Pioneer Theatre Company

Gobsmacking and dazzling: Pioneer Theatre Company’s Utah premiere of Dave Malloy’s Natasha, Pierre, and The Great Comet of 1812 wows opening night audience

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The electropop opera Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 draws the audience into the stage action in ways unlike conventional experiences with musical theater. Take, for example, the rapid-fire exuberance of the Act II sequence comprising Balaga, The Abduction and In My House.  On opening night for Pioneer Theatre Company’s (PTC) Utah premiere … Read more

A musical theatrical bounty for actors-musicians on stage: Pioneer Theatre Company set for Utah premiere of Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812

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The idea of turning even a rather small part of Leo Tolstoy’s monumental novel War and Peace into a musical would seem daunting, if not damn near impossible. However, Part 8 of the story, which occurs just before the novel’s midpoint, inspired Dave Malloy to do precisely that. Tolstoy, who achieved the epitome of rich … Read more

Setting the bar of theatrical excellence in a history-making moment for Utah theater: Pioneer Theatre Company christens Meldrum Theatre with The Lehman Trilogy, powered by virtuosic acting

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When the history of 21st century theater in Utah is written, it will be noted that actor Jeff Talbott, in the role of Henry Lehman, spoke the first words in performance on the thrust stage of the new Meldrum Theatre at The University of Utah. It also will be noted that Talbott, along with actors … Read more

Pioneer Theatre Company set to christen new Meldrum Theatre with Utah premiere of The Lehman Trilogy

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A new chapter for both the The University of Utah’s 85-year-old Einar Nielsen Fieldhouse and Pioneer Theatre Company opens this week with the Meldrum Theatre, Salt Lake City’s newest venue for chamber theater, being christened by the Utah premiere of the Tony Award winning The Lehman Trilogy. The run opens March 29. “It is the … Read more

Utah’s first professional mounting of Bonnie & Clyde musical is stupendous in Pioneer Theatre Company production

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The 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde was one of New Hollywood’s best artistic triumphs, in setting the story of two Great Depression Era rural bandits to reflect upon the social and cultural attitudes of the Sixties. Arthur Penn, who directed the Academy Award winning film, talked about why he was drawn to the story of two … Read more

Whip-smart Pioneer Theatre Company production of Karen Zacarias’ Native Gardens makes for dazzling Utah premiere

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The trials and tribulations of neighbors, especially involving property line disputes, have been among the most widely applied tropes in practically every television sitcom series since the 1950s. Many of these scenes have followed the tenets of “Hollywood Law,” which carves out the spaces for acceptable breakaways from reality. There also have been a handful … Read more

’Tis the season for tinsel and duplicity: Pioneer Theatre Company’s Christmas in Connecticut deserves to be featured entree on the holiday entertainment menu

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‘Tis the season for tinsel and duplicity. Liz Lane, the Smart Housekeeping magazine’s most popular columnist, worries that the ruse she has kept up for more than a year is about to unravel at a Connecticut farm. Everything she wrote about cooking, her husband and a baby is fiction. Sensing just how close the truth … Read more

A 2023 holiday season exclusive for U.S. and Salt Lake City: Pioneer Theatre Company set for production opening of Christmas in Connecticut musical adaptation

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The most enduring Hollywood movies about Christmas reinforce the nostalgia about holiday celebrations, even when chaos threatens to upend plans for the perfect gathering. In 1945, as GIs began to return to the States after the long world war, American audiences welcomed the holiday madcap farce of Warner Bros.’ Christmas in Connecticut.  Nearly 80 years … Read more

Halloween season must-see productions: Ballet West’s Dracula, Pioneer Theatre Company’s The Rocky Horror Show

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What better way to celebrate the Halloween season than with the first-class productions of Ballet West’s Dracula and Pioneer Theatre Company’s The Rocky Horror Show. BALLET WEST: DRACULA  By Chris Myers  In 1997, choreographer Ben Stevenson chose to celebrate the centennial of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with a ballet adaptation that would not have seemed out … Read more

Season opener review roundup: Pioneer Theatre Company’s Murder on the Orient Express, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company’s Groundworks, Plan-B Theatre’s Squeak, NOVA Chamber Music Series on Hungarian music

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PIONEER THEATRE COMPANY: MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express has remained resilient. It is surprising for a 1934 novel that more often than not has been denigrated by contemporary scholars of literature as lowbrow along with what they perceived as insensitive portrayals of cultural and ethnic stereotypes they contend … Read more