Stephen Hough Performs Rachmaninoff

Last night I got to hear Stephen Hough, one of my favorite soloists, perform Rachmaninoff, one of my favorite composers, with the Utah Symphony and it was simply amazing!  Before the Rachmaninoff the orchestra played two pieces by Richard Wagner and I really enjoyed them both.  The first was the Overture to Tannhauser, an opera about a Medieval singer and songwriter named Tannhauser who has a virtuous maiden and a goddess vying for his love.  The music portrays his downfall into the profane and then his redemption and I found it, like much of Wagner's music, to be incredibly stirring, especially the themes played by the brass.  Next came Das Rheingold which serves as the prologue to the operas in the Ring cycle.  The piece begins with a long and sustained note from the basses which is then joined by the oboes then the horns and, finally, by the rest of the orchestra as it builds and builds.  This is meant to represent the depths of the Rhine River which hides the gold that is eventually used to make a ring to rule the world and it is quite dramatic.  I loved the sudden climax of this note followed by the introduction of the ring theme played by the woodwinds.  I also loved all of the percussion, especially the use of anvils which represents the enslavement of the Nibelungs, and the four harps which represent the churning of the Rhine in the epic conclusion.  It was so cool!  I would really love to see the Ring cycle someday (it is definitely a bucket list item).  I spent the entire intermission anticipating what was to come because I love Rachmaninoff!  Piano Concerto No. 3 by Sergei Rachmaninoff is considered by many to be the most difficult piano piece in the repertoire but Hough made it look easy with his fingers gliding up and down the keyboard at the speed of light!  I think this piece is incredibly moody and atmospheric and I especially love the main theme, which is introduced by the piano in the first movement and then repeated in variations by the orchestra throughout, because it is so quintessentially Russian.  It is very melancholy but also dignified!  I also love the romantic theme played by the piano in the second movement because it becomes increasingly more passionate and, of course, the conclusion is unbelievably exhilarating!  I loved this performance because Hough was absolutely brilliant and, as always, I highly recommend getting a ticket for the same program tonight (go here for tickets).

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Last night I went to a Thursday preview of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and I don't think I have anticipated the release of a Marvel movie more since Avengers: Endgame and I don't think I have had a more emotional experience watching a Marvel movie since then, either.  I absolutely loved it!  One year after the sudden death of King T'Challa, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) informs the U.N. of her decision not to share vibranium with the world after attempts are made to steal it.  The CIA then makes use of of a vibranium-detecting machine to search for deposits in the Atlantic Ocean but, when everyone involved in the expedition is killed by Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and his people, the U.S. government blames Wakanda.  Namor is the king of Talokan, an underwater ancient Mesoamerican civilization rich in vibranium, and he is determined to protect his people from the surface world.  He reaches out to Shuri (Letitia Wright) to form an alliance with Wakanda but she refuses because he wants to kill Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), the young M.I.T. student responsible for the vibranium-detecting machine.  In retaliation for her refusal, Namor and his people attack Wakanda with devastating consequences.  It will take the reemergence of Black Panther in order to save Wakanda.  I loved the story which features powerful themes of grief and vengeance as well as commentary on the injustice of enslaving an indigenous people for the sake of a resource.  Bassett and Wright are incredible, particularly in the scenes where they mourn T'Challa (I had tears streaming down my face multiple times and I heard audible sobs all around me) and when they show their rage.  Huerta is also outstanding and Namor, like Killmonger before him, is a compelling villain because, while he is ruthless, his motivation is understandable.  The images on the screen are absolutely gorgeous, especially the sequences under water, and I loved the world building for Talokan.  The costumes, as in the first movie, are so beautiful and I was surprised by how moved I was by the atmospheric score!  Finally, I loved the footage of Chadwick Boseman used in the Marvel title card and in a lovely montage at the end.  These scenes are a fitting tribute to the late actor and, once again, there were audible sobs from the audience.  My only criticism of this movie would be the length.  I think the CIA subplot involving Everett Ross (Martin Freeman) and Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is a bit superfluous because its only function is to set up further Marvel properties.  However, this is a worthy successor to the original movie and I'm sure that fans will love it as much as I did!

Note:  There is only one mid-credits scene (but it is really good).

Dave Matthews Band at the Vivint Arena

I used to consider myself a casual fan of Dave Matthews Band (I loved the song "Crush" and really liked quite a few others but I was never obsessed with them) but that changed when I saw them at USANA with my sister and brother-in-law a few years ago because it was one of the best shows I've ever seen.  When I found out that they were stopping in SLC on their latest tour I couldn't resist getting a ticket and the show last night was as amazing as ever!  What I really loved about the show at USANA was the band's spontaneity!  There were lots of long pauses between songs and it almost seemed as if they were deciding what to play next right there on stage and it looked like they were doing that again last night!  Since I had no idea what to expect, I was absolutely thrilled when they played my favorite song "Crush."  This was my first time hearing it performed live and it was epic because they played a 20 minute version!  This left me on a high for the rest of the concert (and I don't think I've come down from it yet!).  They also performed rousing renditions of "Don't Drink the Water" and "Ants Marching" which are some of my other favorites and I loved hearing them, as well!  I listen to Come Tomorrow all of the time so I was happy that they played "That Girl Is You" (they started the night with this song) and "Can't Stop" from this album and I also enjoyed their cover of "Fool in the Rain" by Led Zeppelin.  They played quite a few songs that I didn't know very well but that hardly mattered to me because they were jamming (every song, not just "Crush," featured long extended solos) and they sounded great, especially the horn section.  Matthews was incredibly charming and spoke to the crowd every few songs or so telling us how happy he was that we could all be together once again.  I agree with him because I loved every minute of this concert!  I now consider myself a huge fan of Dave Matthews Band!

