Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: A closer look at some of the nationally known Literary Arts performers, poets, songwriters

This year’s Literary Arts venue at the 40th annual Utah Arts Festival brings numerous literary figures from the country in a series of performances slated for The Big Mouth Stage. The Utah Review had the gracious honor of interviewing several who will be appearing as part of the largest program offering ever at the festival’s … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: The ‘internationally acclaimed aliens’ of Neighbourhood Watch Stilts International

Having visited more than 40 countries in more than 20 years, the Neighbourhood Watch Stilts International members have become thoroughly versed in the curious and even sometimes bizarre intricacies of the bureaucracy underlying the process of obtaining visas for the purposes of international performance. However, for the group of seven performing artists who will be … Read more

Backstage at The Utah Arts Festival 2016: 40 Years New

It becomes immediately evident that Utah’s history in arts and culture is as rich in pioneer spirit as when the settlers first descended into the Salt Lake valley nearly 170 years ago. In 1899, at the age of 30, Alice Merrill Horne was elected to the Utah Legislature (the third woman to do so) and … Read more

Plan-B’s 25th season gutsy, experimental but most artistically satisfying for audiences

NOTE: This is the first of a two-part series about Plan-B Theatre, which just completed its 25th anniversary. Part 2 will preview the company’s 2016-2017 season. In 25 years, Plan-B Theatre has grown into one of the most ambitious performing arts companies in Utah, regardless of size or genre. The small theatre company – with … Read more

Utah Film Center regroups, sets fund-raising campaign after fire disaster

Just months before it will open its 15th anniversary season and during a time when annual attendance for its screenings has increased by at least 50 percent in the last five years, the Utah Film Center (UFC) is facing its biggest challenges after a four-alarm fire in late March destroyed its offices in downtown Salt … Read more

Guatemala Acatenango Gesha: An extraordinary coffee experience at Caffe d’bolla

A federal bank examiner who is relocating from Chicago to San Francisco stopped by Caffe d’bolla in downtown Salt Lake City, based on the recommendation of a friend in Milwaukee. A young Utah man had budgeted carefully for one of his regular visits to the shop which has become one of the nation’s most respected … Read more

Carlos Gaytán’s mission as Mexican culinary ambassador

The long immigration corridor from all parts of Mexico to all parts of the United States has brought some of the most gratifying results to the American restaurant industry, especially with ambitious, eager and talented chefs. No doubt, Carlos Gaytán, who spent three days last week in Salt Lake City in culinary events to raise … Read more

Foster Body’s latest release Moving Display is punk excellence

There is much to celebrate in the frenetic vitality and in-your-face relevance of the punk ethos in Foster Body. The Salt Lake City band’s current lineup comprises Robin Banks and Korey Daniel Martin, both dynamic visual artists who also happen to be musicians, and Dyana Durfee and Jeremy Devine, well-respected musicians who are refreshingly comfortable … Read more

Regalia celebrates RDT’s 50th anniversary with 4 choreographers in unique competition

Choreographer Francisco Gella sees the upcoming Regalia event to celebrate the Repertory Dance Theatre’s 50th anniversary as the dance version of Project Runway, Chopped or Top Chef. On Feb. 20, Gella and three other choreographers – Marina Harris, David Marchant, Andy Noble, all alumni of RDT – will have four hours to create their own … Read more

Salt Lake City artist Skyler Chubak cultivates elegant, finer, graceful hand of American penmanship

In high school, Skyler Chubak practiced drawing the alphabet with a calligraphy marker in a Speedball practice book. Speedball, developed a century ago by Ross F. George, always has been an indispensable calligraphic resource for penmanship and lettering artists as well as sign designers. Realizing that it was a meticulous art which required a great … Read more