "Edge of Seventeen" by Stevie Nicks). The parents eventually catch on to Dewey's deception but the kids win them over with their performance at the Battle of the Bands. This kids in this show are insanely talented and play their instruments live on stage in the songs "You're In The Band," "Stick It To The Man," "Time To Play," and "School Of Rock."  Dewey's band No Vacancy, with Doug (James Densley) on drums, Theo (Memphis Hennesy) on guitar, Gary (Mark Maxson) on guitar, Snake (Brady Bills) on guitar, Kevin (Eric Noyes) on keyboard, Kyle (Kelly DeHaan) on keyboard, and Bob (Davin Tayler) on bass, perform "I'm Too Hot For You" during the Battle of the Bands and serve as the house band on stage for all of the other songs. They are also fantastic! Hague is incredibly charismatic as Dewey (he does a great job of differentiating his performance from Jack Black's in the movie) and he has a great rapport with the kids. Davis is my favorite young actor in the show because she portrays Tomika's vulnerability very well (after a poignant moment when Tomika proves that she deserves to be the lead singer, Davis broke character for a minute to smile at all of the applause and that was really endearing). The set is a lot of fun, particularly the halls and classrooms at the Horace Green Prep School and all of the speakers and flashing lights that come down from the rafters for the Olympic Powerhouse Club. I also liked the school uniforms worn by the kids (there are Horace Green Prep School patches on their blazers and school bags), especially when they are embellished for their performance. I had so much fun at this show (it will definitely be one of my favorites this year) and I highly recommend it but act quickly because tickets are going fast (go here).  School of Rock runs on the Young Living Main Stage through May 28.

You Won't Be Alone

I usually really enjoy horror films based on folklore but somehow I missed You Won't Be Alone at Sundance this year.  Luckily my favorite art house theater eventually screens the noteworthy films from Sundance (and other festivals) so I was able to see it last night.  It is slow and sometimes meandering but I found it to be a fascinating take on witchcraft and the nature of humanity.  In a remote mountain village in 19th century Macedonia, a disfigured shape-shifting witch (Anamaria Marinca) comes to claim a newborn baby.  Her distraught mother (Kamka Tocinovski) negotiates with the witch to allow her to keep the child until she turns sixteen and the witch unexpectedly agrees.  However, the mother, hoping to trick the witch, keeps the child hidden in a cave but the witch still comes to claim her at the appointed time (I really enjoyed this fairy-tale inspired prologue).  Nevena (Sara Klimoska) is feral after living in the cave her whole life and, despite being transformed into a witch herself, she is overcome by the beauty of nature.  When Nevena is left on her own, she assumes the shape of several villagers (Noomi Rapace and Carloto Cotta) out of curiosity but it is when she becomes the child Biliana (Anastasija Karanovich) that she discovers the joy of being human.  Nevena chooses to live as Biliana (Alice Englert) and finds happiness as a wife and mother but the witch, whose tragic backstory is revealed, warns her of the evil in the world.  Despite some really gruesome scenes involving body horror (the way the witches assume the shape of people and animals is quite disturbing), the visuals showing the simplicity of village life are beautiful and the score is haunting.  Most of the dialogue is an internal monologue from Nevena's perspective as she discovers the world and the people around her and this is a very effective way to explore many different themes, such as gender roles, community, and cycles of abuse, as Nevena experiences them.  It does get a bit repetitive and it definitely won't be for everyone but I thought it was very compelling.

Ballet West's Carmina Burana

I usually prefer seeing full-length ballets that tell a story but I have been trying to be bolder with my choices (especially with Ballet West and Utah Opera) so I went to Ballet West's production of Carmina Burana last night.  I am so glad that I did because this performance was simply amazing!  The first ballet was Glass Pieces with choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Philip Glass.  It is meant to represent the random movements of New York commuters passing through Grand Central Station.  I really liked the entire ballet but my favorite was Movement 1.  The music is very chaotic and almost discordant as several groups of dancers walk back and forth across the stage in opposite directions.  Three main couples, Katlyn Addison and Dominic Ballard, Amy Potter and Hadriel Diniz, and Jenna Rae Herrera and Jordan Veit, dance individually and as a group before they begin interacting with the other dancers.  At first the other dancers simply step around them to get to their destination but the couples eventually begin to have an impact on select groups who join them and dance with abandon.  It is incredibly dynamic and I especially enjoyed seeing Addison, my favorite dancer in the company, perform a main role.  After the intermission, the entire company performed Carmina Burana with choreography by Nicolo Fonte and music by Carl Orff.  The text, which is based on a collection of medieval poetry, describes a wheel of fortune as it turns and features themes of luck and fate.  It is unbelievably dramatic and I had goosebumps multiple times!  The Cantorum Chamber Choir, under the direction of Chorus Master Steven Durtschi, is elevated above the stage on a platform with arches and columns holding it up and there were audible gasps from the audience when the curtain rose to reveal it for the first time.  Soprano Melissa Heath, Tenor Christopher Puckett, and Baritone Christopher Clayton also perform on stage, and even interact with the dancers at times, during several of the sections.  My favorite was "O Fortuna" at the opening and conclusion because it is so powerful!  The first section is about the rebirth found in Spring and the choreography is really energetic.  The second section is about feasting and drinking and the dances include a bit of debauchery which had the audience chuckling.  The third section involves romantic love and the movements of the dancers are incredibly tender.  I really liked Glass Pieces but Carmina Burana is absolutely brilliant and is not to be missed!  There are only three more performances so act quickly (go here for tickets)!

