The Utah Review looks at two events from local museums: Site Lines, The University of Utah Art Faculty’s exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and a recent video presentation at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) that was held in connection with a national conference of funeral directors held in Salt … Read more
In the Pulitzer-finalist play “The Wolves,” nine teen-agers burst onto a stage made of Astroturf, in braids and pigtails, and launch into overlapping backchat about tampons vs. pads, the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge, and how to pronounce Hermione, as they stretch for an upcoming soccer game. As an audience member of this mesmerizing play … Read more
At one point in Good Standing, certainly among the top three original plays ever produced by Plan-B Theatre, Curt (played by Austin Archer), facing the 15 men who will decide if he should be excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because he married a man, tells us there are no secrets … Read more
Shakespeare’s tragic love story returns to the Utah Opera stage to open the company’s 2018-2019 season. Composed by Charles-Francois Gounod with libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, Utah Opera Chorus Master Michaella Calzaretta and Conductor Robert Tweten come together musically to deliver a stellar production sung in French by a cast of 54 supported by the 53-member Utah Symphony. With the … Read more
Two intimate concerts of exquisite musicality were held on the Oct. 12-14 weekend, as part of the opening programs for the 2018-19 seasons of The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation and NOVA Chamber Music Series. The Utah Review has reviews of both programs. THE GINA BACHAUER INTERNATIONAL PIANO FOUNDATION: LUCA BURATTO Pianist Luca Buratto, the … Read more
Indeed, life imitates art. On Oct. 8, a packed Browning Center for the Performing Arts room on the Weber State University campus in Ogden patiently waited for the first public performance of Plan-B Theatre’s Zombie Thoughts, the sixth play of its annual Free Elementary School Tour (FEST) program. Developed around the theme of generalized anxiety … Read more
It has been nearly 30 years since Robert Mapplethorpe died of AIDS at the age of 42. In a career that blossomed rapidly within a decade, Mapplethorpe set new stakes as an artist-photographer. However, during his life, his work also was commingled with protests by politicians and the Christian right-wing, which gained huge political influence … Read more
In their respective season openers, two of Salt Lake City’s most distinguished dance institutions — Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre — gave more than ample proof of why their artistic excellence commands attention not just locally but also nationally and internationally. The Utah Review offers reviews of both season openers. RIRIE-WOODBURY DANCE COMPANY: … Read more
Five years ago, when Matthew Greene’s first play was produced by Plan-B Theatre, Adam & Steve and the Empty Sea centered on how two characters (Steve, a young gay man, and Adam, whose Mormon mission was cut short by illness) in California develop a close friendship then struggle to preserve it as they come of … Read more
In Lebanon, a country of six million that is a little smaller than the area of Colorado, only the oldest residents can remember a time when their country has not held refugee camps. In the country’s dozen refugee camps which house upwards of one million, at least 175,000 Palestinian refugees live in extreme poverty. Those … Read more