There is one topic du jour that seems repetitive: devout Mormons, lapsed Mormons, non-Mormons, all appear concerned lately (belatedly) with LGBT rights in the LDS Church. Books like the Mormon mystery His Right Hand by Mette Ivie Harrison, so many newspaper articles and letters to the editor, and now the first original musical at Plan-B...
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The Past is Now: Selma ’65 from Pygmalion Productions
Night after night, a young white woman watches news broadcasts about police violence against African- American citizens. Although she lives far away, she is moved to act against the brutality she sees on the screen by joining the protest effort. The year is 1965—but it could just as easily be 2016. The scenario seems all...
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Climbing with Tigers: Red Fred Project, Salt Lake Acting Company and Flying Bobcat Theatrical Laboratory bring a child’s vision to life
Picture a young child coloring: they smile in delight at picking out just the right crayon or enthusiastically grab a random one from the floor; they fill the page with broad strokes of vibrant color without any regard for the lines (assuming there are any); and an infectious sense of uninhibited glee brightens their eyes...
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The Fog of Masculinity: Salt Lake Acting Company’s World Debut of Streetlight Woodpecker
Early in Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of “Streetlight Woodpecker,” the protagonist Benji (played by Stefan Espinosa) mistakes the pecking of a neighborhood woodpecker for the sound of distant machine-gun fire. Benji, who has just returned from active duty with debilitating injuries, struggles to readjust to his hometown of Philadelphia. While you can’t get a...
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Tara Simoncic: A New Maestro at the Ballet
If you’re planning on attending Ballet West’s production of Romeo and Juliet this month, you might notice the company has hired a new maestro: Tara Simoncic. Artistic Director Adam Sklute has brought her in over the past several years for projects, but she was appointed as the orchestral conductor in November. “I was attracted to...
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It’s a Wrap – Add a Few Bows: Plan-B’s Christmas Play “Booksmart” at the Rose
Been there, done that. Many of us have, I’m sure. “I don’t know the title or the author but I can kinda tell you what the cover looks like. Can you find it for me?” “Well, why can’t you call Barnes and Noble to see if they have it? Yes, I know this is Sam...
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Funny Girl makes for a Funny Night in PYGmalion Theatre’s Buyer & Cellar
In PYGmalion Theatre’s excellent Buyer & Cellar, you have Barbra Streisand as herself; a quick cameo by her husband, James Brolin (in search of frozen yogurt with sprinkles); her down-on-his-luck employee, Alex More (recently fired as Disneyland’s Mayor of Toontown for telling a child where to put his churro); his proudly Brooklyn-reared boyfriend, Barry...
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The Grand Theatre’s “Young Frankenstein” is Halloween Comedy for Grownups
If you are familiar with the irreverent, bawdy, ever-so-absurdist humor of Mel Brooks’ films and plays, you will instantly understand the kind of wild ride the Grand Theatre’s The New Mel Brooks Musical: Young Frankenstein promises its audience. For those uninitiated into the 1974 cult film, the story follows Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, the grandson of...
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Plan-B, NOVA Present Spellbinding “Kreutzer Sonata”
Pozdnyshev did it in the conservatory with a knife. We learn that much early on in “The Kreutzer Sonata,” Eric Samuelsen’s world-premiere one-act play, a superb adaptation (and condensation) of Tolstoy’s 1889 novella about murder and madness. Combined with a spellbinding performance of much of Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 9 (the “Kreutzer”), this hour-long...
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Reading Ripley: Weller Bookworks stages a reading of Phyllis Nagy’s The Talented Mr. Ripley
The novel and (actually, several) films of The Talented Mr. Ripley are readily available in Salt Lake, but until this week the play has not been. A first step in rectifying that omission was made on Monday night, when Weller Booksworks, as part of both its Free Play Reading Series and the Utah Humanities Book...
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Caldiero Channels “Howl” @ 60
“I saw the best minds of my generation” (Janis, Jimi, Jim, Kurt, Amy, the kid who lived around the corner) “destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix, angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of...
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Off and Dancing: Ritual opens Repertory Dance Theatre’s 50th season
Of all the brilliant theatrical tropes that Repertory Dance Theatre has introduced over half a century, one of the best comes right at the start of each performance. As the house lights dim and the roses on the curtain fade from sight, anticipation calls the audience to order. Then, when the stage lights come up,...
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Baked Goods and Bulletproof Smiles: SLAC’s Blackberry Winter explores the emotional toll of caring for parents with dementia
The premise is unalluring: a smartly dressed, middle-aged woman stands in front of the audience and recounts the struggles of caring for a parent with Alzheimer’s. Yet an emotionally taut performance by April Fossen; a sharp, engaging script by Steve Yockey; and the fairy-tale interludes of Glen and Linda Brown’s puppetry make for a compelling...
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Shakespeare Festival’s Henry IV Part Two
While most fans agree “The Empire Strikes Back” is the best film in the original Star Wars trilogy, few of them would suggest watching the film in isolation. It would be like attending only Part Two of Shakespeare’s trio of plays on Henry V: a middle with no beginning or end. Two years ago the...
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Amadeus: Consuming Envy and Creative Passion at the Utah Shakespeare Festival
Just as one would not wisely attend Shakespeare’s Henry V as a primer for an exam on franco-anglo relations in the 15th-century, do not come to Peter Shaffer’s Amadeus, on stage this summer at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, to better understand the life of a favorite classical composer. As has been well documented, Shaffer’s award-winning...
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