16th annual Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic films scheduled to premiere Nov. 8

Last year’s class of PitchNic short films, produced, filmed and directed by students in one of Spy Hop Productions’ signature programs, added nicely to the 15-year totals of film festival appearances and awards for these projects. Winning the Utah Short Film of The Year prize at the 2018 Utah Arts Festival, the short narrative feature … Read more

The lovely Eighties vibe of PYGmalion Productions’ Tigers Be Still

There is a lovely Eighties vibe in PYGmalion Productions’ season opener of Tigers Be Still, a 2010 play by Kim Rosenstock. Each of the four characters struggles to cope with depression brought on by significant events or circumstances. And, in this pleasing production, a Utah premiere directed by Elizabeth Golden, the comedic touches bring out … Read more

Recent SLC art happenings: Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ Site Lines, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art presentation of memorial videos

The Utah Review looks at two events from local museums: Site Lines, The University of Utah Art Faculty’s exhibition at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts (UMFA) and a recent video presentation at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) that was held in connection with a national conference of funeral directors held in Salt … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s Good Standing is masterpiece of exceptional incisiveness; Matthew Greene play heads to NYC United Solo Festival

At one point in Good Standing, certainly among the top three original plays ever produced by Plan-B Theatre, Curt (played by Austin Archer), facing the 15 men who will decide if he should be excommunicated from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because he married a man, tells us there are no secrets … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s latest FEST entry of Zombie Thoughts smashing success

Indeed, life imitates art. On Oct. 8, a packed Browning Center for the Performing Arts room on the Weber State University campus in Ogden patiently waited for the first public performance of Plan-B Theatre’s Zombie Thoughts, the sixth play of its annual Free Elementary School Tour (FEST) program. Developed around the theme of generalized anxiety … Read more

Utah Film Center to screen new Robert Mapplethorpe biopic Oct. 16

It has been nearly 30 years since Robert Mapplethorpe died of AIDS at the age of 42. In a career that blossomed rapidly within a decade, Mapplethorpe set new stakes as an artist-photographer. However, during his life, his work also was commingled with protests by politicians and the Christian right-wing, which gained huge political influence … Read more

Plan-B Theatre’s Good Standing play by Matthew Greene set to premiere Oct. 18

Five years ago, when Matthew Greene’s first play was produced by Plan-B Theatre, Adam & Steve and the Empty Sea centered on how two characters (Steve, a young gay man, and Adam, whose Mormon mission was cut short by illness) in California develop a close friendship then struggle to preserve it as they come of … Read more

Utah Film Center slates screening of Soufra food truck documentary, panel about SLC’s Spice Kitchen Incubator

In Lebanon, a country of six million that is a little smaller than the area of Colorado, only the oldest residents can remember a time when their country has not held refugee camps. In the country’s dozen refugee camps which house upwards of one million, at least 175,000 Palestinian refugees live in extreme poverty. Those … Read more

NOVA Chamber Music Series to open its 41st season with Road to Night

Madeline Adkins

NOVA Chamber Music Series will launch its 41st season this month with its Road to Night concert, a selection of works spanning the period of 1778-1899 that arise from intimate literary inspirations along with deeply heartfelt musical responses by composers to personal events in their lives. The concert also is a sincere reflection of NOVA’s … Read more

Giants of the keyboard: Bachauer announces its four-concert series for 2018-2019

For the 2018-2019 season, The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation is between competition years but its series of four concerts features soloists who have made their imprint as some of the world’s best acclaimed pianists. The soloists include the 2002 Bachauer Gold Medalist, the 2005 Van Cliburn Gold Medalist, the 2015 Honens Competition winner and … Read more