Salt Lake Acting Company’s video production of Audrey Cefaly’s Alabaster receives outstanding rolling world/Utah premiere

Peculiar yet approachable, alternating between effulgent and piercing, complex and elucidating, Audrey Cefaly’s play Alabaster on paper, at first glance, might not be the ideal candidate for a filmed theatrical production, especially as part of the National New Play Network’s Rolling World Premiere program. Alabaster’s intricately woven elaborate character textures make for ideal stage pyrotechnics … Read more

Ballet West’s documentary series In The Balance: Ballet for a Lost Year set for May 7 premiere on social media

In The Dance of The Building, the ingeniously crafted sixth episode of the In The Balance: Ballet for a Lost Year documentary series, one of the crew leaders for setting the stage of Ballet West’s performances in the Capitol Theatre in downtown Salt Lake City, explains that the real legacy of civilizations in history comprises … Read more

Utah Symphony concert of Bach, Carter, Marsalis, Wagner another example of eclectic, innovative programming

The most recent Utah Symphony concert once again evidenced an eclectic, compact, innovative approach to programming which, in this instance, delivered the orchestra’s first performances of two works from 1998 and 2011, respectively.  The smart staging logistics made for a quick transition from Elliott Carter’s Double Trio, which the composer wrote just ahead of his … Read more

Two memorable season closing films: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Homage, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Cadence

Two of Salt Lake City’s historically significant dance institutions — Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) and Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company — are concluding this unusual season with new concert films. Both films end on an encouraging note, signaling a hopeful return next fall to their regular performing venue in the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts. Both … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s premiere of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class sets new height of excellence, maximizing impact of audio production format

One of many richly textured epiphanies in Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class, the audio-only production receiving its Plan-B Theatre world premiere, occurs shortly after Lucía confronts Mindy, the parent of a student in her art class, at a Christmas tree lot in Hyrum. Mindy is pushing for Lucía to be fired from the school … Read more

New version of SONDERimmersive’s Through Yonder Window crisp, clear, absorbing, astute contemporary interpretation of Romeo and Juliet characters

Last year, approximately 1,000 people saw SONDERimmersive’s remarkably inventive interpretation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Through Yonder Window, in a parking garage at The Gateway complex in downtown Salt Lake City. With pandemic restrictions in place, the company meshed elements of immersive performance and theater-in-the-round in a production that effectively accommodated the difficult logistics of … Read more

More than a story of censorship: Plan-B Theatre to launch April 15 world premiere audio-only production of Matthew Ivan Bennett’s Art & Class

In Utah, many contradictions confound in their complexities. Mormonism champions its cosmopolitan outreach through its mission service, where members proselytize about the virtues of perfection, prosperity and duty of faith. Meanwhile, while immigrants and refugees are welcomed in the state, many also feel isolated and vulnerable, seeing clearly how lip service and posturing barely mask … Read more

A splendid time to return to Abravanel Hall: Utah Symphony strings shine in concert with works by Sierra, Bartók, Mozart

“When I am, as it were, completely myself, entirely alone, and of good cheer — say traveling in a carriage, or walking after a good meal, or during the night when I cannot sleep—it is on such occasions that my ideas flow best, and most abundantly. Whence and how they come, I know not, nor … Read more

Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s next virtual concert features Utah premiere of Koji Attwood’s transcription of Schubert’s Death and the Maiden string quartet

Near the end of his life, pianist Vladimir Horowitz told New York Times music critic Anthony Tommasini that one of his greatest regrets was never having played Franz Liszt’s transcriptions of the Beethoven symphonies in public. “For me, the piano is the orchestra,” Horowitz said. “I don’t like the sound of a piano as a … Read more

UMOCA’s spring exhibitions include Baggage: Alex Caldiero in Retrospect, Material Issues: Strategies in 21st Century Craft, This Storm Is What We Call Progress

With the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) now open to the public in its most expansive offerings in more than a year, the following exhibitions are a must-see during a visit. For more information about hours and the museum, see The Utah Review’s centerpiece article. Baggage: Alex Caldiero In Retrospect Among the Utah Enlightenment’s … Read more