Thriller 2020

One of my favorite Halloween traditions is seeing a performance of ODT's dance extravaganza Thriller.  With so many things being canceled because of Covid-19 I was so happy to learn that this year's show was still going to happen!  It moved from Kingsbury Hall to Capitol Theatre, which is a much bigger venue, and all of the usual protocols (socially distant seating, contactless ticketing, digital programs, and mandatory masks) were in place.  The show was a bit scaled down without an intermission and the performers wore masks on stage.  Even though the audience was smaller than the usual sold-out crowd, we cheered in anticipation for every familiar number including the undead cavorting in a graveyard to Michael Jackson's iconic song "Thriller," a breakdancing mummy and his maidens in "Curse of the Mummy," a Pas de Deux gone horribly wrong in "Frankenstein & Frankenstein," a group of misbehaving pandas in "Miss Alli's Nightmare," tap dancing skeletons in "Dem Bones," a trio of weapon wielding Jasons in "Jason Jam" (an audience favorite), scarecrows that are not what they seem in "Children of the Corn," a coven of condemned witches seeking vengeance from beyond the grave in "Salem's Mass" (my favorite number), acrobatic vampires in "Lost Boys," and a costume parade in "Trick or Treat."  As in year's past, artists from Aeris Aerial Arts performed several numbers in between the dances including "Siren of the Sea" and "Phantom of the Opera" (which was amazing).  There were also several original films by Scott Winn featuring twerking stormtroopers and dancing Orcs.  This year, unfortunately, also featured the return of Giggle Girl's (Emily Perucca) comedy act in between numbers.  I think she is really annoying (where is Bubbles the Clown?).  Many of the numbers are performed year after year and I always enjoy seeing all of the subtle changes in the choreography.  This year there were a few humorous references to Covid-19!  One of Miss Alli's misbehaving pandas refused to keep his mask on and one of the Jasons put a mask on (over his hockey mask), used hand sanitizer, and used an infrared thermometer to find someone from the audience to participate on stage.  I think I enjoyed the show more than usual this year because I was so happy to be able to see it!  It just wouldn't be Halloween without it.  There are three more performances at Capitol Theatre (go here) and I highly recommend getting a ticket!

Note:  I usually spend my time trying to avoid eye contact with the undead who roam the aisles before the show but this year they stayed in their graves because of Covid-19.  I kind of missed them!

Honest Thief

Last night I went to see Honest Thief, the latest iteration of Liam Neeson portraying a man with a very particular set of skills who exacts revenge against someone who has wronged him.  This time Neeson is Tom Dolan and his very particular skill is demolition with explosives.  Dolan is increasingly disaffected after leaving the military and spends the next several years robbing banks for the adrenaline rush.  Once he meets Annie Wilkins (Kate Walsh), however, he decides that he wants a future with her without the guilt of trying to hide his past so he attempts to turn himself, and the money he has stolen, in to the FBI with the hope of getting a reduced sentence.  Agent Baker (Robert Patrick) and his partner Agent Meyers (Jeffrey Donovan) don't believe him initially because they have had many fake confessions so they send their underlings, Agent Nivens (Jai Courtney) and Agent Hall (Anthony Ramos), to investigate.  To convince them that he is the actual bank robber, Dolan sends the agents to the storage unit where he has hidden the money but Nivens convinces a reluctant Hall to take the money for themselves.  When a suspicious Baker arrives to investigate, Nivens kills him and frames Dolan for the murder.  Dolan goes on the run with Annie, but when she is attacked, he vows revenge against the FBI.  This movie delivers exactly what is expected and I found it to be sufficiently entertaining for a Tuesday night (my screening was absolutely packed by Covid-19 standards).  The story is not very original but Neeson gives it his all in a physically demanding role and Ramos is quite compelling as a conflicted agent who regrets that he didn't do the right thing when he had the chance.  There is a running gag with Agent Meyers and the dog he has inherited after a bitter divorce that seems a little out of place but I found it amusing.  The action sequences, which involve multiple shoot-outs, foot races, car chases, explosions, and lots of hand-to-hand combat, are a lot of fun to watch.  I enjoyed this movie for what it is and I recommend it to fans of action thrillers (or anyone who is bored on a Tuesday night).

