Tori and Lokita

Yesterday afternoon I decided to see Tori and Lokita at the Broadway.  It is an incredibly powerful and heartbreaking look at the immigrant experience in Europe that left me absolutely shattered.  Lokita (Joely Mbundu) is a young teenage girl who emigrated illegally to Belgium from Benin.  She bonded with a ten-year-old boy from Cameroon named Tori (Pablo Schils) while on the journey and they now claim to be siblings in order to stay together.  She feels tremendous pressure from her mother back in Benin to send money home to support her family and is harassed by Firmin (Marc Zinga), the leader of the gang who smuggled them into Belgium, for payment of the exorbitant fee for his services but the only job she can get is as a drug courier for Betim (Alban Ukaj), a restaurateur who also frequently requests sexual favors from her.  She grows desperate when she is denied a work visa and accepts a dangerous job offered by Betim in return for fake papers but this takes her away from Tori and causes her tremendous anxiety about his welfare.  Tori, in return, does everything he can to rescue Lokita from her untenable situation.  I fell in love with both of these characters because they are so smart and resourceful and their relationship with each other is incredibly tender.  The two lead performances, by unknown actors, are exceptional and so sympathetic that the final resolution left me feeling both sad and angry at a corrupt system designed to exploit desperate people at every turn.  The gritty hand-held cinematography and the fast pace enhance the sense of urgency and at no time did I doubt the dangers that these characters faced.  This was difficult to watch but I loved the message about the power of friendship in a hostile world and I highly recommend it.

The Play That Goes Wrong at the SCERA Center for the Performing Arts

I have seen several different productions of The Play That Goes Wrong (PTC, HCT, and CPT) and it has become one of my favorite shows because it is absolutely hilarious! I had the chance to see SCERA's version last night and I don't think I stopped laughing from the first missed cue to the crash of the chandelier at the end! The play-within-a-play is the Cornley University Drama Society's production of The Murder at Haversham Manor by Susie H. K. Bridewell. The cast includes Max (Scott Hendrickson) as Cecil Haversham/ Arthur the Gardener, Chris (Dylan Burningham) as Inspector Carter, Jonathan (David Peterson) as Charles Haversham, Robert (Bryson Smellie) as Thomas Colleymore, Dennis (Samuel Wright) as Perkins the Butler, and Sandra (Eden Bostrom) as Florence Colleymore. The show is directed by Chris with Annie (Shannon Follette) as the Stage Manager and Trevor (Ethan Devey) as the Sound and Lighting Director. Everything that can go wrong does go wrong with this show, including a set that is slowly falling apart, props that either malfunction or go missing, a sound designer who accidentally plays Harry Styles instead of the sound cues, an actor who cannot stay still while playing the murder victim, an actor who cannot remember his lines, an actor who uses flamboyant gestures and then breaks the fourth wall to milk the audience for applause every time he does it, and a leading lady who is injured halfway through the show and must be replaced with two different understudies (with scripts in hand), but the show must go on with hysterical results. The physical comedy in this show is brilliant and my favorite moments were when Thomas must repeatedly drink paint thinner when whiskey cannot be found, when Cecil and Florence have an incredibly awkward kiss, when Cecil and Thomas have to answer the phone while holding the set together, when Cecil and Thomas break the swords they are using during a duel and then pretend to use light sabers (complete with sound effects), when Perkins must finish the show handcuffed to the chaise longue because the prop keys are misplaced, and when Sandra and Annie have a long and drawn out fight over who gets to play Florence. The entire cast is fantastic but the standouts for me are Smellie because he is so completely overwrought and Hendrickson because everything he does made me laugh (particularly whenever he would flash his megawatt smile at the audience). The set is simply amazing because not only does it fall apart spectacularly but it does so on cue (the technical aspects of this show are also quite impressive). The collapse of the second floor study is ingenious! I cannot recommend this show enough because it is so much fun (I was definitely not the only one laughing out loud). It runs through May 6 and tickets may be purchased here.

How to Blow Up a Pipeline

Last night my nephew Sean and I went to the Broadway to see How to Blow Up a Pipeline.  We were both really looking forward to this movie and it did not disappoint!  A ragtag group of young environmental activists, including Xochitl (Ariela Barer), Shawn (Marcus Scribner), Michael (Forrest Goodluck), Dwayne (Jake Weary), Theo (Sasha Lane), Logan (Lukas Gage), Rowan (Kristine Froseth), and Alisha (Jayme Lawson), come together in order to sabotage an oil pipeline in West Texas because they believe it is the only way to get people to care about the climate crisis.  What they are doing is inherently dangerous but they are also beset with other challenges that make this an intense thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.  The audience is dropped right in the middle of the action but there are flashbacks which show how each member of the group became radicalized (the most compelling reasons, in my opinion, are Michael's despair as an indigenous person over the fracking that is destroying his ancestral home and Dwayne's anger over the government's misuse of eminent domain to take his land for a pipeline) and the commentary on climate change, as well as other issues (particularly a scathing condemnation of the healthcare system), is incredibly thought-provoking without being too heavy-handed.  There is an unrelenting sense of urgency that is enhanced by a fast pace, a plot twist (that I figured out just minutes before it was revealed), and a pulse-pounding electronic score by Gavin Brivik.  The entire ensemble cast is outstanding with Goodluck as the standout for me.  Regardless of how you feel about climate change or eco-terrorism, this is incredibly powerful and I highly recommend it.

