Review

Outdoor Retailer 2023: Fine examples of ingenuity, science, lifestyle creativity, bootstrapping, cultural integrity, authentic eco-consciousness in show’s return to SLC

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This month’s just concluded Outdoor Retailer show, marking the event’s return to Salt Lake City after five years, highlighted a good representation of creative entrepreneurship and collaborations. Even for those who might not be avid outdoor recreation participants, there were plenty of ingenious, artful, elegant product lines and innovations, which suggest that the tent of … Read more

A new twist to annual list of crowning achievements: The Utah Review’s Top 10 Moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2022

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This year’s selection in The Utah Review of the top ten moments of the Utah Enlightenment in 2022 was easily the quickest to lock in, considering the possibilities. There were no close calls. The ten selections were a slam dunk. This year, however, presented the opportunity for a twist. While nine of the ten selections … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company’s A Christmas Story: The Musical is spiffy, enjoyable homage to holiday film classic

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The 1983 movie A Christmas Story was a definitive sleeper hit. Directed by Bob Clark, the film did reasonably well at the box office, easily recouping its comparatively low production costs ($3.3 million) after opening right before Thanksgiving and it was still in about a hundred theaters on New Year’s Day in 1984. Clark was … Read more

A holiday evening of exuberant magic: Ballet West’s The Nutcracker becomes glorious world of fantasy

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It might surprise many readers that for critics, writing a review of The Nutcracker ballet is actually not as easy as it might appear. It is one of the most widely performed works in the end-of-the-year holiday season and audiences love it, whether it is in a lavish professional production or a small-town amateur community … Read more

Ariana Farber’s Dreamers is outstanding two-hander collaboration of Immigrant’s Daughter Theatre, Wasatch Theatre Company

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In a cramped Bronx apartment, the chance encounter between Donatello Angelo Bucci (a/k/a Donnie) and Svetlana Orlova, whose name translates from Ukrainian to “Holy Eagle,” peels away many layers but it really is the quest for self-love that pops in the epiphany of the outstanding two-hander play Dreamers by Ariana Broumas Farber. Directed by Stephanie … Read more

Four excellent November programs: NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Britten and Shostakovich, Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation’s Andrey Gugnin, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Sojourn, Spy Hop’s 20th anniversary PitchNic

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November has been packed with concerts and presentations by numerous local performing arts and culture organizations. Four are reviewed in this roundup. This week, many organizations are in the midst of various end-of-the-year fundraising efforts and holiday season promotions for gift giving. Also, many local groups will be participating in the National Giving Tuesday (#GivingTuesday), … Read more

Four Utah Museum of Contemporary Art exhibitions cover range of expressions on cultural identities, community, isolation, racism, social practices

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Four current exhibitions at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art comprise a broad segment of expressions about cultural identities, community, isolation, racism and social practices. Each of these are discussed below. The Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA) also received two grants totaling $140,000 from The Andy Warhol Foundation for Visual Arts and VIA Art … Read more

Superb acting, design, directing mark world premiere Plan-B Theatre production of Morag Shepherd’s My Brother Was A Vampire

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In Morag Shepherd’s two-hander My Brother Was A Vampire, the banter between siblings of Callum and Skype is often crisp, tart and sardonic but the music, lighting and sound design in the play are the elements that truly bring forth the darkness, vulnerability and brutality underlying their story. There is nothing milquetoast in the outstanding … Read more

Ballet West’s Rodeo underscores alchemy of good artistic programming for profoundly moving evening

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EDITOR’S NOTE: The Utah Review is pleased to present this review by guest writer Chris Myers of Argyle Arts. Good artistic programming can result in a performance that is more meaningful than the sum of its already formidable parts. Paired properly, works interact with one another, providing new perspectives and highlighting themes that might otherwise … Read more

Reviews roundup: Bachauer’s Schubert piano sonatas, NOVA Chamber Music Series’ Connect with Beauty, Westminster College Performing Arts’ Pushing Boundaries, Ebola Cherries’ Digital Drag Is Dead

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Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation: Kuok-Wai Lio The 2022-23 concert series of the Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation opened with a masterly display of holistic musical emotion in Kuok-Wai Lio’s presentation of Schubert’s final three piano sonatas. A 2005 Bachauer gold medalist, Kuok-Wai delivered a memorable valedictory performance of these works, showing his profound admiration … Read more