Note:  Ballet West has had an incredible season!  I have loved every production but if I had to pick a favorite it would be Dracula.

The Sound of Music at the Empress

Last night I went to the Empress Theatre for the first of three productions of The Sound of Music that I have scheduled this year.  Obviously I really love this show (although I actually prefer the 1965 movie starring Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer to the stage musical) and I had so much fun watching an aspiring nun sent to be the governess to the seven children of Captain von Trapp bring music back into his household.  I love every song (they are all so instantly recognizable and I really had to try hard not to sing along), particularly "The Sound of Music," "Maria," "My Favorite Things," "Do-Re-Mi," "Edelweiss," "Climb Ev'ry Mountain," and "Somthing Good."  Laura Strong, who plays Maria, has a really beautiful voice (although there were lots of problems with her microphone) and I really enjoyed her interactions with the von Trapp children, Liesl (Kimberly Allred), Friedrich (Sam Selcho), Louisa (Brynlee Dalton), Kurt (Bridger Dalton), Birgitta (Mabel Utley), Marta (Roux Carter), and Gretl (Daphne Carter).  All of these young actors do a wonderful job, especially in "The Lonely Goatherd" and "So Long, Farewell."  I wish that there had been more interaction between Strong and and Don Smith, as Captain von Trapp, because their romance seems to come out of nowhere but I think that is a problem with the show itself rather than the actors.  Kacee Mickelsen, as the Mother Abbess, and Morgan Hekking, as Baroness Schrader, are the other standouts from the cast because they both are very powerful (even though Mickelsen also had issues with her microphone).  I really enjoyed the choreography, especially the entrance of the nuns in the opening number and the interplay between Liesl and Rolf (Patrick Hawkins) in "Sixteen Going on Seventeen."  The entire space is utilized very effectively, especially the stairs and the areas behind the top row of seats which feature a beautiful mural of mountains (it felt like we were actually sitting in the middle of the Alps), and I particularly loved the final scene as the vop Trapps climb to freedom.  This is the most elaborate set I've seen at the Empress and I was quite impressed with both the abbey and the von Trapp mansion.  Community theatre can sometimes be very quirky but this show equals many professional productions I've seen.  My only complaints are the aforementioned issues with the microphones and some of the transitions run a bit long (all of which will probably be resolved as the run continues).  I highly recommend this show which runs through April 16 (go here for tickets).

Note:  There was a couple sitting across the stage from me who were very obviously the parents of one of the children.  They literally beamed every time the children were on stage and I thought that was so sweet!

Noises Off at the Grand Theatre

Noises Off is one of my very favorite plays and I have seen it many times, including productions at PTC and the Utah Shakespeare Festival, so I was thrilled when I found out that the Grand Theatre was performing it this season.  I saw it last night and it wasn't quite up to par with those other productions but I definitely enjoyed it.  Lloyd Dallas (David Hanson), a temperamental and sarcastic director, is staging a play called Nothing's On starring Dotty Otley (JJ Neward), an aging television star, as Mrs. Clackett, Gary Lejeune (Nick Dunn), a scatterbrained actor incapable of improvising, as Roger Tramplemain, Brooke Ashton (Taylor McKay Barnes), a young and inexperienced actress involved with Lloyd, as Vicki, Frederick Fellowes (Michael Scott Johnson), an insecure and accident prone actor, as Philip Brent, Belinda Blair (Amy Williams), a reliable actress who knows all of the gossip about the cast, as Flavia Brent, and Selsdon Mowbray (Richard Scott), an accomplished actor who has a drinking problem and a tendency to miss his cues, as the Burglar.  Poppy Norton-Taylor (Anne Louise Brings) is the put-upon assistant stage manager who is also involved with Lloyd and Tim Allgood (Alvaro Cortez) is the overworked stage manager tasked with fixing every problem.  Act I involves a disastrous dress rehearsal before opening night involving missing props, a malfunctioning set, an actor questioning his character’s motivation, and a missing contact lens.  Act II takes place backstage while the show is on tour and features the deterioration of a relationship between Dotty and Gary where they do everything to sabotage each other's performance and Lloyd's ill-fated attempts to keep both Poppy and Brooke happy (and multiple attempts to have Tim buy them flowers).  Act III takes place at the end of the run and features a complete breakdown with the actors ad-libbing the entire scene.  I thought the performances were a bit uneven and the pace was sometimes sluggish (especially in the first act) but the physical comedy throughout had me laughing out loud.  I especially enjoyed it when Gary has a spectacular fall down the stairs (the audience spontaneously applauded after this), when two different understudies play the Burglar after Selsdon misses his cue and then finally enters, and when Frederick tries to perform with a head injury and a broken arm.  The elaborate set, especially backstage, and the costumes work really well for a play-within-in-play that fails so dramatically.  It has flaws but it is a lot of fun!  It runs at the Grand Theatre on the south campus of Salt Lake Community College through April 16 and tickets may be purchased here.

