Arts

Harmonizing the visual language of two artists: Liminal Spaces at Material excels as serendipitous collaboration

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Demonstrating another dimension of collaboration in the wake of its critically acclaimed Grief Work multidisciplinary show, Material Art Gallery’s Colour Maisch and Jorge Rojas have curated Liminal Spaces, an absorbing paragon of harmonizing the visual arts languages of two artists, which— when combined— reside in a threshold between the worlds each artist has envisioned.  It is … Read more

Some excellent moments in PYGmalion Theatre Company world premiere of Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c)

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Dark comedies such as Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c), which is receiving its world premiere in a PYGmalion Theatre Company production, challenge the critic’s charge to give it a constructive review. Humor is an effective defense mechanism to a certain degree. Audiences might struggle in coming to terms with the story of Ginnifer, a woman … Read more

Brad Parry, vice chair of the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, tapped for inaugural Schnitzer Prize of the West, for restoration project involving Bear River Massacre site

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To the Northwestern Band of the Shoshone Nation, Wuda Ogwa is  the name of what we call Bear River. During the winter in 1863, near where Preston, Idaho is located, between 400 and 450 tribal members were killed in one of the deadliest massacres of Native Americans in U.S. history.  Since 2018, when the tribe … Read more

Putting the spotlight on the Utah dance ecosystem, Ballet West’s Choreographic Fest VII set for Donald Byrd world premiere, works by guests Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, SALT Contemporary Dance

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In Utah, dance wears the empress crown in the performing arts. Choreographers and guest dance artists from around the world know well just how broad and deep the dance ecosystem in Utah is, as evidenced by the numerous commissions that have been set on local companies in ballet and contemporary dance over many decades. For … Read more

With bustling, brilliant musicianship, Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah premiere of Come From Away sparkles in hospitality

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Back in its heyday before jets capable of making the transoceanic long haul became common, Canada’s Gander airport was “basically a pump-and-go station,” as journalist Andrea Sachs described in a 2019 Washington Post feature. “Locals would hitchhike up to the airport to buy ice cream and search for famous faces waiting to reboard, such as … Read more

Impressively harmonious artistic manifesto propels Storywork: The Prints of Marie Watt from the Collections of Jordan D. Schnitzer and His Family Foundation exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts

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In recent years, a continuous string of major exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) has augmented their visual brilliance with overarching themes that speak potently to the evolving gateway role of museums. These exhibitions exemplify an unprecedented degree of sensitivity about the intersecting  spheres of the artist as a messenger of enlightenment … Read more

PYGmalion Theatre Company set to close season with world premiere of Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c)

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When she was writing (plan c), which the PYGmalion Theatre Company will open this weekend in a world premiere production, playwright Andrea D. Peterson originally thought of titling this new dark comedy, The Day My Vagina Met Richard Gere. In a recent Stage Whisper: Whisper in the Wings podcast interview, she said,  “I was at … Read more

Torment in finding the ‘threshold of the divine’: Exceptional collaboration by Sackerson, Lil Poppet Productions of John Logan’s Red

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I think of my pictures as dramas… They have been created from the need for a group of actors who are able to move dramatically without embarrassment and execute gestures without shame. Neither the action nor the actors can be anticipated, or described in advance. They begin as an unknown adventure in an unknown space. … Read more

Two excellent dance productions: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Link Series, Thayer Jonutz, Out of the Ashes; Samba Fogo’s Chama Do Coração (The Burning Call Of The Heart) 

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The first part of spring has brought numerous dance productions of note. The Utah Review features two recent examples. REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE’S LINK SERIES: THAYER JONUTZ, OUT OF THE ASHES It always is an audacious enterprise for modern dance artists to perform truly as their authentic selves in works choreographed by others, but that sense … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s regional premiere of Murder Ballad delivers the musical goods with provocative, feisty flair; the right lurid touches

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One does not go to Murder Ballad, the wonderful musical by Juliana Nash and Julia Jordan, looking for meaty inventive and intelligent plot elements of a whodunit story. Man and Woman end their relationship, Woman meets New Man but still has feelings for first Man, cheats, and yada yada yada, the situation escalates, ending in … Read more