Passing the test of collaboration with full honors: The Rose’s Performing Arts Coalition show ReFramed hit perfectly with sold-out house

As appealing as collaboration is, many arts organizations are more likely to make a bit of an awkward, even contentious mess of it. In some instances, performing arts organizations choose the safer route for collaborating, by setting a broadly articulated theme for everyone to contribute their distinct piece to the effort. But, if groups sincerely … Read more

An exciting twist to the annual Performing Arts Coalition show at The Rose: Six resident companies fully collaborate on forthcoming Pictures at an Exhibition: ReFramed

While Modest Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition is among the most familiar pieces in the classical musical repertoire, it might surprise more than a few just how little we actually know about what the composer’s expressive intentions were when he composed in 1874 the piano score in memory of his friend, the Russian painter and … Read more

Great Salt Lake Fringe 2024 closes on solid notes: Awards, reviews, final payouts

The 10th Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) is in the books. Once again, the venue of the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square, was ideal for this event. Total attendance was 1,796, and a total of $18,848 was paid out to the artists for 21 shows. The average payout per … Read more

Great Salt Lake Fringe 2024: First weekend reviews of Non, Seize the Initiative!, I’ve Become a Digital Pet, How Did We Get Here?, Chiasm Cabaret

The first weekend of the 10th Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) is in the books. Shows for the second weekend resume Friday, Aug. 2 and run through Aug. 4 at the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square. The  Fringe campus is accessible in the near downtown area, just north of … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s summer show Close Encounters in the Beehive successfully works comic premise of extraterrestrial visitors

Solid ensemble chemistry, a nice selection of musical sendups and the especially strong performances of Zeb and Skruuck, the extraterrestrial character leads, have combined to make Salt Lake Acting Company’s (SLAC) summer show Close Encounters in the Beehive the perfect light fare during this hot, dry season. Directed and choreographed by Cynthia Fleming and with … Read more

Great Salt Lake Fringe 2024: Festival marks 10th anniversary with 22 shows, 2nd year at Trolley Square in Alliance Theater campus

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 2 of a two-part feature about the Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) festival’s 10th anniversary, This year’s festival will comprise two weekends of performances (July 26-28 and August 2-4) at the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square. See Part 1 here, for a feature about … Read more

Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival 2024: A look back at its first decade

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is Part 1 of a two-part feature about the Great Salt Lake Fringe festival’s 10th anniversary, This year’s festival will comprise two weekends of performances (July 26-28 and August 2-4) at the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square. See Part 2 here, for a summary of this … Read more

Meeting feral, ferocious, paganistic expectations: Voodoo Theatre Company’s Utah premiere of Clare Barron’s Dance Nation made for sizzling summer fare

A show-stopping moment in the Voodoo Theatre Company’s Utah premiere production of Clare Barron’s Dance Nation comes when Ashlee, who is just coming into her teen years, delivers the mother of all monologues that any adolescent girl could ever dream of speaking. Running approximately three and a half pages in the script, Ashlee knocks the … Read more

Generous, heartwarming performances, well-timed comedic delivery highlight Meanwhile Park’s world premiere of Tom Misuraca’s In Dogs We Trust

In Tom Misuraca’s gay romantic comedy In Dogs We Trust, a wonderful first date for the young couple of Darryl and Noah quickly sours on a Sunday morning at a West Hollywood dog park, when Noah brings the wrong dog back to Darryl. While it might be a deal breaker before what seems to be … Read more

An outstanding, riveting collaboration: Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre, Hart Theater Company stage Paul Zindel’s classic The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds

The question of and quest for personal dignity come through with sharp bites in the outstanding production of Paul Zindel’s The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds, with  Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre in collaboration with Hart Theater Company. Directed by Morag Shepherd, the production reinvigorates for a contemporary generation a 1965 play which some critics … Read more