X

Last night I finally had the chance to see X and it was not at all what I was expecting.  It was so much better!  A group of free-spirited filmmakers decide to make an adult film in the late 1970s.  Maxine (Mia Goth) is hoping to use this film to escape her mundane existence and become a star, Bobby-Lynne (Brittany Snow) and Jackson Hole (Scott "Kid Cudi" Mescudi) are more seasoned performers in it for the thrill, Maxine's boyfriend Wayne (Martin Henderson) is a wannabe producer hoping to cash in on the burgeoning home video market, RJ (Owen Campbell) is an idealistic director who believes that porn can be elevated into serious art, and Lorraine (Jenna Ortega) is RJ's timid girlfriend who disapproves of the genre but acts as his sound technician.  They travel to a remote farm in rural Texas to stay as paying guests but they film secretly without the owner's knowledge.  When the elderly owners Howard (Stephen Ure) and Pearl (Mia Goth, in a dual role) witness what is going on, things turn deadly.  This is very definitely an homage to the slasher films of the 1970s (particularly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) but the narrative also manages to be entirely original and fresh.  It is tense and atmospheric with some gruesome kills but underneath it there is a very powerful message about regretting one's lost youth.  This theme is subtly, but brilliantly, emphasized by having Goth portray both Maxine and Pearl (I actually didn't realize this until almost the end) because it is appears as if Pearl is looking at her younger self whenever she sees Maxine.  The structure is also absolutely brilliant because there are quite a few moments that seem to be incongruous but ultimately pay off later in a big way, particularly an accident on the road involving a collision with a cow.  The technical aspects are outstanding, especially the lighting and sound design, and I think the editing is highly effective because there are many quick cuts between images that mirror each other throughout.  This movie is really good on so many levels but it might not be for everyone because of the subject matter.  I had a blast watching it and, if the post credits scene is to be believed, I will definitely watch the prequel!

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

I am so excited because I just discovered a new venue for community theatre called the Terrace Plaza Playhouse and I now want to see every show in their upcoming season (go here to check it out). I was able to attend their latest production, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, last night and it was so much fun! This is one of the movie musicals I grew up watching at my Grandma Anderson's house and, even though the story is actually quite problematic, I love it for the singing and dancing! Adam Pontipee (Brian Sears) leaves his frontier home in the mountains in search of a wife in the nearest town. He finds the perfect candidate in Milly (Victoria Hall) but she is dismayed when she discovers that she must also care for his six brothers. Her solution is to get them all married off so she tries to teach them how to court women.  After all of the brothers meet women they like at the town social, they ruin their chances with them by getting in a brawl with their suitors. Adam fears that Milly has made his brothers too soft and suggests that they simply go get the women they want and marry them. Chaos ensues! Sears and Hall have lovely voices (although it was sometimes hard to hear Hall) and I especially enjoyed their renditions of "Bless Your Beautiful Hide" and "Wonderful, Wonderful Day," respectively.  All of the brothers, Benjamin (Danny Hall), Caleb (Kimball Bennion), Daniel (Trevor Griffin), Ephraim (Garret Rushforth), Frank (Dallin Johnson), and Gideon (Peter Jenkins), harmonize beautifully, especially in the song "We Gotta Make It Through The Winter."  All of the brides, Dorcas (Katie Hamblin), Ruth (Katelyn Webb), Liza (Megan Griffin), Martha (Cami Johnson), Sarah (Anna Higgins), and Alice (Andrea Poll), each have distinct personalities (beyond the different colored gingham dresses they wear) and are fantastic dancers, especially in "The Challenge Dance" at the town social because they whirl seamlessly between the brothers and the suitors without missing a beat! All of the big song and dance numbers feature really fun choreography and are executed very well.  Besides "The Challenge Dance," I really loved "Goin' Courting," because the way Milly tries to teach the brothers how to dance is absolutely hilarious, and "Spring Dance," because you can see the brides and brothers falling in love with each other through their interactions. There is also a fun recurring bit of business between Daniel, Ephraim, Liza, and Martha that had the audience laughing every time it happened. The stage is small and intimate and the space was utilized very well for all of the various chase scenes and I was very impressed with the elaborate set pieces for the Pontipee cabin and barn which rotated for scenes inside and outside. I enjoyed this show very much and I am looking forward to seeing a lot more at this theater!

Note:  During the intermission, this little old lady came up to me and told me that I had a big smile on my face during the whole first half.

