EDITOR’S NOTE: Part I is an overview of the Utah film industry in the current moment. Part II (tomorrow) will offer a summary preview of the Sundance 2026 films, which The Utah Review will cover. It is a bittersweet opening to the Sundance Film Festival which will continue through Feb. 1, with in-person premieres in … Read more
When Karen Andrews died on the last day of 2022, her 80-word obituary was a pithy plainspoken account of the award-winning Utah painter’s life. The bulk of it read: She had a magnetic personality & was honest & kind to a fault! She loved God, painting, making jewelry, candles, pottery, the artist Mark Rothko, the … Read more
The time for the 10th edition of Emerge, Repertory Dance Theatre’s annual showcase of original choreography by company dancers and staff, coincided beautifully with the company’s season-long celebration of its 60th anniversary. When RDT was founded with a Rockefeller Foundation grant in 1966, it included a commitment that the company’s artists would develop choreography. Emerge … Read more
Continuing its 62nd season. Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company brings back the programming concept of Traverse, a collection of world premieres, including works by award-winning guest artist Annie Rigney and four current company dancers (Luke Dakota Zender, Fausto Rivera, Sasha Rydlizky, and Miche’ Smith). While the venue is the Jeanné Wagner Theatre in the Rose Wagner Center … Read more
Percussionist and composer Brian Blume said in a 2017 concert talk, “I think that, by nature, percussionists are tinkerers. We are explorers.” In the Cambridge Companion to Percussion, Adam Sliwinski wrote that percussionists are “curators of sound.” In the world of classical chamber music ensembles, string quartets have many encyclopedias of masterworks to consider. Meanwhile, … Read more
This year’s selections in The Utah Review for the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2025, the eleventh annual edition, stood out for being fearless, fierce and indomitable in human spirit. Wholly liberated, art ensures nothing is erased, censored or compromised. Reiterating the core premise of the Utah Enlightenment: In Utah, there are … Read more
Editor’s Note: In extending its tradition, The Utah Review, with the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy, asked two students to review Ballet West’s production of Willam Christensen’s The Nutcracker. For a preview ahead of this year’s production, see this link to The Utah Review feature. Before turning … Read more
Editor’s Note: In extending its tradition, The Utah Review, with the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy, asked two students to review Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience, with script and lyrics by Mo Willems and music by Deborah Wicks … Read more
CHRISTMAS WITH THE TABERNACLE CHOIR CONCERT There were plenty of notable moments of impressive musicianship in the Christmas with The Tabernacle Choir concert at the conference center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The choir, with music director Mack Wilberg at the helm, did full justice to its eminent reputation. One example … Read more
Let’s be honest. There is no better season for farce than the holidays at the end of the year. Ask any host who envisions the perfect holiday gathering only to see it unravel, thanks to clashing egos or the chaos of personal drama and fragile relationships. Pioneer Theatre Company (PTC) has wisely chosen farce as … Read more