HCTO’s EMMA, a charming tempest in a teapot
OREM — Hale Center Theater Orem’s production of a musical adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma (music, lyrics, and book by Tony Award nominee Paul Gordon) feels like the theatrical equivalent…
Make it your quest to see SCERA’s SPAMALOT
OREM — SCERA’s production of Spamalot is so side splitting that describing it exhausts the English language’s supply of words that mean “funny.” Even the best thesaurus is inadequate to…
UVU’s CONSTELLATIONS plays out all the possibilities of life
OREM — More than a year into the Coronavirus pandemic, entering the Ragan Theatre at Utah Valley University for Constellations felt both uniquely strange and oddly familiar. The production, directed…
A TURN OF THE SCREW gets twisted up by technical glitches
PROVO — Throughout the story of The Turn of the Screw, there is a persistent question of whether the governess is seeing ghosts or losing her mind. While watching the…
BUMS! is a disheveled mess
SPANISH FORK — A long standing policy at UTBA is to judge productions by the standards that the theatre companies set for themselves or that they advertise. Holding every company…
BYU’s EVERYMAN adaptation, EVERYONE, wins by mixing old and new
PROVO — Adapted from a medieval morality play Everyman, BYU’s production of Everyone, directed by Megan Sanborn Jones, is a great way to entertain audience members this weekend. Everyman, is…
BYU’s NORTH STAR is relevant, but needs emotional guidance
PROVO — Both written and directed by Gloria Bond Clunie, BYU’s streaming production of North Star is extremely relevant. The show depicts a mother remembering her childhood during in the…
Ring in the new year with HCTO’s IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST
OREM — As a critic, when I critique a show that has been a part of the theatrical repertoire for as long as The Importance of Being Earnest has been,…
AN IDEAL HUSBAND at BYU is not an ideal streaming production
PROVO — It is an understatement to say that An Ideal Husband, produced by BYU, was technologically impaired. Though I appreciate the effort of the actors and technicians to put…
Strong cast lifts A CHRISTMAS STORY at the SCERA
OREM — A Christmas Story: The Musical is part of a trend on Broadway in the past 20 years of turning popular movies into musicals. Given the financial risks of…