Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Fear No Film marks 20th anniversary with superlative 59-film slate

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the centerpiece preview feature of the 20th Fear No Film program at the Utah Arts Festival. For a complete rundown of the Utah Made Film slate, see here. For a complete rundown of the Midnight film slate, see here. For a complete rundown of the Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Kids! Slates, … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Fear No Film’s Utah Made Program features heavy-hitters, award-winning filmmakers

It is fitting that for the 20th anniversary of Fear No Film at the Utah Arts Festival that the Utah Short Film of the Year juried competition would involve heavy hitters. The bar has been set at its highest mark in Fear No Film’s history, most notably with the Utah Made Professionals division. There are … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: Two no-holds-barred programs of Midnight Shorts will be featured at Fear No Film

Mellus and his team take the thematic objective of Fear No Film literally and to heart, for the Utah Arts Festival. The 14 films that comprise the two Midnight Programs this year underscore this objective beautifully. These offerings are not for the faint-hearted but they epitomize what a director can accomplish when they emancipate themselves … Read more

Backstage at the Utah Arts Festival 2023: A look at animated, documentary, narrative and kids short films in Fear No Film

For 2023, Fear No Film at the Utah Arts Festival will have one program in animation, one program in documentary, two programs in narrative and one Kids! program. Here are the films that will be presented in those programs, which will be screened in the City Library auditorium: Animated (Friday, June 23, 6 p.m., June … Read more

Late spring blooms at Utah Museum of Contemporary Art: Out Loud: Stop and Smell the Roses, Razorbacks by Mitchell Barton, 2023 Gala Art Auction

Late spring is in full bloom at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art (UMOCA). The Utah Review looks at three of the latest exhibitions, including Out Loud: Stop and Smell the Roses, Razorbacks by Mitchell Barton and the works by Utah artists that are available in the 2023 Gala Art Auction. OUT LOUD: STOP AND … Read more

Moments to shine: NOVA Chamber Music Series closes 45th season with spectacular Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde, Repertory Dance Theatre’s Link Series presents Wind by John Mead and dancers

NOVA CHAMBER MUSIC SERIES: DAS LIED VON DER ERDE The clearest example of Thierry Fischer’s 14-year tenure as Utah Symphony’s music director is the significant improvement in the orchestra’s musicianship. Utah Symphony musicians are now prepared to take on everything in the orchestral repertoire, including new music commissions. Fischer is set to take a similar … Read more

Delivering all the ‘zazz,’ Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah premiere of The Prom is rollicking exhibition of gold medal theatrical gymnastics

Sometimes, a feel-good musical comedy reminds us that the ideal of everyone dancing together at a concert, festival or school prom has not yet fully materialized. In Hairspray, segregation is the barrier but Tracy Turnblad’s bountiful optimism in hoping that everyone of all identities can dance on The Corny Collins Show prevails.  In The Prom, … Read more

Live blog and review: Radio Hour Episode 16: The Case of the Missing Dog, by Brandan Ngo, presented by Plan-B Theatre, KUER-FM’s RadioWest

Welcome to the 16th episode of the Radio Hour series as part of Plan-B Theatre’s partnership with RadioWest, hosted by Doug Fabrizio on KUER-FM (90.1). Today, during the live RadioWest Friday broadcast, which begins at 11 a.m., The Case of the Missing Dog by Brandan Ngo will receive its premiere. For fans of The Naked … Read more

Pygmalion Theatre Company’s world premiere of Lane Richins’ Near Mint gives baseball its unsullied nostalgic shine

As Lane Richins’ good-hearted play Near Mint opens on the Pygmalion Theatre Company stage, the sunny mood signals that ‘Cracker’ Jack Patterson, retired pro baseball catcher, feels his life is pretty close to ‘near mint’ condition. It is 1988 in California. With his best friend, Pepper Crawford, they host a popular AM radio show for … Read more

Salt Lake Acting Company’s Utah premiere of Dipika Guha’s Yoga Play is splendid for its comedy; enlightened, hard-nosed truths

Even quick research will show that many of the stretching and relaxation classes that go by the name of yoga in the U.S. barely resemble the religious yoga practices of a devout Hindu. But, there also are other implications of stripping away Hindu and Vedic elements from contemporary yoga. The Hindu remains an inscrutable foreign … Read more