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…
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…
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…
DOCTOR U provides the right prescription for laughs
SALT LAKE CITY – I tend to have mixed feelings about the Off Broadway Theater (OBT). They produce melodrama-type productions spoofing pop culture, much in the vein of another popular…
THE FANTASTICKS has all the fixings of a good production
DRAPER — This was my first time seeing The Fantasticks, and it only took me a few minutes to understand why it’s such a staple of community theater. Tom Jones’s…
Great direction with ADAM & STEVE AND THE EMPTY SEA
SALT LAKE CITY — Walking into the Studio Theatre it’s impossible to avoid looking up. A giant tree of hammered-together planks and particle board towers over the stage sheltering audience…