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
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
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
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
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
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
In the 20-year relationship that choreographer Joanie Smith of Shapiro and Smith Dance has had with the Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT), dancers have performed many works that bear her company’s distinctive joyous, witty, uninhibited, physically demanding artistic brand. Smith and her husband, Danial Shapiro (who died in 2006), came to Salt Lake City in the … Read more
In the century since Joe Hill, the Swedish immigrant miner, musician and union activist who was executed in Salt Lake City after being wrongfully convicted of murder, there have been only a very few plays about this figure who recently has emerged from the footnotes of history in relevant ways. Last year, John McCutcheon, an … Read more
In Life Animated, the magnificent documentary about a young man diagnosed with autism as a child who learns how to communicate with his family and express his emotions and thoughts by immersing himself in the world of Disney animation, Owen Suskind is unquestionably the leading man in this award-winning film. In Owen’s story, that plain … Read more
This year’s student filmmakers in Spy Hop Productions’ PitchNic program quickly mastered the art of pitching compelling story ideas for their projects. Inspired by her background in dance and an interest in physical therapy and kinesiology, Mary Nejatifar pitched the idea of following three older adults with Parkinson’s disease who participate in a new program of … Read more