Mysterioso

After a somewhat difficult week at school (end of the term, full moon, Halloween), it was wonderful to be sitting in the audience at Abravanel Hall for an incredible concert with the Utah Symphony last night.  The evening featured music, magic, and mayhem!  I loved it!  The orchestra, under the baton of guest conductor Jack Everly, played moody and atmospheric background music as various magicians and musicians performed.  Joseph Gabriel was very elegant and sophisticated in his presentation and he did things like light handkerchiefs on fire and then turn them into doves.  No big deal!  Les Arnold and Dazzle were absolutely hilarious.  They spoofed traditional vaudeville magic shows with Dazzle in an over-the-top sparkly costume with exaggerated movements and Les in tails and top hat.  They replicated Joseph Gabriel's act but, instead of doves, they used a goose.  Although their act was comedic, I was impressed with some of their tricks, especially when Dazzle was magically transported from one box to another.  Next Joseph Gabriel "randomly" selected someone from the audience and had her sing something.  At first she protested, saying she couldn't sing very well but he eventually convinced her to sing "The Sound of Music."  She sang it very badly!  Then he proceeded to hypnotize her and, at the snap of his fingers, she was able to sing classics by Barbra Streisand, Bernadette Peters, Judy Garland, and Celine Dion.  It was pretty spectacular but was she really hypnotized?  I admit that I actually fell for it for quite a while but it ended up being vocalist Christina Bianco performing some of her acclaimed one woman show called Diva Moments.  Pretty clever, nonetheless!  Finally, David and Dania performed an unbelievable routine where they change into a variety of different costumes in a matter of seconds.  I have seen them perform at Utah Jazz half-time shows before and it was even more amazing to see them close up.  In between the various performances the Utah Symphony played the main theme from the movie Spellbound and the Waltz from Masquerade Suite.  It was a great show and I really enjoyed it. I recommend getting a ticket (if you can) for tonight's performance if you want something sophisticated to do for Halloween!