Lessons learned from seeing 4 productions of ROMEO & JULIET
In the space of seven months—from July 2017 to February 2018—I have seen four separate stage productions of Romeo and Juliet in Utah. Now it’s time for me to take…
BroadwayCon Year Three: Utah Represents!
NEW YORK CITY — Year Three of BroadwayCon, founded by Broadway actor Anthony Rapp, was unique for Utah Theatre Bloggers Association because I had the exciting opportunity to moderate a…
UTBA obtains non-profit status
“Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears!” In November we told our readers that UTBA is going through a period of transition. At the time we had applied for non-profit…
UTBA reviewers sound off: EXCELLENCE IN 2017
With the end of the year upon us, it’s time for one of our favorite annual traditions: the UTBA post about excellence on the Utah stage in the past year!…
Does singing show tunes fight off dementia? Maybe not.
On Twitter last month, two of my colleagues in the American Theatre Critics Association tweeted an article from the New York Daily News stating that singing musical theatre songs helped…
Hooray! Big changes coming to UTBA in 2018
Stephen Sondheim said it best: “You may know what you need, but to get what you want, better see that you keep what you have!” This quote is pertinent as…
Arts education does NOT raise academic achievement (and that’s OK)
In my day job as an educational psychologist, I read over 300 scholarly articles and books per year. A lot of these discuss how to raise academic achievement (i.e., grades,…
Theatre criticism in the digital age: Dispatch from ATCA 2017
SAN FRANCISCO — Several years ago I found Utah Theatre Bloggers Association, and was so excited to get the chance to see production in Utah and offer my thoughts about…
Meet the cast and director of Pygmalion’s ELEEMOSYNARY
SALT LAKE CITY — Three women sit before me: Barb Gandy, Tracie Merrill, and Sydney Shoell. Each are different in age, for they are set to portray three generations of…
BroadwayCon: Year Two
NEW YORK CITY — In 2016, I was able to attend the first ever BroadwayCon, founded by Broadway actor Anthony Rapp, and this past weekend, I was lucky enough to…