City Weekly September 12, 2024

CITY WEEKLY salt lake

How to approach challenging art forms—from opera to slam poetry; from modern dance to performance art.

by CITY WEEKLY STAFF

S AP

BOX

Home to Roost

Imagine your city—like Washington Terrace in Weber County—is about to decide whether to allow residents to keep backyard chickens. While it might seem like a niche issue, it reflects broader trends in how cities are rethinking property owners’ freedoms.

From a liberty standpoint, owning chickens is not much different from owning cats or dogs. Animal ownership comes with responsibilities such as feeding, sheltering and maintaining sanitary conditions. Although caring for chickens may be new to some, it’s well within the average person’s ability to manage.

Concerns about noise and odors often surface in debates over animal ownership. However, when properly cared for, the noise and odors from chickens are minimal and hardly noticeable, even in close quarters.

City regulations on backyard chickens should be straightforward, focusing on key issues like noise, odor and sanitation. Farmington, for example, offers a great example of how to regulate backyard chickens effectively. They avoid unnecessary rules, such as requiring permits and fees, imposing overly strict limits on the number of chickens, or banning them on smaller lots. This approach balances the needs of residents while keeping the regulations simple and fair.

LEE SANDS Libertas Institute

When, Not If

All those living in Utah need to be aware that the high school shooting tragedy in Georgia will likely happen here. Utah has all the ingredients: lax gun laws; easy access to weapons (often found as close as parents’ bedrooms); and disturbed male teens.

Utah remains one of the top states for suicide. One will find little concern about curbing gun violence from the Governor’s Mansion and with GOP control of both state legislative chambers.

Often a key part of being a macho man in Utah is owning multiple weapons, including AR-15s. Sadly, many local wives share their husbands’ love of guns. And Utah schools rarely have trained psychologists or even school nurses on campuses.

Not all of the paranoia relating to outsiders of 200 years ago has dissipated. On most evenings, local news leads with the stories of

the day’s murders. It could be seriously curbed, but politicians need the NRA campaign funds and the votes of the gun lovers.

TED OTTINGER

Taylorsville

Save the Great Salt Lake Mercury and arsenic underwater are safe, But above ground as toxic dust will Utahns strafe. The Great Salt Lake harbors this public health’s zero hour, As it shrinks exposing the lake bottom’s deadly power.

Two-thirds of river and upstream water diversions, Bereaves the lake of proper safe water elevations. A dried up Salt Lake devoid of brine shrimp and flies, For migrating birds their primary food source deprives.

Water now the most important commodity of our lives, Need come to the Great Salt Lake so that it survives. It must be a protected resource for humanity, To triumph over our man-made adversity.

This gracious gift of life Nature provides for all, Save Great Salt Lake to prevent existence’s death caterwaul.

GEORGE KIBILDIS

Sparta, New Jersey

Care to sound off about a feature in our pages or a local concern? Write to comments@cityweekly.net or post on our social media.

THE WATER COOLER

What’s the reality TV show that you won’t admit to loving in public? (Don’t worry, no one will see this).

Benjamin Wood

The only reality TV I watch is Survivor. My wife is constantly telling me to apply.

Katharine Biele

I do watch Queer Eye. Isn’t that “reality” TV? So I guess I’m not purely anti-reality TV if it’s staged right and the “actors” are adorable.

Bryan Bale

I used to like “reality” shows like Monster Garage, Junkyard Wars, and American Chopper. I wasn’t a fan of the family drama, but I was interested in custom vehicles and mechanical things in general.

Krista Maggard

I’m not a big reality show fan, but I did get hooked on watching Love Island UK for a bit. I have no shame though—the drama in combo with their accents was wildly entertaining.

Paula Saltas

Next Level Chef with Gordon Ramsay. The chefs are a bit lazy, but I mainly like to watch the show for Ramsay’s reactions and comments.

Wes Long

Keep it under your hat, but Cutthroat Kitchen is a fun trash-watch during lunchtime.

BY KEITH BURNS

OPINION Straight and Narrow

In 1852, Brigham Young—second prophet/president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—implemented a ban on people of African descent holding the priesthood and accessing temple rituals, both of which are required for entrance into the highest degree of heaven in LDS theology.

Grounded in Protestant biblical justifications of slavery and racial hierarchy, LDS authorities for decades argued that whiteness was a sign of divine favor and the mark of a chosen race. Conversely, blackness was purportedly the mark of a divine curse or—unique to LDS doctrine—the result of poor decisions in a pre-mortal existence.

Although many members and leaders now describe the ban as simply a policy, a theory, or even folklore, mid-20th century LDS leaders enshrined it as divine doctrine on numerous occasions. The most notable example of this was a 1949 statement issued by the First Presidency, the highest governing body of the church, declaring: “The attitude of the Church with reference to the Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of a policy but of direct commandment from the Lord … that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time.”

Matthew Harris, a historian of Mormon studies, has spent decades meticulously documenting race relations in the LDS Church, including the eventful historical trajectory of this priesthood and temple ban. In his recent bestseller, Second Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality, he masterfully lays out the complex array of political, sociocultural and religious factors that impacted the development and eventual lifting of the ban in 1978.

Not only was the Church confronted on its racism by a host of external forces—including the media, the federal government and academic scholars—there were also coura-

geous internal agitators, from rank-and-file lay members to mid-level Church employees, all the way up to Apostles in its highest governing body.

Harris’ book provides vivid details on this activism and dissent, including by First Presidency counselor Hugh B. Brown, who fought tirelessly to lift the ban up until his death in 1975. Surely, one of the most profound takeaways from this dark chapter in LDS history is that racial teachings long codified as eternal doctrine are now disavowed as “theories advanced in the past” or described as “outdated policies,” demonstrating a compelling historical and theological blueprint for change within the LDS church. Reflecting on the immeasurable pain, exclusion and oppression that Latter-day Saints of color have experienced as a result of this odious ban compels us to examine similar discriminatory hierarchies in the modern church that privilege and elevate male, cisgender heterosexuality. Currently, people in same-sex relationships and people who have undergone physical or social gender transitions are prohibited from exercising the priesthood and entering the temple. Women are barred from holding the priesthood, but are otherwise allowed access to temple rituals.