Shucked at PTC

I didn't really know much about Shucked, other than it is a Broadway try-out for a new and original musical here in SLC, but everyone has been giving it rave reviews so I knew I had to see it! I had the chance last night at PTC and I loved it! Two Storytellers (Ashley D. Kelley and Taylor Trensch) introduce us to the small town of Cobb County where the tall stalks of corn, which provide the main source of income, keep people in and keep people out. This is exactly how the townspeople, including engaged couple Beau (Andrew Durand) and Maizy (Caroline Innerbichler), Beau's brother Peanut (Kevin Cahoon), and Maizy's cousin Lulu (Alex Newell), like it until the corn crop starts to fail. Maizy decides, against the objections of Beau, that she should go out into the world to get help and ends up in the big city of Tampa where she meets a conman named Gordy (performed last night by the understudy Quinn VanAntwerp). He is not very good at being bad but he is able to convince the naive Maizy that he is a corn doctor so she brings him home to the consternation of the townspeople, especially Beau who sees him as a rival. Hilarity ensues! Many of the jokes are very "corny" but they definitely land because I don't think I stopped laughing during the entire show (and neither did the audience). Much of the comedy comes from the Storytellers, who are not only the narrators for all of the goings-on but they also periodically become supporting characters (sometimes two characters at the same time). Trensch, especially, is absolutely hilarious with perfect comedic timing and over-the-top facial expressions. Cahoon is also the source of much laughter as Peanut frequently regales us with his deep thoughts. The original songs by Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally are a lot of fun and are really catchy. I especially loved the song "Walls" because it is about finding the courage to leave your comfort zone and I think it could stand alone like most of the great songs from Broadway do. Innerbichler, who recently made an appearance in Utah as Anna in the Broadway touring production of Frozen, sings it with so much emotion! The songs "Somebody Will" performed by Durand and "Independently Owned" performed by Newell are absolute show-stoppers and both gave me goosebumps! The staging of this show is so clever because the cast is seated in a semi-circle inside of a crooked barn with corn stalks all around and featured performers use minimal props stashed in bushel baskets around the stage as well as wooden barrels during each number. Artistic Director Karen Azenberg mentioned that some changes had to be made to accommodate the last minute addition of VanAntwerp before the show began but I think that just involved the placement of music stands in front of the actors (VanAntwerp seemed to be the only cast member to have a score in front of him and he rarely used it).  I didn't really know what to expect with this show but I had so much fun watching it! I can't wait until it is a big hit on Broadway because I can say that I was one of the first to see it! There are only a few more performances left so act quickly so you don't miss out (go here for tickets).

Armageddon Time

My nephew really wanted to see Armageddon Time so I took him to see it last night.  I enjoyed this coming of age story about racism, guilt, and white privilege but the ambiguous ending kept it from being great (my nephew was even more disappointed with the ending than I was).  It is 1980 in Queens and it is the first day of school for Paul Graff (Banks Repeta), a young Jewish boy with middle class parents, Esther (Anne Hathaway) and Irving (Jeremy Strong), and immigrant grandparents, namely Aaron Rabinowitz (Anthony Hopkins), who all want a better life for him.  He befriends a Black student named Johnny (Jaylin Webb) and they both cause mischief in class but Paul notices that Johnny seems to be punished more severely.  After the two of them get caught smoking marijuana in the bathroom, Paul's parents decide to send him to an expensive prep school to get him away from Johnny.  Paul tries to fit in at his new school but he is dismayed by his classmates' comments about Black people and feels guilty for not defending his friend.  Eventually, the two of them get in trouble with the law but Paul is able to escape the consequences while Johnny is not even though Paul is to blame.  His father tells him that life is not fair and he should take advantage of the opportunity to learn from his mistake but he also remembers his grandfather's advice to always stand up to prejudice when he sees it.  The performances are amazing, especially Repeta and Hopkins (they have a scene together that is absolutely brilliant), the production design is very effective at evoking the time and place (my family had the exact same dishes in the 1980s) without a lot of the nostalgia attendant upon most movies that depict this era, and the story is very compelling.  Watching everything that happens to Johnny was incredibly emotional for me, especially sitting next to my nephew, and I was most invested in him as a character.  I was, therefore, disappointed in the ending because I feel like Johnny just disappears after having done his part to teach Paul a lesson about the injustices of the world.  I wanted Paul to learn a bigger lesson and finally, at long last, stand up for Johnny.  That may not be the story that James Gray is telling but I can't deny that I left the theater a bit deflated despite my overall enjoyment of the movie.