The Moors

It's so exciting to see An Other Theater Compay begin its 3rd season in Provo. This theater company is so incredible and the work they are doing is monumental!

"The Moors," directed by dear friend Angela Nibley is a very strange tale (Dark Comedy about love, desperation, and a moor-hen). I didn't know what to expect when sitting down last night to watch this wickedly hilarious play by Jen Silverman, but I wasn't disappointed at all! What a fun evening of theater! I am so happy for Angela and her success with this wonderful play! Believe me, what actually happens on the stage is nothing you could possibly imagine, and that is what makes this play and this awesome production so incredible and so much fun!

The cast are all incredible! Each, very unique in their own right, and the artists behind these delightful characters are consummate professionals at the top of their game. Bryn Curry as Agatha was precise and calculating in her performance which led to the eerieness and mystery behind this piece. I have loved Bryn in her previous work at AOTC, particularly as Mary in "The Rapture Happens at Midnight." Maddie Smith as Huldey is making her AOTC debut and what a delight! She is so energetic and fun to watch on stage. Her character made a nice contrast between herself and Agatha. The relationship was very clear and concise. Vivianne Turman gave a hilarious performance as Mallory/Marjory the two manorhouse maids. Chelsea Hickman gave a heartbreaking and honest performance as Emilie, the governess. I have admired Chelsea's work at AOTC including Ruth in "The Rapture Happens at Midnight" and Uncle Peck in "How I Learned to Drive." Rounding out the incredible ensemble in two hilarious and heartbreaking performances were Bryce Lloyd Fueston as The Mastiff and Laura Elise Chapman as The Moor Hen. I was rooting for these two delightful characters throughout the entire performance. Bryce is amazing in anything that he does and this was the first time I had seen Laura and she was so delightful and amazing in her performance; I look forward to seeing her again soon!

Kudos to the entire design team and staff for a job well done! I highly urge you to get down to the Provo Towne Center to see this amazing theatrical work. It's the regional premiere and will most likely not be done again for a very long time, if ever in Utah. This theater is doing remarkable work in Utah County and bringing a unique voice to local theater and works that need to be seen. Thank you to Kacey Spadafora and Taylor Jack Nelson and their entire team for doing what you are doing for Utah County theater!

Us

I know I'm behind on my film watching and all of my friends keep pestering me to see this movie, so I finally did and WOW!!!!!! Jordan Peele is my new favorite horror director, hands down! I personally feel he is the next Hitchcock but with a style all his own! It's wonderful to see black actors being the stars for once in the horror genre!

I didn't know what to expect going into this film, and every one of my expectations were turned upside down and that is the best thing I can say about this incredible and thrilling piece of filmmaking!

I love intelligent horror films and this film is indeed that. Highly intelligent! It left me with more questions and answers, and finding answers to those questions and discovering those answers for myself have been so enjoyable and thrilling!

This film completely held me spellbound from beginning to end. Just when I thought the film was headed a certain way, Jordan Peele did a 360 and headed a completely different way, thus the comparison to Hitchcock. I absolutely love and adore this film and will now watch Jordan Peele's first film, "Get Out" very soon!

The entire cast was incredible, particularly having to play two characters each. Lupita Nyong'o's performance was the standout though in this film! What an incredible artist! She had me glued to my seat the entire time! She was so wonderful to watch! I am so happy that there are artists like Jordan Peele that are writing films like this out there! We need more! Please!!

I highly recommend this film to everyone!

Newsies

 

 I am a die-hard Fansie, and I have loved this incredible musical since the film version came out in 1992.

When the stage version came out in 2011 I was excited to see how it would be adapted for the stage. 

I wasn't disappointed in the least! In fact, Harvey Fierstein's adaptation of the film to the stage was nothing short of brilliant! It vastly improved the story and made it even better in my opinion! Well, this piece finally made it to the SCERA stage and it was not only a fun production it was also very endearing and kudos to the entire cast and crew for a job well done.

Even before the show started I was immediately transported back to turn of the century NYC with M’liss Tolman's incredible set; one of the most complex and beautiful sets I have ever seen on the SCERA Shell Stage. The pre-show music added to this tremendously. The wonderful casting of equal girls and boys as Newsies rounded out this package to bring the audience a very well crafted, historically accurate production of this wonderful show! Deborah Bowman's wonderful costumes were a delight to see! You could distinguish between each character very well! Deborah is a master at this and I love and adore her! Elizabeth Ottley Griffiths lighting design was equally stunning! I loved in particular, the gas lamps; very invocative of the time period.