Like prior justifications of the race ban, LDS authorities appeal to God as the author of teachings that same-sex relationships and gender transitions are sinful. By putting the onus on God, LDS leaders simultaneously shore up the credibility and strength of these teachings while deflecting responsibility and agency away from themselves.

In addition to prohibiting transgender members from exercising the priesthood and entering the temple, the church recently enacted a series of changes to the General Handbook that further marginalize and exclude trans people. These include mandating specific bathroom usage, requiring trans individuals to attend gender-specific meetings according to their assigned biological sex—not their actual gender identity—prohibiting trans youth from attending most overnight activities and barring trans adults from serving as teachers or working with children.

These sanctions feed into a broader political and cultural atmosphere that dehumanize, stigmatize and “other” trans people as dangerous and predatory toward children.

In actuality, cisgender men are far more likely to be perpetrators of sexual violence and assault and, frankly, are the most deserving of bathroom restrictions and prohibitions on working with youth.

If you are a Latter-day Saint and, like myself, oppose the current priesthood/temple ban (and other restrictions) on women and LGBTQ people, what are some steps you can take? Just as courageous members of the 20th century did, express your dissenting opinions confidently and openly in church circles, whether formally in Sunday School or informally amongst friends and colleagues.

Respectful and honest discourse concerning these topics is vital to progress and change. I have observed that openly expressing disagreements over harmful and exclusionary teachings has gradually become a more normal and acceptable aspect of church participation.

If you are a local leader, I would challenge you to be radically inclusive and allow same-sex couples and trans individuals to have the same access to callings as cisgender heterosexual members. You would be joining a small, but crucial group of bishops and stake presidents who disobey institutional mandates they deem discriminatory. If you are opposed to doing that, at least strive to prioritize the wellbeing of your congregants as much as possible over institutional policies and practices.

From an institutional perspective, I would also call upon LDS leaders to stop pairing cisgender heterosexuality with faithfulness and morality, in the same way they gradually untethered race from theological frameworks in recent decades. Simply put, one’s access to church rituals, service positions and leadership opportunities should not be determined by a gender transition, one’s gender/sexual identity or one’s romantic relationships, and should solely be determined by the content of one’s character and abilities.

I sincerely yearn and actively fight for the day when the church will change their policies and teachings so that all people, regardless of gender/sexual identity or romantic relationships, will have equal access to all rituals and positions of power within the church. CW

Private Eye is off this week. Send feedback to comments@cityweekly.net

HITS & MISSES

BY KATHARINE BIELE

MISS: In Private

The people who quietly admitted to a death wish for public education are well on their way in Utah. The Utah Fits All Scholarship has a waiting list of parents salivating at money to teach their kids just what they want. We say that because there is still no academic accountability. Utah is one of 13 states that don’t require testing for private and home schools, so it’s difficult to know how they will do. Some states, in fact, have shown poor results compared with public schools.

A KUTV story showed that the vouchers are popular, but only one-third of applicants got the full $8,000 and a “substantial number” were homeschoolers. NPR did a recent story about “an existential enrollment crisis” as public schools lost 1 million students since the pandemic. There are two ballot measures in Utah that will address how education funds are spent. No matter the results, it looks like voucher money will be growing.

MISS: Without Equal

Your fall planting headquarters

As long as we’re on education, let’s talk race and poverty. Utah’s recent anti-DEI law prohibits “outreach programs, hiring practices and trainings that discriminate based on race, religion, sex or sexuality.” Building America’s Future, a bipartisan group purporting to fortify communities and “improve American society,” is pushing ads to thank Gov. Spencer Cox and four Republican governors for leading the opposition to DEI in schools, the Deseret News reports. DEI, they say, is a product of “coastal liberals.” Diversity be damned, Affirmative Action was also on the cutting block after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling. As the statistics come in, they show fewer minorities entering college. Wrap your head around the idea that the country has solved racial imbalance and no one deserves a hand up. Maybe we’re headed toward that lofty goal of white nationalism.

HIT: Fight the Future

No one knows how the courts will rule, but the very fact that Utah’s teenagers have a chance to make their case is good news. The Utah Supreme Court is considering whether to revive a lawsuit over the state’s fossil fuel policies, Fox 13 reports. Utah teens joined others around the country pleading with lawmakers to help them breathe. Montana now has to consider climate change when approving projects. Hawaii teens won a settlement. Washington State and California are adding to the wave of youth-led lawsuits. It’s stunning that Utah acts to protect fossil fuels while wildfires beset the west. And a Utah Foundation report found air quality was “important” to voters. Oh, it also noted that politicians listening to voters was “most important.” CW

All in the Family

In her 2024 State of the City address, Mayor Erin Mendenhall made a statement that was music to my ears: “Downtown is for families.”

That simple statement embodied a core theme of her address, acknowledging that—despite the recent explosion in development and investment in our urban core—the number of families living downtown remains relatively small and that needs to change. And depending on who you spoke to afterward, this was either the absolute right focus or an impractical pipe dream.

For my family, however, “families downtown” has been our reality since the early 1990s, when my single mother of four moved us from San Antonio, Texas to the Central 9th area. For an incredible $40,000, she bought a 1905 Victorian home on 200 West that was previously a crack house—which we did our best to renovate in the years that followed.

Most of the families in our neighborhood were not as lucky to own their homes and rotated between slumlords for years, often moving no more than a block or two at a time.

Within a few years of our moving downtown, SLC was awarded the 2002 Winter Olympics and, soon after that, our street became a construction zone for the incoming Trax light rail system. But beyond the Trax construction, the ‘90s were a relatively quiet period downtown, with minimal development and with few move-ins.

