Ten years ago, Elaine Jarvik’s science fiction play Based on a True Story (in a Plan-B Theatre world premiere production) took its audiences to 2046, where commercial time travel is an option on the P-F highway (past-future) which stretches 15 billion years in either direction. There are time refugee centers for persons whose trips trap … Read more
Editor’s Note: In extending its tradition, The Utah Review, with the assistance of Christal Jackson, an English teacher and ELL coordinator at City Academy, asked two students to review Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Rock Experience, with script and lyrics by Mo Willems and music by Deborah Wicks … Read more
In the superbly acted Salt Lake Acting Company (SLAC) production of Jen Silverman’s The Roommate, the result is a fascinating exploration on the sometimes overemphasized importance of a character’s likable and relatable traits. Directed by Teresa Sanderson, this richly entertaining production, nevertheless, ensures that the audience should not remain passive in comprehending and sorting out … Read more
This year, the devilishly astute and enlightened triumvirate of writers behind the exceptional The Secret Lives of the Real Wives in the Salt Lake Hive, Salt Lake Acting Company’s (SLAC) summer show, reached deep into the spice cabinet, ensuring that the 2025 edition mogged its predecessors. Hands down, SLAC now has the secret formula for … Read more
EDITOR’S NOTE: For preview coverage of the 49th Utah Arts Festival, which runs June 19-22, The Utah Review is presenting individual or group profiles of artists, performers, entertainers and some newcomers to the event. Visitors will also see the first significant change of the last 15 years in the festival map. There are several new … Read more
Remember when fake news was simply freakish entertainment? When the Weekly World News had run dry on its long streak of ‘Elvis Is Alive’ stories, editorial staff member Dick Kulpa came up with ‘Bat Child Found in West Virginia Cave.’ When the story ran in June, 1992, Weekly World News sold 975,000 copies. Other ‘Bat … Read more
In The Will to Power, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “Perhaps I know best why man is the only animal that laughs: he alone suffers so excruciatingly that he was compelled to invent laughter. The unhappiest and most melancholy animal is, as might have been expected, the most cheerful.” That quote captures the harmonizing of two polar … Read more
Keeping with the spirit of the Salt Lake Acting Company’s (SLAC) commendable tradition of featuring a theatrical production annually for young audiences, The Utah Review thought it most appropriate to invite two students from the Salt Lake Arts Academy to wear the reviewer’s cap, by attending the opening night performance of the regional premiere of … Read more
Chisa Hutchinson’s Whitelisted opens not on stage, but in the theater, as Yvette (splendidly played by Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin) rises from a seat and is asking for donations from audience members. Her sincerity is striking. Yvette is mourning the untimely death of her daughter, and is asking for assistance to help with the costs of burying … Read more
Solid ensemble chemistry, a nice selection of musical sendups and the especially strong performances of Zeb and Skruuck, the extraterrestrial character leads, have combined to make Salt Lake Acting Company’s (SLAC) summer show Close Encounters in the Beehive the perfect light fare during this hot, dry season. Directed and choreographed by Cynthia Fleming and with … Read more