BLACKBIRD draws on the raggedness of life
SALT LAKE CITY — The phrase “trigger warning” was designed for works like Blackbird. This dark little show is difficult to watch, even for those without trauma. But though trying,…
Grassroots’s THE MERCHANT OF VENICE is a visit to the past
PROVO — Grassroots Shakespeare’s production of The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare, a play with a mix of comedic and tragic elements and a political undertone, was strengthened by…
Bring your shipoopi to UFO&MT’s THE MUSIC MAN
LOGAN — One of the most golden examples of a golden age musical would have to be Meredith Willson’s The Music Man. The story of a fly-by-night salesman who swings…
SCERA has a great SEUSSICAL, “all for you”
OREM — It is rare that I get a chance to review the a different production of the same show in quick succession. But I have a ten-year-old daughter who…
No wobbly land legs for Herriman’s THE LITTLE MERMAID
HERRIMAN — We all know the Disney version of The Little Mermaid. A young girl finds unhappiness in her sheltered life below the seas, wishing to know more about the…
It’s a tragedy to miss ROMEO AND JULIET in fair Cedar City
CEDAR CITY — The Utah Shakespeare Festival has decided again to visit fair Verona and stage Romeo and Juliet this year in an insightful, well acted, and gratifying production that…
Dead men tell no tales, but TREASURE ISLAND is still a classic
CEDAR CITY — “There is no honor among thieves,” according to the old saying. This is certainly true of the pirates of Treasure Island, most of whom succumb to an…
Too slow and uneven for this show to be AS YOU LIKE IT
CEDAR CITY — Often in Shakespeare‘s plays, people leave their home to attempt to escape their problems. As You Like It turns this idea on its head by forcing its…
No sanctuary for this HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME
LOGAN — The musical The Hunchback of Notre Dame, with songs by the same team behind the 1996 Disney film, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz, first premiered in Berlin in…
SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE is “a very palpable hit”
CEDAR CITY — Shakespeare in Love is a love letter to William Shakespeare. Packed with references to several works of the Shakespeare canon (including Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Two Gentlemen…