BYU Show of Snow

I’m dreaming of a White Christmas.  Actually, I’m not, but it’s still fun to say.  And with a wonderful play like Irving Berlin’s “White Christmas” in town, who doesn’t want to look outside come Christmas morning and see the landscape draped in white?  “White Christmas” is a holiday classic (I’ll let you guess which one) that may be rooted in the post-WWII era, but has a timeless quality all its own. 

With the original movie starring smash-hits Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, it is hard not to compare the play to the movie.  All the same, the BYU production shows that you don’t have to imitate the movie to still have a great show.  All the same, I will confess that there were aspects of the movie that I wished had not been changed. 

I wasn’t terribly fond of the move to make Phil a womanizer who still continued to be even after falling in love with Betty.  Putting the landlady (Mrs. Allen) in the show was rather weird, and I personally wish that “Oh Gee, I Wish I was back in the Army” had been more than a reprise.  Ah well.  Say la vee. 

Other moves worked out alright, such as the change to the General’s character, the change in what it is that Bob has supposedly done, and the addition of Bob’s and Phil’s “Million Dollar Deal” friend from the army. 

Overall, the production was very entertaining, with great dancing and singing.  The actors pressed on in spite of a few technical glitches, and it worked.  At the end of the night, they got the girl, so what else matters?

Spectacular

Singing.  Dancing.  Awesomeness.  Brian Stokes Mitchell.  Would it be too corny to say that the BYU Spectacular was spectacular?  Well, corny or not, it was.  The show was incredible from start to finish, and the only thing I would change would be to make it longer.  The show started off with the orchestra, which played beautifully.  Next the Men’s Chorus joined in with songs from the musical “Paint Your Wagon.”  I haven’t seen that musical yet, but I must say that this performance of the music was a hearty recommendation.  The Men’s Chorus, which already sounded good, was then joined by Mr. Mitchell and they sounded amazing.  The Young Ambassadors joined in with some fantastic numbers, including the favorite “Just Haven’t Met You Yet,” leaving the audience wishing for more.  The brief visit by the Living Legends brought quite a stir.  Before the show I have never seen them perform, and I have to say that they were great.   Possessing a unique style, wonderful skill, and a whole lot of enthusiasm, the Living Legends were phenomenal.   Young Ambassadors came back on and once again raised the roof.  This was rather useful, since Brian David Mitchell came back to bring down the house (an especially impressive feat, since we were in the Marriott Center).  The combined performance of Mitchell and the Men’s Chorus sang “The Impossible Dream” beautifully.  I’ve heard that song many times, and it still stirs the soul.  What a wonderful end to a marvelous evening.  The only pity is that the evening had to end.

Let's Dance!

Wow. Let me say it again. WOW! The dance festival was amazing. The dancing and dancers were incredible. The costumes look fabulous, the lighting was surprisingly artistic, and the dancing was both highly skilled and very entertaining. I am very glad that I went to see it. I'm not sure I'll be able to remember everything, but what I do remember was spectacular.

The night started off with some Celtic/Scottish folk dancers. I noticed that they, and the majority of the non-modern, non-ballroom dancers dancer almost exclusively on their toes/the balls of their feet. The tap dancers only put their heels down to make noise, and the ballet dancers only stood normally (if you could call it that) when planted. The only exception to this were the Indian dancers, who danced flat-footed and seemed to focus more on dancing with their hands than on dancing with their feet.

The social dance numbers were really cool. The first of these dances was a single pair of dancers dancing the Foxtrot. The dancers flowed gracefully, gliding from move to move with elegance and ease, the light glittering off of their elaborate costumes. There were parts where the dancers danced separately, which would be difficult to do normally without practice. They flowed so well, I was almost uncertain as to whether they were dancing Foxtrot. The music proclaimed it in its pulsing beat, but I could not pick out an obvious “slow-slow-quick-quick” pattern in the dancing. It all just blended together into one fluid motion.

