Utah Film Center set to open 22nd Utah Queer Film Festival, with six feature-length documentaries, international slate of 40 short films

EDITOR’S NOTE: For a detailed rundown of the 2025 slate for the Utah Queer Film Festival, see this link. At a hostile, polarizing time like now, many people understandably demur from being unapologetic about expressing their authentic selves. And, with that in mind, the 22nd edition of the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival … Read more

A detailed rundown of the 2025 slate of the Utah Film Center’s Utah Queer Film Festival

EDITOR’S NOTE: For the curtain raiser of the 2025 Utah Queer Film Festival, see this link. The theme of fearless queerness permeates the slate of six feature-length documentaries and 40 short films in this year’s Utah Queer Film Festival slate. In some instances, the theme is fully manifested, while in others, it starts from a … Read more

Ballet Hispánico, American dance institutional titan, set to take Salt Lake City stage, as part of UtahPresents’ Touring Dance Trio offerings

Choreographic works encompassing a tongue-in-cheek reflection upon the sacred and profane cultural dimensions of the many representations of Maria in Latin America, an inspired commentary on sancocho through the story of a 17th-century Afro-Hispanic painter who was an enslaved artisan to a Spanish master artist and a balletic celebration of Cuban music and dance styles … Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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