Hello It's Me

Rocker Todd Rundgren brings long-awaited Utopia reunion to Dallas

Utopia has arrived for Todd Rundgren fans.

Todd Rundgren/Facebook

For fans of rock star Todd Rundgren, Utopia has arrived. Rundgren and his original band Utopia — consisting of members Kasim Sulton, Willie Wilcox, and Ralph Schuckett — are reuniting for their first North American tour in 32 years, with a date in Dallas at the Majestic Theatre on April 23.

The tour launches in Pennsylvania on April 18 and hits most major North America cities. Tickets go on sale February 23 at 10 am; pre-sales begin February 20 at 9 am.

As a companion to the reunion tour, Friday Music will release a 7-disc box set called The Road to Utopia: The Complete Recordings (1974-82). A limited-edition collection, it includes the band's seven classic albums, for the first time with CD digipak gatefold covers featuring original album artwork elements; rare inner sleeve art; and 2018 written commentary from the band.

Todd Rundgren's Utopia formed in 1974 after four years of making solo albums, including the seminal Something/Anything?, which included hits such as "Hello It's Me" and "I Saw The Light."

The band began as a prog-rock-progenitor septet featuring Moogy Klingman, Ralph Schuckett, "M. Frog Labat" on keyboards, John Siegler on bass, Kevin Ellman on drums, and Rundgren on guitar. Their music ranged from extended synth experiments to four-song albums. Their live shows were distinguished by video backdrops and computer-generated music that was ahead of the curve.

By 1976, the group had become the power-pop rock quartet Utopia, with Willie Wilcox on drums, Roger Powell on keyboards, and Kasim Sulton on bass — the best-known and most commercially successful Utopian incarnation.

In 1986, after 10 years of nonstop recording and arena touring, the band took a sabbatical. Rundgren went on to produce albums by Patti Smith, Cheap Trick, Psychedelic Furs, XTC, Grand Funk Railroad, Hall And Oates, and Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell.

The "sabbatical" is now over.

The tour even has an official pre-sale credit card, Citi, whose holders can purchase pre-sale tickets beginning February 20 at 10 am until February 22 at 10 pm through Citi's www.citiprivatepass.com program.

Tour dates are as follows:

April 18 – Penn's Peak, Jim Thorpe, PA
April 20 – Bergen Performing Arts Center, Englewood, NJ
April 22 – House Of Blues, Houston
April 23 – Majestic Theatre, Dallas
April 25 – Broward Center For The Performing Arts, Broward, FL
April 27 – Mahaffey Theater, St. Petersburg
April 28 – Tabernacle, Atlanta
April 29 – Carolina Theater, Durham, NC
May 1 – Paramount Theater, Huntington, NY
May 2 – Warner Theater, Washington, DC
May 3 – Town Hall, New York, NY
May 5 – Tower Theater, Philadelphia
May 6 – Orpheum Theater, Boston
May 7 – Ridgefield Theater, Ridgefield, CT
May 9 – Peabody Opera House, St. Louis
May 10 – Taft Theater, Cincinnati
May 12 – Pabst Theater, Milwaukee
May 13 – State Theater, Minneapolis
May 15 – 20 Monroe Live, Grand Rapids, MI
May 16 – Massey Hall, Toronto
May 17 – The Fillmore, Detroit
May 19 – Hard Rock Live, Cleveland
May 22 – Chicago Theater, Chicago
May 24 – Paramount Theater, Denver
May 26 – The Joint At Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas
May 27 – Comerica Theater, Phoenix
May 29 – The Wiltern, Los Angeles
May 30 – The Masonic, San Francisco
June 1 – Moore Theater, Seattle
June 2 – Revolution Theater, Portland
June 4 – Crest Theater, Sacramento
June 5 – Fox Performing Arts Center, Riverside, CA

concerts music

Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid

Photo courtesy of Lionsgate

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney in The Housemaid.

Both Amanda Seyfried (the upcoming The Testament of Ann Lee) and Sydney Sweeney (Christy) are starring in movies with Oscar ambitions this year. By sheer coincidence, the two actors are also co-starring in The Housemaid, a thriller coming out within weeks of their more ambitious works, one that is likely to be seen by many more people than those prestige plays.

Sweeney is given top billing as Millie, a down-on-her-luck ex-convict looking to land any type of job so as not to break her parole. She finds a too-good-to-be-true lifeboat with Nina (Seyfried), who hires her to be a housemaid for her large house on Long Island, where she lives with her husband, Andrew (Brandon Sklenar), and daughter, Cecilia (Indiana Elle).

After a warm interview, Nina almost immediately becomes highly erratic, whipping back-and-forth between happy-go-lucky and rageful. It seems clear that Nina is suffering from mental health issues, as she’ll often accuse Millie of misplacing or stealing items that she didn’t take. Andrew, apparently used to Nina’s tirades, tries to protect Millie from the worst, something that grows increasingly difficult as Nina ups the ante.

Directed by Paul Feig (A Simple Favor) and adapted by Rebecca Sonnenshine from the bestselling book by Freida McFadden, the film is likely the trashiest mainstream movie to come out in 2025. The first half of the movie relies not on story but on moments as Nina embodies the word “hysterical” to an unbelievable extent. The resigned acceptance of the abuse by Millie, as well as the saintly patience of Andrew, make almost every scene laughable, as nobody seems to be acting anywhere close to how a person would normally react to such extreme situations.

The scenes and the performance of Seyfried are so over-the-top, in fact, that it’s clear that the filmmakers are in on the joke. It’s next to impossible not to have a little bit of fun while watching the actors react to outrageous incidents as if nothing is out of the ordinary. The worse Nina acts, the more Millie and Andrew retreat into their chosen roles, and the funnier the film becomes.

Fans of the book will know that the story changes course, eventually turning into a more stereotypical thriller that also has some relatively gnarly visuals to offer. But the trashiness continues, with Sweeney’s, um, assets repeatedly on display in both clothed and unclothed ways. The sex appeal of the R-rated movie makes it an outlier, as recent studio films have shied away from asking their big stars to disrobe completely.

Both Seyfried and Sweeney are far from their Oscar hopeful roles here. Seyfried is given free rein to act as brazenly as she pleases, and she takes full advantage of that ability. Sweeney seems to have been told to be much more reserved, and unfortunately that results in too many wooden line readings. Sklenar continues his breakout streak (It Ends with Us, Drop) with a role that allows him to show more range than either Seyfried or Sweeney.

The Housemaid is an unusual type of movie to be released at a time of year when most films are either those aiming for awards or more family-friendly fare. Despite its many flaws, it’s still an enjoyable watch that features a variety of crazy scenarios not typically seen in movies nowadays.

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The Housemaid is now playing in theaters.

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Movie Review

Amanda Seyfried and Sydney Sweeney go off in trashy film The Housemaid