Compartment No. 6

Yesterday I went to see Compartment No. 6 at my favorite art house theater (I was very intrigued because it won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year along with A Hero) and I loved it because it is so charming.  Laura (Seidi Haarla) is a young woman from Finland who is studying archaeology in Moscow.  She lives with her lover Irina (Dinara Drukarova), a professor of literature at the university, and she longs to be a part of Irina's cultured and sophisticated world.  They have planned a trip to Murmansk to view some ancient petroglyphs but Irina suddenly backs out and Laura goes on her own.  To her dismay she is sharing a compartment on the train with an uncouth Russian laborer named Lyokha (Yura Borisov) who is on his way to Murmansk for temporary work at a mine.  She takes an immediate disliking to him and not only tries to get another compartment (to no avail) but contemplates getting off the train at a stop in St. Petersburg.  She ultimately opts to continue and, as her relationship with Irina deteriorates, she begins to see Lyokha in a new light.  Once she reaches Murmansk she is told that it is impossible to get to the famous petroglyphs in the winter so Lyokha goes to extraordinary lengths to get her there.  She eventually discovers that the journey with Lyokha has been more meaningful than the destination.  I loved both of these characters so much because, on the surface, they couldn't be more different but over the course of the journey they come to understand that they have more in common than they realize.  The connection that they form with one another is so warm especially in contrast with a harsh Russian winter.  Haarla and Borisov give wonderful performances, particularly in a pivotal scene when their characters finally acknowledge the pain they both feel, and their chemistry is palpable.  The camera work on the train is very effective at creating a mood and I loved that the titular compartment is incredibly claustrophobic at the beginning of the journey but seems to grow larger and as the characters become more comfortable with each other.  The ending, which is a callback to an amusing moment when they first met, put a huge smile on my face!  This is definitely a slow moving character study but it is brilliant in its simplicity and I highly recommend it.

Infinite Storm

Last night I went to see Infinite Storm and, while this survival thriller based on true events is visually stunning, I found it to be a bit underwhelming.  Pam Bales (Naomi Watts) frequently climbs Mt. Washington in the White Mountains of New Hampshire but, as she prepares for her next attempt, a colleague warns her not to go because of a coming winter storm.  The date seems to have some significance for her and she mentions that she needs to get up on the mountain as therapy for a past trauma.  She is very skilled and incredibly prepared but the storm soon becomes too much for her and she decides to head down.  However, she sees footprints in the snow and decides to follow them to an unresponsive man (Billy Howle) who is so ill-prepared for the mountain that it is implied he is suicidal.  Pam is determined to rescue him, even when he becomes combative, and they face many hardships beyond the weather as they struggle to survive.  During several moments of peril, there are flashbacks to an earlier time in her life that attempt to provide some context for the purpose of her journey but they are annoyingly vague until Pam and the man she calls John have a reunion during the third act.  I really enjoyed the woman against nature narrative and the cinematography is so immersive that there were moments when I felt like I was on the mountain with Pam.  The mountain scenery (the Alps in Slovenia stand in for the White Mountains) is breathtaking and Watts gives a riveting and physical performance that is entirely believable.  Where this movie loses its way is when it leaves the mountain and tries to become a human drama.  The explanation of why Pam and John both came to be on the mountain is such a tonal shift from what precedes it that it feels almost anticlimactic and unnecessary.  This is probably a movie that you can wait to see on a streaming platform.

Tito Munoz Conducts Beethoven 6, Sibelius & Buxtehude

Whenever Augustin Hadelich comes to town to perform with the Utah Symphony I always make a point of being in attendance because I think he is absolutely brilliant (go here and here).  I am certainly not alone in my admiration because there was a sizable crowd at Abravanel Hall last night to hear him perform the Violin Concerto by Jean Sibelius.  Before the Sibelius, the orchestra began with Chaconne in E Minor by Dietrich Buxtehude with an arrangement by Carlos Chavez.  As explained by guest conductor Tito Munoz, this piece was originally written by Buxtehude for the organ during the German Baroque period.  Several hundred years later Chavez orchestrated it for the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional emphasizing more modern instruments.  I had never heard this piece before (Munoz further explained that it is not performed in the United States very often) but I absolutely loved it!  I loved the opening fanfare by a solo trumpet and horn along with the timpani and I also loved how the same progression of notes seems to be repeated again and again with more and more intensity.  It was very powerful!  Next came the Violin Concerto with Hadelich.  Sibelius is one of my favorite composers (I discovered him on a trip to Finland) and this piece is widely considered to be one of his greatest masterpieces.  It calls to mind a dark wintry night and I particularly enjoyed the first movement because the solo violin plays a haunting melody that is beautifully echoed by a clarinet.  I also liked the final movement because the speed with which Hadelich moved his fingers was absolutely mind-blowing.  He gave an incredibly passionate performance and the audience leapt to its feet immediately for a thunderous ovation.  After the intermission, the orchestra concluded with Symphony No. 6 "Pastorale" by Ludwig van Beethoven and it was amazing.  This piece is meant to evoke feelings about nature and I especially liked a motif played by the strings mimicking the sound of moving water in the second movement and the sound of a thunderstorm created by the cellos, basses, and timpani in the fourth movement.  I loved every minute of this concert and it just might be my favorite this season (which is no mean feat because it has been a season full of wonderful music).  I highly recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance featuring the same program (go here).

