Sometimes, a feel-good musical comedy reminds us that the ideal of everyone dancing together at a concert, festival or school prom has not yet fully materialized. In Hairspray, segregation is the barrier but Tracy Turnblad’s bountiful optimism in hoping that everyone of all identities can dance on The Corny Collins Show prevails. In The Prom, … Read more
Welcome to the 16th episode of the Radio Hour series as part of Plan-B Theatre’s partnership with RadioWest, hosted by Doug Fabrizio on KUER-FM (90.1). Today, during the live RadioWest Friday broadcast, which begins at 11 a.m., The Case of the Missing Dog by Brandan Ngo will receive its premiere. For fans of The Naked … Read more
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
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
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
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
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 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
After a 2019 survey by the American Bar Association revealed some discouraging gaps in civic literacy, Bob Carlson, then ABA president, said, “We cannot be content to sit on the sidelines as democracy plays out in front of us. For the sake of our country, we all need to get in the game.” For example, … Read more
FIRE . . . flaming, burning, searing, and penetrating far beneath the superficial items of the flesh to boil the sluggish blood. FIRE … a cry of conquest in the night, warning those who sleep and revitalizing those who linger in the quiet places dozing. FIRE . . . melting steel and iron bars, poking … Read more