The Count of Monte Cristo- BYU

The Count of Monte Cristo is the story of Edmund Dantes. He is a privileged young man who has just become captain of a ship, and gets to marry his dream girl Mercedes. Dantes friends are jealous of him, so they want to do away with him. They frame him for a crime because Dantes possesses a letter from Napoleon. Dantes goes to jail for years, and finally escapes with the help of Abbe Faria. Abbe tells Dantes about an island that has a treasure. Dantes goes and finds the treasure and reinvents himself as The Count of Monte Cristo. He goes and gets revenge on his friends and finds out he has a son!

I really liked the three villains of the story. My favorite though was the one who wanted to be captain of the ship. I can’t remember his name. He was awesome! I loved his character. He just stood out onstage. I also really liked Dantes played by Preston Yates. He did an awesome job! He was very convincing, and had an amazing singing voice. I also really enjoyed the performance of the three lady pirates. Lauren Hughes did amazing! I loved her song, and she really shined onstage.

I really liked the set, and the animations used! Sometimes though the animations didn’t match up with the set, but I really liked the use of them. I thought it was very creative. The costumes were all amazing too. I though the use of costumes with the three villains was great. You could tell that they were of different positions and classes. I also really liked the music. I had a hard time understanding the words at some points, but I thought that was a sound issue. I really liked the music though. I loved the variety of songs in the show.

I really liked this show! I thought it was awesome!! I would highly recommend it, the story was a little hard to follow at some parts, but I still really enjoyed it. My only this is that it kind of reminds me of Les Mis with the guy going to jail and then reinventing himself.

The Mystery of Edwin Drood- UVU

The Mystery of Edwin Drood is based off of the book written by Charles Dickens. It is a murder mystery, but no one knows the ending. Charles Dickens died before he could finish it. The audience gets to choose the ending. That was interesting. In the story, we meet Edwin Drood who is a rich boy (played by a woman) who is supposed to marry Rosa. This play is weird because it is a play within a play. Edwin Drood is killed and there are eight possible suspects and the audience gets to choose who killed Edwin Drood.

I really liked Jacob Theo Squire who played Clive Paget and John Jasper. Jasper is Edwin Droods uncle, who is in love with the girl Edwin gets to marry. Jasper is clearly the one who is most obviously the murderer. Squire was evil, and had a great stage presence. His mustache however reminded me of Black Stache from Peter and the Starcatcher and I thought that was funny since they were both funny villains. I also liked Alex Rettie as the stage manager. Even though he didn’t have many lines, he was always committed onstage. He was always onstage and I don’t think he ever got lost in thought. He was always in the moment. He was really great with the timing with the sound effects too. Alex Woods was awesome as Neville Landless. His accent was great, and you could still understand him. His eyes were totally freaky and that was cool too.

The set was really cool. Where I was sitting though was kind of hard it see, it was a partial view. But I don’t think I missed that much. The costumes were so awesome! Rosa’s PINK DRESS!!!!! I loved it!! And her COAT and the SHAWL. They were SOOOO pretty, and SOOOO pink!! I really liked them!!! The costumes of all the characters were really great. I also liked Helena Landless dress with the headpiece, and the beautiful color scheme and the layers. It was gorgeous!

I really liked this show. The songs were funny. I had a hard time understanding some things. I thought it was a creative idea. I wish I could have seen all the scenarios instead of just one. It was a great cast, and they looked like they were having a great time onstage. I would recommend this show to someone who wants a fun, cheesy murder mystery.

Plans For This Week

1. Shrek The Musical- Riverton Arts Council
2. The Little Princess- South Valley Youth Theatre
3. Big River- Hale Theatre in Orem
State drama is this weekend as well so I will let you know if I see anything good!

Big River- hale theatre Orem

I can't say enough good about this show!!! This the last week of performances. I highly recommend it! If you spend any money on a show, this should be it!!

Blue Man Group!

If you get a chance... Go!!!
This show doesn't need a review! It is awesome!
Great comedy and amazing things!!!

Deathtrap- Pioneer Theatre Company

Deathtrap is a play about Sidney, a playwright who is looking for a new good idea. He hasn't had a hit in years. A young playwright with a smashing new play asks Sidney to read his play. Sidney instantly falls in love. This is exactly what he is looking for. But credit for a play isn't something to murder over... or is it?
I don't want to give anymore in case you go see it.
Sydney (Thom Sesma) was brilliant. He was very manipulative and condescending. For some reason I really liked the sound of his voice. The chemistry he had with other characters were awesome as well. I also enjoyed the performance of Clifford (Devin Norik) the young playwright. Clifford is also very manipulative as Sydney, but even as the play progressed I could see Sydney planning something, unlike Clifford. I think Clifford's strongest moment was at the end of the play with the major twist. The poor wife of Sydney was put through so much! Myra (Gayton Scott) was a very good wife. She was paying for everything so her husband could spend all his time trying to come up with a new play. She was supporting him! She did very well. She had a very large range of emotions throughout the play and was very clear and precise about which emotion she was going to use. The chemistry between all the characters was great!
I think the set was fantastic! It was so detailed and everything was set in a certain place for a reason. I also really liked the actors. I thought they did a fantastic job! The one thing I didn't love was the script, especially near the end. It had too many twists, and I thought the ending was really weak. It was so climatic and the energy in the room was so high and then it crashed and died.
I really liked this show. I did not see a lot of the twists coming, I didn't even have a gut instinct telling me what was going to happen. I would recommend it to older audiences, it has very adult themes and it gets bloody. I really liked it though. I enjoyed getting scared and being surprised.
I would recommend seeing this show!

This Week

Just so you know, I will be seeing 2 shows this week.
Deathtrap-Pioneer Theatre Company
Blue Man Group- Kingsbury Hall (I think)

I will get reviews up ASAP.