Forever Plaid at HCT

Hale Centre Theatre has two shows running simultaneously: The Heart of Robin Hood is currently playing at the West Valley Theatre and Forever Plaid is playing in the Sorenson Jewel Box Theatre at the new Mountain America Center for the Performing Arts in Sandy. I have been eagerly anticipating this first show in the new theatre and I wasn't disappointed.  First of all, the theatre is absolutely amazing! The Jewel Box Theatre is a more traditional proscenium theatre (the main theatre opens in November with a production of Aida) and I am happy to report that there is leg room! Hallelujah! Second, the show is simply delightful in every way! Forever Plaid is essentially a juke box musical featuring a doo-wop group from the early sixties. While traveling to their very first gig at the Airport Hilton they crash into a bus of parochial school girls on their way to the Ed Sullivan Show to see the Beatles and are killed. They are given the chance to come back and perform the show they never got to in life. It is full of wonderful songs from the 1950s (my Dad would love this show) such as "Three Coins in the Fountain," "Moments to Remember," "No, Not Much," "Heart and Soul," "Shangri-La," "Rags to Riches," and "Love is a Many Splendored Thing." My favorite numbers were "Sixteen Tons" which was hilarious and "Lady of Spain" because they recreated all of the famous acts from the Ed Sullivan Show (I laughed and laughed when they pretended to be seals balancing beach balls). Keith McKay Evans (Frankie), Ricky Parkinson (Smudge), Jonathan Rex Baker (Sparky) and Will Perkins (Jinx) harmonize beautifully together. The choreography is a lot of fun, especially when they use plungers as microphones. In between the musical numbers, there is a lot of funny banter which emphasizes each of the characters' quirks such as Sparky's speech impediment, Jinx's propensity for bloody noses, Frankie's nervousness in front of a crowd, and Smudge's ulcer. I loved the minimal set design which included a piano (played by Tanner DeHaan) and a bass (played by Kelly DeHaan). This show is so much fun and I highly recommend that you see it (instead of The Heart of Robin Hood).

The Heart of Robin Hood at HCT

Last night I saw the Hale Centre Theatre production of The Heart of Robin Hood and I hate to admit this but I did not like it at all. In fact, there were parts of it that actually upset me and, had I not been sitting in the middle of a row, I would have left during the second act. This musical takes the story of Robin Hood (Derek Smith) that we all know and love and turns our hero into a villain who terrorizes the inhabitants of Sherwood Forest for personal gain rather than to give to the poor. It is up to Maid Marion (Riley Branning), eager to escape an arranged marriage to the despicable Prince John (Benjamin J. Henderson), to show him the way as they attempt to rescue two children (Sam Murdock and Ava Hoekstra). One of the problems that I had with the show is that it doesn't seem to know what kind of story it is telling. Is it a swashbuckling adventure with lots of comedic elements? Is it a romance filled with swelling power ballads? Or is it a tragedy about a family who dares to defy an unjust overlord at great cost? There are so many jarring tonal shifts I almost couldn't believe it. One minute you see Prince John forcing two children to watch the execution of their father (thankfully offstage) and the next you have Maid Marion singing a peppy love song. At one point Prince John is swishing around the stage with dancing colored lights on him while his soldiers torture people. It was awful to watch. I was bewildered by some of the choices the production team made. The costumes have absolutely no rhyme or reason with some characters dressed in Renaissance clothing and others wearing neon wigs, go-go boots, dreadlocks, Doc Martens, and eyeliner (Prince John reminded me of Adam Ant). Frankly, I thought it was a mess.  This is really too bad because I did like some of the songs and the two lead actors have wonderful voices. I don't understand why Hale would choose such an edgy production considering the demographic of it patrons. The crowd last night seemed very lukewarm to me. This is the second production in a row that has disappointed me so I only hope that Forever Plaid later this week can redeem HCT for me.

