A&E

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net Information is correct at press time; visit event websites for updates on possible COVID-related cancellations or re-scheduling

Venardos Circus

The designation of “circus” has grown complicated in recent years, as guests recognized the problematic nature of captive animals being used as entertainment. But there are many different ways to think about what a circus can be, and Kevin Venardos—himself a former Ringling Bros. ringmaster, beginning at the age of just 22 years old—contemplated a different paradigm circa 2014. He wanted to reimagine the circus as the kind of spectacular seen on the Broadway stage, based on the dazzling work of human performers, with no animals.

The result is Venardos Circus, which takes its 90’ x 60’ big top around the country with a 90-minute showcase of acrobatics, juggling, feats of strength, fire-breathers and, of course, old-fashioned face-painted clowns. Plus, there’s a dash of the musical theater background that Venardos brings from his studies at Ithaca College years ago. “I’m building something out of just a dream and an idea,” Venardos said to NPR’s Scott Simon. “But I believe in it with all my heart, and I know that with time it will continue to grow.” Is this the kind of circus a kid could run off and join, Simon asked; “I am absolutely counting on it,” Venardos replied.

Venardos Circus visits Utah May 12-28 for a stop at Plaza Las Americas (1187 N. 1200 West, Orem), with showtimes 7 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday, plus 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. Tickets are $15-$45 general admission, with $35-$45 VIP seating options available. Visit venardoscircus.com/orem for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

VENARDOS CIRCUS

Great Salt Lake Bird Festival / Tracy Aviary Urban Bird Festival

At certain times of the year, Utah’s Great Salt Lake is on the migratory path for millions of birds. An annual festival sponsored by Davis County brings attention to the importance of the lake in the avian ecosystem, while a coinciding event at Tracy Aviary showcases the flying friends that they have available for people to visit year-round.

This year’s Great Salt Lake Bird Festival presents a four-day program of events May 12-15 including 40 field trips to a wide range of locations including Willard Bay, Antelope Island, Swaner Preserve, Snowbird, Utah County and the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. Each event—highlighted at daviscountyutah.gov/ greatsaltlakebirdfest—requires advance reservation, and includes information about the accessibility/activity level for the event, ticket prices and more, including items that attendees are encouraged to bring like water bottles, binoculars, sunscreen and bug repellent. Additionally, experts in the field will present workshops on a variety of species, including this year’s focus, the Wilson’s phalarope (pictured), plus Bird Sketching 101, Introduction to Bird Photography and Learning Shorebirds.

Meanwhile, Tracy Aviary (589 E. 1300 South) celebrates World Migratory Bird Day on Saturday, May 14 with a schedule of events also including Sunday, May 15. Bird care staff will present talks on species including trumpeter swans, raptors and owls, plus a “What’s Blooming” tour of plants and their bird friends. All events are included with aviary admission; visit tracyaviary.org for ticket pricing and additional event information. (SR)

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Complete listings online at cityweekly.net Information is correct at press time; visit event websites for updates on possible COVID-related cancellations or re-scheduling

Pioneer Theatre Company: Hello, Dolly!

The premise of the beloved 1964 musical Hello, Dolly!—with its songs by the legendary composer Jerry Herman (Mame, La Cage Aux Folles), and its star-making lead role for Carol Channing— takes viewers back to another time and another place. But for Pioneer Theatre Company’s season-closing production, they’re having a little fun to anchor it in our particular time and place.

The show itself, based on a Thornton Wilder play, takes us to turn-of-the-20th-century New York, where widowed Dolly Levi (Paige Davis, pictured, the accomplished Broadway actor also well-known to locals for her long tenure as spokesperson in R.C. Willey TV spots) turns her skills as a matchmaker to wealthy Horace Vandergelder, with designs on possibly insinuating herself into the role of future Mrs. Vandergelder. Vandergelder’s two working-class clerks, Cornelius and Barnaby, have their own romantic plans, all of which gets folded into plenty of farcical comedy and great songs, including the hit title tune. PTC adds its own touch with a little “stunt” casting for the small Act 2 role of The Judge, which will be played by a rotating cast of SLC notables. Individual weeks of the show’s run will feature City Weekly contributor Babs DeLay, Dr. Angela Dunn, state senator Luz Escamilla, University of Utah provost Dr. Martell Teasley and Fox 13 reporter Ben Winslow.

Hello, Dolly! runs May 13-28 at the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theater (300 S. 1400 East), with tickets $48-$72 advance, $53-$77 day of show. Visit pioneertheatre.org for tickets and other show information, including current health & safety protocols. (SR)

PIONEER THEATER COMPANY

Steve Hofstetter

Comedian Steve Hofstetter is not taking any of your crap. You can tell by the way his YouTube page is filled with incidents involving the takedown of hecklers—and not just his own takedowns of hecklers, either. It’s not that he can’t handle his business, as evidenced by a video in which he challenges a woman who insists that it’s an acceptable regional variant to refer to “heckling” as “hackling.” But he’s also got the back of fellow comedians who aren’t about to tolerate someone making everyone else’s life miserable.

