Arts

Hilarity to ensue in Little Beverly: Tale of bumbling detective to mark Plan-B Theatre, KUERs RadioWest live broadcast premiere of Brandan Ngo’s The Case of the Missing Dog

by

NOTE: On Friday, May 12, at 11 a.m., The Utah Review will live blog the world premiere of Radio Hour Episode 16: The Case of the Missing Dog, produced by Plan-B Theatre and KUER-FM’s RadioWest program. Tune into KUER-FM 90.1 and follow The Utah Review during the broadcast. In a writer’s skillful hand, bumbling characters … Read more

Pygmalion Theatre Company’s world premiere of Lane Richins’ Near Mint gives baseball its unsullied nostalgic shine

by

As Lane Richins’ good-hearted play Near Mint opens on the Pygmalion Theatre Company stage, the sunny mood signals that ‘Cracker’ Jack Patterson, retired pro baseball catcher, feels his life is pretty close to ‘near mint’ condition. It is 1988 in California. With his best friend, Pepper Crawford, they host a popular AM radio show for … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s Utah premiere of Dipika Guha’s Yoga Play is splendid for its comedy; enlightened, hard-nosed truths

by

Even quick research will show that many of the stretching and relaxation classes that go by the name of yoga in the U.S. barely resemble the religious yoga practices of a devout Hindu. But, there also are other implications of stripping away Hindu and Vedic elements from contemporary yoga. The Hindu remains an inscrutable foreign … Read more

Love for baseball in its purest heartwarming form: Lane Richins’ Near Mint set for world premiere by Pygmalion Theatre Company

by

The regular sign off on the fictitious Cracker Jack and Pepper Radio Show neatly summarizes the theme of Lane Richins’ new play Near Mint: “Thanks for joining us, and remember, baseball isn’t life, but life’s no good without baseball.”  Along with the radio show, Pepper Crawford helps run her best friend’s baseball card shop. Her … Read more

Olga Kern set to close our spectacular concert season of gold medalists for Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation

by

In the realm of music, pianist Olga Kern’s family tree is like the monumental Hyperion sequoia in California.  Her great-great grandmother Pelageya Safronovna Pushechnikova was a good friend of Tchaikovsky, as evidenced by the family’s collections of photos and correspondence from the Russian composer. Her great-grandmother, Vera Fedorovna Pushechnikova, was a mezzo-soprano who was accompanied … Read more

Earth Month roundup: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Flight, Samba Fogo’s The Seed of Samba, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s To See Beyond Our Time, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Connect with the West

by

REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE: FLIGHT Producing a gratifying trio of works to highlight Earth Month, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) made its Flight program its strongest offering within the last four years. Zvi Gotheiner’s Dancing The Bears Ears, a 2017 commission for the company, and two first-time RDT performances of existing works — José Limón’s The Winged … Read more

The deeply rooted sensational experience of Jenifer Nii’s Fire!, Carleton Bluford’s portrayal in Plan-B Theatre production

by

The script for Jenifer Nii’s Fire!, the one-actor show which is in the middle of a sensational run in the Plan-B Theatre production, is so exquisitely crafted in the precise rhythm of the playwright’s language that it becomes magic in the hands of a gifted actor. Reprising a role that he performed 13 years ago, … Read more

Nijinska’s Les Noces (The Wedding) becomes crowning achievement for Ballet West’s superb 59th season

by

With each work evoking its unique intricate, intuitive rhythmically reciprocal relationship between music and movement, the trio of Ballet West premieres in its most recent production proved to be the crowning highlight of the company’s superb 59th season.  A complex program of rigorous demands in all aspects, the presentation of Bronislava Nijinska’s Les Noces, Jerome … Read more

Birds, rivers, Bears Ears National Monument as creative anchors: Repertory Dance Theatre sets Flight April 20-22

by

With birds, rivers and the Bears Ears National Monument in Utah as the creative anchors, Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will close its regular portion of its 57th season with Flight, featuring two existing works that are being performed for the first time by the company and a revival of a 2017 commissioned piece by choreographer … Read more

Spring exhibitions at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art include Boombox Benefit, along with global contemplations and multimedia of home, place, memory

by

The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA)’s current spring exhibitions are about various expressions and perceptions about home, place, memory, history and entitlement, with direct and indirect interpretations. They include: Boombox Benefit  When boomboxes emerged in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they became an icon for hip-hop’s rapid blossoming, in defining break dancing, ciphering … Read more