Crossroads Mall and ZCMI were mostly sleepy; Main Street the same. The homeless shelter was located in our Latter-day Saint ward boundaries, but so was the upper-class American Towers condo community. We got to see a diverse cross-section of those who lived in the urban core.

Now in my third stint living downtown, I somehow ended up buying a place in that same American Towers—except now I am raising my own children here and my experience doing so has been extremely adventurous. I have lots of thoughts about why our downtown is currently great for families, but also why many families are hesitant to move here.

Some of the issues are obvious and already on the radar of city leaders. There are no public schools within walking distance, few child care options, only a handful of green spaces, ever-rising housing costs, pedestrian safety issues and the anti-social activity stemming from the drug crisis (often erroneously conflated with our homelessness challenges).

What is less obvious to those without direct experience living here is how these issues interrelate and exacerbate each other in unexpected ways. Also less obvious is how we should prioritize these issues in our ongoing efforts. But we can’t afford to ignore these questions, and the future success of our city and its residents demands a downtown where families can thrive. CW

theESSENTIALS

Pioneer Theatre Company: Jersey Boys “Jukebox musicals” have gotten a bad rap as being kind of a lesser form of musical theater, cashing in on nostalgia and a familiarity with existing songs rather than creating something new. But as with any creative form, there are better and worse examples—and one of the most satisfying such musicals is one that not only places the songs in the context of the artists who created them, but evokes the golden age of the jukebox itself.

Jersey Boys—the 2005 musical with a book by Rick Elice and veteran screenwriter Marshall Brickman—chronicles the history of The Four Seasons, the vocal group behind such beloved 1960s hits as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” “My Eyes Adored You,” “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” and “Walk Like a Man.” The narrative takes a Rashomon-like approach by allowing all four founding members of the group—Bob Gaudio, Frankie Vallie, Nick Massi and Tommy DeVito—a chance to offer their individual perspectives on how they and their music came to be. Along the way, the story explores the artistic quarrels, personal strife and even gambling difficulties that threatened to break them apart.

Pioneer Theatre Company kicks off its 2024-2025 season with its first-ever production of Jersey Boys in its original Broadway version. The production runs Sept. 13 – 28, with performances Monday – Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday – Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and 2 p.m. Saturday matinees. Tickets are $57 - $88, visit pioneertheatre.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

From Our Friends At

Good Company Theatre:

God

Kinda Looks Like Tupac

Ogden-based Good Company Theatre has been on hiatus for more than a year, as co-founders Camille and Alicia Washington focused on personal matters. That makes this season’s inaugural production of Emilio Rodriguez’s God Kinda Looks Like Tupac—a Utah premiere—a chance to re-introduce the company and its mission to the community. It’s the story of a high-school art teacher who has one of his students submit a work for a competition that includes some provocative imagery—as suggested by the title of the play—and has to consider whether stifling that student’s individual voice is more important than some viewers potentially being uncomfortable.

“I’d read this show in 2018-2019,” Alicia Washington recalls, “and I thought, ‘I’m absolutely bookmarking this. On the heels of the [Utah] legislative session, and the removal of DEI from certain spaces, this speaks to everything we want to hit on as facilitators of Good Company Theatre. … This is us. This is us in a script. The striking thing about the piece that the student in the show creates is, it’s not uncomfortable in that the work is jarring or has nudity or anything, but the censorship surrounding the creativity of a young person, to keep it palatable for a general audience.”

God Kinda Looks Like Tupac comes to Good Company Theatre (2404 Wall Ave., Ogden) Sept. 12 – 29, with performances Friday – Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 4 p.m. Individual tickets are $25 through Sept. 13, $30 starting Sept. 14. Visit goodcotheatre.com to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

Modern West Art Gallery: In Dialogue

Gallery shows combining the work of more than one artist often look for thematic ways that the works can be “in dialogue”— similar backgrounds for the artists, stylistic overlap and the like. It is much simpler, however, when the artists themselves are often in literal dialogue, as is the case with artists Mich Mantle and Fidalis Buehler. Friends, colleagues and collaborators for more than a decade, Mantle and Buehler share the space at Modern West Art Gallery for the joint show In Dialogue.

It would be easy to see the ways these two artists seem unalike—Mantle a Southern Utah native now living in Arizona, Buehler from Northern Utah, and their cultural heritages having very distinct elements. But as Buehler says about their interactions, “Our conversations are meaningful and stem from familiar ground about family life, spousal relationships, being a dad, vulnerabilities and fears.” Their styles both demonstrate an improvisational quality, even as Mantle works primarily in paint, and Buehler in mixed media. Buehler incorporates a kind of dream-logic, mythologized imagery in work like “Child With Bird Messenger” (pictured), while Mantle’s bold work like “Orange-Red Man” can suggest both child-like openness and danger.

In Dialogue runs at Modern West Fine Art (412 S. 700 West, Suite 150) Sept. 13 –Nov. 1, with a Gallery Stroll reception Friday, Sept. 13, 6 p.m. – 8 p.m. The exhibition is free and open to the public during regular gallery hours, Tuesday – Friday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., Saturday by appointment. Visit modernwestfineart.com for additional event information. (SR)

Fall Movie Preview 2024

Wicked, A Complete Unknown and sequels to Moana, Joker, Venom, Gladiator and more.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW scottr@cityweekly.net @scottrenshaw

The lines between movie “seasons” are pretty blurry nowadays. Summer isn’t just about franchise blockbusters, and fall isn’t just about awards-bait dramas. The chunk of the film-release calendar between now and the end of the year covers a wide range of genres and potential audiences; here’s an overview. (Release dates always subject to change.)

SEPTEMBER

9/20 Headliner: Transformers One The origins of the legendary conflict between Megatron and Optimus Prime gets an animated treatment in what sounds an awful lot like Wicked.

9/27 Headliner: Megalopolis Francis Ford Coppola’s self-financed futuristic drama was divisive in its Cannes debut this spring, but one of the greatest filmmakers ever has earned his big swings. Also: Kate Winslet stars as pioneering photojournalist “Lee” Miller in the biopic Lee; Lupita Nyong’o voices a robot stranded on an isolated island in the animated adventure The Wild Robot.

