The 12th Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) is in the books. Once again, the venue of the Alliance Theater, connected to the Utah Arts Alliance, at Trolley Square, was ideal for this event, along with the MadKing Fellowship Theater at The Gateway and Lightree Studios. This year’s edition with 28 shows was the strongest in … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the ninth in an ongoing series of features highlighting authors and new books published by Torrey House Press in Utah. In the first quarter of this century, Utah’s population grew by more than 55%. Just as remarkable is the long trend of ethnic and racial diversification in Utah’s composition which has … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the eighth in an ongoing series of features highlighting authors and new books published by Torrey House Press in Utah. Four recent short book releases by Torrey House Press comprise a comprehensive soulful journey of summer reading. Whether in the form of poetry, short story, creative nonfiction or essay, each book … Read more
The first weekend of the Great Salt Lake Fringe (GSLF) finished on a strong note, with sales approaching $20,000, up more than 20% from the same point in 2025. Audience numbers also have increased to 1,500, up 50% from last year’s first weekend. Shows resume for the second weekend, July 30-Aug. 2. Four venues are … Read more
Sometimes, great novels make great plays and films. More often than not, novels definitely less than great make far better plays and films. That is certainly the case with Leopold von Sacher-Masoch’s 1870 novel, Venus im Pelz (Venus in Fur), an autobiographical treatment which literally put the M—masochism—in S&M. David Ives’ theatrical adaptation, which later … Read more
In the cathartic wisdom of its satire and musical parodies, Salt Lake Acting Company’s summer show, The Gaslight Zone encourages its audiences to shed the fears, boldly confront and oppose the current confederacy of narcissistic weak, insecure, incompetent, stupid men and their lily-livered sycophants. Hilariously seductive in all the right places, the 2026 edition, directed … Read more
With four world premieres and two company premieres to boot, the resplendent heritage of Ballet West radiated with exciting results in the culminating performance of the inaugural Ballet West Summit Festival: Where Art Meets Elevation on July 17 at the Canyons Village Amphitheatre in Park City. The results confirm that this festival should become a … Read more
At one point, in Matthew Ivan Bennett’s A French Toast, Lucy goes into an emotional frenzy. She unwittingly consumed alcohol, which shocks her with fear that she has broken the rules of her Mormon faith and is no longer worthy. Of course, it happened at the reception for her former husband’s gay wedding. At the … Read more
Early summer is always special at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The Utah Review looks at some of the latest exhibitions, including the 10th anniversary edition of Out Loud (2026) and the works by 44 Utah artists that are available in the 2026 Gala Art Auction. Another is the fascinating and ingeniously conceived … Read more
This spring produced an overflowing bounty of great programs in dance, which enjoys imperial status among the performing arts in Utah. The following five exemplify this distinction. Ballet West: Choregraphic Fest VII: Spotlight Utah Donald Byrd’s Processional world premiere capped a distinguished choreographic valedictory in the history-making closing production of Ballet West’s 2025-26 season. The … Read more