Pioneer’s ELF is fairly fun, mostly harmless
SALT LAKE CITY — Continuing Broadway’s quest to turn every family-friendly intellectual property into a stage musical, Elf premiered in the Big Apple in 2010 for a short, successful holiday…
Director and actors are #1 at BYU’s URINETOWN
PROVO — As I sat at intermission of the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s admirable The Pirates of Penzance last month, I mentioned to my companion that BYU was putting on Urinetown…
Hale’s THE SECRET GARDEN could use more light
SANDY — The Secret Garden has been enjoyed on the page, stage, and screen for over a century. Based on the children’s novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett, the 1991 Broadway…
Tuacahn: SCHOOL OF (Red) ROCK
IVINS — Do you want to see the original Broadway understudy for Dewey Finn perform the role he did 140 times in New York? Of course you do! And you…
Tuacahn’s THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO is quite a spectacle
IVINS — Tuacahn’s summer production of The Count of Monte Cristo features live animals, a huge outdoor stage, and super performances. The musical, with book and lyrics by Jack Murphy,…
Hale’s GUYS AND DOLLS has New York dice & Cuban vice
SANDY — Guys and Dolls is an iconic 1950 Broadway musical whose songs have entered into the American songbook—in other words, they’re part of our culture. If you’re like me,…
Fall in love with Hale Centre Theatre’s DADDY LONG LEGS
SANDY — Let’s just get to the point. Kelly Coombs’s lead performance in Hale Centre Theatre’s Daddy Long Legs is towering. One of the best I’ve seen in a long…
BYU presents a fine PIRATES OF PENZANCE for the COVID era
PROVO — How do you fill a stage with two dozen actors when you’re not allowed to have more than four near each other? That’s the challenge presented to the…
DESPERATE CROSSING & LETTERS FROM CUBA exposes immigrants’ plight
PROVO — Brigham Young University’s staging of Manual for a Desperate Crossing and Letters from Cuba is the most innovative production I have ever seen. With a striking, timely message…
Hale’s STRICTLY BALLROOM is strictly spectacular
Update: On March 12, Hale Centre Theatre cancelled performances of Strictly Ballroom through March 30, due to the coronavirus pandemic. On March 17, the company announced that all remaining performances…