UTBA reviewers sound off: EXCELLENCE IN 2013
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…
ELF is nothing short of “sparklejollytwinklejingley”
SALT LAKE CITY — During a pivotal scene in the second act of Elf: The Musical, Buddy—a human raised by elves at the North Pole—finds his girlfriend Jovie, after she…
OTHER DESERT CITIES is a potent family drama
SALT LAKE CITY — Even people with glass houses have skeletons in their closets. Novelist Brooke Wyeth is overcoming a serious battle with depression in the best way she knows…
Actors triumph in SOMETHING’S AFOOT
SALT LAKE CITY — The spring-loaded stage feels ready to snap. The chandelier hanging from a taught rope, spears mounted on the wall, and suit of armor guarding the back…
A powerful and moving LES MISÉRABLES at PTC
SALT LAKE CITY – The songs and characters of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg’s Les Misérables are an underlying part of my life growing up. My family latched on to…
Take a hilarious trip to the 1960s with THE ODD COUPLE
SALT LAKE CITY — The house was packed at Pioneer Theater Company on Friday. Good for them, obviously, but I felt a bit like a can of tuna. And that…
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…
Lead actress and designers create a beautiful A PHILADELPHIA STORY
SALT LAKE CITY — I sat happily through the production of A Philadelphia Story, at the Pioneer Theater Company, making notes to later compose my review. I didn’t have to…
PTC’s A CHRISTMAS CAROL has plenty of carol, could use more Christmas
SALT LAKE CITY — Can a show be top-notch quality and still fall flat? Pioneer Theatre Company’s production of A Christmas Carol: The Musical (music by Alan Menken, lyrics by…
Pioneer’s OF MICE AND MEN is simply powerful
SALT LAKE CITY — When I hear the name John Steinbeck, my mind immediately flashes back to my high school days and reading books that were incomprehensible to me in…