The Pirates of Penzance at Parker Theatre

I am a big fan of Gilbert and Sullivan's comic operetta The Pirates of Penzance so I was really excited to see a production at the Parker Theatre (one of my new favorites) last night. It was so much fun! Frederic (Alan Smith) has reached his 21st birthday and decides to leave the band of pirates to whom he has been mistakenly apprenticed. Soon after, he meets Major-General Stanley (Owen Richardson, Jr.) and his daughters, falls in love with the youngest daughter Mabel (Karllen Johnson), and enlists the Sergeant of Police (Connor Evans) and his constables to arrest the pirates. Chaos ensues when the Pirate King (Tyler Oliphant) and Ruth (Natalie Killpack-Daniel), Frederic's former nursemaid, tell him that he was born during a leap year and, since he has only had five birthdays, he must continue to serve his apprenticeship. I was really impressed with the main cast because they all have beautiful voices! Smith is incredibly engaging with brilliant comedic timing, especially in his interactions with Ruth in "Oh! false one, you have deceiv'd me" when he learns that she is not as beautiful as she has claimed to be and with the Pirate King in "When you had left the pirate fold" when he learns that he must join the pirates once again. Oliphant also has great comedic timing and I loved his melodramatic version of "Oh, better far to live and die." Johnson gives one of the best performances of "Poor wand'ring one" that I've seen and she has tremendous chemistry with Smith in "Stay, Fred'ric, stay," "Ah, leave me not to pine," and "Oh, here is love, and here is truth." Richardson is absolutely hilarious in "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," especially when he marches and clicks his heals together, and I laughed out loud during "I'm telling a terrible story" when he admits that he is not really an orphan. However, Evans steals the show with his exaggerated movements and facial expressions (watch his eyes) during "When a felon's not engaged in his employment." The ensemble, including pirates (Danny Eggers, James Carter, Daniel Pittam, and Matty Boyd), daughters (Alicia Fairbanks, Alice Maphey, Elizabeth Myers, Natalie Sandberg, and Katherine Tietjen), and constables (Doug Hendriksen, Arza Joseph Marsh, Ryan Withers, and Logan B. Stacey), are also outstanding because each of them have distinct personalities which make them fun to watch (especially the daughters when they rebuff the advances of the pirates and the costables when they try to hide in the graveyard).  The costumes are great, particularly the colorful dresses worn by the daughters, the epaulets and medals worn by the Major-General, and the spats worn by the constables. The set is quite simple but effective and consists of a ship, the seaside, and a graveyard, and I loved the use of the Union Jack on the proscenium arch.  Hurrah for this delightful production because I enjoyed everything about it!  It runs through May 13 and tickets may be purchased here.

Sisu

I went to see the historical action movie Sisu yesterday because I thought the premise sounded very intriguing and I found it to be strangely satisfying (I don't know what that says about me!).  At the end of World War II the German army is retreating from Finland but they are leaving destruction in their wake by burning villages, hanging men, and taking women captive.  Aatami Korpi (Jorma Tommila), an old and grizzled prospector who has clearly suffered during the war, travels to the remote wilderness and, while panning for gold in a stream, discovers a large deposit.  He fills his bags with as many gold nuggets as he can carry and sets out to find the nearest town but he soon encounters a German patrol led by a ruthless commander named Bruno (Aksel Hennie) and his subordinate Wolf (Jack Doolan).  Because he knows that the war will soon be over, Bruno decides to disregard his orders and engage with Korpi in order to take his gold.  However, unbeknownst to him, Korpi is a skilled veteran who is determined to defend himself against all odds (the title refers to strength of will and determination in the face of adversity).  Carnage ensues!  This is unbelievably violent and brutal (a horse is literally blown to bits by a landmine and that is one of the tamer images) and some of the action sequences strain credulity but it is exciting and entertaining to see some thoroughly nasty Nazis get their due (the final showdown between Korpi and Bruno is awesome).  I also particularly enjoyed a subplot where Korpi helps the women who have been brutalized escape and get retribution.  The images on the screen show a desolate landscape ravaged by war but there is a stark beauty to the cinematography and the haunting score adds to that vibe.  Tommila gives a riveting performance despite the fact that there is almost no dialogue (he speaks for the first time in the final scene) because his physicality establishes the character brilliantly.  This is highly entertaining and I recommend it to those who can stomach the gore!

Ravel, Rachmaninoff & Strauss

Last night's Utah Symphony concert featured three amazing composers (this season has been so great) and I thoroughly enjoyed every piece on the program.  The orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Kevin John Edusei, began with La valse by Maurice Ravel.  This has been described as a tribute to the waltz and depicts the rise and fall of the musical genre with allusions to post-World War I Europe.  I pictured 19th century couples whirling around an opulent ballroom in an Imperial court.  The orchestration is incredibly lush and I especially loved a variation played by the brass and timpani culminating in the crash of cymbals and another one featuring two harps.  Next came Isle of the Dead, a piece by Sergei Rachmaninoff inspired by a monochromatic reproduction of a painting by Swiss artist Arnold Bocklin, and, of course, I absolutely loved it!  It is a very atmospheric and foreboding depiction of a small boat carrying a figure shrouded in white as it approaches a desolate island in the middle of dark waters.  The music is somber and otherworldly and I enjoyed the sound of oars rowing in the water evoked by the strings, timpani and harp.  After the intermission, the orchestra performed Duet Concertino for Clarinet and Bassoon by Richard Strauss with Principal Clarinet Tad Calcara and Principal Bassoon Lori Wike as soloists.  This was absolutely delightful because it is believed to be about a dancing princess, represented by the clarinet, who becomes alarmed when a bear, represented by the bassoon, begins imitating her until he wins her over and they dance together which turns the bear into a prince.  The themes played by the two soloists (Calcara and Wike give amazing performances) together are so fun and playful and I also enjoyed the themes played by soloists in each string section.  The concert concluded with the Suite from the opera Der Rosenkavier by Richard Strauss.  This opera is about a love triangle between a nobleman named Octavian who falls in love with a young girl named Sophie while carrying on an affair with the wife of a Field Marshall and features several beautiful waltzes which represent the elegance of a bygone era.  My favorite sequence in the Suite, when Octavian presents a silver rose to Sophie, features a delicate theme played by flutes, violins, harps, and the celesta.  It was a lovely evening of music and I definitely recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here).

