Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

I have been looking forward to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness with great anticipation because I am a fan of the character and the first trailer was so thrilling it gave me goosebumps.  I had the chance to see it last night and I enjoyed it but I didn't love it as much as I expected to.  Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is attending the wedding of his colleague and former lover Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams) when he is forced to rescue a young girl named America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez) from a demon with the help of Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong).  It turns out that Chavez is being pursued by demons because she possesses the power to travel through the multiverse.  Strange enlists the help of Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) to protect Chavez but learns that the Scarlet Witch is responsible for the attack and is using spells from the Darkhold, a book of forbidden magic, to summon the demons.  Wanda wants Chavez's power to travel to an alternate universe where a version of herself is still a mother and will stop at nothing to get it.  Strange and Chavez travel to another universe looking for the Book of Vishanti, which will counteract the Darkhold, and chaos ensues as he is confronted with different versions of himself and other superheroes.  I think the story is incredibly convoluted with a lot of different characters and backstories to follow (you might find the action confusing if you haven't seen WandaVision, which I have, and What If?, which I have not).  I got the gist of what was happening but I feel like I missed a lot of the subtleties because I am not familiar with all of the characters, especially scenes involving the Illuminati (which feature some really fun cameos).  Having said that, Sam Raimi's distinct visual style is what makes this movie so entertaining because the images on the screen are absolutely brilliant, especially when Strange and Chavez travel through the multiverse and the space between universes.  I also really enjoyed the horror elements integrated into the action, particularly the sequences involving a zombie.  Finally, Cumberbatch is, as ever, a fantastic Stephen Strange but this movie really belongs to Olsen because Wanda's character arc dealing with her grief is very powerful and she absolutely delivers!  I definitely recommend seeing Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness but I think the MCU is running the risk of becoming bloated with too many characters, stories, and timelines for the casual movie fan.

Camelot at HCTO

The first theatrical performance I remember seeing is the musical Camelot.  I remember everything about it very vividly because it was the last day of school so spirits were already running high.  I got all dressed up and went with a youth group to see the show at Promised Valley Playhouse and I found it to be an incredibly thrilling experience.  It is not performed very often any more but it will always be a sentimental favorite!  I was very excited to see HCTO's version last night and it was no less thrilling than when I saw it as a 13 year old girl!   This production is a stripped down and simplified telling of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table featuring Rex Kocherhans as Arthur, Kat Hawley Cook as Guenevere, and Scott Hendrickson as Lancelot with a small ensemble (Jordan Briggs, Jake Slater, Wade Flanagan, Caleb Collier, Braedon Reynolds, and Daniel Bradley) performing all of the other roles.  The set and props are very minimal and several scenes are described by narrators rather than explicitly portrayed.  However, all of the well-known songs are included such as "Camelot," "The Lusty Month of May," "How to Handle a Woman," "If Ever I Would Leave You," "Fie on Goodness," "What Do the Simple Folk Do?," and "Guenevere."  Despite the simplicity of the storytelling, I really loved the staging of all of the numbers, particularly "The Lusty Month of May" during which colored ribbons drop from the ceiling with choreography that mimics the dancing of the maypole, "The Joust" during which members of the ensemble create the sounds of the galloping horses and the crashing armor with household objects, and "Guenevere" during which the death of the knights in battle is portrayed with red scarves surrounding them as they fall.  This adaptation really focuses on the love triangle between Arthur, Guenevere, and Lancelot and the three lead actors give wonderful performances filled with pathos.  I was especially impressed with Kocherhans in the scene where Arthur discovers that Lancelot and Guenevere love each other because the conflict he feels is palpable.  Even though the sets and props are scaled down, the costumes are not because they are gorgeous!  I couldn't pick a favorite among Guenevere's gowns because they are all incredibly elaborate and beautifully embellished!  There's simply not a more congenial spot than HCTO for their production of Camelot!  I highly recommend that you get a ticket (go here) before the lusty month of May is over!

