“We act as a conduit for the observers’ unexpressed desires, the silent appreciation they may contain for anything; a lover, a river, a building even.” ― Author Guy Mankowski on the ballet dancer Ballet West’s spring 2014 program includes three pieces: Jirí Kylián’s “Forgotten Land,” set to Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem; George Balanchine’s “Divertimento … Read more
The Leonardo, Salt Lake City’s newest museum, has become a popular destination to nourish minds and palates alike. Leo Libations is a series of classes taught by James Santangelo of The Wine Academy of Utah and fed by the Leonardo’s chef de cuisine, Zanetta Jones. Classes cover different topics; the one my husband and I … Read more
By just mentioning death camas (a plant known very well especially by Western sheep ranchers) in their new book ‘Wild Rides and Wildflowers,’ two Utah Valley University scholars lead readers to several epiphanies, as they recount four years of press columns they wrote about riding the Great Western Trail on Mount Timpanogos. The plant becomes … Read more
Describe Blue Man Group. Ready Go. Impossible. Improbable. The theatrically indescribable Blue Man Group hit Salt Lake City with a splash on opening night Tuesday. The group will perform at Kingsbury Hall on the University of Utah campus through April 6. Tickets are still available in limited quantities to all remaining shows. Defying categorization, Blue … Read more
In each of the short plays that comprise Eric Samuelsen’s latest work ‘3,’ Platonic notions of order and perfection are treated with stunningly effective realism. Plan-B Theatre’s latest premiere brings audiences close to the Mormon soldiers of ambition – women who crave validation, status and institutional acceptance and who desire getting something tangible or identifiable … Read more
Although he calls it an “odd quirk” in his writing process, listening to certain kinds of music has been quite helpful for Eric Samuelsen in shaping the rhythmic and thematic flows of his plays. For example, in a play-in-progress about 11th century papal politics, he finds listening to rock ‘n’ roll from the late 1950s … Read more
Pygmalion Theatre Company closes out it’s production of “The Women of Lockerbie” by Deborah Brevoort at Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center this evening (March 22). The play is based on the real-life events following the crash of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people. Set seven years after the plane crashed … Read more
Love, passion and death are guarantees in opera and Turandot is no exception. It’s the tale of a cold-hearted princess who requires suitors to answer a series of riddles in order to win her hand in marriage–but a wrong answer results in death. The opera is extravagant on several levels, with a massive cast, an … Read more
NOTE: Les Roka appreciates Mark Alvarez, an attorney and immigration expert who happens to have studied economics as an undergraduate student, for reviewing Plan-B Theatre’s latest premiere, ‘Clearing Bombs’ which runs through March 2. There are still a few seats available for the remaining performances and ticket information can be found at www.planbtheatre.org. Photos courtesy … Read more
‘The most striking thing about the crowd is their ordinariness: just a bunch of earnest suburban moms and dads, accompanied by young children still so androgynous-looking that the trans kids are indistinguishable from their non-trans siblings.’ — Sabrina Rubin Erdely, Rolling Stone Magazine, Nov. 7, 2013 Eri Hayward, the young Utah woman at the heart … Read more