OCTOBER

10/4 Headliner: Joker: Folie à Deux Joaquin Phoenix reprises his Oscarwinning role as the crazed jester, this time paired with Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga). Apparently it’s sort of a musical, but also sort of not, depending on how you interpret co-writer/director Todd Phillips. Also: White Bird, the oft-delayed drama about a young

occupied France; Saoirse Ronan plays a recovering alcoholic returning to her remote hometown in The Outrun

10/11 Headliner: Saturday Night. Co-writer/director Jason Reitman explores the origins of TV comedy institution Saturday Night Live—specifically, the day of the very first broadcast in October 1975. A cast of mostly-unknowns plays the soonto-be-legends who were then mostly-unknowns. Also: The life story of pop star Pharrell Williams gets the unusual treatment of LEGO-style animation in Piece by Piece

10/18 Headliner: Smile 2. The hit 2022 horror film—about a manifestation of surviving trauma that passes from survivor to survivor, in the form of visions of creepy smiling people—gets its inevitable sequel. Also: Mark Wahlberg is a killer aboard a plane where a Federal agent is transporting a witness in Flight Risk; Cannes award-winner Anora, from Sean Baker (The Florida Project), follows a sex worker who marries the son of a Russian oligarch.

10/25 Headliner: Venom: The Last Dance. Tom Hardy is back as Eddie Brock, reluctant host to the alien symbiote Venom, for this third and (theoretically) final installment, as the duo find themselves on the run.

NOVEMBER

11/1 Headliner: Here. It’s quite the stunt concept: A fixed camera, never moving or zooming in, watches a single room over the course of 100 years. Not surprising that digital dabbler Robert Zemeckis is behind that unmoving camera, reuniting with Tom Hanks and Robin Wright from Forrest Gump. Also: Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin are Jewish cousins visiting the Polish birthplace of their grandmother in A Real Pain.

11/8 Headliner: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. The beloved 1972 book by Barbara Robinson gets an uplifting holiday-movie adaptation about the consequences when a town’s most rambunctious kids get involved in a Christmas play.

11/15 Headliner: Red One. Dwayne

Johnson goes in search of a kidnapped Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons) in this highconcept action comedy from director Jake Kasdan (the Jumanji remakes).

11/22 Headliner: Wicked. The smash Broadway musical adaptation of Gregory Maguire’s book—speculating on the friendship between Oz’s witches—gets its big-screen adaptation, with Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba, Ariana Grande as Galinda and Jeff Goldblum as the wizard. Also: Director Ridley Scott returns for the long-awaited sequel Gladiator II

11/27 Headliner: Moana 2. This follow-up to Disney’s 2016 hit animated adventure was originally planned for Disney+, but the original cast returns, so fingers crossed that we’re in the same territory as the originally-direct-to-video Toy Story 2.

DECEMBER

12/6 Headliner: Nightbitch Stay-athome motherhood gets a psychological horror take from star Amy Adams and writer/director Marielle Heller. Also: Period horror-comedy follows teenagers crashing an anxious New Year’s Eve 2000 party in Y2K

12/13 Headliner: Kraven the Hunter. After multiple bumped release dates, we’ll believe it when we see Aaron Taylor-Johnson (who’s already played Marvel’s Quicksilver and Kick-Ass) as the comic-book character who survives an animal attack to become a super-powered hunter.

12/20 Headliner: Mufasa: The Lion King The CGI remake from 2019 made a kajillion bucks, so here’s a followup, telling the origin story of Simba’s dad. I hope we’ve all learned by now not to call this “live-action.” Also: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 returns to the world of the video-game critters.

12/25 Headliner: A Complete Unknown. Timothée Chalamet plays Bob Dylan in this biopic from director James Mangold (Ring of Fire). Because such things are as inevitable as the grave, expect an Oscar nomination. Also: Robert Eggers (The Witch) tells the Dracula story once again in Nosferatu CW

the

issue

I’m going to be real with you for a moment: There are people who shut down when they hear the word “art.” For them, it immediately conjures up images of things that are difficult and intimidating, a kind of work that needs to be done, rather than something to be enjoyed passively. And while there’s a bit of truth to that perspective— some art absolutely asks the viewer to be part of making meaning—it also feels too easy to give in to the idea that art is only for certain kinds of people to appreciate.

This year, the City Weekly Fall Arts Issue explores the idea of why some creative forms can feel daunting, and what to do with that challenge. We asked local leaders in specific artistic areas—including modern art, opera, performance art, spoken-word poetry and modern dance—to help invite people into those forms, and break down some of the perceived barriers to entry.

Not everyone might be turned from a skeptic into a devoted fan, but we hope that we can brush away a few stereotypes and help build the notion that art is for everyone.

Along the way, we’ll share a calendar of upcoming performances, where to find galleries, the key spaces in the local literary scene and more. Utah is a place bursting at the seams with creators, and our goal is to connect them with the people who can celebrate and support their work—even if those people don’t know it yet.

Scott Renshaw

Arts & Entertainment Editor

The 2024 Fall Arts Issue invites readers into the world of challenging art forms that they might not have known how to approach—from opera to slam poetry, from modern dance to performance art.

by CITY WEEKLY STAFF

to An Invitation

Local arts leaders offer ways to welcome newcomers into challenging creative forms.

BY SCOTT RENSHAW SCOTTR@CITYWEEKLY.NET

Modern dance, performance art, spoken-word poetry, opera, contemporary art—each, in its way, can feel like a challenge for newcomers to access. We spoke to local leaders in those fields to get a sense for how folks might be less intimidated, and take a chance on something they’ve never experienced before.

Modern Dance: Daniel Charon, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company Artistic Director

Daniel Charon recognizes that approaching modern dance can be a challenge for some audiences: “Modern dance is a really unknown experience,” he says. “The go-to [frame of reference] is, people will think is it like ballet, or So You Think You Can Dance. And it’s not really like those things.”

