In the opening of Aaron Asano Swenson’s new play KILO-WAT, Ken Kushida, a Japanese-American podcaster, sets the stage for telling the story about Wat ‘Kilo-Wat’ Misaka, a Utah native of Japanese descent who played point guard to lead the University of Utah basketball team to an NCAA championship in 1944 and the NIT championship in … Read more
Few stories have been so versatile for adaptation than Cinderella. There have been versions for children’s theater, pantomime, opera, comic theater, vaudeville, burlesque, melodrama, risqué sendups, Christmas shows, rock music adaptations with Cinderella as antiheroine, television productions, mainstream and art films in many languages (more than 140 versions just of the fairy tale) and the … Read more
An encouraging trend in the contemporary performing arts era is that once a new work has its premiere, it nevertheless remains an organic piece, open to revision, restaging, expansion and finetuning. For Re-Mix, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s upcoming production, three previously performed works, including one that will be a company premiere, are restaged in a fresh … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: Part II summarizes the films and programs from Sundance 2025 that are part of The Utah Review coverage. For Part I which is an overview of the state of the film industry in Utah, see here. Among the Sundance feature-length films with a significant Utah connection is Omaha, a drama filmed in Utah … Read more
What has become a worthy New Year’s tradition in the Salt Lake City performing arts scene returns this week, as Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) presents Emerge, an annual showcase of original choreography by company dancers, along with Nicholas Cendese, associate executive and artistic director. A community focus has been evolving in recent Emerge editions but … Read more
It is like no other tale Salt Lake City audiences will hear this holiday season. Televangelist Lucas Karol heals the “sick,” performs “exorcisms,” but most importantly, collects donations from his followers for these miracles on his daytime TV show, Scriptures Unscripted. However, during the premiere of Pastor Karol Presents: A Christmas Carol, a rowdy mob … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This preview of Natosha Washington’s I AM, which Repertory Dance Theatre (RDT) will reprise this week, was published in 2023, just ahead of the work’s world premiere. Just as essential as a choreographer’s skills in setting the most impactful movement upon a dance company in the studio is their capacity to trust the … Read more
Pianist Carter Johnson said that last summer’s Gina Bachauer International Artists Competition was one of the most fun he has had in his experiences in the world of piano competitions. While he took the silver medal in the event, the real reason for having so much in Salt Lake City was different. ”My wife and … Read more
This week, Ballet West’s new production will give the trinity of art, dance and music a resplendent tribute fit for an empress. It will feature Utah premieres of works by two of the best-known international choreographers and a reprise of a Balanchine masterpiece that was the choreographer’s first work he set in America 90 years … Read more
PitchNic, one of Spy Hop Productions’ most exciting programs, returns for its 22nd edition this year and this year’s class of young Utah filmmakers is looking to build on a legacy where more than 95% of films that have been produced in the program have gone on to be screened at and win awards at … Read more