The Scarlet Pimpernel at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

I enjoyed the Terrace Plaza Playhouse's production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers so much I knew I had to come back! Last night I was able to see their version of one of my very favorite shows, The Scarlet Pimpernel, and I loved it. Percy Blakeney (Jeremy Gross) has disguised himself as the Scarlet Pimpernel and has recruited a band of followers in order to save the people of Paris from the sinister Chauvelin (Maxx Teuscher) and his guillotine during the French Revolution. He keeps his identity a secret from his wife Marguerite St. Just (Jessica Andrus), a Parisian actress, because he believes that she is helping Chauvelin, her former lover. He is also keeping his identity secret from the Prince of Wales (Quin Geilman) by pretending to be a foppish nincompoop. However, he must make his most daring rescue when Marguerite is arrested trying to rescue her brother Armand (Jaron Michaelis). I have attended three different productions of this musical at HCT as well as other productions around the Salt Lake valley and I think Gross is the best Percy I have ever seen. He is incredibly powerful in "Into the Fire" (my favorite song in the show) and very moving in "She Was There" but I especially enjoyed his hilarious physicality as the foppish nincompoop. I laughed out loud every time he mispronounced Chauvelin and could hardly breathe during "The Creation of Man." I also really enjoyed Teuscher's portrayal of Chauvelin, particularly his exasperation with Percy. His rendition of "Falcon in the Dive" is very stirring and he displays more passion during "Where's the Girl" than I have ever seen before. Andrus has an incredibly beautiful voice but she is sometimes overpowered by the music and the ensemble, especially during "Storybook" and "The Scarlet Pimpernel." However, she gives a very affecting performance of "I'll Forget You" (I had a tear in my eye) and I loved her interactions with Gross and Teuscher during "The Riddle." As with Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, I was really impressed with the clever use of the intimate space, particularly the staging of "Into the Fire" as the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel travels from England to France by boat and then rescues the condemned prisoners from the guillotine. The choreography is fantastic and I loved how silk handkerchiefs and walking sticks are incorporated into "The Creation of Man" and I loved the intricate patterns created in "Ouilles Gavotte." The backdrop consists of marble archways with flags denoting England or France and various set pieces are brought in to create Percy's study, a garden, and a prison. The guillotine is very dramatic and the special effects used as the blade drops are impressive because it looks very real.  Finally, the costumes in this show are spectacular!  All of Marguerite's gowns are absolutely gorgeous but the outfits worn by the League of the Scarlet Pimpernel take "frou frou" to new levels (I loved the neon colored animal prints). I can't tell you how many times I've read the novel by Baroness Orczy (I love the story) or how many times I've listened to the Original Broadway Cast recording (I love the music) so I have very high expectations whenever I see this show and the Terrace Plaza Playhouse did not disappoint! I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Hatching

There are always a few films at Sundance that catch my eye but, for one reason or another, I am not able to see them.  One such film was Hatching but, luckily, it is now playing at the Broadway.  I had the chance to see it last night and, while I found it to be a bit gross, it is absolutely riveting.  Tinja (Siiri Solalinna) is a twelve-year-old gymnast who is desperate to please her mother (Sophia Heikkila), a lifestyle blogger who continually documents her "lovely life."  Mother expects perfection from everyone in the family, especially from her daughter, and they do everything they can to keep up appearances like automatons.  Mother is even going through the motions herself because she is having an affair with a handyman (Reino Nordin) but stays with her meek husband (Jani Volanen) for the sake of her blog.  When a bird accidentally flies into their living room and wreaks havoc in the picture perfect space, mother kills it mercilessly.  Tinja finds the bird's abandoned nest and discovers an egg which she brings home and cares for until it hatches.  Tinja lavishes all of the love that has been denied her by her mother on the creature (a bird with humanoid characteristics) until it begins acting out all of her repressed emotions with tragic consequences.  Solalinna (in her acting debut) gives an amazing performance as a young girl coming undone under the weight of her mother's expectations, particularly in several scenes where Tinja looks at her mother and tries to figure out what she wants and in the scenes where she interacts with the creature and is finally able to show her emotions.  Heikkila is also outstanding because mother always has a smile on her face but she still manages to be incredibly menacing.  The design of the creature is brilliant because it is quite scary but also sympathetic, especially as it transforms into a version of Tinja, and the practical effects involving the creature (which required five puppeteers) are deeply disturbing to watch but you can't look away.  The production design creates a world where everything is perfect on the surface (lots of pastels and flowers) but the lighting and sound design show the evil lurking underneath and this is incredibly effective in creating an unsettling atmosphere.  This is definitely a cautionary tale about seeking perfection.  Sometimes the highly curated images people post on social media mask a deep unhappiness and I found the exploration of this theme to be fascinating.  I recommend this movie but only to fans of body horror (it is really gross).

The Bad Guys

Last night I spontaneously decided to see The Bad Guys (there aren't many new releases this weekend) and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.  A crew of notorious criminals made up of anthropomorphic animals known for being scary to humans, including Mr. Wolf (Sam Rockwell), Mr. Snake (Marc Maron), Mr. Shark (Craig Robinson), Ms. Tarantula (Awkwafina), and Mr. Piranha (Anthony Ramos), attempt to steal a valuable trophy being presented to a philanthropist guinea pig named Professor Marmalade (Richard Ayoade) by the governor Diane Foxington (Zazie Beetz) but they are caught by the overzealous human chief of police (Alex Borstein) who has been pursuing them for years.  Professor Marmalade convinces the governor that he can reform them by the time of his charity gala and she promises them a pardon if he succeeds.  Mr. Wolf agrees to the proposal, telling his crew that they will only be pretending to be good to get the pardon and to have another crack at stealing the trophy.  However, Mr. Wolf starts to like being one of the good guys and some of the heroes start acting like bad guys.  Chaos ensues.  The story gets a bit bogged down in the second act but I think the emphasis on each animal's defining characteristic is really clever, particularly when the tarantula (a computer hacker) uses all eight of her legs to type on different keyboards.  The voice cast is outstanding and I liked the look of the animation because it is very stylized with both 2D and 3D images.  The action sequences are a lot of fun, especially a high-speed chase after a bank robbery and an elaborate escape from prison, and the message that you shouldn't judge someone based on their appearance is a good one.  As with most animated features geared for children, there are a lot of references that adults are sure to find very amusing (lots of nods to other heist movies).  This is a highly entertaining movie and I recommend it for both children and adults.