The Lion King at the Eccles

The first time I saw The Lion King was on a theatre trip to London with PTC.  I was so overcome by all of the animals marching down the aisles during "Circle of Life" that I actually shed a tear!  I have since seen in on Broadway and in SLC several times but I don't think I will ever get tired of it!  I had the chance to see it again last night at the Eccles and it was just as magical as the first time (I sat on the aisle and I have to admit that, once again, I had a tear in my eye when the baby elephant walked by me).  This musical tells the well-known story of how a lion cub learns how to be a king and I love everything about it!  The puppets and prosthetics used to represent the animals are absolutely amazing (my favorites are the giraffes and elephants) and after a while you don't even see the actors who are manipulating the puppets any more because they transform themselves so completely.  I also really like the use of light and shadow in many of the scenes, especially during the confrontation with Scar.  The staging is brilliant, especially when Mufasa and Simba frolic on the grasslands, when Sarabi and the lionesses hunt an antelope, when Simba is trapped during the wildebeest stampede in the gorge (it actually looks like the wildebeests are running towards the audience), when Timon falls into the river, and when Mufasa appears to Simba in the stars.  I also really like all of the choreography with the hyenas (I forgot that they come down the aisles during "Chow Down").  Many of the songs from the animated classic are included but there are also some new ones.  I love all of the traditional African music but I got goosebumps when Aaron Nelson, as Mufasa, sang "They Live in You," when Khalifa White, as Nala, sang "Shadowland" (my favorite song in the show), when Darian Sanders, as Simba, sang "Endless Night," and when Gugwana Dlamini, as Rafiki, sang "He Lives in You."  Of course, "Hakuna Matata" with Tony Freeman as Timon and John E. Brady as Pumbaa is a lot of fun and Spencer Plachy as Scar is suitably villainous in "Be Prepared."  I am so happy that I had the chance to see this wonderful show again and I highly recommend getting a ticket during the SLC run (go here for tickets).  I especially recommend it to families because the children all around me were awe-struck by all of the animals!

The Addams Family at the Terrace Plaza Playhouse

Last night I went to the second production of The Addams Family in as many weeks. This time it was the Terrace Plaza Playhouse's version and, once again, I had a lot of fun watching it. The Addams family relies on their dead ancestors to help them through life and they need them now more than ever because Wednesday (Arianna Evans) has fallen in love with a boy from Ohio named Lucas Beineke (Trey Cornell). She wants his uptight parents, Mal (Josh Curtis) and Alice (Jana Plowman), to meet her family, including her father Gomez (Nathan Sachs), her mother Morticia (Natalie Petersen), her brother Pugsley (Amauree Mack), her uncle Fester (David Storm), her Grandma (Carla Zarate), and their butler Lurch (Drew Saddler), so she arranges a dinner and requests that they give her just one normal night. Chaos ensues when a mishap involving a poisonous potion occurs and it is up to Uncle Fester, with the help of the ancestors (Antonio Moya, Colby Majors, Ethan Page, Evelyn Bush, Ian Wellisch, Isabelle Page, Kade Saddler, Kayley Turner, Kelsey Turner, Kysa Ronnow, McKenna Plowman, McLain Reid, Mikelle Shupe, Nataly Hirano, Olivia Page, Savanna Hewitt, and Shane Alvey), to convince everyone that love is the answer. I really enjoyed the choreography in this production, especially all of the big song and dance numbers featuring the ancestors. This was the biggest group of ancestors I have seen used in this show and they are integrated into the choreography very well, particularly in "When You're An Addams," "Trapped," "One Normal Night," "Full Disclosure," "Just Around the Corner," and "Move Toward the Darkness." I also liked having the ancestors as part of the choreography for "Tango De Amor" because I have not seen that done before (I really like seeing subtle differences in productions since the same shows are often repeated by Utah theatres). Evans is one of the best Wednesdays I've seen and I loved her renditions of "Pulled" and "Crazier Than You" because she has a beautiful voice. I also enjoyed Cornell as Lucas (he is a Timothee Chalamet lookalike with all of his same awkward mannerisms), Mack as Pugsley (he is adorable), and Curtis as Mal (his facial expressions had me laughing out loud), but Saddler steals the show as Lurch (he is often in the background but you should watch everything he does because all of his actions are hilarious). The costumes are fantastic, especially those worn by the ancestors (my favorites were the World War I soldier, the Highland lass, and the conquistador) because they are so elaborate! The set is very minimal but suitably atmospheric with lots of spooky details (I loved the organ). My only disappointment was the with the moon.  During "Move Toward the Darkness," the entire cast gestured to the moon so we all turned our attention to it and nothing happened.  I'm not sure if there were technical difficulties but it was a bit anticlimactic. This is a minor criticism because the show is fantastic and I recommend it as a fun activity perfect for Halloween.  It runs through November 12 (go here for tickets).

