Emma

I love Jane Austen (I once took a class entirely devoted to the works of Austen in college and it was probably my favorite class) and I love her novel Emma.  I have literally been counting down the days until I could see this glorious new adaptation which I did yesterday.  After Emma Woodhouse (Anya Taylor-Joy), a wealthy young woman who has no desire to get married herself, is successful in matching her governess Miss Taylor (Gemma Whelan) with Mr. Weston (Rupert Graves), she decides to take Harriet Smith (Mia Goth), a young woman of unknown parentage, under her wing.  She encourages her to reject the proposal of Robert Martin (Connor Swindells) because he is a farmer and she deems him not worthy of her.  She first sets her sights on Mr. Elton (Josh O'Connor) as a suitor for Harriet but he mistakes her interest in him and declares his love for her.  Then she picks Frank Churchill (Callum Turner), whom everyone tries to match with her, but he is secretly engaged to another.  Then Harriet falls in love with Mr. Knightley (Johnny Flynn), a Woodhouse family friend, but chaos ensures when Emma realizes that she has loved Mr. Knightley all along!  Emma's village of Highbury is filled with many eccentric characters, such as her hypochondriac father Mr. Woodhouse (Bill Nighy), a chatty old maid named Miss Bates (Miranda Hart), her long-suffering niece Jane Fairfax (Amber Anderson), and Mr. Elton's snotty wife Augusta (Tanya Reynolds), who make this story absolutely delightful.  I loved Taylor-Joy's characterization of Emma because she doesn't try to make her likeable but you somehow care about her, nonetheless.  I also liked her chemistry with Flynn because in every one of their interactions you just know that they belong together, especially when they are sparring.  The ensemble cast is simply marvelous and I can't really decide who I enjoyed more:  Nighy as Mr. Woodhouse (the business with the screens absolutely killed me), Hart as Miss Bates (who steals every scene she is in), or O'Connor as Elton (it cracked me up when he opened one eye while he was praying).  Even the actors who play the household staff at Hartfield are absolutely brilliant!  I laughed and laughed at all of their antics.  The production design is sumptuous with beautiful interiors, bucolic exteriors, and period perfect costumes (those empire waists!).  The scene at the ball was my favorite (I wrote a paper about the ritual of dance in Austen's novels for the aforementioned class).  How can just the slightest touch of hands be so romantic?  I loved everything about this movie and I predict that I will watch it several more times (before I purchase it for my Jane Austen movie collection).  I highly recommend it!

Onward

Yesterday I took Sean to see the new Disney Pixar movie Onward.  I have been looking forward to this movie for months and I convinced a reluctant Sean to come with me.   Long ago the world was inhabited by mythological creatures and the use of magic was commonplace.  However, magic was difficult to master so many technological advances took its place until it was almost extinct.   In present day an elf named Ian Lightfoot (Tom Holland), who lost his father before he had a chance to know him, is given a posthumous birthday present from him.  It is a magical staff with a rare phoenix gem and a spell to bring his father back to life for just one day.  Ian is full of self-doubt so his attempt to use the spell only brings half of his father back.  His older brother Barley (Chris Pratt), a ne'er-do-well who is obsessed with a role-playing game called Quest of Yore (I loved all of the references to Dungeons & Dragons used in this game), suggests that they need to go on a quest to find another phoenix gem to complete the spell.  Their quest to discover if there is still magic left in the world turns into a journey of self-discovery that is so heartwarming it brought a tear in my eye.  I loved it!   I particularly enjoyed the world-building in this movie because it is filled with enough dragons, wizards, elves, fairies, unicorns, and centaurs to satisfy my fantasy-loving heart and the animation is dazzling.  I loved that all of the characters, not just Ian and Barley, have to discover the magic that is dormant within themselves in order to succeed in their quests.  My favorite character arc is that of the manticore (Octavia Spencer) because she has become so tame that her tavern is now a family-friendly themed restaurant used for birthdays and bachelorette parties and she must find her inner beast in order to reverse a curse.  I loved the relationship between Ian and Barley because they have a playful yet adversarial camaraderie that is fun to watch and it makes the resolution between them all the more impactful.  Holland and Pratt are endearingly believable as the insecure Ian and the doofus Barley, respectively.  Finally, I loved Guinevere, the Econoline van complete with a mural of a unicorn, and an important scene where it saves the day was Sean's favorite part of the movie!  If you are a fan of Pixar (or a fantasy-loving nerd like me) you are sure to love this movie and I highly recommend it!

Note:  I may or may not have had to bribe Sean to see this with me but I think he enjoyed it more than he said he did.

