Pygmalion Theatre Company’s production of Silent Sky celebrates women who were light years ahead in astronomy

To many outside of the working world of science, the most important work of discovery might seem mundane and inconsequential – especially when it was conducted by women. Margot Lee Shetterly’s 2016 nonfiction book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race (Harper … Read more

The heat of Samba, the magic from Aruanda will ignite Samba Fogo’s Chama dance concert

This flame that burns in my heart. Calls me to the heat of Samba. It is the glow that illuminates the darkness The light that clarifies my path. It is culture, art, and expression. It is magic brought from Aruanda. From black and white ashes From so much suffering of yore A phoenix was born … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre sets spring concert with Zvi Gotheiner’s Dabke

In the 21st century, cultural appropriation—like globalization—isn’t just inevitable; it’s potentially positive. We have to stop guarding cultures and subcultures in efforts to preserve them. It’s naïve, paternalistic, and counterproductive. Plus, it’s just not how culture or creativity work. The exchange of ideas, styles, and traditions is one of the tenets and joys of a … Read more

Seven dishes to eat in 2017

Table X scallops

Fortunately for food lovers living in Utah, there’s no shortage of new and old favorite dishes being served up for your culinary enjoyment along the Wasatch Front and Back. Here are seven savory selections that shouldn’t be missed this year. Beef sukiyaki from Ikigai At the remodeled and reimagined Ikigai (formerly Naked Fish Japanese Bistro) … Read more

Photos from 2017 North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBS)

Now in its 13th year, the North American Handbuilt Bicycle Show (NAHBS) chose Salt Lake City for their annual showcase of some of the world’s most exquisite hand-built bicycles. Bike builders from all across the country gathered at the Salt Palace Convention Center to show off their custom bikes. The event showcases local “garage builders” … Read more

Plan-B Theatre sets to explore the culture of memory in Morag Shepherd’s Not One Drop

The great French philosopher Paul Ricoeur wrote that forgetting “remains the disturbing threat that lurks in the background of the phenomenology of memory and the epistemology of history.” Nostalgia is criticized because it signifies just how much of the “truthfulness” of the past can be sanitized and forgotten. The act of forgetting is a mistake, … Read more

Utah Opera’s Lucia di Lammermoor is dramatic, yet subtle

Utah Opera’s 2016-2017 season has played to the moodier and dramatic side of human nature this year, and Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor is no exception. This tale of a woman manipulated into turning her back on true love and marrying another has tragic consequences. Utah Opera added more drama to the production with a last-minute cast … Read more

Live performance of Kris Johnson’s ‘Jim Crow’s Tears’ to electrify SLC jazz scene

There is no question that Salt Lake City’s jazz scene will be electrified with an upcoming performance of Jim Crow’s Tears, a masterful musical of jazz verismo by Kris Johnson and book by playwright Gary Anderson. As summarized in the soundtrack review, published last December in The Utah Review, “It is a straightforward, robust, courageous … Read more

Pygmalion Productions Theatre prepares to stage Lee Blessing’s Eleemosynary

William Bernstein, a neurologist-cum-financial adviser who often works with clients having at least $25 million in investment portfolios, described his 2014 financial advice guide, the 7,000-word If You Can, as “eleemosynary.” Thoroughly charitable in keeping with eleemosynary’s definition, he wrote the guide, as he explains, “to help today’s young people invest for retirement because, frankly, … Read more

Sold out Virtue from Plan-B Theatre is saintly

Pope Benedict XVI formally canonized St. Hildegard of Bingen in 2012 but her creative genius in the fields of music, theater, science, theology, medicine and mysticism have been appreciated for nearly nine centuries. In Plan-B Theatre’s newest production, written by Tim Slover and directed by Jerry Rapier, Virtue explores the fascinating story of the Benedictine … Read more