Michael Carrasco's wonderful concept and direction of this piece were superb! He brought his own flavor to this show and in particular I loved what he did with "Letter from the Refuge" which helped to really show the deep suffering that Crutchie suffers at the hands of Snyder and his ugly brand of "Juvenile" reform; having this as an actual solo, different from the original production with other kids sleeping around him as well as having him situated above the set, helped this a lot. It was an awesome directorial choice! Tyne Valgardson Crockett's choreography, as always, was inventive and exciting to watch! I adore Tyne and I loved her take on this story from a choreography POV, particularly with this show because sometimes the emotion is so high that only dance can communicate to the audience what is happening with the characters on stage. Some of my favorite numbers were: "The World Will Know," "Seize the Day," "King of New York," and "Once and For All." Delayne Bluth Dayton, as always, delivered the music so brilliantly to the stage. The harmonies were awesome and it was so wonderful to hear such a large cast come together as a true ensemble from a music standpoint!

The entire cast was incredible. Their energy was infectious and I was rooting for all of them from the very beginning. This was a true ensemble and they all worked so well together! A standout for me though in this particular production was the characters of Jack and Katharine, played by Paul Cave and Avonlea Simmons respectively. Each brought a whole new and different take on these characters than I ever have seen before and it was so refreshing and endearing! I loved Paul's youthful exuberance and boyish energy, particularly his reaction to Katharine's admission of her love for him in "Something to Believe In;" in fact, it was this scene, in particular, that was handled so well by both these terrific artists! Avonlea's performance as Katharine was so feisty and youthful as well. In particular, a stand out of me was her incredible performance of "Watch What Happens." She captured so well this "actor's" musical number; each thought was brought carefully forward to the audience and she portrayed Katharine's struggle to fit in this new world of turn of the century America as a woman so well! This was the character that changed this show for me! Her creation by Harvey Fierstein was a brilliant choice and it is this character that makes Jack Kelly's character so much stronger! I personally feel that this was the main flaw in the original film: Jack's out of nowhere romance with Davey's sister, who was a throw-away character. This relationship was so much more honest, realistic and helped to make Jack's journey so much more cathartic and touching! Congratulations to two very talented and gifted artists!

Again, congratulations to everyone involved for a job well done! I also want to thank SCERA for not cutting the language from this production. I know that Utah County audiences are very conservative and even dams and hells generates letters from time to time. Even the inclusion of "Bastards" helped to honor the intent of the playwright. In that opening scene, "Santa Fe" that word is very important and it helps to convey the frustration of Jack and Crutchie from the very beginning. Language is important and sometimes so-called "Profanity" is needed to convey the intent of the character. I applaud SCERA for leaving the material fully intact! Thank you to everyone involved for such an enjoyable evening under the stars!

Tuck Everlasting

I must say that I adored every single moment of this beautiful production at HCT-Orem. I love this story and the musical version is wonderful and emotionally packed. The entire cast needs to be congratulated for a job well done. The biggest honor though must go to the beautiful Ava Hoekstra as Winnie Foster. She was absolutely adorable and I was rooting for her throughout the entire evening. At such a young age, this wonderful little actress brought such depth and professionalism to her performance. Her story broke my heart. I can't even imagine what it would be like to be faced with the decision this little girl had to make. Equally stunning was the amazing Carter Walker as Jesse Tuck. He also broke my heart! The one thing you think would be great (everlasting life) can also be a tremendous curse, and this, unfortunately, is a hard lesson learned by this wonderful character throughout the course of the evening. The rest of the cast once again did outstanding jobs and each was unique and brought their own flavor to the production! Well done to a terrific ensemble! This production closes this weekend, so don't miss it if you can get tickets!

The Rapture Happens at Midnight

I was so excited as I sat down on Saturday, May 4th to watch this world premiere play by my dear friend Liz Golden, that I could hardly contain myself! I was not disappointed in any way!

Liz assembled a tight ensemble to bring to life this incredible story about faith, belief, family loyalty, and personal integrity! The basic story is the story of a televangelist, his wife, and their 4 daughters, 1 granddaughter and their manager/personal assistant, all preparing for the rapture happening that night at Midnight.

