The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance

A few years ago, I took a Mormon Lit class at UVU.  It was a really interesting class and exposed me to new novels. Comedian Elna Baker's The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance was not a novel we read in that class, but our professor talked about it to us one day and read us an excerpt.  After hearing Baker's voice come to life via my professor, I had to get my hands on it. 

New York Regional is a hilarious yet touching memoir by a born and bred world-traveling Mormon. Her sense of humor sort of reminds me of Chelsea Handler, but not as crass. So I recommend this book with the caveat Baker uses in her dedication to her parents: " . . . aside from the nine-F words, thirteen Sh-words, four A-holes, page 257, and the entire Warren Beatty chapter . . . You might want to avoid chapters twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three . . ." 

Read on! 

Scapin

I had never heard of Scapin before going to the show, but it turns out that the play-writes, Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell, adapted this from Moliere! And all they really did was modernize it; the concept, the story line, the characters, all that, is still basically the same. Also, I think there's room for improv/customization within the script, because some jokes were very topical and some were very local. It made it that much more fun!

Moliere's original title is Les Fourberies de Scapin, which literally translates to Scapin's Deceits, which gives you a pretty good idea of the basic structure, and hilarity, of the play.  Scapin also fits in well with Shakespearean comedies -- it had a content warning for double entendres and innuendos as well. It was really well done, with lots of audience involvement and character's speaking directly to us. The two best were, of course, David Ivers as Scapin and Matt Zambrano as Syvestre, the faithful sidekick. They worked very well together and made the show very enjoyable. If you want to "pee your pantaloons" laughing- you better get some tickets for Scapin!! 

Merry Wives of Windsor

Last Wednesday night, I was saw Merry Wives of Windsor. It's performed in the outside Shakespeare theatre. Every night before the show there's a Green Show [free!] outside of the theatre, so Cass and I went over early to see the Green Show, too. 

The stage for the Green Show. The theatre is behind it. 

The Green Show was great. The characters are gypsies, and they sing, dance, and tell/act out some stories. It was really great. Cass knew one of the actors, so it was fun to see him. I really liked the gypsy girls dancing with their skirts. I love dancing in big swishy skirts!  After the Green Show, Cass's first mission president and his wife came up to say hi; they brought their grandson down to see the show. It was great to see them and catch up. 

My seat was great, about six or seven rows back. I had a great view for a great show. If you're not familiar with Merry Wives, it's about this trickster, Sir John Falstaff, who decides to get himself some money by turning two women into his lovers. Falstaff, thinking Mistress Page and Mistress Ford like him, sends them identical love letters, hoping to make cuckolds of their husbands and steal their wealth. Unfortunately for him, the women show each other the letters and make their own plans. Meanwhile, it's time for Anne Page, Mistress Page's daughter, to be wed, and three men would like to be considered: Slender, Dr Caius, and Fenton. 


As with any Shakespeare play, this was given a "content advisory" since Merry Wives contains "a small amount of the Bard's usual innuendo and double entendres." So, of course, I found it hilarious! All the actors and actresses were great. Anne Page and Fenton were a little dry, but they also had the least amount of stage time, so that makes it difficult. It may, in fact, be the way  that Fenton and Anne were written and not  the actors. I really enjoyed Mistress Quickly (Kymberly Mellen), Falstaff (Roderick Peeples), the Pages (Andy Nagraj and Melinda Pfundstein), and the Fords (Jacqueline Antaramian and John G Preston). They were all amazing!


If you have the chance to come down to Cedar to the Shakespeare Festival, I highly recommend this show! Just bring a blanket or a coat so you don't get cold, and then catch a cold, like I did! 

Nightlight

Nightlight: A Parody

You know, I heard this book was hilarious. And it was funny, but not quite hilarious. Can't say that I loved it. Def did not live up to the hype.  So if you are bored and have absolutely nothing else to read and need a laugh at vampire lovers, go for it. But don't go out of your way to read this.