Beau Jest at HCT

Hale Centre Theatre likes to ring in the new year with a comedy and, once again, they picked a delightful one!  I interrupted my long winter's nap (it has been hard adjusting back to reality after winter break and I have been in bed by 8:00 most nights this week) to see their production of Beau Jest last night and it is absolutely hysterical! Sarah Goldman's parents want her to marry a nice Jewish boy and, because the man she is dating isn't Jewish, she hires an actor named Bob to pretend to be her boyfriend. There is only one problem. He isn't Jewish, either! With her parents at the door, there is no other choice but to proceed (Bob believes he can handle the "role" because he was once in a touring company of Fiddler on the Roof) and, of course, chaos ensues! I laughed and laughed at all of their antics, particularly when Sarah and Bob embrace and inadvertently hit the radio (several times) causing them to be serenaded by the song "Take My Breath Away" by Berlin over and over again. LizAnne Chapman is suitably overwrought as Sarah and Bryan Dayley is incredibly endearing as Bob and they have great chemistry together but, in my opinion, Ben Parkes, as Sarah's uptight brother Joel, and Todd Michael Thompson, as Sarah's boyfriend Chris, steal the show! Parkes brings a physicality to his role that is just so much fun to watch, especially in a scene involving throw pillows! I laughed out loud, as did everyone around me, in the scene where he tells Sarah to get over it! Thompson's facial expressions (and his double finger gun) are a hoot, especially when he competes with Bob for Sarah's attention! So funny!  I only have two complaints.  First, the scene with the Seder is much too long (in a play that is otherwise filled with lots of snappy dialogue) and I started to lose interest but it is early in the run and I suspect it will tighten up. Second, the set, uncharacteristically, is rather blah and, in my opinion, doesn't really look like an apartment that a young woman living in Chicago would have.  It didn't detract from my enjoyment but I kept wondering if it was the same set from last year's Over the River and Through the Woods. Aside from that, I definitely enjoyed Beau Jest and I highly recommend it for a bit of fun on a long winter's night!  It runs through January 30 and tickets can be purchased here.

A Day Snowshoeing

I really love snowshoeing and last winter was so mild that I only got to go a couple of times.  This winter we definitely have enough snow and my brother-in-law Trent showed me a great place to go that is literally five minutes from my house (I plan on going a lot).

Last Saturday Trent, Kristine, the kiddos, and I snowshoed the Meuller Park Canyon Trail and it was so much fun!

What a great day!

New Year's Celebration

If you are a music lover, the best place to be on New Year's Eve is Vienna attending one of the many concerts featuring the classic Viennese waltzes made famous by Johann Strauss and his family.  If you can't afford the airfare to Vienna, the next best place to be is Abravanel Hall to hear the Utah Symphony's version.  Last year Marilyn and I took my Mom to the New Year's concert and she loved it so much I decided to get her a ticket for this year's concert which was performed last night.  It was as much fun watching my Mom's reaction to each piece as it was listening to the music!  The concert began, appropriately, with the Overture to Die Fledermaus (about a ball on New Year's Eve in Vienna) by Johann Strauss, Jr.  This piece was very rousing and I especially enjoyed the chiming of midnight (I love the chimes).  Next, Utah favorite Celena Shafer sang "Mein Herr Marquis" from Die Fledermaus.  Shafer also gave a highly amusing rendition of "Meine Lippen sie kussen so heiss" from Giuditta by Lehar later in the evening.  Most of the concert featured incredibly stirring waltzes from Johann Strauss, Jr. and Josef Strauss, including the instantly recognizable On the Beautiful Blue Danube.  My favorite piece of the evening was "New Year's Eve Ball" from War and Peace by Sergei Prokofiev.  I kept picturing women in ball gowns twirling and twirling in a grand ball room of an opulent palace in St. Petersburg.  The concert ended with an encore of the ever popular Radetzky March by Johann Strauss, Sr. complete with enthusiastic clapping from the audience.  It was a lovely evening made even more so by the giggling of my Mom after every single number!  Happy New Year!

2015: Year In Review

Snowshoeing at Soldier Hollow - January 2015

Jazz Game with Sean - February 2015

Colorado Avalanche Road Trip - March 2015

Disneyland - April 2015

Memorial Day Weekend Camping Trip - May 2015

Colorado Rockies Game - June 2015

Utah Shakespeare Festival - July 2015

Sundance Summer Theatre - August 2015

A New House - September 2015

Zion National Park - October 2015

Make-A-Wish - November 2015

Jazz Game with Sean and Tashena - December 2015

Honorable Mentions: Star Wars, U2 concert in Denver, Taylor Swift concert, Newsies in Los Angeles, and the Sundance Film Festival.

I think 2015 has been very memorable in a lot of ways!  I can't wait to see what 2016 brings!  Happy New Year!

Winter Break Jazz Game

One of the things I really wanted to do over winter break was take Sean and Tashena to a Jazz game.  I have only been to one game this season, which is really unusual for me, and I've missed it.  I got four tickets to last night's game against the Philadelphia 76ers (Kristine came with us, too) and it was so much fun!

It ended up being a great game!  The Jazz had a quick start (despite the fact that Derrick Favors, Dante Exum, Rudy Gobert, and Alec Burks were injured) and they led by as many as 21 points during the second quarter.  There was a big crowd in attendance and so it was pretty rowdy.  Then the 76ers went on a 29-10 run at the end of the third quarter and took over the lead 78-76.  The Jazz battled back in the fourth quarter, regaining the lead until the Sixers pulled ahead 89-91 with 38 seconds left.  It was intense!  Hayward electrified the crowd with a 3-pointer which put the Jazz ahead 92-91 with 33 seconds left.  They ended the game with a 95-91 victory!  So much fun!

It was such a great night!  I love spending time with Sean and Tashena (and I'm so glad that Kristine got to come, too).  They make everything so much more fun!