What’s clear from Hofstetter’s material is that he has zero tolerance for lack of consideration and stupidity. His hilarious 2021 Dry Bar Comedy special finds him laying into people who think parenthood makes them special, an airport traveler whose dog poops in the concourse, and—in one particularly memorable anecdote—a flight attendant who tries to turn his pillow into a potential safety hazard. Even children are not free from the barbs of his wit, as he compares the intelligence of kids with the intelligence of his dog: “Dogs are way smarter than kids. Oh, I have proof. I own a home, and all of my electrical outlets are uncovered. … My dog’s never been like ‘aaaahhh!’ [pantomimes sticking its paw in a socket] because he’s good at being alive.”

Hofstetter visits Wiseguys Jordan Landing location (3763 W. Center Park Dr., West Jordan) for four performances May 13 – 14, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. nightly. Tickets are $25; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and for additional event and health & safety information. (SR)

NIMA SOLIEMANPOUR

DANCE Building the New Classics

Ballet West’s Choreographic Festival introduces work beyond the well-known.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

In every art form, the classics will always be the classics. But the next generation of classics can only emerge when somebody tries something new—and that’s a reality Ballet West has recognized through its annual Choreographic Festival.

This year’s installment marks the fifth Ballet West Choreographic Festival, but the concept actually evolved from another project, called Innovations, that artistic director Adam Sklute developed upon his arrival at Ballet West in 2007. “When I arrived, Ballet West had done no new choreography in about nine years,” Sklute recalls. “I knew we needed to develop a platform for new works for ballet. Innovations … became that platform. What I wanted to do with the [Choreographic Festival], though, is I wanted Utah audiences to experience new works that were being created on companies around the country, and around the world.”

For the 2022 installment of the Choreographic Festival, the program includes two works developed previously by the famed Dance Theatre of Harlem: Higher Ground, based on choreography developed for the music of Stevie Wonder, who gifted the company the rights; and Balamouk. In addition, two world premieres will feature work specifically commissioned by Ballet West: Galantheae, by Scottish Ballet’s resident choreographer Sophie Laplane; and Orange, by Brazilian choreographer Juliano Nuñes.

Building a program in this way presents a little bit of surprise not just for audiences, but even for Sklute himself. While the Dance Theatre of Harlem pieces were ones that Sklute has seen in previous productions, Laplane and Nuñes will be presenting entirely new work—which is where trusting the track record of the artists comes into play.

“The two choreographers I’ve brought in are two rising stars,” Sklute says. “Their work has been so successful with audiences. … I never just take a chance blindly. They’re not complete unknowns.”

Having selected the creators, the next step was entrusting them with a thematic idea that Sklute has tried to have run through all of the works in this “return to live performances” season, after a makeshift, COVID-impacted 2020 and 2021. “They did what I asked for, for this entire season: Big casts, a theme of togetherness, because of coming back after a period of time where we couldn’t do anything, or had to do things that were smaller,” Sklute says. “Everything I do this season, I want it to be a big show.”

Presenting new works like this is also a chance to emphasize the vitality of dance as a creative form, not something that’s locked into place. Especially with these new works, there’s an opportunity to evaluate audience response, and consider ways to make the works even better. “These things are really changeable,” Sklute suggests. “Maybe it’s a sketch that I’ll ask the choreographer to build on and make better. Really, it can be like a Broadway show’s out-of-town tryouts: Maybe they didn’t respond to this number, or it needed this change.”

That sense of ballet as a living art form— and not just about works like Swan Lake or The Nutcracker filled with dancers in tutus, performing en pointe—is one that Sklute feels is important, and that audiences for the Choreographic Festival have responded to. Those viewers understand, he believes, that the lines between classical ballet and contemporary dance can get blurry, resulting in unique modern work.

“I actually don’t think those definitions [of ballet vs. modern dance] are really all that important, if the work is interesting and exciting” Sklute says. “Obviously all of our dancers are highly-trained classical ballet dancers. In fact, that’s what makes it interesting, is seeing this contemporary work on these dancers. Our audiences really are passionate are seeing these kinds of works. … They come to experience being part of that experiment, being part of the creative process. You can find the next great work.”

And finding the next great work is a compelling part of experiencing any creative form, where getting locked into “the canon” can restrict that opportunity for discovery. In fact, Sklute notes, even the kind of work that is now considered part of the ballet canon started its life as something risky and experimental.

“When The Nutcracker was first created,” he says “even it was considered controversial, because it contained elements that weren’t considered part of classical ballet. And that’s part of the legacy. What’s startling now, may in several decades be considered classical ballet. That’s something our ballet audiences understand. Nonballet audiences see the athleticism, the dynamism, and that’s what I think is wonderful. When we go to an exhibit of modern art, aren’t we going to see something that moves us emotionally?” CW

Choreographer Sophie Laplane rehearses with artists of Ballet West

BALLET WEST CHOREOGRAPHIC FESTIVAL V Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center 138 W. 300 South May 11-14, 7:30 p.m.; May 14, 2 p.m. matinee $50 - $60 Face masks required for all attendees balletwest.org