Ponder: Spectacular Things

Spectacular Things ©2025 by Beck Dorey-Stein is one of the Reese Witherspoon selections and I usually enjoy her picks but not this one. This novel was drawn out. I did plod on and read the entire book only because the first chapter was captivating and posed a very interesting premise. 

Two sisters, Mia was always a giver, and the other sister, Cricket, was always an acceptor have. Note, I called Cricket an acceptor not a taker.  Both sisters care deeply for each other and sustain a very close relationship. The opening conflict is that Mia needs a kidney and Cricket is a good match. Is Cricket capable of assuming the role of giver? The scene then flashes back to their childhood years and continues chronologically. The reader needs to wait until the final pages of the book to learn the resolution.

PROS:

• The characters are well developed but this does not mean I like them.
• The characters' actions are decided for good and not out of revenge or evilness or selfishness. I found some of the decisions unwise but this lent interest to the plot.
• A great deal of the setting was in Maine so the weather challenges added depth to the story. 
• There is a shocking occurrence about a third of the way into the book.

CONS:

• Soccer is the all time, all day, all consuming focus. My eyes glazed over with all the emphasis on training and physical discipline to be the best.
• Not all relationships in the novel are heterosexual. I am not a homophobe, but this type of interaction is beyond my ability to empathize. Introduced late in the novel, it does nothing to advance the plot.
• The overall pace was slow and soccer seemed to assume the role of a Johnny-one-note.

I vacillated between my rating of two or three stars. Two stars correspond to Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it. Three stars corresponds to Better than average; not a waste of time. Well, I did finish it but it was a waste of time. This book seemed atypical of Reese's selections.

★★☆☆☆ Ok, not great; some redeeming features; I finished it

Beauty and the Beast Musical

Saturday, Sept 12th, Frank and I took Alex to see the musical Beauty and the Beast playing at the Center for Performing Arts in San Jose.

Frank and I are season ticket holders. This year we moved our seats from Orchestra Right (odd numbers) to Orchestra Left (even numbers). We are now a few rows closer to the stage (Row 8 instead of Row 12) and nearer the end. The numbering system has seats 1 and 2 in each row being on the midline of the theatre. We have now have end seats 46 and 44; seat 42 was added especially for Alex for this particular show. Our previous season's seats Row 12 seats were 45 and 47. Our new aisle seats are great for restroom access and for making an early beeline to the concession stands at intermission. A drawback is that we have to get up — or everybody has to clamber over us — on their way to their more centered seats. Our angle of view to the stage is about the same as last season. 

The stage display before the show periodically had rose petals fluttering about. Hmmm ... is this some romantic reference like that TV show The Bachelor? Alex, as usual, intently peruses his program prior to the start of the show. 

Alex loved the appearance of Belle in her regal, flashy, classic yellow gown. He did loudly announce "Beast!" when he appeared in the light, but did not note the beast's presence in the dark shadows.

I was surprised to note the lack of overlap between songs from the 1991 animated Disney movie and the 1994 musical. (Wow! Has it been that long ago?) Alex was very much animated and engaged for songs he recognized. 

We have seen this musical once before, years ago. If my memory serves me correctly, I remembered the huge scene of plates and cutlery dancing to the song Be Our Guest to be much more flamboyant than this performance. People then were dressed as huge plates while dancing around in huge numbers. This show, each dancer held up a super-sized Frisbee type disk — not at all as awe-inspiring— and there were fewer dancers. The men carried lamppost type super big forks and spoon which they danced around in Singin' in the Rain fashion, instead of being costumed as cutlery. I had been looking forward to revisiting that scene from my memory and was a bit bummed when it had been dumbed down. Perhaps it was budget cuts or just the difficulty of maintenances on such elaborate costumes that forced the downgrade. 

On a more positive note though, the costume of Lumière was exciting, as he would periodically shoot flames from his arms — way higher than the following photo captures. At some points I think they would surge about two feet up into the air. I did wonder if the actress who played Mrs. Potts had a sore arm from keeping it uplifted the entire show. She certainly portrayed a teapot skillfully. The little boy who played her son Chip was adorable and his singing voice for a child his size and age impressed me.

Gaston was so well cast you just wanted to throttle him for his arrogant posture and utterances. I loved that Belle personified the Belle of the movie and did not play the part as some modernized interpretation. The transformation scene from Beast to Man near the end was so well done that Frank and I were scratching our heads on how they'd levitated the actor while morphing his form. Very well done.

As we exited the theatre, looking back and admiring the projected image on the stage, were we glad we had made the effort to assure that Alex saw this musical. The parts he recognized and enjoyed, he really got into. We are pleased with our seat upgrades and glad we renewed our season tickets for Frank and me.