Educational

Superlative world premiere of Plan-B Theatre’s Just Add Water is captivating Utah audiences, heightening awareness of Great Salt Lake in uniquely emotional ways

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A broad spectrum of emotions animates the superlative world premiere of Plan-B Theatre’s Just Add Water, directed by Penelope Caywood. At one point, the personified Great Salt Lake (played majestically by Latoya Cameron) encounters TBH who represents Brutal Honesty (Isabella Reeder, in a dazzling performance). Her words are painfully too on the nose: Once upon … Read more

A Great Salt Lake Play: Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of cli-fi dramedy Just Add Water, by Matthew Ivan Bennett and Elaine Jarvik, set to open Oct. 2

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EDITOR’S NOTE: For its 35th season, Plan-B Theatre has produced The Great Salt Lake Plays, part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary art project supported by Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City’s Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. One is Just Add Water by Matthew Ivan Bennett and Elaine … Read more

A Great Salt Lake play: Elaine Jarvik’s Eb and Flo is Plan-B Theatre’s offering for 13th Free Elementary School Tour (FEST) production

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EDITOR’S NOTE: For its 35th season, Plan-B Theatre has produced The Great Salt Lake Plays, part of Wake the Great Salt Lake, a temporary art project supported by Salt Lake City Arts Council, Salt Lake City’s Mayor’s Office, and Bloomberg Philanthropies Public Art Challenge. One is Eb and Flo by Elaine Jarvik, which is Plan-B … Read more

Beth Krensky’s enchanting stream of consciousness: Material Art Gallery exhibition The Trees Will Love You and the Earth Will Hold You

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When we are astutely reading a novel, watching dance or theater, listening to a recital or concert, or visiting a gallery exhibition, at some point, we inevitably discern and appreciate the crucial role of place as the bearer of memories. This significant bit of comprehension connects us to understanding the artist’s own sense of the … Read more

UtahPresents’ 10th anniversary season is a blockbuster slate, with jazz, theater, dance, film, music and circus

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Marking its tenth anniversary season, UtahPresents, a major  performing arts presenter at the University of Utah, has a blockbuster slate for the 2025-2026 season. This includes a phenomenal four-concert jazz series, a trio of internationally acclaimed dance companies on tour, several intriguing theatrical productions touching on contemporary social issues, programs featuring some of Utah’s best-known … Read more

Torrey House Press series: Witty and absorbing, Dallin Kohler’s PYRO: The Quest for a Beautifully Elusive Snake brings readers wonderfully into the world of herpetology

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EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the fourth in an ongoing series of features highlighting authors and new books published by Torrey House Press in Utah.  “Publish or perish” is still the operating mantra for any budding scientist. From Meridian, Idaho, Dallin Kohler understood the assignment as a herpetologist seeking to establish his credibility in his chosen … Read more

Three-day piano festival this week at Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation featuring internationally known artists, nine students, master classes, four concerts

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To glimpse some of the rising stars, still in their teens, in the next generation of world-class pianists, this week’s piano festival by the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation will be the perfect venue. The three-day event (June 26-28) will feature outstanding pianists as well as students who will be performing, along with master classes … Read more

Early summer shows at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art: Out Loud 2025, 2025 Gala Art Exhibition: The Factory

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Early summer is always special at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The Utah Review looks at two of the latest exhibitions, including Out Loud: 2025 and the works by 57 Utah artists that are available in the 2025 Gala Art Auction: The Factory. OUT LOUD: GROWING PAINS A wonderful lead-in to the Utah … Read more

Continuing through July 27, Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Gateway to Himalayan Art, traveling exhibition by Rubin Museum, is extraordinary for its holistic multimedia impacts

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The traveling exhibition Gateway to Himalayan Art, which continues at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA)  through July 27, is extraordinary on several levels. The exceptional amounts of detail in traditional scroll paintings (thangka), sculptures, medical instruments and ritual objects are mesmerizing. Just as extraordinary are the equally meticulous installations outlining step-by-step lost-wax metal … Read more

Two City Academy students take the reins to review Ballet West’s sparkling magical Aladdin production

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Stories such as Aladdin are timeless and great for all ages but the best opportunities to judge how interpretations of these classic tales in the performing arts resonate with young audiences is to ask them to take the reviewer’s seat. Recently, The Utah Review, with the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL … Read more