Journey at the Vivint Arena

Last night I saw my first concert of 2022 and I certainly picked a good one to begin with!  Journey is a nostalgic favorite of mine and I have seen them in concert many times (including an epic show featuring Journey and Foreigner at Red Rocks in Denver with my friend Tony).  I haven't listened to their music for quite some time but, as they played all of their hits one after the other, I somehow remembered every single word of every song!  All the band had to do was play one or two opening notes to a song and the crowd would go crazy!  It was so much fun!  Normally I try to control myself because I realize that the people sitting around me didn't pay money to hear me sing but everyone in the arena was singing at the top of their lungs (sometimes Arnel Pineda would stop singing and hold his microphone out to the crowd, as lead singers are wont to do, and there would be no difference in volume).  The girl sitting next to me was probably about 15 or 16 and even she knew the words to every song which I thought was really cool.  As I mentioned, they played the hits for almost two hours starting with "Only the Young" and then continuing with "Stone in Love," "Lights," "Send Her My Love," "Who's Crying Now," "Lovin', Touchin', Squeezin'," "Faithfully," "Open Arms," "Wheel in the Sky," "Separate Ways (Worlds Apart)," "Be Good to Yourself," and, finally, "Any Way You Want It."  There is always one song, usually a more obscure track, that I always hope the band will play and in this case it was "Girl Can't Help It" but I wasn't too disappointed when they didn't play it because they played my favorite song, "Don't Stop Believin'," really early in the evening!  Arnel Pineda, who has been with the band since 2007, is a great frontman because he sounds a lot like Steve Perry but he has been able to make the songs his own and he is so energetic.  He was running all over the stage and jumping off the speakers all night and I thought he was really fun to watch.  I had such a good time at this concert and, even though it got out really late, I'm so glad I was able to go!

Note:  The opening band was Toto.  I am not as familiar with their discography as I am with Journey but I recognized "Hold the Line," "I Won't Hold You Back, and "Rosanna."  Of course they ended their set with their most popular song "Africa" which got the crowd on their feet singing every word.  I enjoyed them, as well.

The Lost City

I had the chance to see an early access screening of The Lost City last night and, even though I am not a big fan of romantic comedies (for some reason I really dislike the abbreviation often used for this genre), I really enjoyed it!  Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock) is a romance novelist who is still grieving the death of her husband.  She has become a recluse but Beth (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), her publicist, needs her to promote her latest book, The Lost City of D, which features a recurring character named Dash McMahon who is searching for a valuable artifact.  Beth invites Alan Caprison (Channing Tatum), the model who has portrayed Dash on all of Loretta's covers, to join her on the book tour but Loretta dismisses him as superficial.  An eccentric billionaire named Abigail Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe) kidnaps Loretta because he believes the artifact in her novel is real and wants her to help him find it.  Alan, wanting to prove to Loretta that he is more than just a dimwitted model, attempts to rescue her and chaos ensues as both Loretta and Alan are ill-equipped to deal with the jungle.  The physical comedy is absolutely hilarious, especially since Loretta is wearing a purple sequin jumpsuit and high heels, and I laughed out loud multiple times (as did the audience).  Bullock and Tatum are incredibly charming and their chemistry is off the charts!  I also really enjoyed Radcliffe as a petulant villain and Brad Pitt just about steals the show as a former Navy SEAL (I laughed so hard when he flips his hair).  This doesn't reinvent the wheel but, in my opinion, it doesn't need to because it is so much fun.  I had a great time watching this movie and you can be sure that if I liked it fans of the genre are sure to love it!

The Outfit

Since I was out of town last weekend, I missed several new releases that are on my list.  I decided to see one of them, The Outfit, last night and I really enjoyed it.  Leonard Burling (Mark Rylance) is a meticulous and fastidious cutter (not just a tailor) who learned his trade on Savile Row in London and now makes suits for members of the mob, the only clientele who can afford his services, in Chicago during the 1950s.  There is more to Burling than meets the eye because it is implied that he left London under mysterious circumstances.  He keeps to himself as the members of the Boyle crime family, the boss Roy (Simon Russell Beale), his son Richie (Dylan O'Brien), and their enforcer Francis (Johnny Flynn), use his shop as a drop but his receptionist Mable (Zoey Deutch) notices everything.  Over the course of one evening, Richie is shot and he and Francis take refuge in Burling's shop in order to elude a rival crime family.  Eventually, Roy and his henchman (Alan Mehdizadeh) show up looking for them and for evidence of a rat who has been informing on them to the FBI.  Burling and Mable are coerced into helping them but who is double-crossing whom?  This is definitely a slow burn (there is an extended sequence in which Burling demonstrates the entire process of creating a suit, including making the pattern, transferring it to the cloth, cutting it, and sewing the pieces together) but I found it very compelling.  The tension builds and builds with lots of unexpected twists and turns and, just when I thought I had everything figured out, there was a new revelation that made me rethink everything I thought I knew!  All of the action takes place in a single setting, almost as if it is a stage play, but Burling's shop provides many opportunities for misdirection with all of its nooks and crannies and I loved the production design.  Rylance is always at his best when portraying an ordinary man caught up in extraordinary circumstances and he is absolutely mesmerizing, even when he doesn’t say a word.  This is a very well-crafted crime thriller that will keep you guessing and I highly recommend it!

