Get Your Shook On

All Shook Up opens tomorrow night, we are up to our ears in tech this week. I hope you will come out to see it; we run July 15-22. Information on the show can be found here at the Midvale Arts Council website where you can purchase tickets online. Of course tickets are always available at the door as well. Bring a camp chair or blanket if you do not want to sit on the ground!! We have a deaf actress in the show which has been amazing!! The show will be interpreted for the deaf on July 18 and 22.

I stumbled across this little gem today and laughed right out loud!! Hopefully I remember how to embed video here. My blogging skills are a little rusty right now. So much to catch up on, like my hip getting a new roof.

Deep Thoughts ... by Starbuck

Do not clean out your gmail folders under the influence of pain medication. Nothing good can come of it.

Being followed

So this guy I know recently told me he was following me. It honestly took me a minute to figure out what he meant. See, call me old fashioned, but in my day when a guy says he is following you it meant you had a crazy stalker who physically followed you around everywhere you went and waited outside your window to look in and asked your mission companion if he could have your hand in marriage so the mission president had to transfer you out of the area literally at midnight. It did not meant that you clicked a button on the internets to see what said person was up to and then 'like' what they are doing. But my good friend D, apparently follows me!! (Hey D!! I totally talk about you and your brother here sometimes!!)

One day I will have to have someone explain to me about Twitter. I am not a Twit (?!) yet and have never tweeted. But I do the blog and the facebook on the internets and apparently I am being followed. I kind of had a stalker once in real life in case that was not obvious, story for another day, so this is like good clean, free therapy to get over being followed, I guess!

I do not have one of those phones that is smarter than me, I am still smarter than my phone ... I think. I am waiting to upgrade to see if maybe Apple is going to release a new iPhone in September or something before I get a smart phone. Right now my phone would be average, not dumb, but average.

Have you ever heard someone utter this phrase "What did we ever do before the internet?" Well I will tell you what we did before Al Gore invented the world wide interweb. We picked up our rotary to make a phone call. We looked in the newspaper to see what time a show was playing, and then we washed the black residue off of our fingers. When you had a research project to do you had to go to the library to look in their reference books. We picked up our stationary and pens to write a letter to someone, and then licked the envelope and stamp to mail it. A tweet was the sound a bird made. If someone was "sick of being sick" or "tired of being tired" it was not broadcast for all their friends to see. And telling someone you were following them could land you in hot water with the police.

I am not saying I want to go back to those days ... ever. No, no. The internets are for me!! So follow me, blog stalk me, tweet, and like!! I am all in, baby!! All in!

I'm ALL SHOOK UP!!

The Midvale Arts Council presents All Shook Up, a musical inspired by and featuring the songs of Elvis Presley®. July 15-22, nightly except Sunday, starting at 7:30 p.m. at the Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park; 455 West 7500 South in Midvale, Utah. ASL interpreters will be available on Monday July 18 and Friday July 22. Tickets may be purchased online at www.midvalearts.com or at the door. Tickets are $7 - general admission, $5 - children and seniors, $25 - family pass (one household please), group tickets are available at our website. Midvale residents receive $1 off admission with proof of residency at the door.

If you enjoyed Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and are a fan of Elvis Presley’s music, you will love All Shook Up. The show is being directed by Karen Chatterton, Stephanie Maag, and Patricia Rogers. The cast includes Larissa Villers as Natalie, Jace Mitchell as Chad, Kevin Cottam as Jim, Lorri L. Cerva as Sylvia, Sarah Rogers and Lorraine, Marty Buhler as Dennis, Korinne Ivory as Sandra, Melody Chapman as Mayor Matilda, Bryant Roberts as Dean, and Mark Hansen as Sherriff Earl.

The Outdoor Stage in the Park is a beautiful venue which allows you the freedom to bring blankets or camp chairs, a picnic lunch, and enjoy this theatrical presentation under the stars. Shows may be postponed or cancelled due to inclement weather.

For more information visit www.midvalearts.com; for group ticket information email stephanie@midvalearts.com.

Out of the Mouths of Babes

I had the chance to teach the 4-5 year old class today at church. Here is the conversation that took place about half way through the lesson:

Mik - What is your name?
Me - Stephanie

Mik - Snephanie?
Me - Stephanie

Ali - Snephanie.

Mik - Snephanie?
Me - Sure.

Mik - Um, can I call you Sarah?

Me - (pause) Sure.

Mik then proceeded to call me Sarah for the remainder of the class. When his mom came to pick him up I asked Anna to have Mik tell her my name.

Mik - Her name is Snephanie, but I am going to call her Sarah.

You know, whatever works!!

Summer Concert Series

The Midvale Arts Council hosts a free concert series every year. For the last few years there has been a summer outdoor concert series as well. This year it is a Music and Movies in the Park Summer series. FUN!! The first concert is tomorrow June 24; on the Outdoor Stage in the Park 455 West 7500 South in Midvale. Since these concerts are at our park bring blankets or chairs to sit on. The info is below:

Friday June 24 7:30 p.m.: The 23rd Army Band will be performing a free concert. The Midvale Arts Council will be selling a fried chicken picnic dinner for $5 a person; the proceeds will go towards upgrading the Arts Council facilities. After the band the cast of All Shook Up will give the audience a preview of the show. Then at 9:30 once the lights have dimmed, we will be showing Operation Petticoat. Please, Cary Grant AND Tony Curtis? I am so there.