Ballet West's The Wedding

Last night I attended Ballet West's performance of three really intriguing ballets.  I still definitely prefer full-length ballets that tell a story but I am coming around to these smaller pieces in repertoire.  The first one on the program was Les Noces (The Wedding) with choreography by Bronislava Nijinska and music by Igor Stravinsky featuring vocal solos by Seth Keeton, Melissa Heath, Christopher Puckett, and Jin-Xiang Yu.  It tells the story of an arranged marriage between Russian peasants in four vignettes. A Bride (Victoria Vassos) is supported by a group of friends who form very interesting patterns around her while they braid her hair and her parents who comfort her as she expresses her fears about her upcoming marriage.  Next, the Bridegroom (Dominic Ballard) celebrates with his friends and parents with exuberant and athletic dances.  Then, the Bride is shown leaving her home to be married and her mother (Katlyn Addison, my favorite dancer in the company) laments losing her daughter.  Finally, the wedding is celebrated by the entire village, with choreography filled with ritual and symbolism, and then the couple depart for their own home after the Bridegroom promises his Bride a life of happiness. This ballet, in my opinion, is quintessentially Russian with the dancers costumed very simply as peasants in brown and emotional music that sometimes seems like the vocalists are wailing.  I particularly liked it when the choreography had the entire ensemble moving en masse because there was something so powerful and primal about it.  The next piece was In the Night with choreography by Jerome Robbins and music by Frederic Chopin.  It tells the story of three couples as they navigate their relationships in the starlight.  The first couple, Amy Potter and Hadriel Diniz, is costumed in white and purple and their dance is lyrical and incredibly romantic.  The second couple, Emily Adams and Adrian Fry, is costumed in a copper color and their dance is dramatic, tempestuous, and very passionate.  The third couple, Katlyn Addison and Brian Waldrep, is costumed in dark grey and red and their dance is athletic, playful, and filled with longing.  The piano music is beautiful and I think this ballet is really classical and elegant.  The final piece was Light Rain with choreography by Gerald Arpino and music by Douglas Adamz and Russ Gauthier.  This ode to youth is joyous and full of wild abandon and it was my favorite piece of the evening.  I really loved the original music, which is described as Eastern music played on Western instruments, because it is incredibly dynamic with lots of percussion and the acrobatic and sensual choreography was a lot of fun to watch.  The last pose in the Pas de Deux by the central couple, Emily Adams and Hadriel Diniz, is simply incredible and the audience erupted in applause!  The program is a bit eclectic and unconventional but it is really exciting and I thoroughly enjoyed it!  Get tickets here.

Into the Woods at West Valley Arts

I really love the musical Into the Woods and the production I saw last night at West Valley Arts is the best one I've seen there!  A Baker (Jared Lesa) and his Wife (Annie Ferrin), a Witch (Dianna Graham), Cinderella (Chloe Victoria), Jack and the Beanstock (Ren Cottam), and Little Red Riding Hood (Sibley Snowden) must go into the woods in order to make all of their wishes come true but they eventually learn that actions sometimes have unintended consequences and that wishes do not always turn out happily ever after. The entire cast is absolutely stellar and it is hard for me to single out just a few performances because every actor is so well-suited to his or her role and every musical number gave me goosebumps. However, the highlights for me were "Agony" because Chase Peterson as Cinderella's Prince and Woody Brook as Rapunzel's Prince are so hilariously overwrought with over the top facial expressions and gestures, "It Takes Two" because it is such a turning point and both Lesa and Ferrin give spirited performances, "Last Midnight" because Graham's rendition is incredibly powerful, and "No One Is Alone" because it is such a poignant moment between the Baker, Jack, Cinderella, and Red and Lesa, Cottam, Victoria, and Snowden sing it beautifully (I may or may not have had a tear in my eye). Another performance that I really enjoyed was Dan Radford's as the puppeteer for Milky White because he is very humorous during his interactions with Cottam (and the design for Milky White is fantastic). The choreography is innovative and perfectly suited to the small and intimate space. I was particularly impressed with "Into the Woods," "So Happy," "Ever After," and "Children Will Listen" because of the sheer number of people on the stage and the intricate patterns they are able to create. I also loved the staging of "First Midnight" and "Second Midnight" because all of the actors enter the stage carrying illuminated lanterns and it is quite dramatic. There are a lot of really fun special effects and I especially liked when the Baker saves Red and her Grandmother (Natalie Peterson) from the Wolf (Chase Peterson) and when the Stepmother (Kerilyn Johnson) mutilates the Stepsisters' (Sydney Claire and Jaymie Lambson) feet to fit into the gold slipper. The set is absolutely magical with giant moss-covered tree stumps on the main stage, groups of trees located in the areas above the wings, and trees that come down from the rafters. The costumes are some of the best I've seen at WVCArts and I was really impressed with the attention to detail. My favorites were the Witch's gown after her transformation and Cinderella's ball gown. I truly loved everything about this production and it is definitely one that you don't want to miss (go here for tickets).