Spring Camping Trip

For the past three days I have been at my favorite KOA in Fillmore relaxing!  I needed a little getaway and I couldn't think of anything better than sitting on the front porch of a cabin and reading all day.  I really like this KOA because it is in the middle of nowhere so it is very quiet and peaceful and it is close enough that it doesn't require a lot of travel time (it is about two hours south of where I live) but far enough away to feel like a real getaway.  I have been coming here for years (by myself and with various members of my family) and the former owners knew me by name.  There are new owners now but they are very kind and welcoming and I had to laugh when they offered to show me the way to my cabin because I've stayed in this exact one several times (as well as others).  I didn't take any day trips this time because I just wanted to relax but there are quite a few things to do within driving distance.  The weather was a bit too cold to stay outside for long periods (it even snowed on Sunday) so I spent most of the day inside the cabin reading under a blanket (the cabin has a heater) which was wonderful.  I spent the evening watching movies on my laptop before falling asleep to the sound of rain hitting the roof.  It was perfect!  My sisters and I are caring for our Mom full-time now and I really appreciate the fact that they were willing to pick up the slack so I could have a weekend away!  It was exactly what I needed!

Jazz Game With Angela

It has been more than two years since I have been to a Jazz game (the last time I went was over Christmas break in 2019 with Sean and Tashena) and I have really missed going!  It has also been almost two years since I have seen any of my former colleagues from Hunter High and I have really missed them.  My friend and former colleague, Angela, invited me to the Jazz game against the Los Angeles Clippers last night and it was so much fun to catch up and watch the game together!  Even though quite a few players, including my favorite Donovan Mitchell, were out for injuries, it was a really good game and the atmosphere at the Vivint Arena was positively electric.  The Jazz took an early 17-4 lead in the first few minutes of the first quarter and they never gave it up!  They went on a 30-4 run before half-time and that got the crowd on their feet cheering!  The Jazz lost a little momentum in the third quarter but were never in any danger of losing the lead and ended up beating the Clippers 121-92.  It was really exciting to watch because Rudy Gobert, Jordan Clarkson, Eric Paschall, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, and Jared Butler were all on fire and ended the night in double digits.  Both Angela and I had smiles on our faces during the entire game and I had such a great time.  She invited me to another game next month and I am so excited!

The Band's Visit at the Eccles

I didn't know anything about the musical The Band's Visit, other than it won ten Tony Awards including Best Musical, before I saw the Broadway touring production last night.  It was unlike anything I have ever seen before but I found it to be a bit underwhelming, especially for a show that has received so much acclaim.  The Alexandria Ceremonial Police Orchestra arrives at the Tel Aviv airport in Israel after being invited to perform at a cultural center in Petah Tikvah.  The representative appointed to meet them is not there so they decide to take a bus.  However, they mispronounce the name and arrive in the desert town of Bet Hatikva (the mispronunciation of the name of the town is a running joke throughout the show) instead.  They stop at a cafe owned by Dina (Janet Dacal) and, when they ask for directions to the cultural center, she figures out the mistake.  She and two of her employees, Papi (Coby Getzug) and Itzik (Clay Singer), offer to put them up for the night.  Once the band members realize that they have missed the one and only bus to Petah Tikvah and that there is only one pay phone, which is guarded by a man (Joshua Grosso) waiting endlessly for his girlfriend to call him back, they reluctantly agree.  Three of the band members, Tewfiq (Sasson Gabay), Simon (James Rana), and Haled (Joe Joseph), share their stories and have a positive effect on the lives of Dina, who feels like her life is going nowhere and yearns for a connection, Papi, who doesn't have the confidence to approach his secret crush, and Itzik, who is struggling to live up to the responsibilities of being a husband and a father.  The action is very slow and very understated and it almost seems like a series of vignettes rather than a cohesive story.  The musical numbers are also strangely unremarkable, except for "Papi Hears the Ocean" and "Answer Me" which were my favorites, and there are long periods of total silence as the characters, who speak different languages, struggle to communicate with each other in English (I found the silence very disconcerting).  None of the actors have particularly strong voices, but I was especially disappointed by Dacal because she was unable to project the strength and charisma required by her character.  I did really enjoy the traditional music played by the band members (Yoni Avi Battat, Roger Kashou, Brian Krock, Kane Mathis, and Wick Simmons) in between the scenes, the drab colors used in the minimal set juxtaposed with the bright blue of the band member's uniforms, and the message that people are more alike than different but I didn't especially like the show as a whole.  The Band's Visit has been on my list for a long time so I am glad I had the opportunity to see it.

Note:  I was extremely tired last night so there is every possibility that I was not in the proper mood to appreciate the subtleties of this show.  Others may find it more appealing (go here for more information and tickets).