The Shining

The Shining is one of my favorite Stephen King novels and, even though it deviates from the source material quite a bit, I think Stanley Kubrick's adaptation is a masterpiece.  I do think that the book is much scarier (I slept with the light on for a week after I finished reading it as a teenager) but the movie is incredibly unsettling.  Just hearing the dark and ominous notes of Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz during the opening sequence gave me goosebumps when I had a chance to see it again yesterday as part of the TCM Big Screen Classics series.  Aspiring writer Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) is desperate to escape from his troubled past and hopes to find the time and solitude to work on his novel so he takes a job as the winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel in the remote mountains of Colorado with his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and his young son Danny (Danny Lloyd).  Once they arrive, the cook Dick Hallorann (Scatman Crothers) recognizes that Danny has a strong psychic ability that he calls "shining" and warns him that the hotel also has a "shine" because of its troubled past.  Danny begins having frightening visions about the former inhabitants of the hotel but Jack seems to be haunted by these malevolent ghosts.  When a severe winter storm cuts them off from the outside world, Jack has a complete psychotic break causing him to attack his family.  What makes this movie so unnerving is that you are never entirely sure of what is happening at the Overlook Hotel because Jack, who is a recovering alcoholic with a history of hurting his son, is such an unreliable character.  Is he slowly being driven mad by isolation and claustrophobia or is he being possessed by the ghosts of the hotel?  Whenever Jack interacts with the ghosts of the former caretaker Grady (Philip Stone), the bartender Lloyd (Joe Turkel), or a woman murdered in the bathtub (Lia Beldam), there is always a mirror in the scene leading to speculation that he might be talking to himself.  The sound design, including Danny's Big Wheel traveling across different floor surfaces, ice cubes rattling in Jack's glass, the echo of the typewriter in the cavernous lobby, and the staccato beating of a heart, is incredibly foreboding and does much to enhance the tension.  The long Steadicam tracking shots following the characters through the maze of the empty hotel (and an actual maze) also highlight the isolation.  The many parallels between the shot compositions (which become more apparent the more times you see it) are absolutely brilliant, especially in the scene with Danny and Jack in their apartment and the scene with Jack and the woman in Room 237 because it makes us question how Danny gets the bruises on his neck.  Nicholson, in an iconic performance, is unbelievably menacing and conveys a feeling of terror with just a glance.  Duvall is also very good (although my biggest criticism of the movie as compared to the book is the character of Wendy because she is so weak and passive).  This  movie is one of the best examples of how to create an atmosphere of unease and I highly recommend it, particularly on the big screen (go here for more information).

This Is The Place Heritage Park

Yesterday Sean and I had one of our Friday outings to This Is The Place Heritage Park at the mouth of Emigration Canyon.  It was on my list of places to visit because I had never been there before!

The monument is named in honor of Brigham Young's famous statement that the Salt Lake Valley was where the Mormon pioneers should settle after trekking west.  It commemorates the Mormon pioneers as well as the settlers and explorers of the American West.  I liked reading about all of the people depicted on the monument and the views of the Salt Lake Valley were spectacular!

After wandering around the monument we visited the Heritage Village which is a living history museum featuring restorations or replicas of actual buildings from Utah's history.  It was a lot of fun to tour these buildings (it was a beautiful fall day with blue skies and cool temperatures) but some of the interactive pioneer exhibits, such as pony rides and the blacksmith demonstration, were not going on because of Covid-19.

Because some of the activities are limited right now, there is a special price for admission.  Tickets are $7.95 per person to tour the Heritage Village and they must be purchased online (go here).  The Heritage Village is open Monday-Saturday 10:00 am to 2:00 pm.  In addition to the Village, there is a Visitors Center and Gift Shop, a Restaurant, a Candy Store, and an Ice Cream Store.  Sean and I had a lot of fun visiting!

Utah Opera's The Human Voice and Gentleman's Island

The Utah Opera 2020-2021 season was meant to begin with Wagner's The Flying Dutchman but, since it is a large and complicated production, it was replaced by a more intimate double bill of The Human Voice by Francois Poulenc and Gentleman's Island by Joseph Horovitz in order to comply with Covid-19 guidelines.  I usually prefer the classic tragedies sung in German or Italian but I was very intrigued by the premise of both of these operas because they both explore the theme of isolation which is very appropriate for these times.  The evening began with The Human Voice which is based on the play La voix humaine by Jean Cocteau but updated to feature modern technology to emphasize the isolation between two people.  The audience overhears Elle's (Wendy Bryn Harmer) side of a phone conversation with her lover of five years who has called her to inform her that he is getting married to someone else the next day.  She goes back and forth between many different emotions as she professes her love for him, expresses remorse for hurting him, threatens suicide to manipulate him, rages against his betrayal, and then succumbs to sorrow as he hangs up.  Harmer conveys these emotions brilliantly with subtle variations in her voice and it is surprisingly very compelling.  The set consists of a bedroom in an apartment with a city skyline projected on a screen behind it.  At various points in their conversation, images from her iPad are also projected on the screen as she reminisces about their life together and one of the most poignant moments occurs when she deletes pictures of him.  The score, which features just the piano, is sometimes incredibly beautiful and sometimes strident depending upon Elle's mood.  After a brief pause to change the set (there is not an intermission to avoid gathering in the lobby) the evening continued with Gentleman's Island which is very different in tone but also explores the isolation that happens when social conventions are taken too far.  Mr. Gray (Brian Stucki), a tea taster, and Mr. Somers (Christopher Clayton), an indigo importer, are the only survivors of a shipwreck and land on a deserted island.  Since they have not been formally introduced, etiquette forbids them from talking to each other.  They each claim a portion of the beach, one where there is an abundance of oysters and one where there is an abundance of turtles, but they each prefer the other's food supply and cannot abide their own.  Rather than risk a social faux pas, they each resign themselves to starving to death.  Stucki and Clayton give incredibly playful performances as proper Victorian Englishmen and the music is quite light and airy.  The set is very minimal with the seashore projected on a screen with the musicians behind it instead of in the pit.  It was a delightful performance after the heightened drama of The Human Voice.  I was so happy to be back at Capitol Theatre and I was very impressed with the precautions taken to keep the audience safe (socially distant seating, contactless ticketing, mandatory masks, and digital programs).  I highly recommend this production which continues through October 18 (go here for tickets).