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…
A brilliantly sung PIRATES OF PENZANCE at UFO&MT
LOGAN — One hundred and thirty-eight years after its 1879 New York City premiere, Gilbert & Sullivan’s The Pirates of Penzance still retains a prominent place in American popular culture.…
Personality abounds in Lyric Rep’s THE FOREIGNER
LOGAN — Charlie Baker tries to adapt to a new environment and find the perfect method to avoid conversation with strangers. A humble bed and breakfast in a different country…
Slumber not at A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM in Cedar City
CEDAR CITY — With A Midsummer Night’s Dream being the most popular non-musical play in Utah, the challenge for any local company is to strike a careful balance. If a…
All aboard for HOW LONG CAN YOU STAND ON THE TRAIN TRACKS
SALT LAKE CITY — Recently I was at a theatre conference that talked about how the new art that comes out of your local theatre companies is part of what…
REX should have stayed retired
LOGAN — Back in 1976, Richard Rodgers penned Rex, what was to be one of his final musicals, with a libretto by Sheldon Harnick. By that time, Oscar Hammerstein had…
Utah Shakespeare’s GUYS and DOLLS is a safe bet
CEDAR CITY — For readers’ musical theatre needs, I’ve got the horse right here, and it’s the Utah Shakespeare Festival production of Guys and Dolls. In classical musical comedy fashion,…
The Off-Broadway Theater’s A NIGHT AT THE IMPERIAL is a flop
SALT LAKE CITY — A Night at the Imperial, written by one of the theater’s own Cody K. Carlson, is a slapstick comedy in the style of the Three Stooges.…
Arts education does NOT raise academic achievement (and that’s OK)
In my day job as an educational psychologist, I read over 300 scholarly articles and books per year. A lot of these discuss how to raise academic achievement (i.e., grades,…