That’s why Charon has often made it a priority, when bringing modern dance to potentially lessexperienced audiences, to let them know he wants to welcome them in. “We’ll go to rural Utah, and places that don’t often get modern dance, and we’ll sometimes narrate the performances,” Charon says. “The first thing I almost always say is, ‘I’m here today to relieve you of the pressure of trying to figure it out.’ And people will come up to me after the show, and that one simple statement kind of releases this burden.”

One of the key points Charon recognizes is that audiences tend to be used to narrative art forms—like movies, TV or novels—and that a more abstract experience can leave them feeling somewhat adrift. “For dance, people often want to translate it into a narrative: boy meets girl, or whatever the case may be, this or that happened,” Charon observes. “It makes people feel insecure and not educated if they don’t ‘get it.’ But again, it’s just the idea that whatever the experience you have of it is the right experience—there’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong.’ Everything doesn’t have a literal meaning.”

“I’ll compare it to a smell,” he continued, “maybe you’ll smell something, and you’ll have nostalgia, or maybe something you don’t really like the smell of, but you don’t have to define it. You can just have the feeling. Or even music, when you hear a symphony, you might not know it’s about this or that, but that it just made you happy, or angry, or whatever.”

Part of allowing that shift of perspective to take place is approaching the performance more as a connection to the artists on stage, which is something Charon identified in his own earliest attraction to dance.

“The unique thing about dance is the physicality of it, this vulnerable situation,” he says. “I feel this kind of empathy and connection to the people on stage interpreting this art. I feel like I connect to the trials and tribulations they face when performing this work. It’s really a connection to the performers first and foremost, and how it reflects challenges we face in our everyday lives—to have an experience that’s often energizing, often confusing, that makes it something to think about and contemplate.”

In terms of a pitch for encouraging people to give modern dance a try, Charon notes that it’s important not to feel that a first experience is a do-or-die experience.

“You might go to a dance show, and you might not like it, and then you don’t go back,” he says. “But if you read a book, or see a movie that you don’t like, you don’t just stop. You keep going back to see different takes. … Contemporary dance is something that’s being made all the time, and there’s an inherent risk involved. Sometimes that risk pays off, and sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s okay. We’re premiering new work all the time, and there’s something exciting in that: ‘I’m the first to experience it.’”

“I’m trying to help them land wherever they can,” he adds.

“Maybe it’s, ‘Hey come to the show, it might be something new for you, but just sit back and relax and try to take it in.’

Sometimes it’s nice to let them just notice the people on stage, and the physical feats; that’s a level you can appreciate it on, and that’s fine. It’s just creating space for people to be okay with the experience, and not be hard on themselves.”

Charon recognizes that this is also a time when all audiences might be looking for things that feel lighter when the world offers plenty of stresses and challenges, and he’s thought about programming Ririe-Woodbury’s upcoming season accordingly. But within that context, there’s still experimentation, and a chance for people to try something that provides a different kind of artistic experience.

“Last year we did a show in the round, and we had beer,” he recalls. “It’s the experience of consuming dance that we’re really thinking about—breaking down the barrier between performer and audience. You get this very real, threedimensional experience.”

Daniel Charon

Performance Art: Kristina Lenzi, Salt Lake City Performance Art Festival curator

Performance art faces some unique challenges from potential audiences, and some of those challenges are created by popular culture. In movies and TV shows, performance artists are frequently used as a shorthand for someone who’s pretentious, the work treated as a punch line

Kristina Lenzi has encountered the kind of feedback where people simply don’t have a reference point for understanding what performance art is, or can be.

She notes that the response she gets when people find out the kind of art she’s involved in is “usually that it’s weird. They don’t know how to access it. Mostly, when I try to explain to people what I do, they don’t really understand it. I think talking about what I do is really hard. It’s more when someone sees it for the first time, or engages with it for the first time.”

Because performance art pieces are often the creation of one artist, exploring personal ideas or themes, there might be a sense that it can be harder for audience members to

grasp, looking for narrative in the same way Daniel Charon described folks looking for narrative in dance. And it’s certainly the case that people often feel uncomfortable with what they’re not sure they understand.

“I think newcomers are intimidated by [performance art],” Lenzi commented. “I think newcomers need permission to interpret it in any way they want, so that however they feel about it is accurate.”

One of Lenzi’s other roles is teaching performance art at Weber State University, so she’s familiar with the notion of trying to introduce people to the art form. And she believes that one of the challenges she faces is with kids who are taught to look for a specific interpretation—the “themes” identified in CliffsNotes—rather than learning how to be thoughtful, critical thinkers about art.

“One of the things I do is tell [students] right of the bat, ‘Be present, be open and interpret this in any way you want,’” she says. “Nobody’s going to have the same interpretation. I’m tempted to blame it on education, or lack thereof. I think about abstract art in particular, if someone is taught the principles of design, they can approach a work of abstract art and say, ‘This is why I like it.’ In public school, anyway, there’s not a lot of that kind of art taught anymore.”

Performance art can deal with serious, heavy material, but that’s far from the only kind of performance art. Lenzi suggests that one of the better ways to enter into the experience of watching the art form is to look for something lighter, and learn that it can be entertaining, not just scary. “What I would suggest is, going to one you’ve heard is humorous,” she says. “If I’m going to have an audience filled with people who might not be familiar with the form, I’ll make it a more humorous piece. When everyone is laughing, they’re more on the same page; they don’t feel so alone.”

While the work of artists like Marina Abramović has raised the profile of performance art in the United States somewhat, it’s still relatively unfamiliar to most people— and Lenzi notes that some of the material that does become familiar can deal with risky or dangerous behavior. Yet she encourages potential viewers to realize there’s a wide variety of material out there, and something might connect with them.

“As far as being a viewer or a witness, be brave, give it a try,” she affirms. “If it’s not your cup of tea, it’s not your cup of tea. Or maybe try more than one, because they’re not all the same; they can differ vastly.”

