When the folks at the Pioneer Theatre Company announced that their production of Of Mice and Men would be accompanied by an art show featuring the work of Salt Lake Tribune political cartoonist Pat Bagley, it seemed a curious match.
What could John Steinbeck’s classic tragic tale of two Depression Era ranch hands chasing the American dream have in common with Bagley’s up-to-the-minute cartoons? Did they just want to give the audience some laughs during intermission to offset the sad tale on stage?
Watching the action unfold on opening night, it became clear how wrong I was. Bagley’s cartoons dissecting the current U.S. election season and pointing out the extreme differences between the haves and the have-nots in America ring all the more true as Steinbeck’s story plays out, and his drifters George and Lennie try to earn enough money to own their own piece of land someday, a place free of bosses telling them what to do, free of living day to day with nary a dollar in their pockets.
L-R: Mark David Watson (Lennie) and Joe Tapper (George). Photo by Alexander Weisman.
Most of us have read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men as a requirement in school, so I won’t relay the plot or reveal any spoilers here. Steinbeck adapted his 1937 novel for the stage himself, and it became a Broadway hit shortly after the book was published. Pioneer’s version adds some narration from the novel recited by the actors, and it’s remarkable how well Steinbeck’s prose can still set a scene.
That scene is a California ranch during the Depression, where traveling ranch hands George (Joe Tapper) and his slow-witted friend Lennie (Mark David Watson) arrive to try and save a few bucks. They meet a dusty crew of fellow drifters, most of whom can’t understand the idea of two workers traveling together and taking care of each other as they move from job to job–often because of some hot water that Lennie innocently gets them in.
Tapper and Watson are excellent in building the relationship between George and Lennie; it’s easy to empathize with George’s desire to protect his strong friend at the same time it’s easy to understand the burden taking care of Lennie is for a sharp guy like George. S.A. Rogers brings a quiet resolve to the role of muleskinner Slim, who befriends the pair at the ranch, and Bill Cwikowski’s elderly, disabled Candy, who shares George and Lennie’s dream of having his own place, elicits tears through his dedication to his elderly dog while also providing some of the show’s humor.
L-R: Steven Fehr (Carlson), Bill Cwikowski (Candy) and Bridget (Candy’s Dog). Photo by Alexander Weisman.
Steinbeck manages to address issues like racism, sexism and class warfare through his relatively simple story, and Pioneer’s production honors the author’s work through a sleek, simple set that keeps the focus on his words, rather than any production bells and whistles. Overall, Pioneer’s producton serves as a stirring reminder how brilliant, and ahead of his time, Steinbeck was, writing Of Mice and Men 75 years ago.
Whether you’ve read the book or not, this is a great chance to catch up with Steinbeck, but be forewarned–you might want to bring a hanky. And be sure to check out Bagley’s work in the loge gallery, too.
Of Mice and Men runs through Nov. 3, with shows nightly from Monday to Saturday, as well as a Saturday matinee. Visit the Pioneer Theatre Company Website for showtimes and tickets.
BILLY JOE SHAVER, THE STATE ROOM, Saturday, Oct. 20, 9 p.m., $20
Country songs are often full of vibrant outlaw imagery, but all too often the person delivering the song is merely acting the part of a rabble-rousing cowboy. Not so with Billy Joe Shaver, a Texas songwriting legend whose tunes capture their creator’s own crazy life and times running around the Lone Star State, including a dicey situation just five years ago when Shaver nearly went to jail for shooting a man outside a bar. A lot of big names have grabbed hold of Shaver’s tunes for their own albums and live shows, including Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, George Jones and Willie Nelson, who once argued that Shaver is the best songwriter of them all. This summer, Shaver released Live at Billy Bob’s Texas, a set of the man doing the dirty work of performing himself, and now you have a chance to see him do the same. It’s classic-country poetry and gritty Texas tales are your trip, this is a show not to miss. Local roots-rockers Ghostowne open the show.
JAKE SHIMABUKURO, PEERY’S EGYPTIAN THEATRE, Ogden, Saturday, Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m., $20
I’m not completely on board with this re-emergence of the ukulele as a go-to instrument. Eddie Vedder’s solo album and all manner of cutesy indie-rockers have embraced the instrument that the public school system of Knob Noster, Missouri, would force us to play as a means to learning how to read music when I was a kid. Suffice to say, the sound of 30 or so third-graders plucking away at the ukulele is enough to scar a person for life. That said, I’ve seen the man playing the awesome Peery’s Egyptian Theatre this weekend, and while Jake Shimabukuro is probably not the “Jimi Hendrix of the ukulele” that some have labeled him, he is certainly the best, most entertaining ukulele player I’ve ever heard. You might have caught him a few years back at the Twilight Concert Series. If you did, you know what I’m talking about. If you didn’t consider a trip to O-town on Saturday, and be sure to stop at Brewski’s on 25th Street while you’re there.
