PLAY ON! is a love letter to community theatre
PLEASANT GROVE — When I was in college, one of my theatre professors asked my class why, in an era of an ever-increasing number of entertainment options, we as young…
SHREK THE MUSICAL is monstrously fun
SALT LAKE CITY — There has been a long history of adapting cartoons and animated movies to the Broadway stage, from Li’l Abner to Annie, to You’re a Good Man,…
The ECCENTRICS fits the bill
SALT LAKE CITY — Maxim Gorky’s The Eccentrics opens on Dacha, a summer house in Russia. It’s 1910 and the nation is in the brief pre-Communism, post-serfdom phase of its…
Solid acting and design anchor Pygmalion’s CHEAT
SALT LAKE CITY — Pygmalion Theater Company has the honor of being the only local theater company dedicated to producing plays for and about women. Their latest offering, Cheat, written…
Laughter through tears in Midvale Arts’s STEEL MAGNOLIAS
MIDVALE — In Robert Harling‘s Steel Magnolias, a story about strong, colorful Southern women, one of the main themes, spoken by the character Shelby, “I’d rather have 30 minutes of…
Empress has a BIG evening of laughs and heart
MAGNA — “Being big and tall doesn’t make you a grown-up.” This lyric, from the title song of Big: The Musical, encapsulates the message of this stage adaptation of the…
RAPUNZEL! RAPUNZEL! is a fairly fair fairy tale
OREM — Presented as part of the Theatre for Young Audiences series at the SCERA Center for the Arts, Rapunzel! Rapunzel!, directed by Chase Ramsey, has more to accomplish than…
CLYBOURNE PARK sublimely discusses a half century of changes and tension
SALT LAKE CITY — It is a shame that Clybourne Park play doesn’t take place in Utah. The 3-hour flight to Chicago seems like it could be too large a…
Lots of bang, not much substance in CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG
WEST VALLEY CITY — It is easy to sum up my impression of the Hale Centre Theatre production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: it’s all about the car. The actors,…
Can’t help but applaud HOW TO MAKE A ROPE SWING
SALT LAKE CITY — I find it a shame to applaud design if a production is lacking in the script/acting/direction. Thankfully, Salt Lake Acting Company delivers in all categories. I…