Thus begins an intense journey into the depths of familial hopes, dreams, relationships, etc. The entire cast was a true ensemble and worked so well together. My dear friend, Jessamyn Svensson led the cast as the eldest daughter only known to us as "D." Joel Applegate delivers another stunning performance as her father/televangelist, Michael. Supporting both of them was the stunning Cathy Ostler as her mother, Deborah and her sisters Mary (Bryn Curry), Beth (Merry Magee), Chelsea Hickman (Ruth), Lucy Golden as the granddaughter Paislee, and Camilla Martinez (Hannah, the maid) and Bryce Lloyd as Martin (The Assistant). All of these incredibly gifted artists delivered stunning and top-notch performances!

A stunning and inspirational evening of theatre! Thank you once again An Other Theater Company for the wonderful work you're doing for us here in Utah County!

Dear Ruth

I absolutely adore this simple romantic comedy by Norman Krasna and the PG Players production was just that, simple and romantic. I had such a pleasant afternoon at this production! As always, my dear friends Howard and Kathryn Little delivered a wonderful production with top-notch talent!

The basic concept of the play is a mix-up when a younger sister writes to a soldier during the war using her sister's name and the wonderful and comic mix-ups that come about when that soldier comes back to finally meet Ruth, the older sister who he thinks he's in love with!

Kudos to a wonderful cast, the incredibly talented and beautiful T'naiha Ellis as Ruth, Joey Calkins as Albert, her fiancee, my dear friends Debra Flink and Dennis Purdie as Ruth's parents, Edith and Judge; the rest of the cast rounds out a great and tight ensemble!

I was completely and touched by this wonderfully simple production and it made me believe in love again! Thank you to the PG Players for once again delivering another fine performance!

An American In Paris

I was so excited to not only be finally seeing the stage version of one of my all-time favorite movie musicals but as well to finally get to experience the new Hale Center Theater in Sandy. What an absolutely gorgeous facility and the center stage is phenomenal! This is really one of the most beautiful theaters in the state.

I must say that the stage version of this classic MGM musical is absolutely brilliant and stunning to see live on stage. The wonderful story has been superbly adapted for the stage by Craig Lucas (Prelude to a Kiss) and then combined with the exquisite score by George & Ira Gershwin it was an afternoon of sheer delight!

David Tinney's direction and Jennifer Hill Barlow's choreography were absolutely superb! Dave really knows how to direct musical theater and I have so enjoyed Jennifer's choreography over the years throughout the state! This was a simple yet exquisite production that left me spellbound and moved! It really is a touching love story and about the power of the human spirit!

The phenomenal cast were all incredible and the ensemble's dancing skills were superb! This is a dancing show and a lot of the story is told through dance, particularly ballet, and the actors on that stage did it all beautifully.

Myles Woolstenhulme shined in the role of Jerry Mulligan, the role made famous in the film by Gene Kelly. Myles is very young but had a maturity and style about him that fit this role beautifully and I was rooting for him from the moment he appeared on stage for the first time! He is a wonderful dancer as well and he smoothly combined both worlds of theater and dance superbly in his performance! Sophia Vance equally shined in the role of Lise, the role made famous in the film by Cyd Charisse. Sophia is actually the understudy in this role but she was absolutely gorgeous and a complete seasoned professional! I was shocked to read in her bio that she is a junior in high school. What an amazing talent! She is going to go far! My dear friend, Andrew Robertson broke my heart in the role of Adam Hochberg, played by Oscar Levant in the film. Andrew shined wonderfully in this heartbreaking role of the wounded ex-soldier, composer, singer who falls in love albeit unrequited love for the beautiful Lise. Andrew's version of "But Not For Me" broke my heart! It was so good to see this very talented and gifted artist on the stage again! Adam Dietlein was absolutely incredible and charming in the role of Henri Baurel, played by Georges Guetary in the film. Henri is the man betrothed to Lise but in the end, sacrifices his happiness for what he knows is right! Adam is one of the most gifted and talented actors in the state and it was so good to see him once again on stage in this wonderful role! And what can I say about my dear friend, Brighton Hertford as the eccentric heiress, Milo Davenport, played by Nina Foch in the film. Brighton is one of the most gifted and talented actresses in this state and I enjoy seeing her on stage every time! Her costumes by designer, Joy Zhu were stunning! Brighton's performance was heartbreaking as well! Milo doesn't find true love in this story but her bravery and self-determination win the day and the audience's heart! Sharon Kennison (Madame Baurel) and the rest of the ensemble were all equally wonderful!

Kudos to everyone involved in this wonderful and exquisite production! I enjoyed very single moment of it!