Special request

Cousins, two Jennifers, and Grandma Brown, with Angela falling/diving off the edge.

PS: I cut the girls' hair tonight. Tomorrow I will post pictures of them. I'd do it now, but they're too tired to be civil in front of the camera. Angela's hair is quite short!

Les Misérables at Tuacahn

I saw my fourth or fifth version of Les Misérables last night, at the incomparable Tuacahn Amphitheater. It's been my very favorite musical since I first heard the story in high school English and then was introduced to the music. Back then I was captivated by the love triangle, more specifically by Éponine's unrequited affection for Marius.

Now that I'm a bit more mature, I was much more interested in the parental aspects of this rich story: first, Fantine's desperate devotion to her daughter, and then Jean Valjean's journey from a criminal innocent of moral offense to an upstanding man who embodies the spirit of service and love for others. Of course, I was still moved by the love triangle, but my perspective has certainly changed.

The main benefits of seeing this masterpiece of musical theatre at the unique Tuacahn setting are:

• The opening scene of prisoners, scattered on the hillside, actually breaking up rocks with sledgehammers;
  


• When Cosette is sent into the woods, she is actually outdoors on one of the red rock side sets;


• "Stars" is sung under an expanse of real stars;


• Nothing can top "One Day More" with a crescendo of fireworks;


• Javert actually jumps from a tall bridge;


• The barricade is gi-normous;


• Tons of horse-drawn carriages;


• During the barricade battle, the opposing army is positioned in the rocks behind the barricade, shooting at the rebels while they fire back.

The best part, other than my new appreciation for the more mature themes of redemption and parental love and protection, was the performance by Timothy Warmen:
This is the Broadway actor who portrayed the best Jean Valjean I've seen. Not only was his voice strong and amazing, but he played the character with a level of emotion and passion I've never seen before. After the show, I was able to talk to him and tell him that I thought his performance was outstanding; he was very nice, and said that he'd never seen the show before and that he was glad he'd done well. This man is profoundly talented.

Of course, most of the cast is amazingly talented. There are few exceptions, as there should be when putting together a show with such high expectations. I think many theatre-goers have already seen some version of Les Miz, and the competition is tough. To be in this show, you must be able to carry a pretty demanding tune.

We saw the first preview night, and there were some things that clearly need to be addressed, but what matters is not who tripped over what set piece or who got pinned under a stray piece of the barricade when they tried to move it from the stage...What truly matters is the story. This is a phenomenal story. It is rich and complex and deeply moving. The acting and singing were great, but these characters and their struggles and triumphs are the most important, and they come together beautifully.

Les Misérables runs at Tuacahn from now through October, and if anyone reading this wants to attend but needs to go with someone, let me know. I'd be delighted to see this again.

Princesses making silly faces

This morning, the girls were looking particularly cute:


Then they started hugging:
Time to make silly faces!
These are their sad faces:Surprised faces:
Happy faces:
Excited faces:
A couple of very silly girls:
But my favorite shows how thoroughly sweet they both are:

Trip to California

Angela dressed up as a bride:


And Elizabeth as a butterfly (on Mardi Gras):


Cousins:


Silly cousins:


Angela and friends:


Elizabeth and Aunt Josie:


Angela in heaven:





Back at home...

Beautiful girls:








I caught Elizabeth reading in a beam of sunlight one morning (look at the book she's enjoying!)

What it was like to meet Stephenie Meyer

Amazing!! On May 16th I was able to attend the book signing and discussion promoting The Host. I nearly didn't make it, since I was halfway to Salt Lake and realized I had forgotten my ticket to the event. My dear husband drove up to meet me and give me the ticket so I could go. Without him, I would have been completely out of luck. I still owe you, honey.

I was going to find a transcription of the questions and answers, but I found instead a video of the entire discussion here. That's much better than a dry collection of text. Thanks, Geo! Nice work.

Be careful, if you haven't yet finished The Host: That video contains plot spoilers.

My pictures of Stephenie:



After the twenty-minute discussion, the line formed. One section at a time, the rows and rows and rows of people were allowed to get in a line to go up to the stage and get their books signed.

It took about four hours for my section to reach the stage.

When I finally reached Stephenie, I am pleased to say I was eloquent and charming.

I wish that were true. I choked and didn't speak for a bit. Then I said something like, "I really enjoyed The Host. It is edifying and lovely."

She said, "I'm really proud of it. It's my favorite work. I think my writing skill has hugely improved."

I was going to say, "It's a pleasure to read," but I didn't get the last two words out before I was shoved aside by the girl behind me. Not rudely; we were all being rushed through the line, and each had only a few seconds to talk to her. I was probably the 900th person to reach her, and she was clearly tired and the line was still quite long. She was, as promised, going through Sharpies at an alarming rate.

My favorite part of the discussion was her response to the question about whether or not she had experienced the deep love she writes about in her books. She said she could not have written about it before she had children.

My next favorite part was using the word "edifying" to Stephenie Meyer.

I can't help it. I love words and love finding the perfect descriptive word. And I'm glad I didn't stumble over it when it mattered.

The Host is truly edifying, and it occupies a place of honor on my bookshelf. And it's now signed and personalized to me from the author. I also had my tattered and creased copy of Twilight signed, the first one I read, the one I've read multiple times now. Amazing.

PS - I know I'm far behind in my posts. I'm catching up. More to come, soon!

Proof of Missing Teeth

You can see why it was a little challenging to get a picture of the missing tooth...

Not here:


Almost:


There it is!
And again!

It's all about The Family

No, not my family.

This one:


I may have lost my Netflix privileges to do it, but I made my long-suffering husband sit through The Omega Man. I had never seen it before.

And I had no idea before this that I absolutely love campy 70's sci-fi.

From the poorly-done special effects, to the beatnik albino zombies in shades spouting haunting, surreal dialogue, to the awesome 70's score...What a delight!

For all its campiness, it isn't a bad film. Sure, they had a $10 budget for costumes and contacts, but who other than Charlton Heston could have taken the role of last man on the earth so seriously, and made it work? You at least believe that he believes it, even if you also realize that Luddite mutants will never be the ones to take over the world. Only Moses could pull this off.

I've only begun to look at deeper themes that may or may not be present, regarding cult mentality, communism versus capitalism, media relations, the source of societal violence, and so on. With its PG rating, I at first thought that it might not be a bad idea to let the kids see it, but I'm glad I reconsidered. I didn't find it scary, but certainly those bonfires, hooded figures, white eyes, and bad acting would have been detrimental to the little ones.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was the most fun I've had watching a movie in recent memory. I don't at all wish those 98 minutes back (though I do wish I had had the foresight to also order The Andromeda Strain and Logan's Run before I lost access to the queue...).