Modern Art: Jared Steffensen, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art curator of exhibitions

Jared Steffensen has a vivid experience of his own dawning realization that visual art could be unusual and challenging. Growing up in a military family, Steffensen moved all over Europe, and recalls visiting the Centre Pompidou in Paris at the age of around 10 or 11.

“One of the first things I saw was a piece by Claes Oldenburg, a Swiss army knife the size of a ship,” Steffensen says.

“It was one of those moments when my brain went, ‘Wait, what is this?’ It shifted the way I thought about art in that moment: This can be art—why is that? … I think maybe for me, that was the challenge. I had to accept that this was art, and I liked that.”

Steffensen is aware, however, that not everyone has that same response to modern art.

“Before I was a curator [at UMOCA], I ran the education department,” he recalls. “I ran tours, and one of the biggest questions that would come up is, ‘Why is this art?’ And it’s a valid question.”

Kristina Lenzi’s I Dreamt I Was a Suffragette

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art

Jared Steffensen

Kristina Lenzi

LISA DEFRANCE

Continued from page 16

Part of the challenge emerges from the way that most Americans are taught about art, to the extent that they’re taught about art at all. “I think about, let’s say, how I learned about art in public school, and how my kids learn,” Steffensen says. “There’s sort of this, ‘here are the great masters, and this is art.’ So there’s an expectation that’s what they’ll see when they come to a museum. And when you don’t, you sort of retreat.”

It’s a particular challenge that most visual art is nonnarrative, and—once again as Charon noted about modern dance—the level on which most people encounter art on a daily basis involves trying to understand a story. That paradigm makes for a difficult shift to thinking about contemporary art.

“A play, for instance, is a narrative that unfolds, and it feels like you’re brought along with it,” Steffensen observes. “And I think something happens that with contemporary art in particular is that sense that you’re supposed to ‘get it’ as soon as you see it. We’re taught that we’re supposed to know the answer, right? Visual artists speak through images. And we’re not always taught to read images as metaphor; we’re taught to read images as a fact, as a documentation of something. So I think that in itself makes it difficult to come into a museum, see something that’s unfamiliar, and realize that it’s okay that you don’t know. It’s okay to allow yourself to work through it without knowing exactly why.”

Steffensen also understands why that feeling of discomfort from not “getting it” can lead to another kind of reaction: mockery. “There’s that feeling of, ‘I’m going to make fun of it, because that’s a way to deal with what I’m feeling,’” he says.

Part of Steffensen’s job as a curator, however, is to anticipate that potential for discomfort, and work to guide visitors into an exhibition in a way that can make them feel more comfortable. “When putting shows together, I think a lot about my nephews living in Sandy,” he says. “If they were coming here, how would they understand this? How can I help them with something that might feel more unfamiliar, and bring them through the exhibition? … I try to provide something that feels familiar—‘I know that, or I know what that looks like’—so they can perhaps use that familiarity to bring them into the work.”

There’s still a natural resistance that some people have towards the idea of going to an art gallery, in some cases because of a perception that the art world has a particular political slant, and that they may have certain uncomfortable perspectives thrust in their faces. Steffensen acknowledges a certain truth to that—“Artists right now, there’s a lot for them to respond to”—but believes that UMOCA

strives to be a place that is about approaching potentially difficult themes in a way that’s welcoming to everyone. “We’re not trying to talk down to them,” he asserts; “we’re trying to have a conversation.”

He also suggests a somewhat non-intuitive way of making a visit to a contemporary art exhibition more inviting: visit with a child. “See how they respond to it,” Steffensen says. “Ask them questions. They haven’t yet been told to think a certain way about art. There’s still this wonder, and that could be a way to let down your own barriers. And there can be something about the kid’s honesty that can be helpful: ‘You don’t get it? I don’t get it, either.’”

Spoken-Word Poetry: Sammi Walker, Salt City Slam producer

As is true of many different creative forms, there are clichés and stereotypes of those who create and perform spokenword poetry. And according to Sammi Walker, some of them are true, while others are not.

“When I tell people I do slam poetry they go, ‘Oh … that’s a choice,’” she reports. “When you think of slam poetry, you kind of think of beatniks. We don’t wear berets. We do snap. And it’s not like a smoky cigar bar. Our venue is a punk-rock venue, so it’s kind of the same vibe.”

That vibe is one that turns the crowd into part of the experience and a large part of what could make it fun and en-

gaging for visitors rather than scary and intimidating.

“The audience plays a really big role in what the poet’s performance looks like, and the energy,” Walker says. “Watching the dynamic between the audience and the performer is one of my favorite things. You can do so many things as a performer—audience interaction, targeting one person in the audience and talking to them, playing Simon Says, having the audience in the palm of your hand. … It’s just so crazy to watch how these artists can be in their presence on the stage. Just hearing how the audience reacts to them, the wordplay and the rhythm of the poem.”

What’s particularly important for people to know, Walker believes, is that slam poetry isn’t an in-club where outsiders are unwelcome. “What we do before the show is get the audience comfortable—not necessarily with the topics, but how to react to the poems,” she says. “[We let them know that] there are going to be a lot of ‘uncomfortables.’ These are people’s experiences that they’ve gone through. And maybe you’ve gone through that too, and hearing that back to you isn’t great for you. … Teaching them the etiquette helps everyone, because they feel connected and unified.”

Newcomers are so important to the process that they’re actually the ones who are invited to be judges at the events, Walker notes. “We actually ask that first thing, ‘who has never been before,’ and who is if we have five people with their hands raised, you’re one of our judges,” she says. “When you have other poets judging, it gets more intense. When you have people who don’t do this for a living, or do it regularly, those are the people we’re writing for. My best editors are really those who don’t do poetry. They’ll go, ‘That doesn’t make sense,’ and I’ll think, ‘Okay, I’ve overpushed my poet-ness.’”

