Want to know what it really means to take enormous risks in the arts? Exhibit A: The just concluded premiere production of Riot Act’s Mopey Wrecks, a play written and directed by Whit Hertford as adapted from Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters. In their original form, Chekhov’s plays can confound a director’s tendencies, which might emphasize … Read more
We rely on skilled journalists and editors to make sense of a volatile news cycle. Forty years ago, Umberto Eco wrote about the artist who protests through form in The Open Work. In part, he suggested that the artist, while rejecting the current order and system, also accepts the world in its crisis terms. The … Read more
NOTE: This is Part II of reviews of shows from the 2018 Great Salt Lake Fringe Festival. For Part I, see here. Austin Archer’s Marty Has Cancer – Prufrock Productions Every performance of this play sold out or had standing room only, which likely makes it one of the most successful productions ever presented at … Read more
NOTE: This is the first of two parts about this year’s Great Salt Lake Fringe, which includes reviews of three shows. Part II will highlight reviews of four other shows. For its fourth year, the Great Salt Lake Fringe festival (Aug. 2- Aug. 12) is testing its new venue space at the Gateway shopping center … Read more
“He not only started to doubt America, but he started to doubt himself. He started doubting the gift that Allison claimed he was born with. She had first whispered that word a year and half ago, that strange, sacred word, she had whispered it into his ear one morning, and it had sent thrill and … Read more
In Hindsight, Sackerson’s premiere of Morag Shepherd’s newest play that is performed in the heart of downtown Salt Lake City at indoor and outdoor locations, Ford (Connor Nelis Johnson) and Chase (Tyler Fox) compete to win the heart of Lorraine (McKenzie Steele Foster). Two men could not be more different. Ford is playful, unabashedly romantic … Read more
Opening on Mother’s Day weekend, Pioneer Theatre Company’s production of Mamma Mia! is a true celebration of strong female relationships in dual dimensions—part disco musical and part women’s anthem. Featuring music and lyrics by ABBA’s Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, Mamma Mia! the musical has been seen (and heard) by more than 60 million people … Read more
Look at any display ad touting a city’s downtown district. The images focus less on a venue such as a restaurant, shop or bar than on the people’s faces. It is about the convivial, romantic experience of city life. The spaces of downtown are empty until they are filled with the stories of the people … Read more
A busy spring season for many Utah based performing arts company has produced memorable performances. RIRIE-WOODBURY DANCE COMPANY: RETURN In Daniel Charon’s Return, the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company created a new realm of dance theater by imagining the six dancers aboard a starship on a galactic journey, one of the most conventional elements of science fiction … Read more
The mere mention of Shakespeare-related live performances in Utah might lead readers directly to thoughts of the world-renowned Utah Shakespeare Festival held annually in Cedar City each summer and fall. Yet, this spring, Shakespeare was alive and well in the heart of Salt Lake City too. Pioneer Theatre Company produced Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night from March … Read more