Utah Opera's Tosca

Utah Opera is slowly but surely converting me into a fan of modern librettos and more artistic interpretations of traditional operas but I will always be a fan of the classic tragedies where desperate lovers die for love and I will always prefer productions that stay true to the time and place in the source material.  For this reason, I have been looking forward to Tosca for what seems like forever!  Not only is this one of my very favorite operas but the performance last night was amazing!  Floria Tosca (Katie Van Kooten) is a fiery and passionate singer with two men in love with her:  her lover, the painter Mario Cavaradossi (Dimitri Pittas), and the Police Chief, Baron Scarpia (Stephen Powell), who wants to possess her at any cost.  Scarpia arrests Cavaradossi for aiding a political prisoner and sentences him to death.  He tells Tosca that he will release him if she submits to him, promising her that the firing squad will be a ruse.  She agrees but when he embraces her, she stabs him with a knife.  She visits Cavaradossi in the Castel Sant'Angelo to tell him that he must pretend to die and then they can run away together when the guards leave.  However, Scarpia has betrayed her and Cavaradossi is actually killed by the firing squad.  Knowing that she will be accused of Scarpia's murder and unwilling to live without Cavaradossi, Tosca leaps to her death from the parapet of the Castel Sant'Angelo.  The music by Giacomo Puccini is incredibly beautiful (Conductor Steven White has a very light touch and I really enjoyed his interpretation of the music) and the three main actors give brilliant performances!  There were so many moments that took my breath away, including a scene in the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle at the end of Act 1 where Scarpia reveals his plan to execute Cavaradossi and possess Tosca while a procession sings the Te Deum (I loved the Choristers of the Madeleine Choir School in this scene), Tosca's aria "Vissi d'arte" at the end of Act 2 where she asks God to help her, and the scene in Act 3 where Cavaradossi sings the aria "E lucevan le stelle" reminiscing about his love for Tosca while awaiting execution (my favorite moment in the opera).  The sets of the church of Sant'Andrea della Valle, Scarpia's study in the Palazzo Farnese, and the Castel Sant'Angelo are very elaborate and they add to the overall dramatic feeling of the opera.  I also loved the sumptuous costumes, especially Tosca's magenta dress (which is unceremoniously removed by Scarpia).  I loved everything about this opera and I highly recommend getting a ticket for one of the remaining performances (go here).

Note:  The young man sitting next to me was attending his very first opera.  He definitely picked a good one!

The Cartographers

My March Book of the Month selection was The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd (the other options were Dating Dr. Dil by Nisha Sharma, The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley, The Unsinkable Greta James by Jennifer E. Smith, Tell Me Everything by Erika Krouse, The Verifiers by Jane Pek, and The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James). The novel begins as an intriguing murder mystery when Nell Young is informed that her estranged father, Doctor Daniel Young, has been been found dead at his desk in the Map Division of the New York Public Library under suspicious circumstances. When she returns to the NYPL after an absence of seven years to deal with her father's estate, she finds a worthless gas station map of New York state from the 1930s in a secret drawer. This map was the source of a bitter argument between the two of them and she wonders why he still has it in his possession.  As she begins investigating its origins, she discovers that there is much more to this map than meets the eye and that it may even be the reason her father was murdered. It is at this point that the novel becomes a fantasy with elements of horror as clues lead her to her father's friends from university and a dangerous group known as The Cartographers who are willing to stop at nothing to get the last copy of this map. I stayed up reading until the wee hours of the morning because I had to know why the map was so valuable and I was not disappointed because the reason is so clever and imaginative! The narrative alternates between Nell's investigation in the present and flashbacks to her early childhood as her mother and father begin their careers in cartography and this is very effective in building suspense. There are lots of twists and turns as each of the characters from Daniel's past tell Nell their stories and reveal a little bit more of the mystery. Nell is an incredibly compelling protagonist because she begins to experience the same dark obsession that set these events in motion and I enjoyed her character arc. As a bit of a history buff, I found all of the detailed descriptions of historical maps and the intricate processes (and secrets) involved in making them to be fascinating. I also loved all of the supernatural elements because, even though the plot is fantastical, it is grounded in reality. I absolutely loved this novel and would definitely recommend it, especially to fans of mysteries and magical realism (and nerds like me who appreciate an academic setting).

Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella at CPT

Last night my sister Marilyn and I took our Mom to see Cinderella at CenterPoint Theatre and we had so much fun! My Mom has late stage dementia and she also has some mobility issues but she loves the show so much and really wanted to go. Since she had a good day yesterday we called the box office and were able to get ADA accessible seats (the CPT box office is, hands down, the best in the SLC valley). It was a lot of work to get her there but she absolutely loved it so it was worth all of the effort! The Rodgers & Hammerstein version of the story is definitely not my favorite! I don't like the commentary on class structure or the fact that Cinderella is a social reformer who must rescue the prince from the advisors in his court who are deceiving him about the conditions in his kingdom. I also don't like the portrayal of the stepsisters as silly girls, rather than mean ones, who end up as Cinderella's sympathetic co-conspirators. However, I really enjoyed HCT's production a few years ago because it infused the magic back into the more contemporary story. CPT's production is just as magical! The cast is incredibly strong and I especially loved Mailee Halpin as Ella and Cynthia Klumpp as Marie/ Fairy Godmother. The songs require an impressive range and these actresses more than deliver in the songs "In My Own Little Corner," "Impossible," "Glass Slipper/ It's Possible," and "There Is Music In You." Halpin has great chemistry with Doug Wadley, as Prince Topher, and their songs "Ten Minutes Ago" and "Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful" are incredibly romantic. Jaycee Harris (who is my brother-in-law's niece) as the stepsister Charlotte just about steals the show in "Stepsister's Lament" and "A Lovely Night" because her facial expressions are absolutely hysterical. She received more applause and laughter than any one else for good reason. The choreography is so much fun and I really loved how "The Prince Is Giving A Ball" with all of the townspeople in the town square and "The Pursuit" after the ball are staged, especially the transformation of the Fox (Kirsi Jarvis) and the Raccoon (Caleb Hodson) after the stroke of midnight. Speaking of transformations, Cinderella's change into her sparkling ball gown and tiara is absolutely magical and her coach, including horses made of puppets, is spectacular. I loved how the lights around the proscenium blinked in coordination with the Fairy Godmother's wand. Finally the set pieces for Cinderella's cottage, the prince's castle, the woods, and the town square are some of the best I have seen from CPT. I also loved the projection showing the chiming clock at midnight because it is so dramatic! I really feel like CPT has stepped up their game this season because I was also really impressed with the set for The Play That Goes Wrong! My Mom thought the whole show was beautiful (that was what she kept saying on the drive home) and I had such a great time watching her experience it! I would highly recommend Cinderella with the proviso that it is quite different from the Disney version that young children are more familiar with (the little girls in front of me seemed really bored at times but they seemed to enjoy the spectacle). It runs on the Barlow Main Stage through April 9 (go here for tickets).

