Off to College

Today Tashena is leaving for college!  I don't know how this happened!  When did she get old enough to go to college?  She will be attending Big Bend Community College in Washington to play on the volleyball team.  We will really miss her but we are all excited for this opportunity for her.  Marilyn and I are already planning care packages!  Last night my family went out to dinner to celebrate and Marilyn gave her this awesome quilt that she made out of all of Tashena's sports shirts from high school and junior high.  Isn't it amazing?  Good luck at college Tashena!

Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood

Last night I finally had a chance to see Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood and it is absolutely brilliant!  It is a beautiful and almost meditative ode to a Hollywood that no longer exists and I loved it (I will definitely need to see it again).  In 1969, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio) is an aging movie star, known mostly for his role in a 1950s TV show called Bounty Law, who has been reduced to making guest appearances on other TV shows and, eventually, to starring in spaghetti Westerns (and in a hilarious midcredits scene, he is further reduced to making commercials).  His stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt) has been reduced to driving Dalton around and doing odd jobs at his house in the Hollywood Hills.  Meanwhile, Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie), who lives next door to Dalton on Cielo Drive with her husband Roman Polanski (Rafal Zarwierucha), is an up-and-coming actress enjoying the attention she is receiving from her starring role in The Wrecking Crew.  Eventually, their worlds will collide with members of the Manson Family on the fateful night of August 8, 1969.  I loved so many things in this movie.  I loved the juxtaposition of the angst-filled Dalton who has an emotional breakdown after forgetting his lines with Tate and her unbridled joy when secretly watching herself on screen.  I loved the scene between the disillusioned Dalton and the earnest young Method actress (excuse me, actor) which prompts him to model his character on an "evil version of Hamlet" and deliver an outstanding performance.  I loved the party scene at the Playboy Mansion with fun cameos of current actors playing former Hollywood stars (my favorite is Damian Lewis as Steve McQueen).  I loved all of the long and sustained shots of characters driving around Hollywood with famous landmarks as they used to appear and period commercials blaring through the radios.  I loved the soundtrack, particularly a sultry cover of "California Dreamin'" by Jose Feliciano.  I loved the performances of both DiCaprio and Pitt who seem like they could have been genuine movie stars in the heyday of Hollywood’s golden era.  Finally, I loved the ending which will probably be very divisive but, to me, it represents the desire to go back to a simpler time before the innocence of the 1960s was irrevocably destroyed (I can't get the haunting final overhead shot out of my mind).  I loved this movie and I highly recommend it with the proviso that it is a Quentin Tarantino movie with the requisite violence and profanity.

Utah Shakespeare Festival 2019

Friday my sister Marilyn and I took a road trip to Cedar City for the Utah Shakespeare Festival.  Marilyn hasn't been able to come with me for the past several years so I'm glad that we were able to make it work this year.

Marilyn hadn't seen the new Englestad Theatre so, as soon as we got there, we walked around the new Beverly Center for the Performing Arts and she was quite impressed.  This is her posing in front of the theatre.  Can you see her?

Me posing with the Bard.  I'm being a little bit forward with my hand on his knee!

Our first play that afternoon was Hamlet in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.  I have been teaching this play for many years so I know it inside and out and, without question, this is the best production of it that I have ever seen!  Brian Vaughn made some very bold choices based on subtext and I loved it, especially with the characterization of Ophelia (Emma Geer) and Gertrude (Jacqueline Antaramian).  Several scenes made me gasp out loud!  Quinn Mattfeld is outstanding in the lead role!  He is absolutely magnetic and you can't take your eyes off him.  He is able to convey so many emotions with just an expression (we were on the second row) and I especially enjoyed his interactions with Polonius (Armin Shimerman) which are surprisingly humorous.  The opulent set is incredible and I loved the use of snow, particularly in an emotional scene between Hamlet and the ghost of his father (John G. Preston), and the river where Ophelia drowns (one of the scenes that made me gasp).  Vaughn set the play in the Edwardian era rather than the Medieval time specified in the text and that usually makes me crazy but it really worked for me in this instance.  The costumes reminded me of Imperial Russia, particularly the military uniforms.  I cannot recommend this production enough!  

In the evening we saw the Greenshow which had a Scottish theme and then Macbeth in the Englestad Theatre.  Macbeth is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays because it is very intense (especially seeing it right after Hamlet).  What I loved most about this production is the portrayal of the witches (Sarah Hollis, Emma Geer, and Betsy Mugavero).  They had pagan markings all over their bodies and there were some supernatural effects during their scenes which made them riveting any time they were on stage!  I also really liked the interactions between Macbeth (Wayne T. Carr) and Lady Macbeth (Katie Cunningham), especially when she is encouraging him to kill the king.  Some of her speeches seemed like incantations and this was very effective at setting a sinister mood.  The set is very atmospheric with asymmetrical beams and ripped curtains.  I particularly liked a circular stone dais in the center of the stage which, at one point, becomes a cauldron for the witches.  The lighting and special effects are also very atmospheric, especially a scene involving lightning (everyone around me jumped).  This is another production that I would highly recommend.

