Tchaikovsky's "Little Russian" & Prokofiev with Conrad Tao

It was certainly an incredibly dramatic evening at Abravanel Hall last night.  The Utah Symphony performed a concert featuring works by Sergei Prokofiev and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky under the baton of an exciting guest conductor, Karina Canellakis.  I really love the Russian composers so I thoroughly enjoyed this concert (my final two concerts this season feature Shostakovitch and Rachmaninoff so I am looking forward to them, as well).  The orchestra began with Le Chasseur maudit (The Accursed Huntsman) by Cesar Franck.  Although I was unfamiliar with this piece it was very easy to picture the events depicted.  A count disregards the Sabbath by hunting and, as he chases his prey, he is also pursued by demons who wish to damn his soul.  I loved the opening fanfare by the horns, representing the hunt, followed by the chimes, signifying church bells.  It was very dark and atmospheric.  Next the orchestra was joined by the brilliant Conrad Tao for Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 2.  Tao is a very popular soloist and I always try to see him when he joins the Utah Symphony (I missed his performance in February because I had the flu) because he is so much fun to watch.  His fingers literally flew up and down the keyboard, especially in the wild and tumultuous first movement.  After the intermission the orchestra played Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 2 "Little Russian." This piece incorporates many Russian folk songs and I found it to be both stirring and whimsical, especially the final movement with themes played by the woodwinds.  I enjoyed this thrilling concert so much and I recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance featuring the same program (go here).

A Quiet Place

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of A Quiet Place which was one of my most anticipated films of 2018.  It did not disappoint.  In the near future Earth has been invaded by mysterious creatures who are blind but have a highly advanced sense of hearing.  There is almost no exposition, just vivid images of a town destroyed by an apocalyptic event, and this is highly effective at conveying an atmosphere of terror.  One family has survived this invasion by living in total silence with meticulous preparation and ingenious methods of communication.  However, there are the occasional lapses, one of which has resulted in the death of a son, and situations beyond their control which lead to unrelenting tension in the final act.  John Krasinski and Emily Blunt play the parents who go to extraordinary lengths to keep their children safe and they both give powerful physical performances, conveying absolute terror and incredible pathos with just a facial expression.  Millicent Simmonds gives a highly nuanced performance as a deaf girl who grapples with feelings of guilt over the death of her younger brother and Noah Jupe is extremely affecting as a boy who must overcome his fear to survive.  Beyond the outstanding performances, what elevates this above just another evade the scary monsters movie that we have all seen before is the brilliant sound design.  The first act is conducted in almost near silence, aside from the occasional ambient noise from nature, and it is very unsettling to watch.  My attention never wavered from the screen and, like the characters on the screen, I tried extremely hard not to make even the tiniest sound.  You could literally hear a pin drop in my screening and, again, it was so unsettling!  Another highly effective choice made by Krasinski, who co-wrote the script as well as directed, is to give the audience only brief glimpses of the creatures until the devastating final act.  It adds greatly to the tension.  I am not a huge fan of the horror genre but the unique premise and the fact that the story is about a loving family doing whatever they can to protect each other makes me give it a resounding recommendation.

Note:  Just don't buy any loud snacks to consume during this movie.  Trust me on this!

Tuck Everlasting at HCT

When I went to New York a couple of years ago I had the chance to see Tuck Everlasting, the musical based on the beloved novel by Natalie Babbitt, and I really enjoyed it (I didn't review it here because the production closed a few days after I saw it). It was a big show with multiple sets and elaborate choreography so I was very eager to see what Hale Theatre would do with it. I saw it last night and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It is a delightful and heart-warming show that the whole family will definitely enjoy. Winnie Foster (Mia Bagley) feels trapped in a house of mourning for her father and longs for adventure. One day she sneaks into the woods and meets Jesse Tuck (Kooper Campbell) near a stream. He stops her from taking a drink from the stream and inadvertently reveals a secret: the water has made his family immortal. Jesse is happy to have made a friend but Mae (Bailee Brinkerhoff Morris), Angus (David K. Martin), and Miles (Marshall R. Madsen) Tuck worry that their secret will be revealed.  Little do they know that the Man in the Yellow Suit (David W. Stensrud) has overheard Jesse and has evil plans for the water. Eventually Jesse asks Winnie to drink the water when she turns seventeen but his family warns that being immortal is not as enchanting as it appears. I loved this production! It is as good, if not better, as the one I saw on Broadway! Both Bagley and Campbell are so endearing in the lead roles and the rest of the cast is very strong. The choreography is wonderful and I am always amazed at what the choreographers are able to do on such a small stage. The final dance sequence is just lovely and brought a tear to my eye. The sets are incredible! The stage is framed by a giant lattice (the live orchestra sits at the top of the lattice) and all of the sets feature lattice-work, including the tree that the characters climb. It is incredibly clever. The costumes all feature beautiful floral patterns to go along with the lattice theme and this is very effective at portraying an enchanted world out of time. My favorite song in the show is "The Wheel" because Angus tells Winnie that she doesn't have to live forever she just has to live. I love that message so much! I highly recommend this beautiful show (go here for tickets) which runs through June 23 in the Jewel Box Theatre at the Mountain American Performing Arts Centre.