Tulip Fever

I really love period dramas and, despite everything I had heard, I still thought I might like Tulip Fever so I went to see it last night.  It looked absolutely beautiful in the previews and it has a stellar cast so how bad could it be?  It is pretty bad.  Set in 17th Century Amsterdam, Sophia (Alicia Vikander) is an orphan essentially sold to Cornelis Sandvoort (Christoph Waltz), a wealthy merchant, because he is desperate for an heir.  She fails to produce said heir but he treats her kindly.  He hires Jan Van Loos (Dane DeHaan), a struggling artist, to paint their portrait and of course he falls in love with Sophia and they begin an affair.  In an attempt to be with Sophia, Jan begins speculating in the tulip market, where fortunes can be won and lost in an instant, with the help of the Mother Abbess (Judi Dench) who raised Sophia.  Maria (Holliday Grainger), Sophia's maid, is in love with a fishmonger named Willem (Jack O'Connell) who also speculates in the tulip market but when his fortune is stolen by an unscrupulous prostitute (Cara Delivigne) he is conscripted into the navy.  Sophia and Maria's stories converge in a ridiculous plot twist and the ending is anything but satisfying.  This movie is beautiful with gorgeous period costumes and lighting straight out of a Vermeer painting.  However, there are so many things wrong.  The story is convoluted but, even worse, it is also totally implausible, especially one plot element that defies common sense.  I didn't understand any of the characters' motivations.  Christoph Waltz usually plays such a good villain but in this movie his character is almost benign so I didn't understand Sophia's desperation to escape from Cornelis.  Sophia and Jan barely speak five words to each other before they are in bed together so I didn't really buy their relationship.  I also didn't understand Sophia's choice at the end of the movie.  What a letdown after everything the characters have been through!  The tone of this movie is also quite strange.  It is supposed to be a tense and compelling drama but there are some odd comedic elements, especially regarding a "little soldier" in some of the strangest sex scenes I've ever seen.  I also found the scenes where the tulips are bought and sold, which should be fraught with tension because of the consequences for the characters, to be incredibly boring.  It was a bit disappointing and I recommend giving it a miss.

Braves!

It was a hot one yesterday but we couldn't miss seeing Sean and the rest of the Bountiful Braves play the Alta Hawks!  I saw a lot of improvement in the Braves this week but this game ended much like the one they played last week.  The Hawks scored four unanswered touchdowns and then at the end of the game the Braves got a dramatic touchdown to spoil the shutout.  I'm really proud of Sean because this week he didn't let his frustrations get the better of him and he didn't give up!

They'll get the next game!

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I will be honest and say that last week was really rough.  After a great first week things deteriorated rapidly with lots of schedule changes, an incredibly disorganized picture schedule (which always involves the English teachers), and spotty internet connectivity throughout the whole district.  The only thing that got me through was knowing that I had a screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind (it is being screened for a limited engagement in honor of its 40th Anniversary) to look forward to on Friday night!  I vividly remember watching this movie in the theater when I was a kid (in fact, I remember being fairly obsessed with it) so it was an absolute thrill to be able to see it again on the big screen.   I'm sure that nostalgia played a big part in my reaction but I loved this movie about a group of people who have an encounter with a UFO and the government's attempts to cover it up just as much as I did when I was an impressionable nine year old.  Most of the narrative involves a select group of people, including Roy (Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian (Melinda Dillon) among others, who are inexplicably drawn to Devil's Tower in Wyoming after their encounter.  It turns out that Devil's Tower is a coordinate broadcast by aliens to a group of scientists, including Claude Lacombe (Francois Truffaut), after they communicate with them through musical tones (those five iconic notes).  The final encounter with the UFO at Devil's Tower is just as epic as I remember it and, in my opinion, the special effects hold up very well after 40 years.  Even after seeing so many other alien movies, I was still absolutely spellbound.  What I like best about this encounter is that almost everyone reacts with awe rather than fear.  It is just so magical!   Once again, I was fascinated by Truffaut's portrayal of Lacombe and I can't really explain why other than to say that this movie was my first introduction to him (my Dad had to tell me that he was a famous director) and I also absolutely loved Barry's (Cary Guffey) wide-eyed wonder when he looks at the UFOs.  It is an amazing movie and I highly recommend seeing it on the big screen!

Note:  I was so obsessed with this movie I actually requested that my parents take me on a road trip to Devil's Tower when I was in high school.  It is a seriously cool place!