On Saturday we began with a backstage tour which I loved because we got to see the deconstructed set for Hamlet and I found it fascinating!  I also really enjoyed seeing all of the weapons used in Macbeth.  Our afternoon show was Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in the Randall L. Jones Theatre.  I suffer from what I call Joseph fatigue because I have seen this show so many times (it is very popular with Utah audiences) but this production restored my love for it.  What I loved most about it is that, while there are a lot of fun elements, there is not a lot of kitsch which can sometimes be very overdone.  The performances are all amazing, particularly Samae Allred as the Narrator, Michael A. Harding as Joseph, and Russ Benton (who steals the show) at the Pharaoh.  The brothers are all fantastic but my favorite was Reuben (Alex Allred) because his rendition of "Those Canaan Days" is hilarious without being over the top.  The set features a backdrop with the story of Joseph and his coat of many colors in stained glass and it is quite spectacular.  The choreography is a lot of fun, particularly in "One More Angel in Heaven" and "Benjamin Calypso."  This show was a welcome bit of fun after the shows on Friday and I especially recommend it for kids.

Our final show of the festival was Twelfth Night in the Engelstad Theatre.  This was a really fun show to end on because I laughed and laughed through the whole thing!  This production features a lot of physical comedy and it is extremely well done!  Some of my favorite moments include Duke Orsino (Rene Thornton, Jr.) dropping to the ground while languishing over his unrequited love for Olivia (Betsy Mugavero), Sir Toby Belch (Todd Denning) finding flasks hidden all over the set in unexpected places, Malvolio (Chris Mixon) practicing his smile, Viola (Sarah Hollis) and Sir Andrew Aguecheek (Josh Jeffers) fighting a duel, and Malvolio revealing his yellow stockings and cross garters!  I also loved all of the interactions between Sir Andrew, Sir Toby, Maria (Katie Cunningham) and Feste the Fool (Trent Dahlin) because the actors have such great comedic timing!  Another aspect of this production that I enjoyed was the use of pop songs played on traditional instruments by a trio of musicians (Samae Allred, Ben Cano, and Isabella Giordano) during transitions.  This show is incredibly entertaining and I highly recommend it!

Both Marilyn and I had such a great time at the festival this year (I may be back soon to see Hamlet again).  Go here for more information about the Utah Shakespeare Festival.

Summer Reading: The Death of Mrs. Westaway

Ruth Ware has become one of my favorite authors (I read In a Dark, Dark Wood as part of my summer reading list a few years ago, I read The Lying Game in one day while I was camping in Hanna, and I am currently reading The Woman in Cabin 10). These books are all intense psychological thrillers involving vulnerable young women isolated in dangerous locations and I find them to be incredibly suspenseful. This is especially true of The Death of Mrs. Westaway, the next selection on this year's summer reading list. Ever since her mother died in a tragic car accident, Harriet "Hal" Westaway has been living a hand-to-mouth existence reading Tarot cards at her mother's stall on the pier at Brighton. She has more bills than she can possibly pay and is threatened by a loan shark wanting the money she owes. Soon she receives a letter from a solicitor informing her that she is a beneficiary in her grandmother's will. She knows that this cannot be true as she was told by her mother that her grandparents died before she was born, but she is so desperate that she decides to travel to the funeral and use her Tarot reading skills to pretend to be the heir. She finds herself at Trepassen House, an imposing and somewhat menacing estate, with all of the rightful heirs, who have dangerous secrets, and discovers that she herself is part of the biggest secret of all. Hal is one of Ware's most vulnerable characters (although I really appreciated the fact that she is not an unreliable narrator) but she has a powerful instinct for survival so she is one of her most interesting characters. I found her situation to be very compelling and I was very invested in the resolution which I found to be quite satisfying. I loved Ware's descriptions of Trepassen House. The atmosphere is so ominous and mysterious and the tension builds and builds until the dramatic final confrontation. The use of Tarot card readings adds to the sense of dread. There are lots of twists and turns and, just when I thought I had it all figured out, I was completely thrown off by the ending. This is an incredibly suspenseful Gothic thriller that I enthusiastically recommend!

Note:  Have you read The Death of Mrs. Westaway?  What did you think?

Beethoven & Dvorak at St. Mary's Church

I really enjoyed seeing members of the Utah Symphony perform at St. Mary's Church in Park City as part of the Deer Valley Music Festival last year so I decided that I needed to add it to my list of fun things to do in the summer (the list is getting really long).  St. Mary's Church has amazing views of the mountains through the plate glass windows in the sanctuary and, when you add beautiful chamber music performed by the Utah Symphony, it is a wonderful experience to attend a concert there.  Last night's concert began with Beethoven's "Serioso" String Quartet arranged by Gustav Mahler for the string orchestra.  I thought is was very moody and atmospheric and I loved it!  Next, Associate Concertmaster Kathryn Eberle joined the orchestra as the soloist for Beethoven's Romance No. 2 for Violin and Orchestra and Dvorak's Romance for Violin and Orchestra.  Both of these pieces were very, well, romantic and I really enjoyed Eberle's performance because she makes it look so effortless.  After the intermission, the orchestra played "Pavane for a Dead Princess" by Maurice Ravel and this was definitely my favorite piece of the evening.  It was beautiful and melancholy and I loved the themes played the harp and the woodwinds.  The concert concluded with Mozart's Linz Symphony which was very dramatic.  I especially loved the timpani!  This concert was so lovely and I highly recommend attending one of the remaining performances at St. Mary's Church (go here for information and tickets).