Note:  I was checking hockey scores surreptitiously during every break in the performance.  My Colorado Avalanche are driving me crazy right now!

Once at HCTO

The first time I saw the musical Once I didn't know anything about it but I ended up loving it so much because it is a beautiful and moving story about the impact that one person can have on your life.  I even downloaded the music during intermission!  I was absolutely thrilled (and a little bit surprised but more about that later) when I found out that it was part of the 2023 season at HCTO.  I saw their production last night and it is grand!  A Guy (Will Ingram) is busking on a Dublin street when a Girl (Rachel Ryan Nicholes) strikes up a conversation with him because she likes his music.  He reluctantly tells her that he wants to give up on music because all of his songs are about a girl who left him to move to New York.  The Girl encourages him to play more of his music for her and eventually helps him to record a demo.  He begins to have feelings for her and tells her that he may have written the songs for another girl but now he is singing them for her.  She knows that she needs to reconcile with her estranged husband for the sake of her daughter and that he needs to go to New York and play his music for his former girlfriend so, even though she loves him, she tearfully convinces him to go.  The Broadway touring production that I saw was set in a Dublin bar (you could even go up on stage and buy a drink during intermission) with very minimal props representing the other locations so I was very intrigued to see how HCTO would stage their version.  It is quite different, with the main stage configured as a Dublin street with the music store, repair shop, bar, and other locations in the wings, but it is very effective and I liked it.  All of the secondary characters (Caleb Collier, Makenzie Belnap, Shaunna Thompson, Clark Woolstenhulme, David Kocherhans, Nathan Holley, Jordan Briggs, Caleb McCleary, Nathan Bowser, and Angelica Salazar) play a variety of instruments live on stage and it is really clever how they are integrated into the action.  Both productions that I've seen (Broadway touring and PTC) had a lot of profanity and I wondered how HCTO would address that.  I am happy that they really toned it down (and it didn't detract from the narrative at all) because now I feel like I can recommend it to anyone (and I wholeheartedly do!).  The music is really beautiful and the way the cast performed my favorite songs, "Falling Slowly," "If You Want Me," and "Gold," gave me goosebumps!  Both Ingram and Nicholes are outstanding in the lead roles because they also play guitar and piano, respectively, as well as sing and they have a lot of chemistry (Ingram reminded me a lot of Jack Raynor).  I really loved this production and I suggest you get tickets as soon as possible (go here) before every show sells out because I'm sure they will!

Guy Ritchie's The Covenant

Guy Ritchie is hit or miss with me because, while I like many of his movies, there are a few that I really hate.  Last night I went to see his latest, The Covenant, and it is definitely in the former category because I really enjoyed it!  During the war in Afghanistan, many locals are recruited as interpreters with the promise of visas for them and their families.  Ahmed (Dar Salim) also wants revenge against the Taliban for killing his son and agrees to work with Sgt. John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal).  Kinley's platoon is ambushed while searching for explosive devices and he and Ahmed are the only survivors.  They spend several days eluding the Taliban, who have placed a significant bounty on their heads, but Kinley is eventually shot.  Through an incredible act of will, Ahmed carries Kinley over treacherous terrain for several days to save his life and get him back to his base.  Once Kinley is back home in the U.S. he learns that Ahmed and his family have gone into hiding so, feeling incredibly guilty about a situation for which he feels responsible, he tries to get help from the government but encounters bureaucracy and endless red tape.  He eventually decides that he must return to Afghanistan, at great personal risk, to find Ahmed himself.  Gyllenhaal provides the intensity that he is known for in the portrayal of a soldier who feels a debt of honor that must be repaid but there are also some moments of vulnerability, especially in a powerful scene where he confronts his former commanding officer, that I found very moving.  However, Salim's quietly devastating performance is absolutely riveting!  He is able to express so many emotions with very little dialogue, such as the extreme exertion required to transport Kinley through the mountains, the fear of discovery when he encounters the Taliban, and the relief he feels when Kinley finds him.  Gyllenhaal and Salim have tremendous chemistry together and I was particularly impressed by a scene featuring just their profiles across from each other because they are able to communicate their relationship brilliantly.  The action sequences are extremely well done and Ritchie's signature style puts the audience in the middle of the firefight with the soldiers, most notably in the tension filled climactic battle (I could hardly breathe).  This is a thoroughly entertaining action thriller (with a bit of commentary about the military’s failure to protect the citizens of Afghanistan who collaborated with them tacked on for good measure) and I highly recommend it.