Sketches of Spain

If you can’t go to Spain, the next best thing would be to go to Abravanel Hall for a Utah Symphony concert featuring several pieces inspired by Spain.  I was able to attend such a concert last night and it was absolutely exhilarating (almost like being there).  The first piece was Symphonie espagnole for Violin and Orchestra by Eduoard Lalo with guest soloist Benjamin Beilman.  It was fiery and passionate and I kept seeing flamenco dancers in my mind as I listened to it, especially during the final movement.  Beilman played it brilliantly and it looked like he was having so much fun.  I certainly had a lot of fun watching his bow fly across the strings of his violin (it was so fast)!  He received a thunderous standing ovation and then performed a beautiful encore (I didn't recognize the piece but I really liked it).  After the intermission the orchestra played Maurice Ravel’s Rapsodie espagnole.  It was really wild and boisterous and I pictured a bull fight in my mind.  Next came Habanera by Louis Aubert which was my favorite because it was so mysterious and seductive (I loved the theme played by the clarinet).  This time the music reminded me of a couple dancing a sultry tango.  The concert concluded with Iberia (from Images pour Orchestre) by Claude Debussy which was filled with beautiful melodies.  My favorite was the third movement because it is meant to represent a carnival.  I thought it was very playful and I especially enjoyed the chimes.  Music has the power to transport you to another time and place and, for a few hours, I was back in Spain with the Utah Symphony!  Even if your passport isn't up to date you can still get a ticket to tonight's performance (go here) and I highly recommend that you do.

Dear Evan Hansen at the Eccles

I really wanted to see Dear Evan Hansen so, even though I knew it was coming to the Eccles Theatre this season, I decided that I didn't want to wait that long and took a road trip to Las Vegas to see it at the Smith Center last year.  I thought the message that you are not alone was extremely powerful and I fell in love with the music.  I couldn't wait to see it again!  I had the chance last night and I loved it just as much!  Evan Hansen (Stephen Christopher Anthony) suffers from anxiety and feels insignificant and all alone ("Waving Through a Window").  Heidi (Jessica E. Sherman), his busy single mother, doesn't know what to do to help him ("Anybody Have a Map?").  His one friend, Jared (Alessandro Costantini), is only nice to him so his parents will pay for his car insurance and he is too scared to talk to Zoe (Stephanie La Rochelle), the girl he likes.  His therapist encourages him to write letters to himself to build his self confidence but Connor (Noah Kieserman), a deeply troubled young man, intercepts one of his letters from the printer because it mentions his sister Zoe.  When Connor takes his own life, his parents, Cynthia (Claire Rankin) and Larry (John Hemphill), find the letter and, assuming it is a suicide note written to Evan, reach out to him.  To comfort them, he pretends that he and Connor were friends ("For Forever").  When Cynthia and Larry press for more information, Evan asks Jared to create a history of emails between him and Connor ("Sincerely, Me").  Larry and Zoe struggle to reconcile Evan's version of Connor with the difficult son and brother they knew ("Requiem").  Zoe tells Evan that the only nice thing Connor ever said to her was in his suicide note, which Evan wrote ("If I Could Tell Her").  Alana (Ciara Alyse Harris), another lonely student at school, wants Evan to do more to keep Connor's memory alive ("Disappear") so they create The Connor Project.  Evan gives a heartfelt speech about loneliness ("You Will Be Found") at a memorial assembly for Connor and it goes viral.  He begins a relationship with Zoe ("Only Us") and bonds with her family ("To Break in a Glove") to the exclusion of Emily, Jared, and Alana ("Good For You").  When the truth is finally revealed ("Words Fail"), Evan realizes that he was never really alone ("So Big/ So Small").  Evan was played by the same actor that I saw in Las Vegas and I found him to be incredibly endearing.  His portrayal of a boy who doesn't feel like he fits in made me laugh and cry.  My favorite song from this show has always been "You Will Be Found" but last night I was particularly struck by "Waving through a Window" because I think we have all felt like outsiders at one time or another and the words to this song are so poignant.  I really like the use of social media, which is depicted on large moving panels, because, even though the world seems increasingly connected, so many people struggle to find a connection.  I love this musical so much and I highly recommend seeing it if you have the opportunity.  It runs at the Eccles Theatre through March 14 (go here for tickets).

Once on This Island at PTC

Last night I went to see PTC's production of Once on This Island and I absolutely loved it!  On an island in the French Antilles, a young girl is frightened by a storm so a group of storytellers tell her about another girl named Ti Moune (Ava Lyn Smith) who survived a storm to try and calm her.  Ti Moune (Tyla Collier as an adult) is a dark-skinned peasant girl who falls in love with Daniel Beauxhomme (Jordan Alexander), a light-skinned wealthy descendant of a French plantation owner, after she rescues him from a car accident.  This relationship is frowned upon because the peasants and the grand hommes do not interact due to racial and class divisions.  The four gods of the island, Asaka, Mother of the Earth (Galyana Castillo); Agwe, God of Water (Terance Reddick); Erzulie, Goddess of Love (Kristian Espiritu); and Papa Ge, Demon of Death (Paul Jordan Jansen); intercede on her behalf in both positive and negative ways until love triumphs to bring the different groups together and her story is told again and again through the generations.  This fairy tale might not end the way you think it should but it has a beautiful message about love, loss, forgiveness, redemption, prejudice, and the power of storytelling.  I loved all of the Caribbean-inspired music in this show but my favorite songs were "And the Gods Heard Her Prayer," "Rain," "Pray," "Forever Yours," "Mama Will Provide," and "Why We Tell the Story."  Each number involves the clever use of items found around the stage (I especially enjoyed how the gods appeared and disappeared), dazzling choreography, and colorful and vibrant costumes.  The entire cast, many of whom play multiple characters with just the addition of an accessory or prop, is wonderful.  However, I was blown away by Collier (who has a beautiful voice and is an exceptional dancer) because she embodies so many emotions in her portrayal of a woman who sacrifices herself for love.   This is a beautiful and powerful production that should not be missed (go here for tickets).