From Tucson, experimental quartet Compersion sets Utah Museum of Contemporary Art for March 19 stop on western U.S. tour

The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) will be one of the stops for the western U.S. tour of Compersion, a Tuscon-based experimental quartet which incorporates strings, wind instruments and percussion into instrumental electro-acoustic topographies. Abstract in its aesthetic conception. Compersion highlights improvisation and organic rhythmic expressions to emphasize the value of deep and immersive … Read more

A magnificent NOVA Chamber Music Series concert to Dance in the Desert

NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Dance in the Desert concert (March 10) was perhaps the season’s most challenging for the musicians but the set of five magnificently performed works, which included a world premiere, also was among the most easily accessible for the audience. For the concert finale, the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Desert Portal … Read more

Continuum: Angela Cheng set to perform Haydn, Beethoven, Chopin on March 15 concert for Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation

During her teen years, Angela Cheng was expected by her family to prepare for a career as a doctor. Even as a piano major, she took pre-med electives in chemistry and calculus but Cheng also realized, as she recalls in an interview with The Utah Review, “I would have been a miserable doctor.” Her path … Read more

With art and dance integrated, Laura Kaminsky’s Desert Portal set for exciting world premiere at NOVA Chamber Music Series’ March 10 concert

The programming for NOVA Chamber Music Series’ upcoming concert (March 10, 3 p.m., Libby Gardner Hall) is an “embarrassment of riches,” Robert Waters, Fry Street Quartet’s first violinist, said in a previous interview. The centerpiece of a marvelous offering of works spanning more than 130 years will be the world premiere of Laura Kaminsky’s Desert … Read more

Utah’s first professional mounting of Bonnie & Clyde musical is stupendous in Pioneer Theatre Company production

The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde was one of New Hollywood’s best artistic triumphs, in setting the story of two Great Depression Era rural bandits to reflect upon the social and cultural attitudes of the Sixties. Arthur Penn, who directed the Academy Award winning film, talked about why he was drawn to the story of two … Read more

Never one to shy away from risk: Repertory Dance Theatre’s newest twist in Regalia: So You Think You Can Choreograph

In its 58 years, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) has never shied away from taking risks on stage. Likewise, RDT has embraced risks for its annual fundraiser in ways that few dance companies would dare attempt. In 2006, Charette was launched, in which guest dancers from the community worked with a choreographer to set a movement … Read more

Ballet West at its very best: Record-setting Swan Lake run closes with brilliant performances from everyone involved

EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review is grateful to Chris Myers of Argyle Arts for being a guest reviewer. Over the last week, Ballet West continued their 60th anniversary season with a sold-out run of Swan Lake. Perhaps the most iconic non-Nutcracker in the repertoire, Swan Lake is a monumental classic filled with complex imagery and … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater

Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere production of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater, in every measure. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff, the 70-minute production is gratifying in the finest sense, with Threedy’s well-grounded fanfiction take on Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, the ebullient elegance of Lily Hye Soo Dixon and Jason … Read more

Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick receives smartly directly, solidly acted regional premiere at Salt Lake Acting Company

Rich in metaphors rooted in fantasy, Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick opens up a compelling creative perspective on the taboos, stigmas and the silence of avoidance when someone realizes they have been diagnosed with a serious illness. Desperate to conceal the stigma of his debilitating illness and avoid telling those who know him, a … Read more

PYGmalion Theatre Company’s golden run in chamber theater excellence continues with exceptional production of Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother

PYGmalion Theatre Company has been on a golden run in recent productions stretching to last season and its latest featuring Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother is stellar in every measure.  Directed by Morag Shepherd, this one-act gem is carried by the perfect chamber theater ensemble chemistry of actors Reb Fleming, Tamara Howell … Read more