It’s been another busy year for UTBA. In 2013 we reviewed 223 productions—our second-highest annual total. From Garden City to Ivins, our reviewers traveled the state to review plays in Utah. Below are our reviewers’ thoughts about some of the excellence they have seen in our state this year.
A scene from the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2013 production of Peter and the Starcatcher. (Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013.)
Excellent Professional (Equity) Productions
- I really enjoyed Salt Lake Acting Company’s production of Good People and the amazing performance by Nell Gwynn as Margie, Plan B’s production of Eric(a). It was very thought provoking and Teresa Sanderson‘s performance was incredible. And finally Tuacahn’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie rounds out my top three favorite professional productions this past year. —Johnny Hebda, UTBA reviewer
- I saw Peter and the Starcatcher for the first time at the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and I was entranced. The story is told in such a fascinating way, and the usual Peter Pan characters were explored in greater depth. I’d love to see it again, and hope that another cast could live up to those that I saw in Cedar City. —Amber Peck, UTBA staff
- There are two shows that really stand out to me this past year from our equity companies. I loved Salt Lake Acting Company’s How to Make a Rope Swing, and Plan-B Theatre’s Eric(a). The first was simply a really solid production–story supported by excellent actors and designers. The second absolutely changed me. —Dave Mortensen, UTBA founding editor
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Pioneer Theatre Company’s Clybourne Park was a great treat. Brutally honest, disarmingly funny, pleasantly theatrical. This is the kind of play Utah audiences need to see, and I’m glad it came to Salt Lake sooner rather than later. —Melissa Leilani Larson, UTBA reviewer
Mandi Marks as Wilbur in Utah Children’s Theatre’s production of Charlotte’s Web.
Excellent Semi-Professional Productions
- I really enjoyed Hale West Valley’s Ragtime and Tarzan and the Orem Hale’s Urinetown and must compliment the talented Dave Tinney‘s direction of both Urinetown and Tarzan. Tinney created two beautiful shows. —Johnny Hebda, UTBA reviewer
- Charlotte’s Web at Utah Children’s Theatre was a major highlight of the year. I even promoted it on Facebook afterwards. I’m so glad to have a company like UCT that can introduce my children to theatre and entertain my husband and me in the process. I am usually very impressed by the Utah Children’s Theatre. —Amber Peck, UTBA staff
Topher Rasmussen as Gabe and Jacquelyne Jones as Diana in Utah Valley University’s Next to Normal.
Excellent College/University Productions
- Utah Valley University’s Next to Normal (also under Tinney’s direction) was a standout in the College/University College category with impressive performances by Jacquelyne Jones as Diana and Andrew Robertson as Henry. I also enjoyed UVU’s Gruesome Playground Injuries, BYU’s The Phantom of the Opera, and the University of Utah’s Spring Awakening. —Johnny Hebda, UTBA reviewer
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Anchored by a superb performance from student Jacquelyne Jones, Utah Valley University’s production of Next to Normal raised the bar for academic theatre. It’s been selected to perform at the KC/ACTF Region VIII Festival, so it will be remounted for a few days in February. Don’t miss it. —Melissa Leilani Larson, UTBA reviewer
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Preston Yates as The Phantom and DeLaney Westfall as Christine Daee in Brigham Young University’s The Phantom of the Opera.
One of the hottest tickets of the year was for BYU’s The Phantom of the Opera. BYU successfully created an amazing spectacle in the set, the costumes, and the dancing that exceeded all the expectations I had for the show. The music was amazing, and all the singers sounded perfect. —Katie Warne, UTBA guest blogger
Excellent Amateur Productions
- I hope that the deserving review I gave of David Mamet‘s Race by People Productions really helped the attendance to this fantastic production. When I went there was only five or six of us in the theatre the night I reviewed the show. However, it was one of those rare, powerful productions that allows theatre to really explore difficult themes in a way we can’t in books, essays, or everyday conversation. —Zach Archuleta, UTBA reviewer
- Just a few blocks from Union Station in Ogden there’s a door that leads up to the 35-seat theatre called The Good Company Theatre. While I didn’t review the show, their production of Breaking the Shakespeare Code reminded me of the intimacy of storefront theatre. The show was quite good, but more than that, they’re creating a theatre that I long more for in Utah. —Dave Mortensen, UTBA founding editor
Aaron Cole as Dan and Emilie Starr as Diana in the Ziegfeld Theater’s Next to Normal.
Excellent Productions of Musicals
- The Zigfield Theater’s production of Next to Normal set a pretty much impossible standard for the other shows I saw this year to live up to. I attended knowing little about the show or the theatre company, and I left with great respect for both. While I enjoy fluffy, entertaining musicals, my favorites are those that have the impetus to effect change. Because the production quality of this musical was so high, I found my attention free from the distractions that sometimes accompany community theatre. While immersed in the tight harmonies, excellent costuming, and committed acting, I found plenty of opportunities to be introspective. For me, that is the mark of a successful live production. On the opposite end of the scale was Tuacahn’s Starlight Express. I felt no desire to reflect, but instead was immersed in perhaps the most exciting display of theater I’ve seen to date. As far as entertainment value goes, Starlight Express was a hit! —Andrea Fife, UTBA reviewer
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Trent English as Roger Davis in Utah Repertory Theater Company’s production of Rent. Photo by Jaron Hermansen / Underground Creative.