That emphasis on connecting with everyday people is a big part of what can make slam poetry less intimidating, but Walker understands that a learning curve might still remain. “In some cases, there may be people who [worry about ‘getting it’], because there are a lot of poetic devices used,” she confirmed. “And maybe you’re not on the same page as the artist, because you don’t have the exact same experience. … We have to ride this line of concrete imagery, and poetic imagery and devices.”

These events—which often include open-mic portions— can be so welcoming to newcomers, in fact, that they might consider making the transition from audience members to performers themselves. “I always tell [people], they should try it at least once,” Walker says. “A lot of the time, when I am talking to someone, they share, ‘I’ve thought about starting to write poetry, I just never knew there was a space for this.’ … We might have someone who does great, and we think, ‘Where have you been hiding?’”

Salt City Slam performers

Rachel Henriksen’s knew/new exhibition, Utah Museum of Contemporary Art, Nov 1, 2019—Jan 18, 2020

Continued on page 22

Continued from page 18

Sammi Walker

Opera: Christopher McBeth, Utah Opera artistic director

Not everyone has the kind of upbringing Christopher McBeth had: surrounded by music early in his life, becoming part of a traveling boys’ choir at the age of 8, being drawn into opera as a teenager listening to someone singing Wagner.

“I’m a voice nerd,” McBeth confesses. “I am such a lover of how expressive and beautiful—and sometimes even ugly—the human voice can be. In the movies, we hear great oration, or in theater. Then you add people who can sustain that in a singing voice, or can sing a million short notes in a florid way that is practically athletic in its form.”

Yet McBeth still doesn’t believe that opera needs to seem daunting, even to those who did not have those formative experiences. “I think people who do feel intimidated by opera are those whose understanding of the art form comes from not being able to understand it yet,” he opined. “There’s a lot of stereotypes—in popular culture, on TV and in movies—because this art form has been around for 400 years, and has a breadth of different ways it can be done; it’s going to have a lot of material that can be used for farce and sarcasm. And even I think there are moments in certain operas that are downright silly, because at the moment they’re supposed to be expressing something that’s larger than life. Like the old stereotype of the Wagnerian soprano, with the spear and horned Viking helmet.”

“But those who love the art form are those who have curiosity,” he continues. “Why are those things there? If you allow yourself to be just a little bit curious, you start to discover a whole world from which that derives.”

That world is an artistically complex one, one that McBeth describes as “the original multimedia artform.” Yet rather than making opera more intimidating, he believes, it can create different entry points for those who are encountering it for the first time.

“I think someone could say, ‘Okay, I’m not even going to pay attention to the supertitles. I’m just going to let the music or the actors be what I focus on,’” he observes. “Sometimes that’s the mood I’m in. Or maybe there’s a lot of visual art going on on the stage. You don’t have to be overwhelmed by all of the different parts.”

That willingness to consider a variety of different entry points extends to the content of the operas themselves, McBeth says, and it’s one of the ways he approaches talking with someone who isn’t sure about whether opera is for them.

“When I talk to people who don’t know anything [about opera], who say, ‘I don’t know if that piques my interest,’ I say, ‘What does? What kind of story appeals to you—comedy, action, dramas? Do you stay away from stories where people die?’ The beautiful thing with opera is the different sources it comes from, story-wise and language-wise. They may say they don’t like opera, but there’s a story and a musical form that appeals to them; they just don’t know it exists yet.”

He recounts as an example a one-time technical staffer who worked backstage. “When he started, he just liked the building-related stuff; he said, ‘I don’t know if I like opera,’” McBeth recalls. “Over time, he discovered there are stories that aren’t 500 years old, and that are in English. He could say, ‘I recognize these characters and what they’re singing.’”

McBeth notes that there are some common entry points, whether it’s Gilbert & Sullivan when it comes to comedy, or Puccini for tragedy. “They feel safe, because of these kinds of pieces, you’ve probably heard them in an elevator, or in a commercial,” he says.

Yet perhaps the most important thing with opera—and indeed all of these art forms— is trying to begin with the openness of curiosity, rather than the crossed arms of judgment. That notion can apply to something as simple as wondering why that aforementioned horned-helmet-wearing soprano can seem ridiculous in the context of opera, yet not in another pop-culture context. “Why is it not funny when Loki in a Thor movie is wearing those things?” McBeth asks. “Because what you find is—and another thing I love about this art form is—it’s an onion where you keep peeling back the layers.” CW

Performing 2024-2025 Calendar

Iliza Shlesinger taping new live special

Many of Utah’s amazing performing arts organizations have announced season calendars beginning in 2024 and running into 2025. Here’s a roundup of some of the key companies, titles and dates for this season. Information is always subject to change, so confirm with the individual organization when planning to purchase tickets.

A lot of work goes into a comedian readying a new full set of material for a live taping—and veteran comedian Iliza Shlesinger made sure audiences understood that work when she participated in the 2019 documentary Over & Over, which chronicled the preparations for her Netflix special Elder Millennial. So when Shlesinger takes the stage at the Eccles Theater on Nov. 2 to record her next special— planned for a 2025 release on Amazon Prime Video—you can be sure that months of writing, re-writing, club gigs and fine-tuning went into the effort. Grab tickets now to be part of the audience for another hour of the fine art of well-built comedy.

