Review

Early summer roundup at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art: Ariel C. Wilson and Matt Kowal: from where the sun is, to wherever you are; Out Loud: 10th anniversary, 2026 Gala Art Auction

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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

Spring Dance Roundup: Ballet West’s Choreographic Fest VII: Spotlight Utah, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Anthology, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Vantage Point, RDT Link Series’ Of Each OtHER, Nitya Nritya Foundation

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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

Harmonizing the visual language of two artists: Liminal Spaces at Material excels as serendipitous collaboration

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Demonstrating another dimension of collaboration in the wake of its critically acclaimed Grief Work multidisciplinary show, Material Art Gallery’s Colour Maisch and Jorge Rojas have curated Liminal Spaces, an absorbing paragon of harmonizing the visual arts languages of two artists, which— when combined— reside in a threshold between the worlds each artist has envisioned.  It is … Read more

Some excellent moments in PYGmalion Theatre Company world premiere of Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c)

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Dark comedies such as Andrea D. Peterson’s (plan c), which is receiving its world premiere in a PYGmalion Theatre Company production, challenge the critic’s charge to give it a constructive review. Humor is an effective defense mechanism to a certain degree. Audiences might struggle in coming to terms with the story of Ginnifer, a woman … Read more

With bustling, brilliant musicianship, Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah premiere of Come From Away sparkles in hospitality

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Back in its heyday before jets capable of making the transoceanic long haul became common, Canada’s Gander airport was “basically a pump-and-go station,” as journalist Andrea Sachs described in a 2019 Washington Post feature. “Locals would hitchhike up to the airport to buy ice cream and search for famous faces waiting to reboard, such as … Read more

Torment in finding the ‘threshold of the divine’: Exceptional collaboration by Sackerson, Lil Poppet Productions of John Logan’s Red

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I think of my pictures as dramas… They have been created from the need for a group of actors who are able to move dramatically without embarrassment and execute gestures without shame. Neither the action nor the actors can be anticipated, or described in advance. They begin as an unknown adventure in an unknown space. … Read more

Two excellent dance productions: Repertory Dance Theatre’s Link Series, Thayer Jonutz, Out of the Ashes; Samba Fogo’s Chama Do Coração (The Burning Call Of The Heart) 

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The first part of spring has brought numerous dance productions of note. The Utah Review features two recent examples. REPERTORY DANCE THEATRE’S LINK SERIES: THAYER JONUTZ, OUT OF THE ASHES It always is an audacious enterprise for modern dance artists to perform truly as their authentic selves in works choreographed by others, but that sense … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s regional premiere of Murder Ballad delivers the musical goods with provocative, feisty flair; the right lurid touches

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One does not go to Murder Ballad, the wonderful musical by Juliana Nash and Julia Jordan, looking for meaty inventive and intelligent plot elements of a whodunit story. Man and Woman end their relationship, Woman meets New Man but still has feelings for first Man, cheats, and yada yada yada, the situation escalates, ending in … Read more

A ravishing evening filled with heart-bursting emotion and endless adrenaline in West Side Story: Broadway and Beyond, Ballet West’s quadruple bill of Utah premieres

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For the ravishing opening night of Ballet West’s quadruple bill connecting the Broadway stage to classical ballet, one could not have launched this unforgettable evening of Utah premieres better than with Alison Olsen playing the last ten bars of Debussy’s Syrinx for solo flute as the prelude for Jerome Robbins’ Antique Epigraphs.  Intimate, delicate and … Read more

Material Art Gallery’s Grief Work is most ambitious exhibition in its young history: a paragon of collaborative multidisciplinary excellence

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In her 2015 master of fine arts’ thesis, Molly Heller wrote about her formative development as a dancer. performer, choreographer and teacher. “It is in the act of being witnessed and witnessing that I feel my existence. I believe that we are all part of the same mystery and collectively we search for meaning. On … Read more