A 2015 report by Common Sense, a nonprofit organization that researches the impact of media and technology for children, emphasized that body image is learned early in a child’s development and that while media play a powerful role in developing perceptions about that image, other factors including the cultural group and the communities in which … Read more
Each year, the Utah Arts Festival is the most effective barometer of the strength, impact and potential of arts in the state. At 40, the festival is really a cosmopolitan miniature city in which more than 80,000 people will sample from the largest slate of programming, artists and performers ever presented at one time in … Read more
In addition to the premiere of a dance composition by Ballet West’s Adrian Fry and performances by Christopher Ruud’s Stars of Ballet West (watch for a preview next week), three historically significant Utah dance companies will present performances to help commemorate the festival’s 40th anniversary. Many of the works were given either world or Utah … Read more
Having visited more than 40 countries in more than 20 years, the Neighbourhood Watch Stilts International members have become thoroughly versed in the curious and even sometimes bizarre intricacies of the bureaucracy underlying the process of obtaining visas for the purposes of international performance. However, for the group of seven performing artists who will be … Read more
As part of the Broadway Across America ensemble, Disney’s Newsies has arrived at Capitol Theatre through June 12. Newsies was originally inspired by the 1899 Newsboys Strike in New York City that left its mark on both the city and the industry, while also illustrating the way young, struggling newspaper sellers and the heartlessness of … Read more
Few American literary figures have levied a more durable impact on popular culture than Edgar Allan Poe. At 40, Poe, who died in 1849 shortly after he was found in a ditch in Baltimore apparently wearing someone else’s clothes, had experienced a difficult life since his earliest years, battled alcoholism, amassed enormous debt, became a … Read more
NOTE: This is Part Two of a series about Plan-B Theatre, which offers a glimpse of the four new productions for the 26th season. For Part One, see here. Enigmas and mysteries – two wrapped with music and a third with the perplexing question of whether a murder actually did happen – will comprise a … Read more
NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series about Plan-B Theatre, which just completed its 25th anniversary. Part 2 will preview the company’s 2016-2017 season. In 25 years, Plan-B Theatre has grown into one of the most ambitious performing arts companies in Utah, regardless of size or genre. The small theatre company – with … Read more
One of the many joys in Kingdom of Heaven, Plan-B Theatre’s first take on an original musical, is the set of songs that lift Jenifer Nii’s already substantive story about a dutiful, faithful Mormon housewife who comes to terms with a newly emerged part of her identity as a drag king performer. The songs are … Read more
The genre of musicals in the 21st century is getting a flattering facelift. Hamilton, for example, with its tantalizing alchemy of stimulating passion for history through ingeniously accessible rap and hip hop stands out for how racial barriers in the making of art and culture can be dismantled. Fun Home, staged as theater in the … Read more