Note: A friend that I made on the New York trip is one of the dancers in this show and she was amazing!

Isle of Dogs

I absolutely love Wes Anderson.  I love all of his movies and that is not something I can say about many directors.  As you can imagine, I have been eagerly anticipating the release of his latest movie Isle of Dogs for a very long time so when my friend invited me to go with her to an advance screening last night (it opens next weekend in SLC) I jumped at the chance.  It is hard for me to be objective because of my aforementioned love for everything Wes Anderson but it is so good!  Twenty years in the future the dogs on the Japanese archipelago have been infected with a flu-like virus.  Mayor Kobayashi (Konichi Nomura) banishes all of them from Megasaki City to Trash Island, beginning with his nephew's dog Spots (Liev Schreiber).  Atari Kobayashi (Koyu Rankin) goes to Trash Island to search for Spots and is helped by a pack of dogs named Chief (Bryan Cranston), Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray), and Duke (Jeff Goldblum).  It turns out that Mayor Kobayashi has a nefarious reason for wanting to rid Megasaki City of all its dogs so, when Professor Watanabe (Akira Ito) discovers a cure for the virus, he is imprisoned and killed.  A foreign exchange student named Tracy Walker (Greta Gerwig), working for her high school newspaper, uncovers the conspiracy and sways popular opinion in favor of the dogs.  The stop-motion animation is brilliant and the attention to detail is remarkable, especially the fur on the dogs.  This movie also includes the usual Wes Anderson aesthetic (center framing, overhead shots, tracking shots, text on the screen, highly composed shots, monochromatic color palette).  The story is incredibly clever and laugh-out-loud funny but I also found it to be unexpectedly poignant.  I loved the journey that Chief takes from being a stray dog who likes to bite to learning to love the boy Atari.  The five main dogs have very distinct personalities, my favorite is the gossip loving Duke, and there are so many fun supporting characters, especially the Professor's Assistant Yoko (Yoko Ono), the Interpreter (Frances McDormand), Mayor Kobayashi's henchman Major Domo (Akira Takayama), and the show dog Nutmeg (Scarlett Johansson).  I enjoyed watching this movie so much and I'm sure that I will see it multiple times to catch all of the references.  In my opinion, Wes Anderson is a genius and, if you like his previous movies, I suspect that you will love Isle of Dogs.  Definitely go see it!

Hamilton in Denver

How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman, dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean make me spend so much money on tickets to see a musical about his life?  By making his life story the best thing that I have ever seen on stage!  By now I have spent almost $1,000 on tickets to Hamilton (New York, Los Angeles, Denver, and an upcoming performance in SLC) but I absolutely love it!  I know that people think I am crazy but whenever I do these crazy things I never regret it!  When I found out that the Broadway touring company production would be in Denver over my spring break and that there were tickets available, I jumped at the chance to have a fourth row seat and it was absolutely incredible to be so close!  Every production that I have seen has been so different and I really like what the actors do to make the roles their own.  In this production I really liked Nicholas Christopher in the role of Aaron Burr because he infused a lot of humor into the character, Isaiah Johnson in the role of George Washington because he had a beautiful voice, especially in "Right Hand Man" and "One Last Time," and Peter Matthew Smith as King George because his facial expressions were an absolute hoot (I sat so close I could actually see them) and I almost died of laughter when he filed his fingernails with his scepter.   However, the two who absolutely stole the show were Chris De'Sean Lee and Mathenee Treco who played Marquis de Lafayette/ Thomas Jefferson and Hercules Mulligan/ James Madison, respectively.  In both of their roles, the two of them played off each other hilariously, especially in the Cabinet Battles.  I loved Jefferson's mic drop and I loved Madison's waving handkerchief.  Once again the song "It's Quiet Uptown" brought spontaneous tears to my eyes.  I loved it when Eliza (Julia K. Harriman) gave Hamilton (Austin Scott) her hand and then he kissed it.  This scene has been very different in each production I've seen but each one has been so emotional.  I really loved having the chance to see Hamilton again and I'm looking forward to seeing it, yet again, in SLC in two weeks (I think it is the same company as this one).  If you can get a ticket, I highly recommend this brilliant musical!