The Mummy and The Bride of Frankenstein Double Feature

I really enjoyed the Universal Monsters double features last year (go here and here) so I was excited to learn that a new series of movies is being presented this year, starting with The Mummy and The Bride of Frankenstein.  I had a lot of fun seeing both of these for the first time on the big screen yesterday afternoon!  First up was The Mummy and I really liked it because it was more atmospheric than scary.  During an archaeological expedition in Egypt conducted by Sir Joseph Whemple (Arthur Byron), the mummy of Imhotep (Boris Karloff) is discovered and accidentally brought back to life by the Scroll of Thoth buried next to him.  Ten years later, Imhotep (now known as Ardeth Bey) is desperate to be with his forbidden love, the Princess Ankh-esen-amun, and assists Joseph's son Frank (David Manners) in locating her tomb during a new expedition.  Imhotep comes to believe that a half-Egyptian woman named Helen Grosvener (Zita Johann) is the reincarnation of Ankh-esen-amun and uses all of his powers to try to kill her so she can be mummified and brought back to life again with the Scroll of Thoth.  However, David has fallen in love with Helen and will do anything to stop Imhotep.  The backstory of how Imhotep was buried alive as punishment for stealing the Scroll of Thoth in order to bring Anks-esen-amun back to life is presented as a dream to Helen and his suffering is used as justification for wanting to kill her.  In my opinion, this entitlement is what makes the character of Imhotep so menacing.  Karloff gives an incredibly unsettling performance because he is so still and I was very impressed with the makeup for the mummy (even if this version of the character is not on screen for very long).  Next was The Bride of Frankenstein which is a direct sequel to Frankenstein.  Percy Shelley (Douglas Walton) and Lord Byron (Gavin Gordon) praise the story that Mary Shelley (Elsa Lanchester) once wrote during a stormy night on Lake Geneva but she informs them that there is much more and, as it is another stormy night, she continues (I really liked this framing device).  Both Henry Frankenstein (Colin Clive) and the Monster (Boris Karloff) survive the fire at the windmill.  Frankenstein returns to Elizabeth (Valerie Hobson) but he still feels compelled to find the secret of immortality until his mentor, Dr. Pretorius (Ernest Thesiger), visits him wanting to collaborate on a new creature and he refuses.  To persuade Frankenstein, Pretorius has the Monster, who now wants a bride, kidnap Elizabeth.  Once again, I was impressed with the vulnerability that Karloff imbues the Monster with, especially in the scenes with the blind hermit (O. P. Heggie).  I also loved all of the elaborate gadgets used to harness the electricity needed to bring life to the bride (Elsa Lanchester) as well as the timpani used in the score for this scene.  Finally, Minnie (Una O'Connor), Elizabeth's maid, brings a lot of unexpected comic relief that made me laugh out loud at one point!  I really enjoyed these movies (seeing them was the perfect way to spend the first day of October) and I definitely recommend seeking them out.

Note:  Fathom Events will also be presenting Creature from the Black Lagoon and Phantom of the Opera as a double feature later this month (go here for more information and tickets).

The Good House

I am a big fan of Sigourney Weaver and, based on the trailer, I (mistakenly) thought The Good House would be a charming story about two people finding love later in life.  As such I decided to see it last night at the Broadway but, honestly, I wish I had gone next door to see Bros with all of the cool kids.  Hildy Good (Weaver) has been the top realtor in a coastal town in Massachusetts for decades and has always been the life of the party.  She provides financial support for her adult daughters, Tess (Rebecca Henderson) and Emily (Molly Brown), alimony to the ex-husband (David Rasche) who left her for a man, and emotional support to a newcomer (Morena Baccarin) to the community.  After a stint in rehab, however, her business is in trouble after a betrayal from someone she once mentored (Kathryn Erbe) and she is confused by a new relationship with an old flame (Kevin Kline).  She begins drinking again, with escalating consequences, until a near tragedy forces her to reach out for help.  Hildy breaks the fourth wall over and over to tell the audience that she is not an alcoholic even though her actions prove otherwise.  Despite a strong performance from Weaver, I found this to be an absolute mess.  There are way too many characters and subplots, including an incomprehensible one alluding fact that Hildy may or may not be a witch like one of her ancestors, and the tonal shifts are all over the place.  The best part is Hildy's relationship with her high school boyfriend Frank (Weaver and Kline have an appealing and lived-in chemistry) but, alas, it does not figure in the plot as much as I thought (or hoped) it would.  This is a boring Lifetime movie about an alcoholic being marketed as a romantic comedy and it certainly was not for me.

Smile

This year has been a great one for the horror genre!  I have seen more horror movies this year than in the past five years combined (some of my favorites include Pearl, Barbarian, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Nope, The Black Phone, Crimes of the Future, X, and Scream) and I added another one to the list last night by seeing Smile.  It is probably not destined to be among my favorites but I enjoyed it for the commentary on trauma.  Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) works at an emergency psychiatric unit and is clearly stressed, overworked, and plagued by a recurring nightmare when she is called in to conduct an intake interview with a psychotic patient named Laura Weaver (Caitlin Stasey).  She hysterically claims to be haunted by a smiling malevolent entity before she smiles at Rose and then cuts her own throat.  It turns out that Laura witnessed the gruesome suicide of one of her professors, who experienced similar hallucinations, before taking her own life and now Rose believes that she might be next.  There are quite a few jump scares but I didn't find them to be particularly scary (several of them elicited laughter from my audience) because most of them are telegraphed well in advance.  However, the narrative is quite unsettling because you are never really sure if Rose is experiencing something real or if her hallucinations are in response to witnessing her mother's suicide when she was a child.  The central theme of unresolved trauma and the PTSD that accompanies it is very intriguing, especially in regards to how it impacts the people around those who suffer from it.  I also liked the use of a smile as a metaphor for repressed trauma because people often smile through their pain and there is a powerful scene where Rose, who is obviously suffering, attempts a smile at a birthday party because it is expected of her.  Bacon gives a compelling and convincing central performance as a woman who is becoming increasingly desperate but I didn't like her character's resolution because I think it sends the wrong message about mental health (in my opinion the movie should have ended ten minutes before it did).  Despite a few flaws, this movie is a great start to the spooky season and I recommend it to horror fans.