The Music Man at Sundance

One of my favorite summer traditions is to watch a performance by the UVU Theatre Department at the Sundance Mountain Resort.  It is so great to be up in the mountains where it is a little bit cooler than down in the valley (although last night was really cold) and smell the scent of pine trees while watching a classic musical.  This year they performed The Music Man and I thoroughly enjoyed it (except for the fact that I was so cold).  I love all of the old classic musicals because I remember watching them at my Grandma's house and watching The Music Man definitely brought back some great memories.  The story of a traveling salesman who comes to swindle the residents of River City but discovers love instead is so sweet and this production was fabulous!  I really loved the scenic design.  All of the set pieces were made of wood with a whitewash finish and they made all of the colorful costumes really pop against them.  It was a great effect.  The choreography was stunning and I especially loved the innovative staging of "Rock Island" and both "Marian the Librarian"  and "Seventy-Six Trombones" were show-stoppers!  I also really liked all of the choreography during the scene changes.  My favorite character in this show is always Eulalie MacKecknie Shinn and Elizabeth Hansen was an absolute hoot!  I couldn't stop laughing during her Grecian Urn performance.  Scott MacDonald was just as funny as the befuddled Mayor Shinn ("Not one poop out of you, Madame.") and I also loved Laurie Harrop-Purser as Mrs. Paroo, especially when she was eavesdropping on Marian and Harold through the window!  Greg Hansen was incredibly charismatic as Harold Hill and I loved his rousing renditions of "Ya Got Trouble" and "Seventy-Six Trombones."  Rachel Woodward Hansen played Marian with a sweet mixture of toughness and vulnerability and her voice was beautiful in the songs  "Goodnight My Someone," "My White Knight," and "Till There Was You."  The two of them had great chemistry, especially in "Marian the Librarian," and then I discovered that they are a real life couple!  Other than the fact that I was so cold, it was a lot of fun to see this show.  Unfortunately, last night was closing night but I heard a rumor that they will be performing Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat next summer!

My Obsession with Lamp Posts

I have a strange obsession with old-fashioned lamp posts.  I think it began in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.  I kept seeing them everywhere and I thought they were so charming.  This one is near the famous Empress Hotel.

Then I started to notice them on a trip through the Baltic countries two years ago and I couldn't help taking pictures of them.  This one is located in Riga, Latvia, a city known for its Art Nouveau architecture.

This one is located outside the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Tallinn, Estonia.  I love the contrast of the black lamp post against the pristine white building.

I continued searching for them in St. Petersburg, Russia.  This one is outside St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Now, whenever I visit a major city, I always try to find unique lamp posts.  During my recent trip, I found some beautiful ones in Melbourne, Sydney, and Auckland.  I was struck by the architecture in Melbourne and seemed to find lamp posts everywhere.

These modern lamp posts lined the famous Sydney Opera House.

A lamp post near the harbour in Auckland, New Zealand.

These lamp posts along the harbour in Auckland are quite possibly my favorite!  They were once illuminated by gas.

Looking for lamp posts has become a fun pastime while traveling and I hope to continue to find these fascinating reminders of a bygone age wherever I go!

Beauty and the Beast at HCT

Last night I had the chance to see Hale Centre Theatre's magical production of the Disney musical Beauty and the Beast. I absolutely loved this show from start to finish! Karina Gillette, as Belle, and Austin John Smith, as the Beast, are very well suited to their roles and have very powerful voices which almost blow the roof off the theatre. I especially enjoyed Gillette's rendition of "Is This Home?" and Smith's rendition of "If I Can't Love Her" (which elicited quite the reaction from the crowd). Cogsworth (Zac Zumbrunnen), Lumiere (Addison Welch), and all of the other enchanted objects are lots of fun to watch and "Be Our Guest" is quite the production number. Quinn Dietlein is hilarious as Gaston and I laughed out loud just about every time he hit poor Lefou (Thomas Brandley). Cory Reed Stephens, who is new to HCT, does a brilliant job with some innovative choreography (in a small space!), especially in the "Mob Song" which incorporates mannequins. Once again, I was impressed with Kacey Udy's set design. The castle comes down from the ceiling and it is very dramatic and, of course, I loved the library. Finally, I thought the costumes were simply amazing! Jenn Taylor's creations feature yards and yards of the most sumptuous, bejeweled, and bedazzled fabric you can imagine. The sheer number of costumes, especially for the ensemble, is especially impressive!  I also really loved all of the puppets, created by Taylor, used in the show, particularly the horse! This is a really big show full of enchantment and I would definitely recommend it for children! All of the children in the audience last night were spellbound! Beauty and the Beast runs at HCT until Oct. 1 but many shows have already sold out.  Go here for tickets.

