Breaking News! 7th annual Rose Exposed to highlight The Rose’s six resident companies in premieres of thematically connected short works

We rely on skilled journalists and editors to make sense of a volatile news cycle. Forty years ago, Umberto Eco wrote about the artist who protests through form in The Open Work. In part, he suggested that the artist, while rejecting the current order and system, also accepts the world in its crisis terms. The … Read more

The sounds of the desert: Ryan Ruehlen’s GeoRhythmic Drift Music installation set to open at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

The desert is a vacant cochlea, a geographical chamber of bone, in which waves propagate from the base freely distant sound brought close to my hearing. The vehicle was now perched in an alcove of short, pinyon pine, amidst a vast solitude and harsh stillness. Soaking in the yellow grassy plain, I paced around laying … Read more

A dark buddy comedy, hilarious solo show on LDS musicals, dance company piece, high school performers’ take on social media memes highlight Great Salt Fringe Festival

NOTE: This is Part II of reviews of shows from the 2018 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. For Part I, see here. Austin Archer’s Marty Has Cancer – Prufrock Productions Every performance of this play sold out or had standing room only, which likely makes it one of the most successful productions ever presented at … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Closing day headliners include St. Paul and The Broken Bones, Salt Lake City Saxophone Summit, Repertory Dance Theatre, finals for individual, team poetry slams

Closing day headliners for the Utah Arts Festival will offer their own infectious expressions of musical joy to send visitors off with pleasant memories of the 2018 event. In The Arts Fest Amplified Concert Series, St. Paul and The Broken Bones from Birmingham, Alabama closes the Amphitheatre Stage with a concert beginning at 8:30 p.m. … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Saturday headliners include People Under The Stairs, Guy Davis, Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley, Azwaj premiere by Saad Haddad

Saturday’s headliners present many options for what historically are the largest crowds for single-day attendance at the Utah Arts Festival. And, with sunny skies and temperatures expected to be in the comfortable range of the mid-80s, every festival music stage will be packed. The Arts Fest Amplified Concert Series continues with People Under The Stairs … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Friday headliners include DJ A-Trak, Talia Keys and The Love, Osmond Chapman Orchestra, world premiere dance, jazz commissions

Friday’s performing arts lineup at the Utah Arts Festival covers everything from electronic dance music on the Amphitheatre Stage to world premieres of jazz and dance commissions on the Festival Stage. BANDALOOP (5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., Library Square plaza) and The Bboy Federation (6 p.m., The Round) continue their daily shows. The Big Mouth … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Opening day headliners include Ron Pope, Gomez, The Sound of Motown, Bandaloop, The Bboy Federation

Opening day headliners for the Utah Arts Festival include popular local bands along with the inaugural headliners for the festival’s new Arts Amplified Concert Series. Ron Pope will open at 8 p.m. on the Amphitheatre Stage, followed by the British band Gomez at 9:30 p.m. For a feature interview with both musical acts, see The … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Melanie Shore’s As The Seasons Shift is festival jazz commission

Compared to many other jazz musicians, Melanie Shore had a late start. She started out as a classically trained pianist in her childhood but by the end of high school, she realized, as she describes in an interview with The Utah Review, “I didn’t have a passion for it.” As she “scoped jazz out” in … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Grand preview of 42nd annual festival’s pop-up city of art, culture

In the 44 hours over the four days in which the 42nd Utah Arts Festival (June 21-24) will be open to the public, so many activities and performances will be available that only the savviest planner attending every minute of that time will be able, at best, to sample a respectable share of what each … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2018: Arts Amplified Concert Series features Ron Pope, Gomez, DJ A-Trak, People Under The Stairs, St. Paul and The Broken Bones

For this year’s Utah Arts Festival (June 21-24), the Amphitheatre Stage will be the site of the festival’s biggest experiment – the Arts Fest Amplified Concert Series. The nightly concerts cover a versatile and diverse palette of musical tastes and influences. Ticket price of $25 includes same-day festival admission. Children 5 and older must have … Read more