CAPTAIN CAPTAIN OPEN STUDIO, 825 S. 500 West, Salt Lake City, Saturday, Oct. 20, 7-11 p.m., free
The open studio parties every six months or so at Captain Captain studio are always a good time, offering a chance to mix and mingle with a bunch of Salt Lake art lovers while checking out both completed works and works-in-progress by a bunch of the resident artists. In Captain Captain’s case, that’s a true treat, because the studio is home to some of the best Utah contemporary artists working today, including Trent Call, Trent Alvey (work pictured below), Berkley Frei, Justin Carruth, Steven Larsen, Tessa Lindsey, Diane Borg, Jenny Hambleton, Chase McCleary and Suzi Elmore. While you wander and chat this Saturday, there’s a bonus: Portland-based video artist and musician Alexis Gideon will be on hand to showcase his latest multi-media project, Video Musics III: Floating Oceans. Gideon’s video installations have appeared at Manhatten’s New Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Santa Fe Art Institute and more. Lewis Brothers food truck will be on hand to serve up some delicious fare (get the greens ‘n’ fries), and make a night of it! You won’t be sorry.
Walking into the Urban Lounge Sunday night just before Dinosaur Jr. started their gig, it wasn’t hard to figure out which side of stage that band leader J Mascis would be holding down.
Three Marshall stacks were set up into a mini-wall on the left, with another stack set up on the side to face Mascis’s microphone stand. A notoriously terse interview not given to much between-song banter, Mascis has managed to create a musical man-cave on the band’s tour, while still being able to see his longtime bandmates spread out to his left—drummer Murph and bassist/vocalist Lou Barlow.
As anyone who has seen Dinosaur Jr. over the course of the band’s decades together, Mascis makes good use of those Marshalls. Not only is he an advocate of the louder-is-better school of rock musician; he’s also one of the guys who made indie-rock safe for bombastic, lengthy guitar solos, ala obvious influences like Neil Young.
Sunday’s packed show offered ample proof that Mascis hasn’t lost a step, or a decibel, even as his long hair has turned completely grey. He tore off tasty guitar jam after tasty guitar jam all night long in a set that leaned heavily on the band’s excellent new album, I Bet the Sky.
Dinosaur Jr. opened with the last song on the new album, “See It On Your Side,” a tune that opens with a lengthy guitar part well before Mascis’s laconic croak enters the mix. The band seemed to stretch the song well past the seven-minute running time from the album on Sunday. I wasn’t timing it, but I would bet the first song hit the 10-minute mark before the band wound it down to a conclusion.
At times, it wasn’t easy to tell when a song would finish or end. Such is the reverence for Mascis’s guitar work that the simple act of between-song tuning had the crowd eagerly trying to pick out what song the band was about to start. Barlow, a cantankerous sort himself, familiar to many for leading Sebadoh and Folk Implosion, chatted here and there between songs, thanking the crowd and cracking wise. But for the most part, the band was all business.
And that was just fine with me. New songs like “Don’t Pretend You Didn’t Know,” “Watch The Corners” and “What Was That” deserved the focus the band put on them. And older songs like the beloved “Freak Scene,” “Start Choppin” and “Feel The Pain” fit right in alongside the new material. They also thrilled the crowd, much of which was old enough to remember when Dinosaur Jr. actually had videos on MTV and songs on commercial “alternative” radio.
Those days are long gone, but the band feels as vibrant as ever. Since Mascis’s reunion with Barlow and Murph after more than a decade apart, Dinosaur Jr. has been putting out incredibly strong albums—all the more impressive considering Mascis as also been releasing solo material and Barlow’s been touring as a solo performer and with Sebadoh between Dino Jr. jaunts.
It’s still funny for me to see Barlow essentially as a Mascis sidekick in Dinosaur Jr.; I’m enough of a Sebadoh fan to always want to hear more Barlow songs, no matter what the environment. He took over lead vocals a few times, as he typically does about once an album for Dinosaur Jr. The new “Rude” is an energetic winner, and he delivered a song called “Training Ground” that he introduced as a song from he and Mascis’s first band together, Deep Wound.
While the band didn’t chat much, they certainly seemed in good spirits Sunday night, and the fans on hand were clearly happy with what they were hearing. The between-song cheers only increased in volume through the night, as if to compete with Mascis’s ringing guitar chords and distorted fuzz.
Give and take is always good, both within the band, and between the band and the fans. Dinosaur Jr. seems to have it working right now. Here’s hoping it continues.
THE XX, THE COMPLEX, Tuesday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m., $27.50
English indie-pop band The xx burst on the scene in 2009 with a self-titled debut that landed in the Top 10 of many critics’ year-end lists, and garnered the Mercury Music Prize, an award for what is deemed the best album from the United Kingdom/Ireland. The band’s sprawling, often delicate songcraft is further explored on this year’s follow-up, Coexist, which garnered reviews nearly as strong as the debut. While the band members claim the new set is reflective of the past couple years the band spent on tour, partying in clubs rather than moping through school (a period that informed their debut), it’s hard to listen to Coexist and exactly dub it “party music.” Even so, it’s stirring in spots, interesting throughout, and certainly proves The xx to be a band worth keeping an eye on in the future.
Daniel Nailen 