I Am Here

Last night I went to my favorite art house theater to see the documentary I Am Here and I found it to be incredibly inspiring.  On the occasion of her 98th birthday, Ella Blumenthal gathers her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren around her in order to tell them the story of her survival during the Holocaust for the first time.  Through interviews in the present, archival footage, and animation sequences, she describes the German occupation of Poland, the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, and the horrors of the Majdanek, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belson concentration camps.  She also recounts her guilt at being one of only two survivors in her family, meeting her husband Isaac Blumenthal, starting her own family, and her decision to remove her tattoo and put her experiences behind her.  Blumenthal is incredibly vibrant and charismatic and her story is very affecting.  I was particularly struck by the use of animation to tell the darker aspects of the story because, in my opinion, it made the images more palatable without taking away from the impact.  The symbolic use of blue butterflies, which represent rebirth, is incredibly effective in portraying her fight to survive, especially during a scene where she returns to Warsaw after the war and confronts all of the damage to the city.  I also really enjoyed her message of forgiveness and that one should not return hate with hate because that does not solve the problems found in the world today.  She wakes up every morning with gratitude for every day that she is allowed to live and that is such a lovely attitude, especially after everything she has gone through.  My only disappointment is that a letter by Blumenthal to a Holocaust denier offering compassion and conciliation introduced in an opening montage about the rise of hate crimes around the world is never referenced again (I was waiting through the whole film for this to be explored more fully).  Nevertheless, Blumenthal's story is a powerful one and I highly recommend this documentary.

The Foreigner at West Valley Arts

Last year I had the opportunity to volunteer as an usher at the West Valley Performing Arts Center and I had a lot of fun while getting to see some great shows. Unfortunately I am not able to do it any more because of family responsibilities but I went back as a patron last night to see The Foreigner which is an absolutely hilarious show. Froggy LeSueur (Xander Richey) is a British demolition expert who is visiting rural Georgia to conduct training sessions at an army base. Froggy brings his friend Charlie Baker (Joseph Paul Branca) with him because he is depressed over his marital difficulties and installs him at a fishing lodge owned by Betty Meeks (Vicky Pugmire) while he is on maneuvers. Charlie doesn't like this arrangement because he is painfully shy and fears having to interact with strangers but Froggy solves the problem by telling Betty that Charlie is a foreigner who doesn't speak English. The other guests at the lodge are drawn to Charlie because they believe he can't understand them. Catherine (Amanda Anne Dayton) pours her heart out to him because he is a good listener, Ellerd (Brandon Green) gains confidence by successfully "teaching" him English, and David (TJ Thomas) inadvertently reveals a plot he has hatched with a local member of the Ku Klux Klan (Oran Marc de Baritault). Chaos ensues until Charlie begins to feel like he belongs. The show is incredibly funny because it exaggerates the idea of being a fish out of water but there are also some really important deeper themes about fearing those who are different so, even though I was laughing out loud through most of it, I was also thinking about how much we need a little understanding in the world right now. The entire cast is fantastic but the standouts for me are Green (who I have seen in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Peter and the Starcatcher at CPT and Is He Dead? and Arsenic and Old Lace at HCT) and Branca. Ellerd is a little bit slow so when he tries to teach Charlie the words to a few of the items in the lodge (fork has somehow become a two syllable word) it is absolutely hysterical because of Green's facial expressions. At one point, Charlie is asked to tell a story in his native language, which is completely made up, and Branca's delivery is the highlight of the show!  I couldn't breathe because I was laughing so hard. The set of the fishing lodge is a lot of fun and I was particularly impressed with the attention to detail (I loved all of the knickknacks everywhere). My only complaint with this show is a really strange costuming decision which put the Ku Klux Klan members is army fatigues instead the white robes they would normally wear (I've seen this show several times). I understand that the production team might have wanted to be sensitive in their portrayal of this group but it is very clear from the beginning of the play who they are so the robes wouldn't have been a surprise and this decision lessened the impact of the climax in my opinion.  Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this show and would definitely recommend it.  It runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays through March 26 and tickets are very reasonable (go here).