Because I Told You So: June 2025

Sunday, June 29, 2025

Box Break: 2025 Bowman Baseball Value Box

I pulled an autograph from a value box!

Thursday, June 26, 2025

Broadway in Tucson Review: 'A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical'

"A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical," is the Neil Diamond retrospective you didn't realize how much you needed it.

Boasting electric choreography, stunning song and dance numbers and an overpowering energy that captures the spirit of Diamond's many incarnations over the decades, the musical serves as a glorious celebration of all things Diamond.

Borrowing its title from Diamond's 1976 album, the jukebox musical runs through the highlights of the rock star's catalogue, dating from his early days as a songwriter for the Monkees.

A loose, somewhat weak framework has a modern-day Diamond talking to a psychiatrist, who tries to psychoanalyze Diamond via his song lyrics. No matter, whatever excuse to pump "Coming to America" and "Sweet Caroline" into the crowd multiple times is an inherent win.

The entire enterprise is clearly a well-earned Diamond ego trip, careful to touch on controversial aspects of his life while glorifying in his many successes. On multiple occasions, Diamond humblebrags that he drew more fans and outsold Elvis.

A musical like this is only as good as the actor cast as Neil Diamond, and this production thrives on the back of Joe Caskey, who fills in admirably for Nick Fradiani, the 2015 "American Idol" champ. Thriving with a charisma that echoes off the rafters, the electric Caskey seizes ownership of the crowd with a voice that, in the words of the book, sounds like gravel wrapped in velvet.

Most of the musical's most powerful moments belong to Fradiani, with a share going to his present-day counterpart, Robert Westenberg, but arguably the most powerful performance belongs to Hannah Jewl Kohn, a Disney princess musical national tour vet who thrives as Marcia Murphey, Diamond's second wife, and delivers a showstopper with a stunning rendition of "Forever in Blue Jeans."

Buttressed by an impressive ensemble that includes the likes of Zoe Maloney, Vanessa Aurora Sierra and Tasheim Ramsey Pack, who run through costume changes and shifting dance styles like wildfire, the show rarely loses its sense of headlong momentum.

The crowd-pleasing bows, which enlist the audience to sing along to a pair of Diamond's grandest smashes, sends the production off in thunderous delight, with the soundtrack shifting to the beautiful noise of unbridled cheering and applause.

"A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical" plays through June 29 at Centennial Hall. Buy tickets here.

Hot on Home Video: 'A Minecraft Movie'

A MINECRAFT MOVIE

Now that the likes of Sonic and Mario have shattered the curse of video games adapted to movies, "A Minecraft Movie" takes the ball and runs with it. Filled with clever gags, abundant fan service and original music by lead Jack Black, the film is more fun than it has any right to be. A spiritual successor to "Napoleon Dynamite" and "Nacho Libre," the film bears director Jared Hess's signature penchant for absurdist satire. Jason Momoa, Roy Lee, Job Berg, Mary Parent and Jill Messick round out the cast, which complements Black's manic style.

Extras include a slew of featurettes, including "Building the World of Minecraft Block Party," "Creepers, Zombies and Endermen Oh My!," "A Minecraft Movie: Block Beats," "A Minecraft Movie: Pixel Pals" and "Marlene + Nitwit."

Studio sent screener for review.

Review: '1000-Lb Roomies'

In the ever-expanding universe of reality television, where the human condition is often turned into a spectacle of melodrama and excess, a show like 1000-lb Roomies stands out for its raw, unpolished honesty. This new series from TLC, which centers on two roommates, Jaz and Nesha, on a journey to lose weight and get bariatric surgery, feels less like a manufactured television product and more like a window into a difficult, complex, and intensely personal struggle. This isn't just about weight loss; it's about the emotional architecture that supports—or, more often, undermines—a person's health.

The premise, which places two individuals with similar struggles under one roof, is a potent device. It creates a dynamic of both shared support and mutual accountability that is often absent from shows of this nature. We see the sisters in their most vulnerable moments, from the quiet despair of a doctor's appointment to the small, hard-won victories of a healthy meal. The camera doesn't flinch, presenting the grim reality of their lives—the physical pain, the emotional baggage, the constant, low-grade sense of failure—without resorting to sensationalism. It's a sobering and, at times, difficult watch, but it's also a deeply human one.

What makes 1000-lb Roomies compelling is its refusal to be a simple, straightforward weight-loss success story. The show is unflinching in its portrayal of the setbacks and relapses that are a fundamental part of the process. We see Jaz and Nesha celebrate milestones, only to have their progress stalled by health scares, emotional eating, and the temptation of old habits. The show doesn't provide easy answers or a neat, tidy narrative arc. Instead, it demonstrates the messy, non-linear reality of trying to change a lifetime of patterns. The series asks a question that is more profound than "Can they lose the weight?": it asks, "Can you truly break free from the past when it’s sharing the same room with you?"

This series is for people who appreciate reality television that aims for something more than just a fleeting diversion. It's a show about the quiet battles we fight every day, the power of friendship, and the difficult, often lonely, road to personal redemption. It's a genuine, unvarnished look at a shared struggle, and in that honesty, it finds a universal truth that is both powerful and resonant.