What I remember standing out to me the most this year was Utah Repertory Company’s Rent. It was a very well done production that included actors with immense talent. I had not been touched by a production before seeing RENT in a while. The show presented great morals and lessons that Utah audiences need to be exposed to and experience. I also greatly enjoyed Spring Awakening at the University of Utah. I was highly impressed with the department after seeing this show. It was executed almost flawlessly, and I found myself very touched. I suppose both of these shows could be considered a bit edgy (or edgier than Utah is used to), but this is the type of theatre that should be happening in our community, and I would like to see more of it. The great thing about both of these productions is that they were not sugarcoated or toned down to be more “appropriate.” They were produced how they were meant to be. Both shows were real, honest, and contained raw emotion. I love theatre that can make me feel deeply and cause me to think about how I feel about certain ideas. I think we definitely need more new material in Utah to broaden people’s views and give them opportunities to experience thoughtful and intense emotion. —Tara Nicole Haas, UTBA guest blogger
Excellent Productions of Shakespeare
- Utah Children’s Theatre had a lovely little production in August that didn’t get nearly as much attention as it deserved. Breakfast with Shakespeare was a cute, fun, and fast-moving introduction to four Shakespeare tragedies. The show was appropriate for both children and adults, and the four directors worked together to create a seamless piece of theatre. I’ve seen and read enough Shakespeare that I’m not the target audience for this production, and I still found Breakfast with Shakespeare to be so much fun that for part of the show I put away my notebook and just enjoyed the performance. I also loved Grassroots Shakespeare Company’s all-male production of The Taming of the Shrew. Grassroots had given me hints last year in A Midsummer Night’s Dream that an all-male production of a Shakespeare play could work in the 21st century. But their The Taming of the Shrew proved it once and for all. —Russell Warne, UTBA staff
Excellent Directing and Choreography
- One production deserving to be recognized for its excellence was the Utah Repertory Theatre Company’s production of Rent. While Rent is arguably one of the most popular musicals of modern times, the subject matter is still something that can be difficult to produce for Utah audiences. On top of that, it also is often subject to the same or similar interpretations, making it difficult to find freshness or newness in the story. I feel that this production should be praised for both its sensitivity to the local audience as well as the unique interpretation of Rent, both of which revitalized this show. —Maren Scriven, UTBA reviewer
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A scene from Salt Lake Acting Company’s The Cat in the Hat. Photo by dav.d photography.
Under the direction of Penelope Caywood, Salt Lake Acting Company’s The Cat in the Hat showed me the beauty of wonderfully unified performance. It took away any misconceptions that theatre for young audiences only needs to be entertaining to kids. This show was beautifully orchestrated between the movement, sound design, and even the set and costume design and had nothing lacking, even if the target audience was little children. —Zach Archuleta, UTBA reviewer
Natalie Storrs (left) as Betty Jean, Cate Cozzens as Suzy, Victoria Cook as Missy, and Barbara Jo Bednarczuk as Cindy Lou in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2013 production of The Marvelous Wonderettes. (Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013.)
Excellent Acting Performances
- After seeing over 70 plays this year, it’s hard to pick a single acting performance that warrants special mention. But I can’t shake how charming and endearing all four performers were in Utah Shakespeare Festival’s The Marvelous Wonderettes. Barbara Jo Bednarczuk, Cate Cozzens, Natalie Storrs, and Victoria Cook were perfect in their portrayals of four teenage girls vying to become prom queen and then as more seasoned 20-somethings who were adjusting to the trials of adult life after high school. I loved them all. —Russell Warne, UTBA staff
Excellent New Plays
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My two favorite new plays both received stellar productions at Plan-B Theatre Company: Matthew Ivan Bennett’s simply human Eric(a), completely inhabited by Teresa Sanderson; and Jenifer Nii’s Suffrage, a lean, elegant script that I wish I could say I had written. —Melissa Leilani Larson, UTBA reviewer
Corey Jones as Caliban in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2013 production of The Tempest. (Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespeare Festival 2013.)
Excellent Technical Design
- One truly memorable moments for my theatrical experiences this year was Hale Centre Theatre’s Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The moment when the car begins to fly over the Hale’s “million-dollar stage” gave me chills and made me appreciate people who work ridiculously hard to suspend our belief and make our dreams appear before our eyes. —Zach Archuleta, UTBA reviewer
- My colleague, Amber Peck, says it all in the title for her review of The Tempest at the Utah Shakespeare Festival: “Blown away by The Tempest.” Although the acting (especially from Melinda Parrett) and directing (from B. J. Jones) were both superb, what stays with me months later is David Kay Mickelsen‘s costumes. His costumes for all the characters were gorgeous, but the suits he created for Ariel and Caliban were nothing short of amazing. —Russell Warne, UTBA staff
- The immense set of Other Desert Cities by James Wolk acted as a representation of the rift between family members in the drama, clean lines and rich texture that emphasized the importance of maintaining the facade that everything was OK. The detailing and sheer size made it feel surreal and as if the audience was peering through a window at the same time. —Megan Crivello, UTBA guest blogger
Other Excellence in Utah Theatre in 2013
- I also thought it was a great year to see as number of new independent theaters emerge and bring new voices and premieres to the state. Good Company Theatre in Ogden (with productions such as Cowboy Mouth and Fences), the Ziegfeld Theatre (with Spamalot and their upcoming season I am excited for), Silver Summit Theatre (with Dog Sees God, 33 Variations, and next year’s Company), The Echo Theatre in Provo (Martyrs’ Crossing and Little Happy Secrets both bring a new voice to Utah County). —Johnny Hebda, UTBA reviewer
