The Bodyguard at the Eccles

Last night I went to see the musical The Bodyguard, based on the 1992 movie of the same name starring Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner.  I am not always a fan of turning popular movies into stage musicals but I went into this evening's production with an open mind.  The bottom line?  It is like an extended Whitney Houston concert featuring some of her greatest hits, such as "Greatest Love of All," "How Will I Know," "I Have Nothing," "I Wanna Dance with Somebody," "One Moment in Time," "Saving All My Love," and "So Emotional," with some superfluous bits in between the songs.  But, boy, is it a good concert!  Rachel Marron (Deborah Cox) is a superstar nominated for an Academy Award who has been receiving disturbing letters from a stalker.  The head of her security team hires a former member of the Secret Service, Frank Farmer (Judson Mills), to guard her 24 hours a day.  At first his relationship with Rachel is combative because she resents the intrusion but, of course, they soon develop feelings for one another which jeopardizes his ability to guard her.  Rachel's sister Nicki (Naomi C. Whalley), who has been jealous of her for years, develops feeling for him which also complicates the situation.  The story is thin and pretty contrived and the acting is unbelievably stilted, almost ridiculously so.  There is dramatic lighting whenever the stalker is shown but it is so cheesy that I almost laughed several times.  I also did not like when the stalker pointed a gun with a laser sight at the audience.  It made me incredibly uncomfortable in light of all of the mass shootings in recent memory.  However, Deborah Cox is absolutely spectacular, giving an incredible vocal performance and executing dazzling choreography.  I loved her rendition of "I Will Always Love You" at the end of the show!  She is the show and she is the reason to see this production!  It runs at the Eccles Theater through Sunday and tickets may be purchased here.

Lights on Temple Square 2017

Last Friday I had a ticket to a Utah Symphony concert and I got downtown and hour and a half early.  During the holidays it can sometimes be tricky to drive and park downtown and I didn't want to take any chances (you won't be seated until an appropriate pause if you are late).  Of course I found a parking spot immediately which gave me an hour and a half to kill.  I decided to spend the time seeing the lights at Temple Square and it was as magical as it always is!  The temperature was really mild and the crowds weren't very big so I enjoyed myself immensely.  I even popped into the Assembly Hall to hear a random high school choir sing Christmas music which I really loved!

Go here for a list of events on Temple Square this holiday season.

I Heart Christmas Music!

One of my favorite things about the holiday season is having the opportunity to hear Christmas music performed live.  I don't think of myself as a religious person but there is something about Christmas music that gets me every time!  I had the opportunity to hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir perform Christmas music last Sunday morning and it was glorious.  Every Sunday the choir gives a concert for the Music and the Spoken Word broadcast (which, incidentally, is the longest continuing broadcast in the world) and in December this broadcast features Christmas music.  It is held in the LDS Conference Center (which is quite the building) and it is free to the public.  It was a wonderful concert featuring "O Come, All Ye Faithful," "Dance and Sing," "Infant Holy, Infant Lowly," "And The Glory of the Lord" from Messiah by Handel, "Noe! Noe!," "The First Noel," and "Carol to the King."  I can' think of a better way to listen to Christmas music than to hear it performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  I loved it so much that I have decided to go back every Sunday in December!  Go here for more information about upcoming broadcasts.

Note:  I have a friend who sings in the choir and it was fun for me to see him.

Newsies at PTC

There was a time when the Disney musical Newsies was at the top of my list of shows that I wanted to see.  Such was my mania to see it that I went to Los Angeles to see it at the Pantages Theatre only to learn that the Broadway touring company would be coming to SLC the following year.  Now it seems as if it is everywhere.  The Tuacahn Amphitheatre produced it last summer and both PTC and HCT have the popular show in their 2017-2018 schedules.  I had the chance to see it at Pioneer Theatre last night (I have a ticket to Hale's version next June) and it is fantastic!  It definitely rivals the Broadway versions that I've seen!  In 1899 a group of newspaper delivery boys, let by Jack Kelly (Jonathan Shew), goes on strike to protest Joseph Pulitzer (William Parry) raising the price of newspapers.  With a little help from an intrepid reporter named Katherine (Nadia Vynn) and Governor Roosevelt (Richie Call) himself, the newsies score a victory for all of the working children in New York.  The staging and choreography stays true to the original on Broadway with just a few new touches to keep it fresh and exciting.  The highlight of this show has always been the dancing and the dancers in this show are exhilarating!   The audience practically cheered out loud with every high energy leap and spin!  The big production numbers are so much fun including "Carrying the Banner," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," "Once and For All," and my favorite song in the show, "The World Will Know."  Shew is as handsome, charismatic, and talented as any Jack I've seen before and I loved his affecting rendition of "Santa Fe."  Vynn just might be my favorite Katherine and I was tapping my toes to "Watch What Happens."  I also really liked Stephen Michael Langton as Davey (he played Davey in the Broadway touring company).  Do yourself a favor and take your teenagers to see this show (If they are anything like the students of Hunter High I bet they are dying to see it) but get tickets soon because the theatre was packed on a Monday (go here for tickets).  It runs at PTC until Dec. 20.

Note:  I currently have what I call Joseph fatigue because Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is performed so often in Utah.  I hope the same thing doesn't happen with this show.

Sean is a Teenager!

Yesterday was Sean's thirteenth birthday so he is now officially a teenager!  He is really excited about that!  As is tradition the birthday boy gets to pick where he has his birthday dinner and this year he picked the Old Spaghetti Factory.  That was an excellent choice!  The waitresses sang Happy Birthday to him!  He was a little bit embarrassed but I think he secretly loved it!  Then we came back to his house for presents and the traditional Baskin-Robbins ice cream cake!

He was pretty spoiled with lots of ear buds, games for his Xbox, gift cards to buy more games, and a cool pop-up tent.  With all of his presents I think he was most excited about an entire batch of fudge that his Grandma made him!  He loves his Grandma's fudge!  I sure do love this kid...er...teenager!