The Hunchback of Notre Dame at HCTO

After seeing two outstanding productions (one at HCT and another at CPT) I have become a huge fan of The Hunchback of Notre Dame and, since I thoroughly enjoyed HCTO's production of The 39 Steps, I have been looking forward to their version of this stirring musical for weeks.  I was particularly interested in seeing how this big and complicated show (both of the aforementioned productions had very elaborate sets) could be adapted for the small and intimate stage at HCTO.  I was able to see it last night and I loved everything about it!  Quasimodo (Chase Ramsey) has been hidden by his uncle Frollo (Chase Petersen) in the bell tower of Notre Dame Cathedral all of his life because of a deformity.  He yearns to leave the cathedral and decides that the Feast of Fools would be the perfect opportunity to do so.  He is eventually crowned the King of Fools but, when the crowd turns on him, he is rescued by a gypsy named Esmeralda (Phoebe Shepherd Beenfield).  She also catches the eye of the captain of the cathedral guard, Phoebus de Martin (Woody Brook), who falls in love with her and she bewitches Frollo who becomes obsessed with possessing her.  When Esmeralda rejects Frollo, he orders Phoebus to arrest her but he refuses and they both become fugitives.  Quasimodo gives them sanctuary in the cathedral forcing a dramatic confrontation in the bell tower.  All four leads have incredibly beautiful voices and I loved their performances of "God Help the Outcasts," "Hellfire," "Heaven's Light," and "Someday."  Ramsey imbues Quasimodo with a childlike wonder while Petersen does an outstanding job of portraying Frollo's torment. I also really enjoyed the depiction of the Gargoyles, especially their interactions with Quasimodo in the songs "Top of the World" and "Made of Stone."  The staging of this show is incredibly innovative, particularly "Hellfire" because Esmeralda taunts Frollo in what appears to be flames and the confrontation in the bell tower because the pyrotechnics are quite spectacular.  The choreography in "Topsy Turvy," "Rhythm of the Tambourine," and "Tavern Song" is brilliant because it involves many dancers performing intricate steps in a small space.  I loved the set and, while it is not as substantial as the others I've seen, it is highly effective.  I particularly liked the stained glass windows and the bell tower (one of my favorite scenes is when Quasimodo rings the bells).  I was so impressed with this show (I actually saw a preview which was flawless) and I highly recommend it (go here for tickets).

Note:  My dear friend Karen, whom I haven't seen in more than a year, was in the audience and it was so much fun to talk to her during the intermission.  I met her on a trip to NYC and we bonded over our shared obsession with Hamilton.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

I was not a fan of Venom (to put it mildly) but I spontaneously decided to see the sequel, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, last night and it was much better than I was expecting.  Shortly after the events of the first movie Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and his symbiote Venom are struggling to coexist because Eddie wants to reestablish himself as a serious journalist and Venom is increasingly frustrated because he wants more freedom to eat people.  A serial killer on death row named Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson) gives Eddie an exclusive interview but Venom is provoked into attacking him and the resulting altercation causes Cletus to ingest a piece of the symbiote.  Eventually a fully formed symbiote named Carnage emerges which allows Cletus to escape from prison during his execution.  The relationship between Eddie and Venom deteriorates and they separate for a time (with a hilarious scene where Venom goes to a club) but they are forced to work together when Cletus uses Carnage to rescue his girlfriend Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris), a mutant known as Shriek because of her sonic vocal abilities, and kidnap Anne (Michelle Williams), Eddie's former fiancee.  An epic confrontation ensues in which Eddie and Venom must learn that they are better when they work together.  I think the plot is incredibly thin with quite a few holes (Venom is inexplicably able to spawn a red symbiote that is bigger and stronger than him) but I still found it to be a lot of fun.  I especially enjoyed the witty and amusing banter between Eddie and Venom but I also found the exploration of their relationship to be surprisingly poignant.  Hardy's characterization of Eddie is more consistent in this movie than the last one and Harrelson looks like he is having a ball playing such an over the top homicidal maniac.  The battle between Eddie/Venom and Cletus/Carnage seems like it is over very quickly and the stakes are not as high compared to other superhero movies but it is still quite thrilling.  I can't say that I loved this movie but, in my opinion, it is an improvement over the first one and I recommend it to fans of the characters.

Note:  It goes without saying that you should stay for a mid-credits scene.  It's a good one!

Dracula and Frankenstein Double Feature

Like everyone else, it seems, I really enjoy watching horror movies during the month of October so I couldn't resist the chance to see a double feature of the 1931 versions of Dracula and Frankenstein on the big screen yesterday.  Unbelievably, I had never seen either of these movies before so it was a lot of fun!  They are based on the novels by Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley, respectively, although they take a lot of liberties with the source material (I used to teach both novels, alternating each year, to my British literature classes) in order to be more cinematic.  In Dracula, Bela Lugosi plays Count Dracula, a vampire from Transylvania who emigrates to London and preys upon several young women.  It is very atmospheric with lots of fog and dramatic lighting, especially on Dracula's eyes as he bewitches his victims, and some impressive (for the time) special effects involving bats.  I was particularly struck by the fact that there is not a score, which seems so unusual now, and by all of the long periods of silence.  I also liked Lugosi's portrayal of Dracula and all of the close-ups on his face to show his sinister intentions.  However, I thought the ending was really ambiguous and abrupt which prompted some laughter from my audience.  In Frankenstein, Colin Clive is an obsessed scientist who digs up corpses with his hunchbacked assistant in order to bestow life on the being he creates.  Boris Karloff is the resulting monster who terrorizes Frankenstein's village and attacks his fiancee.  As with Dracula, I was quite impressed with the special effects, particularly the scene where Frankenstein harnesses the power of electricity to bestow life on his creature.  I also enjoyed Karloff's performance because he is quite frightening as the monster (his makeup is very elaborate for the time) but there is also a vulnerability to him.  The mob scene where the villagers pursue the monster with torches is also quite spectacular.  I really enjoyed seeing these movies because they are now regarded as iconic.  In fact, the portrayal of these characters in popular culture today is informed more by these movies than by the novels that inspired them.  I definitely recommend seeking them out this month!