It was during this time that I realized what the lead's job truly is. He provides the dance moves and leads his dance partner through them, but his job as a performer is to show off how beautiful and talented his partner is. Occasionally you might notice the man, but the start of the show should be the woman. If you notice the man more often or even as often, the lead is either messing up or showing off.

Another factoid I learned was that anything can be a dance move as long as you do it to music, you perform it in a stylized manner, and you have complete confidence as you perform. Conversely, even the best dance move in the world will fail if missing two or more of those guidelines. So, have fun, and dance confidently. Be bold! Go dance!

Reflections on Tacos and Refracted Language Skills

                Tacos are delicious.  Unfortunately, they have several downsides caused by their thin brittle shells.  Fortunately for taco-lovers everywhere, there are now soft-tacos that have all of the tasty goodness of tacos without the disadvantages of a shell. 

Tacos have always had a problem with the limited amount of space that the shells provide for vegetables, salsa, sour cream, and other necessary additions to the meat.  While the open-endedness of the shell would seem to allow for an unlimited amount of such necessities, such is not the case.  The shell is simply too thin for a reasonable amount of toppings to be added.  Additionally, the only way to include even this limited amount of vegetable matter is to stack them on until your taco is the height of the Empire State Building.  While some might say that this is a good thing, it only succeeds in separating your meat from the rest of the taco.  When you want to take a bite that includes the crunch of the vegetables, the spice of the salsa, and the flavor of the meat, you find yourself unable to because no human mouth is wide enough to include it all.  You are forced to eat the vegetables and salsa off the top, and then eat your meat without toppings, effectively destroying the reason to get toppings in the first place. But this is not the worst part. 

Taco shells are so brittle that you have barely taken your first meat-less bite when the entire shell cracks down the bottom, releasing your meat and toppings to fall to the cold, dirty ground.  In a split second, all your hopes for a delicious taco experience are ruined. 

Soft tacos can end this tragedy.  With soft tacos, the meat and the toppings are combined in a tortilla wrapped to just the right size to fit in your mouth.  The tortilla is also flexible, and will not crack when you bite it.  With the right vegetables inside, your soft taco can have all of the crunch of a crispy taco without all of the additional problems inherent in this flawed design.  Spread the word.  Your day does not have to be ruined by a defective crispy taco.  Soft tacos are here to help.

P.S. English is a fun curse.  How else would I have learned how to affectedly communicate about the dreadsome probléma?

Simply Cheesy

I’d like to take a moment to talk about that most under-appreciated of the Great Ten foods: cheese.  (The Great Ten are, of course, pizza, steak, berries, shrimp, rolls, pie, enchiladas, hot chicken salad, chicken fried steak,  and cheese.)   Cheese has an excellent flavor, but it is often ignored because it is not a main course (at least not usually) or a healthy side. 

It’s true, cheese is not those things, but it deserves its place in the Great Ten because cheese not only is delicious on its own, but also helps to make any dish even more delectable.  Cheese takes ordinary chips and makes them extraordinary.  Cheese can make inedible vegetables a delight to eat.  Cheese makes pizza great, and when even more cheese is added to pizza, cheese can give pizza a brand new pizazz. 

Not only is cheese the universal garnish and special ingredient, but cheese is also the food of the everyman.  Steaks can be expensive and shrimp is only found in some restaurants, but cheese is universal.  Cheese can be found anywhere, and in an almost unlimited selection.  Cheeses range from the exquisitely expensive French cheeses with a taste so refined it is either completely bland or so sharp you could cut yourself on it, to middle class cheeses like Colby Jack or Muenster whose flavors are clear and to the point, all the way down to the pale, plastic, pathetic imitation cheeses they sell to uneducated tourists and health nuts.

Cheese is for all times and seasons, and there is a cheese for every occasion.  Everyone, from the Big Cheese on down, should sing the praises of greasy, squeaky, stringy, highly flavored and greatly textured, beautiful, fabulous cheese!