jo winiarski

The year is coming to a close, and what a year it has been! At UTBA, we published a record-breaking 259 reviews in 2023, including our first reviews for productions…

CEDAR CITY — As the ever-patient Benvolio spoke the final words, “There never was a story of more woe that this of Juliet and her Romeo,” I could not help…

CEDAR CITY — There is a peculiar magic that settles in as an audience returns to their seats at the end of intermission for an outdoor summer Shakespeare play. By…

SALT LAKE CITY — As a 15-year-old girl traveling the United States as part of an American Legion-sponsored constitutional speech contest in the late 1970s, Heidi Schreck may have found…

SALT LAKE CITY — Art that emphasizes everyone’s shared humanity and encourages its audience to overcome their differences is not new. But alas, humans fail to be tolerant, to embrace…

CEDAR CITY — The Sound of Music has never waned in popularity since its Broadway premiere in 1959. But this year in Utah, the show is enjoying a surge in…

CEDAR CITY — Who killed Mr. Body? Was it Mrs. White in the billiard room with the rope? Was it Colonel Mustard with the wrench in the library? At the…

CEDAR CITY — The acting and directing of Trouble in Mind at the Utah Shakespeare Festival are so riveting that I left the show wishing it were hours longer. Taking…

OGDEN — The Impracticality of Modern-Day Mastodons, by Rachel Teagle, is a play based on fantasy where all the characters can suddenly live their childhood dreams, which works well for…

SALT LAKE CITY — 547 days. That is how long Pioneer Theatre Company went without a live, in-person production. Now, they’ve opened their doors with a stunning, must-see production of…