The Cricket and Seagull Fireside Chat

Besides being a bit hard to spell, the name Dallyn Vail Bayles has long been associated with dramatic vocal, stage, and screen performances. Now this Green River, UT, native returns from his new home in the New York City area with a CD and a live concert simply called "Prayer."

Whether it's "Bring Him Home" from Les Miserables (he had a starring role in the national broadway touring company) or the album-ending "I Have Seen Him," by LDS composer Ross Boothe, Bayles has chosen each song to reflect some aspect of that most personal communication with God; prayer.  Dallyn talks about music, growing up in Green River, raising a family in the Broadway environment, and his upcoming concert at the Covey Center for the Arts in Provo, UT, on September 5th.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Ramona Zabriskie has a great imagination, but when she began editing down Nephi's words in First and Second Nephi fifteen years ago, she didn't imagine the resulting musical "With Mine Own Hand" would be premiering to LDS audiences from around the world at BYU Education Week. 

Along with Utah composer Becky Alexander, Zabriskie has created a large-cast, full-scale stage musical which has had limited productions in the Portland, OR, area and will soon be the first out-of-state production to appear at Education Week. This week she and her husband Dale, who plays the older Nephi, talk about adapting scriptural accounts, the miracles that brought the production together, and the themes of Nephi's life.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Imagine taking "Pride and Prejudice," the best-known, best-loved, and most-filmed of Jane Austen's novels, and turning it into a musical. Where would you begin? What would you cut for the stage while still leaving in the favorite characters and witty dialogue?

That's exactly the challenge faced by two LDS composers, Deborah Morris and Ann Kapp Andersen; the premiere run of their new musical theater version of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" is currently running at the SCERA theater in Orem and will be appearing later this month at BYU Education Week. We'll include musical excerpts and hear the authors tell about converting this world-renowned literary masterpiece into a 2-hour stage musical.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Now "Soft Sunday Sounds" is streaming inspirational music via the internet 24/7 from FM100 in Salt Lake City, UT. That means anytime, anyplace, day or night, whatever time zone, whether you live in London or Lindon, Provo or Prague, you can hear inspirational favorites to help set the mood for your day. And it's free!

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

What would you ask Brother Brigham if you could sit down and talk about the trek West, his relationship with Joseph Smith, Johnson's army, or a hundred other topics?

Thanks to the expertise and research of actor James Arrington, Salt Lake City broadcaster Joan Peterson and I got to do just that. Hear about the first Pioneer Day celebrations in the canyons and the memorable July 24th when Porter Rockwell rode into the festivities to announce Johnson's army was on its way!

That's this week on the Cricket and Seagull...

Ever since these Utah boys made good with a national recording contract, they've been touring their brand of country and folk-based musical mayhem all over America.

So how do five LDS RM's fit into the Nashville music scene? Songwriter Ryan Shupe shares his thoughts on everything from "Dream Big" to "Corn Dogs" on their latest release, "Last Man Standing."

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Celebrate America's 4th with Patriotic Music from Utah's Songwriting Senator

Even with all the years he's served in the US Senate, most of Senator Hatch's constituents are unaware of his penchant to put pen to paper writing hymns, songs, and patriotic music, or that they've been sung at Presidential Inaugurations and even on "Oprah."

This week we're celebrating America's Independence Day with music of home and country he's co-written with Janice Kapp Perry. We talked to both of them this week about their favorites and the stories behind the music.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

From the opening applause you'll know that this is live and that Sam Payne is definitely in his element. Besides the 13 great live songs (including fan favorite "Autumn Leaves") about connections, history, and what gets handed down, this CD includes "the stories" —the in-between set ups and thoughts and humor that make a live show so memorable and give the songs added magic.

Whether it's "All Comes Down in a Line" or "These Are My People," Father to Son is a celebration of the mixture of joy and pain that is real life. This album would be great for Dad on Father's Day or for anyone on any day.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

Thirty-five years after its premiere, "Saturday's Warrior," the LDS cultural phenomenon of the 70's, gets an anniversary performance tour and a bookend in "The White Star," which follows Jimmy Flinders, now James, into fatherhood and a secret wound which pulls him farther and farther from his family and the Lord.

Playwright and producer Doug Stewart talks about the development of "Saturday's Warrior," its impact on the culture, and the changes he's seen in the last 35 years of Mormon Art.

That's this week on The Cricket and Seagull...

From the many, many submissions received from LDS musicians, Craig Clifford and Jeff Goldman have compiled a 19-song remembrance of the life and teachings of President Gordon B. Hinckley which is as warm to look at and read as it is to hear.

But perhaps the best part of this musical remembrance is that it continues the work Pres. Hinckley began--all net proceeds will go to the Perpetual Education Fund. The compilers tell their experiences, preview the songs, and share a response from Pres. Hinckley's posterity.

That's this week on the Cricket and Seagull...