Note:  Fathom Events will also be presenting The Invisible Man and The Wolf Man as a double feature later this month (go here for information and tickets) as part of the 90th Anniversary of the so-called Universal Monsters.

Michael Buble at the Vivint Arena

I have always wanted to see Michael Buble in concert but, for one reason or the other, I never had the opportunity.  When I heard he was coming to SLC last year, I bought a ticket for the concert immediately but, after Covid upended everything, the show was postponed a number of times.  It finally happened last night and I can't remember when I have had so much fun.  I had a huge smile on my face the entire time!  I love Buble's voice and I really enjoyed watching him perform because he is the ultimate showman.  He is also just a little bit irreverent and his interactions with the crowd were hilarious.  He performed, along with an insanely talented group of musicians and back-up singers, some lovely arrangements of quite a few standards, such as "Feeling Good," "My Funny Valentine," "I Only Have Eyes For You," "Such a Night," "When You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)," and "You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You." He talked about growing up in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, mentioning that it was famous for producing a bunch of hockey players that most people in the audience wouldn't know (this made me laugh because I know a quite a few of them, including my favorite player Joe Sakic), and he spoke lovingly of his grandfather's support of his singing career before dedicating "Lazy River" to him.  He dedicated "When I Fall In Love" and "To Love Somebody" (one of my favorites of the night) to all of the couples in the audience before quipping that if the singles felt left out they could join a couple in a threesome to spice things up!  He sang a snippet of "Everything" with a delighted audience member (after bragging about the long microphone he invented to comply with social distancing requirements).  He also performed the original songs "Haven't Met You Yet" and "Home," which are favorites of mine, as well as a beautiful rendition of "Forever Now," which he wrote for his son after a long illness (this brought tears to my eyes).  He turned the Vivint Arena into an intimate club by moving to a smaller stage at the other end of the floor with a few of his musicians to sing "Buona sera," "Just a Gigolo," "I Ain't Got Nobody" and "You Never Can Tell" and then ended his set with an exuberant performance of "Cry Me a River."  For the encore he performed "Where or When," "Everything" (I was so happy he performed the full version of this because it is one of my favorites), and an emotional rendition of "You Were Always on My Mind" after expressing his gratitude to his musicians, crew, and the audience.  Buble was brimming with energy and enthusiasm the whole evening and his show was everything I hoped it would be!  It was definitely worth the wait!

Note:  This was the first of several concerts I have this month!  Yay for the return of live music!

Dear Evan Hansen

I really love the musical Dear Evan Hansen.  I've seen the Broadway touring production twice (in Las Vegas and SLC) and I think the music, staging, and message are absolutely brilliant.  I was looking forward to the movie adaptation until I heard all of the negative reviews and, I have to admit, they gave me pause.  I finally went to see it last night and it was both better and worse than I was expecting.  Evan Hansen (Ben Platt) suffers from anxiety and feels insignificant and all alone and his single mother Heidi (Julianne Moore) means well but struggles with how to help him.  His one friend, Jared (Nik Dodani), is only nice to him because their mothers are friends and he is too shy to talk to Zoe (Kaitlyn Dever), the girl he likes.  His therapist encourages him to write letters to himself to help build his confidence but, when he does, a deeply troubled fellow student named Connor (Colton Ryan) intercepts it from the printer because it mentions his sister Zoe.  When Connor takes his own life, his parents Cynthia (Amy Adams) and Larry (Danny Pino) find the letter and, believing it to be a suicide note, reach out to Evan.  To comfort Connor's parents, Evan pretends that they were friends.  This falsehood eventually spirals out of control, particularly when Alana (Amandla Stenberg), another lonely girl at school, wants to do something to keep Connor's memory alive.  When the truth is finally revealed, Evan realizes that he was never really alone.  Much of the criticism about this movie has to do with the issue of mental health and the fact that the entire narrative centers on a lie.  However, in my opinion, Evan is so lonely that he will do anything, even perpetuate a lie, to form a connection with someone and this response rings very true to me (I think most of the questionable actions taken by several characters, including Connor’s family and Alana, are in order to find a connection).  I find Evan to be an incredibly sympathetic character and I personally relate to his need to be seen and accepted.  Another criticism is that Platt, at age 27, is much too old for the role.  While I did find the makeup worn to make him look younger to be a bit disconcerting at first, I think his vocal performance more than makes up for it and I especially loved his renditions of "Waving Through a Window" and "You Will Be Found."  I also enjoyed the powerful performances of Dever and Moore.  My biggest disappointment with this movie is the staging.  One of the biggest themes of the musical is that, while the world is increasingly connected by technology, so many people struggle to form a connection.  This is emphasized on stage by large moving panels depicting various social media platforms throughout the show and these overshadow the minimal set pieces.  I don't think the use of social media translates as well on the screen so this message is somewhat diminished.  Even though several songs are eliminated (which is also problematic in regards to character development, especially Heidi), the pace is sometimes incredibly slow and it feels overlong.  I definitely prefer Dear Evan Hansen on the stage but I didn't hate this adaptation (it is certainly not as bad as Cats).