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

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

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

Plan-B Theatre’s Virtue explores remarkable 12th century legacy of St. Hildegard of Bingen

Mulier in ecclesia taceat ‘Let women keep silence in church.’ In its newest production, Plan-B Theatre’s Virtue, written by Tim Slover, promises much more than a fascinating story about a Benedictine abbess from nearly nine centuries ago whose exceptional achievements presage the ideal of the Renaissance individual. In capturing the essence of St. Hildegard of … Read more

Four Utah choreographers to compete, premiere new work at Regalia, RDT’s annual fundraiser, concert

In Salt Lake City where modern dance is flourishing at a level that would draw the envy of any major performing arts metro area in the country, Eric Handman credits the Repertory Dance Theatre’s (RDT) longevity to its willingness to deepen its bonds with the community. “RDT has always been really brave because of its … Read more

Repertory Dance Theatre’s creative incubator leads to 8 premieres in Emerge

January is a particularly satisfying month for presenting new work in the performing arts. In the aftermath of a season inundated with clichéd traditions, performers, artists and audiences dedicate their energies to enriching their repertoires and expanding their boundaries in creative expression. The Repertory Dance Theatre’s role as a creative incubator for its dancers to … Read more

Utah Film Center to feature Bluespace, director Ian Cheney in Through The Lens presentation

As the impacts of climate change and threats to the planet’s sustainability become more urgent, discussions of colonizing and terraforming Mars have moved beyond idealistic fancies of science fiction writers. Some scientists have conceptualized short- and long-term scenarios of how Mars could be transformed into an inhabitable environment. The irony is that scientists also believe … Read more

Good, poignant and devilish dimensions of Yuletide in Plan-B Theatre’s latest Radio Hour episode

Plan-B Theatre’s Radio Hour series returns this year for its 11th episode, and while this is the third time the one-hour live broadcast production appears during the end-of-the-year holiday season, Yuletide also beckons some chilling elements that have defined many of the series’ best episodes which have premiered during Halloween. A master of the short … Read more