Breaking Fresh Ground

Evan... Not-so Almighty?

I took my girls and two of their friends to see the new Steve Carell movie, "Evan Almighty" today.  I must mention first that the new theater in south Reno( Summit Sierra) is awesome!  It was sooo worth the drive to see it there.  The film was pretty good and had lots of funny bits ( I think Steve Carell is a hoot!), but I was a little disturbed at a few things in it.  I could be over analyzing it, but I don't think so..

      First of all, there was the fact that several of the actors used God's name in vain on a few different occasions.  It really bugged me.  Especially since this movie is supposed to be based on a story from the Bible!  Doesn't the bible tell us not to do that?  The other thing that was a bit bothersome is that the movie seemed to say that when God flooded the earth, it was because he wanted people to show more "acts of random kindness" (they used the letters of that thought to make the word A.R.K. in the film).  Didn't God flood the Earth to sweep out a generation of people for being evil and perverted??

     Aside from those two things (to me those are pretty major things) it was a cute movie, and had a good messages about faith, family, love, honesty and obedience.  Some of my favorite scenes were of Evan and his family building the ark together, and the animals gathering to enter it. (Amazing special effects!)

Tarzan on Broadway...Fantastic!!

While we were in New York we were able to see the new Tarzan musical.  I have to say, it was lots of fun.  Josh Strickland played Tarzan, and was apparently a finalist in American Idol 2002.  He must've dropped out, if not he would have had to win.  His voice was so amazing.. pretty much perfect if you like a more contemporary voice as I do.  I think we will see a lot more of him for years to come.  Jane was played by Jenn Gambatese who was just adorable. The stage design was pretty cool and casting was great except for Young Tarzan.  He was a little flat a couple of times and seemed to lack confidence in his singing as well as his acting. The boy who is Young Tarzan on the cast recording is much better.  The set was colorful and fun.  I was slightly distracted by the ape costumes..they seemed a little "shabby".  Merle Dandridge played Kala and her voice blended beautifully with Josh's.  They brought me to tears on more than one occasion. (not that that's too terribly difficult to do!)  It's definitely not the best musical on Broadway, but it sure was fun and we had no regrets after seeing it.

Phantom at The Venetian

I recently visited the beautiful Venetian Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with my mom and sisters (That's me and my three gorgeous sisters in the pic) to see the Phantom of The Opera in the $40 million dollar theatre that they built specifically for it.  I had already seen it on Broadway, and I didn't think anything could top that.  Boy was I wrong.   It was absolutely the most amazing thing I have ever seen.  We were spellbound for the entire 90 minutes.  (There was no intermission.  A few songs were pared down and a few short dance numbers omitted).  The theatre itself is a sight to see, but the haunting voice of Christine (played absolutely flawlessly by Sierra Boggess) brought me to tears again and again.  I was a blubbering idiot!!  The rest of the cast was unbelievable too...DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW!! It was like Phantom in 3D. We had awesome seats (Orchestra- Section 5 Row AA) and they were worth every penny!  I was extremely impressed by the fact that even though the show was more spectacular, they kept true to the original story - all of the poignant moments intact and even intensified!! If this show does not move you, you have no heart!!