Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater

Plan-B Theatre’s world premiere production of Debora Threedy’s Balthazar is a crown jewel of intimate chamber theater, in every measure. Directed by Cheryl Ann Cluff, the 70-minute production is gratifying in the finest sense, with Threedy’s well-grounded fanfiction take on Shakespeare’s The Merchant Of Venice, the ebullient elegance of Lily Hye Soo Dixon and Jason … Read more

Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick receives smartly directly, solidly acted regional premiere at Salt Lake Acting Company

Rich in metaphors rooted in fantasy, Noah Diaz’s You Will Get Sick opens up a compelling creative perspective on the taboos, stigmas and the silence of avoidance when someone realizes they have been diagnosed with a serious illness. Desperate to conceal the stigma of his debilitating illness and avoid telling those who know him, a … Read more

PYGmalion Theatre Company’s golden run in chamber theater excellence continues with exceptional production of Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother

PYGmalion Theatre Company has been on a golden run in recent productions stretching to last season and its latest featuring Julie Jensen’s Last Lists of My Mad Mother is stellar in every measure.  Directed by Morag Shepherd, this one-act gem is carried by the perfect chamber theater ensemble chemistry of actors Reb Fleming, Tamara Howell … Read more

The give and take between music and movement: A closer look at these unique challenges in Ballet West’s production of Swan Lake which opens today

It is fitting that Ballet West’s 60th anniversary season would include a production of Swan Lake, which opens today in the Capitol Theatre and will run through Feb. 17. Willam Christensen, Ballet West founder, staged the first American production of this Russian classic in 1940, during his tenure as San Francisco Ballet’s artistic director. At … Read more

A fresh take on The Merchant of Venice’s Portia: Debora Threedy’s Balthazar set for world premiere in Plan-B Theatre production

Historically, the law firm has symbolized the anchor of a male hierarchy in the workplace and in broader society where males have almost exclusively governed. And, women often had to (and, likely still) fit into that model, to succeed and advance in the profession. Of course, there were breakthroughs in the 1970s and 1980s as … Read more

Reviews of new dance works: Ririe-Woodbury’s Traverse, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Emerge

TRAVERSE: RIRIE-WOODBURY COMPANY  In the middle of Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s 60th anniversary season, Traverse was a perfect Homecoming production, highlighting six new works and a company premiere, which exemplified the tremendous artistic culture that has defined the company. With works by two alumni company members and the six current dancers, the creative principles which the … Read more

Sundance 2024: The Battle for Laikipia emerges as outstanding seminal work on intersectionalities of climate change, colonial history, land rights reform, wildlife conservation, local politics

Astute for how well it balances the voices of Indigenous herder communities, multigenerational white family ranchers and wildlife conservations, the documentary The Battle for Laikipia, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this year, presents a definitive case of how the intersections of climate change, politics, unresolved historical issues and resource competition are putting such … Read more

A Homecoming to celebrate the 60th anniversary season: Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Traverse set to premiere works by two alumni, six current company dancers

It is Homecoming Week for the Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company, which continues to celebrate its 60th anniversary this season. Many alumni also are expected to attend Traverse (Feb. 1-3, in the Jeanné Wagner Theatre of the Rose Wagner Center for Performing Arts), which will feature world and company premieres of works by alumni Keith Johnson and … Read more

Sundance 2024: University of Utah film among select short documentaries; Midnight Program a feast of horror, dark comedy, psychological thrillers

This year’s Sundance Film Festival slate of 53 short films included a solid selection of nonfiction and narrative stories, in the documentary and Midnight program categories. The bar for juried selection was pitched higher than ever before, given the record number of 12,098 submissions for consideration. One of the nonfiction shorts came from Utah: dêtetsi … Read more

Sundance 2024: Devo documentary gives proper due to one of pop music’s most astute groups of social, cultural intelligence

In the excellent documentary Devo, directed by Chris Smith and the first such project which band members authorized, the definitive roots of a band which commanded an intense amount of attention with albums that were produced and released between 1978 and 1984 are properly elucidated in the film. Audiences at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival … Read more