Thursday, December 24, 2015

Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

Did you wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch the great Warner Bros. cartoons featuring Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner when you were a kid?  If so, you have probably heard the works of Wagner, Rossini, Strauss, Smetana, and Liszt without even realizing it because many of those cartoons feature classical music!  I loved Bugs Bunny and, to this day, I can't hear Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries without thinking "Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit, Kill the Wabbit" in my head!  Last night's concert at Abravanel Hall was so much fun because all of those fabulous Warner Bros. cartoons were projected on a giant screen above the stage while the Utah Symphony played the accompanying music live.  My favorites were "Rhapsody Rabbit" which featured "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt and "What's Opera, Doc?" featuring the aforementioned Die Walkure by Richard Wagner.  The program also featured two new Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons commissioned specifically for this program called "Rabid Rider" and "Coyote Falls" with music by Christopher Lennertz.  These were very different from the classic cartoons and conductor George Daugherty mentioned that a total of ten people worked on the former while hundreds animated the latter!  I think I prefer the classic cartoons!  The orchestra even played the Merrie Melodies "That's All, Folks" credit at the end!  This concert brought back great childhood memories of Saturday mornings and I absolutely loved it!

Note:  There were lots of children in attendance at the concert and I hope this exposure to classical music makes them fans for life!

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Ballet West's The Nutcracker

Seeing a performance of The Nutcracker is a cherished holiday tradition for me and I look forward to it all year. It simply wouldn't be Christmas without it.  I saw the beloved classic last night and I think I enjoyed it even more than I usually do! This year marks the 60th Anniversary (I haven't been attending for that long) of William Christensen's brilliant choreography set to the incomparable score by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky so there was definitely a degree of nostalgia as I watched all of the familiar scenes. Yet, there was also an unexpected thrill of excitement because I got to see some new interpretations (I am so used to Christopher Ruud and Christiana Bennett performing the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier, either individually or together) of some iconic roles.  The Grand Pas de Deux performed by the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Cavalier is my favorite moment in the entire ballet (I think Tchaikovsky's music for this scene is the most romantic in the entire classical cannon) and I thought Emily Adams and Rex Tilton danced it beautifully.  It gave me goosebumps!  Even though I have seen this ballet countless times, I still get caught up in the excitement of the party scene as the Christmas tree is unveiled for the children, I marvel at the transformation of the nutcracker into a handsome prince, and I take delight in the various divertissements arranged by the Sugar Plum Fairy for Clara and the prince (especially the Arabian variation and the Russian variation). It was a lovely evening made even more so by a large group of teenagers sitting near me who were absolutely enchanted by it.  If you haven't experienced this holiday tradition for yourself, I highly encourage you to do so.  Go here for tickets.  The Nutcracker runs at Capitol Theatre until Dec. 27.

Note:  This year Ballet West cast Katlyn Addison as the first African-American Sugar Plum Fairy in the organization's history. I was thrilled by this news because my niece is a dancer and she might play the Sugar Plum Fairy some day!  I wish that I could have seen her!

Monday, December 21, 2015

Gingerbread Houses 2015

Every year, usually on the Sunday before Christmas, we make gingerbread houses with Sean and Tashena.  This tradition started the year that Tashena joined our family and we always look forward to it!
Sean usually eats more frosting than he puts on his house!
A goatee often makes an appearance, as well!
Various stages of construction!  We buy kits and then use a hot glue gun to put them together because we never eat them and we like to get to the fun part, which is decorating, as soon as possible!  The kits come with candy but we always buy more!
I think Sean's goal was to cover every inch of his house with candy!  He is so much fun!
Tashena worked very diligently on her house and was the last to finish!  She used the glue gun to attach all of that coconut!
Marilyn with her house.
My house.
Sean with his house.
Tashena with her house.
The whole village.
A few more views.  I love this tradition because I love spending time with Sean and Tashena.  We laughed so hard while making these gingerbread houses and I hope they always remember the fun times we had together!  After making our houses we watched Christmas movies for the rest of the night.  Sean and Tashena have every word memorized to the movie Elf and we thought it was adorable.  Marilyn and I have every word memorized to A Christmas Story and they thought it was annoying!

Note:  Here is Tashena's first gingerbread house!

Sunday, December 20, 2015

Temple Square 2015

Every year there are hundreds of thousands of visitors to Temple Square to see the lights.  I like to complain about this because the traffic downtown gets really crazy in December but, really, the lights are beautiful!
I decided to see the lights last night even though it was a Saturday night and I don't really enjoy crowds.  As predicted, it was very crowded but I actually didn't mind it so much.  All of the snow that we have had this week made the lights seem even more magical.
I had the best time I've ever had walking around Temple Square.  I didn't have an agenda and I didn't have any time constraints so I just wandered wherever I wanted to go.  It was a really stressful week at school, for various reasons, and I felt more peaceful than I've felt in a long time.  It was almost as if there weren't any people around me at all.
I ended up at the Assembly Hall for one of the many free concerts (go here for a schedule) there every evening, usually featuring community and high school choirs.  When I got there, a group had just started performing so I sat down and thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I didn't even know what school was performing (I found out later that it was Rigby High School) but I love hearing Christmas music performed live so much.
It was a lovely evening.

Saturday, December 19, 2015

A Christmas Carol at HCT 2015

I can't think of a better way to start winter break than by seeing HCT's wonderful and magical production of the beloved holiday classic, A Christmas Carol. It is one of my most favorite traditions and I have been attending this show for years and years. I really love the tale of one man's redemption and its message of caring for the welfare of mankind is particularly salient right now during these troubling times. I love seeing familiar faces return year after year, such as David Weeks as Ebeneezer Scrooge, but it is also fun to see new actors take on iconic roles.  I can't remember seeing anyone but Brad Charon play the role of Bob Cratchit or Adam Dietlein play the role of Fred so it was interesting to see Ryan J. Poole and Spencer Bean take on those parts, respectively, last night. Poole's characterization of Cratchit was very tender and I was particularly moved by a scene where Cratchit tearfully thanks Scrooge at the end of the play. I also really loved Ric Starnes as Fezziwig. Actually, all of the performances were great and, as ever, I was very impressed with the Victorian costumes and opulent sets.  I think my favorite part of Hale's production is the use of Christmas carols throughout the play.  I especially love it when the cast sings "Bring a Torch Jeanette, Isabella" which is one of my favorites. Even though I have seen this production countless times I always sit on the edge of my seat and anticipate every scene, every song, and every line of dialogue (I honestly think I could fill in for any part).  It never gets old and I always leave the theatre full of Christmas spirit.  I recommend that you experience it for yourself!  Go here for tickets.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...