Note:  The last time I saw Beauty and the Beast at HCT was with a five-year-old Tashena who wore her Belle dress to the show.  When the rose was down to its last petal, she screamed out loud to warn the Beast!

Australia and New Zealand: The Adventure of a Lifetime

The iconic Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge

I just returned from an absolutely incredible adventure on the other side of the world!  I have always wanted to visit Australia and New Zealand but the long flight was so daunting to me.  I finally worked up the nerve to go (the fifteen hour flight actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be) and I am so glad that I did!

Feeding Johanssen at the Kangaroo Sanctuary

Australia and New Zealand evoked so many images in my mind before my trip and actually seeing these places exceeded all of my expectations!

Sunrise Ballooning in the Outback 

I had some incredible, once-in-a-lifetime, experiences that I won't soon forget.  My tour guide was quite possibly the best one I've ever had and he arranged so many opportunities for me to check things off my bucket-list.

Uluru (Ayers Rock)

I traveled with the best group!  There were only fifteen of us and I feel like I got to know everyone and we bonded over our shared experiences.  There was a couple from Texas on their honeymoon who were adorable, there was a couple from North Dakota who made me laugh every single day, there was a group from Colorado who basically adopted me (Do you have a jacket? I think you need some water. Where are you going for dinner? Come sit with us.), and there was a family from Virginia who I absolutely fell in love with!  I usually prefer solitude but it was so much fun being with this group.

Koala in Kuranda State Park

I had so many opportunities to meet the people of Australia and New Zealand (including dinner in the home of a family in NZ).  I don't think I've ever met people who were more welcoming or friendly.

Bondi Beach

This trip was the most ambitious and longest one I've ever done and, even though we were always on the go (so many flights), I loved every minute of it!

Whale watching in Sydney Harbour

Since I am a teacher, I almost always travel during the summer.  It was a unique experience to be in the Southern Hemisphere where it is winter!  Most of the time I wore sweaters, hoodies, and jackets which was so odd (especially since it was so hot here at home).  It was also strange to see kids going to school!

Milford Sound

I am so glad that I took this trip!  I will be sharing more in the coming weeks about this amazing experience.

Hobbiton (Yes, I am a nerd)

Note:  If there is a place you've always dreamed of visiting, DO IT!  I highly recommend Go Ahead Tours.

Summer Reading: White Teeth

White Teeth by Zadie Smith was the one book on my summer reading list that I was the least interested in reading (hence the reason I saved it for last).  I really wanted to like this book because it has been lauded by so many critics but I just didn't find it to be very appealing. I get that it is a treatise about the immigrant experience and generational conflict but I thought it was very boring at times and I kept waiting for some sort of climax that would tie all of the disparate narratives together but I was left feeling more confused than ever at the end of the novel. It focuses on the lives of World War II buddies, Samad Iqbal and Archie Jones, and their wives and children in post-colonial Britain.  Iqbal and his wife are originally from Bangladesh and are afraid that their twin sons are straying from their traditional values. They decide to send one of the sons to live with family in Bangladesh (they can only afford to send one). The son in Bangladesh becomes an Anglophile while the one in Britain becomes involved with a terrorist organization. Jones marries an immigrant from Jamaica (after deciding that meeting her is a sign not to kill himself) and their daughter is incredibly smart but lacks self-esteem because of her looks and, like the twins, she struggles with her identity. There are lots of tangential family members, such as a niece who has shamed the family and a grandmother who is a devout Jehovah's Witness, for comic relief. To be sure, all of the characters are quirky and their dialogue is, at times, quite hilarious, but I didn't find them to be sympathetic. I did laugh at many things in this novel but it wasn't funny enough to keep my attention. Also, the leitmotif of teeth as a symbol of success seems really forced to me, almost as if those passages were added to the novel after it was finished so Smith could use it as a title. There is something to be said when a person who usually devours books in one or two days takes about three weeks to plow through it.  This novel just wasn't for me.