Saturday July 23 7:30 p.m. (the day after All Shook Up closes): Christmas in July!! Christmas Karaoke followed by the instant classic film A Christmas Story. "I can't put my arms down!!"

Friday August 12 7:30 p.m.: Broadway night starting off with Broadway Karaoke and then stay to see a very young Ginger Rogers in 42nd Street.

For more information or to sign up to karaoke for the last 2 concerts visit www.midvalearts.com to visit the summer concert page.

A Review

I love theater; this is not news, just a reminder. A friend of mine lent me his copy of a new musical to listen to. I have not seen this musical, only listened to the soundtrack, but I would like to share my views on it. And since this is my blog I get to do what I want.

The Book of Mormon musical opened on Broadway to mostly positive acclaim. It is nominated for many Tony awards, including Best Musical. To be honest it will probably win. Which is a shame. This was not a good musical.

I am sure critics of my review will claim that I do not like this musical because I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormon.) I have a pretty healthy sense of humor. I can take and make jokes about my religion. And in actuality the Mormon jokes in this musical were not offensive to me. There were some lyrics that contained false doctrine. Whatever, a musical about the Catholic Church would probably include some jabs about recent scandals involving priests which is not indicative of what the Catholic Church is or believes. I get it. That is not at all what I found offensive.

I was offended by the authors making light of the conditions in Africa. The story revolves around two young Mormon missionaries sent to Uganda to preach the Gospel. These two white, young men (19 years old) from Salt Lake were sent far away to a land and culture that is foreign to them. In Africa they find that 80% of the people they are sent to teach have AIDS, that warlords terrorize their families, and that some of the cultural beliefs of the people are vastly different than those from home. The African people curse God for their situation in life, and conditions in which they are forced to live. The musical goes on to talk about the atrocities that happen to the defenseless, i.e. infants and virgins. If these things truly happen, they are not funny and should not be made light of.

I was offended by the language. I am by no means a prude. We had a missionary stay at our house this week on his way to the Missionary Training Center and I had to promise my mother I would not swear in front of him. There are two swear words I will not say and many other words that just are offensive to me. This musical has every word I will not say ... multiple times. The f-word is particularly prevalent. In addition they take the name of the Lord in vain many times. One particularly jaunty number in the musical is the African people singing literal curses to God. Over. And over. And over again.

I was offended by the tone. I have seen musicals with dark or hard content before. Rent and The Color Purple are both a little harsh in language and subject matter but they really tell the story as opposed to make fun of the situation. They made fun of the situation in Africa, like I said already, and there are very explicit sexual jokes in the show. I have a rule that if I can sit next to my mother during something and not feel uncomfortable it is probably alright. You know instead of WWJD (What would Jesus do?) I live by WWMW (What would Mom watch?) and this ain't it kid!

I was not offended by the jokes about Mormons, though it is fraught with inaccuracies on the Mormon Church. I do hope that everyone who walks into the show knows that it is a sacrilegious romp. The musical, at least the released soundtrack, has little scriptural basis for any of it. Unless you believe that Mormons believe in Boba Fett and Mordor (from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings respectively) or that Joseph Smith and Brigham Young were equal to African warlords in the things they did before they were visited by God and angels. Anyone who believes that what is being "taught" as fact deserves to be lied to. Of course, what should I expect from the creators of South Park and Avenue Q?

The overlaying lesson that I took from the story of The Book of Mormon musical is that we all need to fight for our beliefs and question what we have faith in; that when life is bad, we may question our faith, we may have doubts, but we should fight for our answers and for a better life. It is alright to dream and aspire for a better life; in fact, it is our right as human beings. The show actually has a good moral message, if you can get past the offensive language ... which I just cannot.

The music for this show is great. It is catchy and upbeat like a good musical should be. If the lyrics for the musical were not offensive to me it probably would be a new favorite musical. I think it is a shame that this wonderful music was filled with sexual references, foul language, and offensive content. I honestly do not know which song they will choose to perform at the Tony's because of the language and content. Then again, if it were not an offensive romp, a story about The Book of Mormon probably would not be on Broadway, nominated for a Tony.

Bottom line, would I recommend this musical to anyone? No. I would not. In fact, I have told some of my musical loving friends to steer clear of it. This musical could have been great without the offensive content. That is my review.

Dance Concert

I have been a substitute teacher at The Learning Circle for the musical dance theatre classes. I tell you what I am having a great time. The dance concert is next Saturday if you care to see some great little kids dance ... and sing ... and act ... The teachers are going to perform too. Stephanie, Kim, and Chelsea are dancing. Jenn is playing Mother Goose. Oh and also Casey, Patti and I are singing. My three nieces are in the show also along with their mommies. The information is below, the price for the ticket helps to pay for the use of the venue.

The Learning Circle Performing Arts Studio is happy to present our first concert:

A Goose Tale

Saturday, June 18, 2011 at 6:30 p.m.
Union Middle School

(7500 South 700 East)

Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at The Learning Circle (8685 South Highland Drive, Sandy) or at the door. Please call or email Stephanie if you have any questions. (801-943-1757 or thelearningcirclellc@gmail.com)