CLASSICAL/LIVE MUSIC

Gina Bachauer International Piano

Foundation (bachauer.com)

Sept. 27: Anna Han

Nov. 15: Carter Johnson

Feb. 28: Stephen Beus

April 11: Pasquale Iannone

Kingsbury Hall (artstickets.utah.edu)

Jan. 15: Alex Lacamoire

Utah Symphony (utahsymphony.org)

Sept. 13 – 14: Jurassic Park in Concert

Sept. 20 – 21: Cirque Cinema: Troupe Vertigo

Sept. 26 – 28: Celebración Sinfónica

Oct. 25 – 26: An American in Paris

Oct. 29: Halloween Spooktacular

Nov. 1 – 2: Orli Shaham Performs Mozart

Feb. 21 – 22: Mahler’s Symphony No. 5

Feb. 28 – March 1: Mahler’s “Tragic Symphony”

March 15: Gold Rush: An American Musical Adventure

March 20 – 22: Dvorák’s Symphony No. 8

March 28 – 29: Holst’s The Planets

April 11 – 12: Revolution: Music of the Beatles

April 12: Wild Symphony

April 18 – 19: Mozart’s Requiem

April 22: Video Games Live

April 25 – 26: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl in Concert

May 16 – 17: Saint-Saëns’ Piano Concerto No. 2

May 23 – 24: Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique

June 12 – 13: Korngold’s Violin Concerto

COMEDY

BY SCOTT RENSHAW SCOTTR@CITYWEEKLY.NET

Nov. 7 – 9: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in Concert

Nov. 15 – 16: Pictures at an Exhibition

Nov. 21 – 23: Beethoven’s “Eroica”

Nov. 27: Salute to Youth

Nov. 30 – Dec. 1: Messiah Sing-In

Dec. 3: Celtic Woman

Dec. 6 – 7: Tchaikovsky’s The Tempest

Dec. 11: An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma

Dec. 13 – 14: Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons

Dec. 20 - 21: Holiday Pops Extravaganza

Dec. 21: Here Comes Santa Claus

Jan. 2: Modern Times in Concert

Jan. 3 – 4: Film Music of John Williams

Jan. 10 – 11: Brahms’ Violin Concerto

Jan. 31 – Feb. 1: The Rite of Spring

Feb. 7 – 8: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in Concert

Feb. 14 – 15: Bravo Broadway

Abravanel Hall (arttix.org)

Oct. 12: Wanda Sykes

Capitol Theatre (arttix.org)

Sept. 21: Atsuko Okatsuka

Kingsbury Hall (artstickets.utah.edu)

Oct. 19: Kathleen Madigan

Oct. 26: Andrew Schulz

Nov. 23: Matteo Lane

Jan. 3: Sarah Silverman

Live at the Eccles (live-at-the-eccles.com)

Oct. 19: Brincos Dieras

Oct. 23 – 27: Jim Gaffigan

Nov. 2: Iliza Shlesinger

Nov. 14: Jeff Arcuri

Dec. 13: God Is a Scottish Drag Queen

Dec. 18 – 19: Derek Hough

Dec. 26: A Magical Cirque Christmas

Wiseguys Gateway (wiseguyscomedy.com)

Sept. 13 – 14: Ginger Billy

Sept. 15: Kristin Key

Sept. 17: Ladies & Tangents

Sept. 19 – 21: Patton Oswalt

Sept. 22: Ricky Mokel

Sept. 26: Corinne Fisher

Sept. 26: Patrick Warburton

Sept. 27 – 28: Kevin Nealon

Oct. 1: Gabe Gibbs

Oct. 2 – 3: Two Dykes and a Mic

Oct. 4 – 6: Nurse John

Oct. 9: Leslie Liao

Oct. 11 – 12: Josh Wolf

Oct. 16: Heather Shaw

Oct. 17 – 19: Dan Soder

Oct. 20: Michael Palascak

Oct. 24: Alingon Mitra

Oct. 25 – 26: Dustin Nickerson

Oct. 31: Dahlia Belle

Nov. 1 – 2: Rachel Feinstein

Nov. 3: Nasser Al-Rayess

Nov. 8 – 9: Kellen Erskine

Nov. 14: Two Hot Takes

Nov. 15 – 17: Chris Distefano

Nov. 21: Kevin Sullivan

Nov. 22 – 23: Adam Ray

Nov. 29 – 30: Bryan Callen

Dec. 5: Maria Bamford

Dec. 6 – 7: Chad Daniels

Dec. 17: Don McMillan

Dec. 19: Gabby Bryan

Dec. 30 – Jan. 1: Tim Meadows

Jan. 3 – 4: Russell Peters

The Nutcracker 80th anniversary season

Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is such an iconic holiday tradition that it’s easy to forget how its roots include Ballet West’s founder, William Christensen. It was in 1944 that Christensen choreographed the firstever American full-length production of The Nutcracker in San Francisco. And while Ballet West’s official history only dates back to 1963, Christensen’s Nutcracker has been staged in Utah every year (pandemics notwithstanding) since 1955. Ballet West remains the only company in America to present Christensen’s original version annually, in a tradition that has been enjoyed by Utah families for generations. Most performances tend to sell out each year, and tickets are already on sale for the 2024 season.

Wiseguys Ogden (wiseguyscomedy.com)

Sept. 13 – 14: Nick Guerra

Sept. 27 – 28: Mary Upchurch

Oct. 4 – 5: Luis Juarez

Oct. 11 – 12: Tom Clark

Oct. 25 – 26: Marcus & Guy

Nov. 8 – 9: Jay Reid

Nov. 15 – 16: Andrew Sleighter

Nov. 29 – 30: Russ Nagel

Wiseguys West Jordan (wiseguyscomedy.com)

Sept. 13 – 14: Christopher Titus

Sept. 20 – 21: Ryan Erwin

Sept. 27: Nick DiPaolo

Sept. 27 – 28: Jay Whittaker

Oct. 3: Emo Phillips

Oct. 18 – 19: Jon “Polar Bear” Gonzalez

Oct. 25 – 26: Geoffrey Asmus

Nov. 1 – 2: Rodney Norman

Nov. 8 – 9: Lucas Zelnick

Dec. 14: Jeff Allen

Live at the Eccles (live-at-the-eccles.com)

Dec. 18 – 19: Derek Hough

Odyssey Dance

Sept. 20 – Nov. 2: Thriller

Dec. 19 – 23: Christmas Spectacular

Spectactular

April 2 – 5: Shut Up and Dance

Repertory Dance Theatre (rdtutah.org)

Oct. 3 – 5: Noa

Nov. 21 – 23: I Am

Jan. 10 – 11: Emerge

March 15: Regalia

April 24 – 26: Deux

Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company (ririewoodbury.com)

Sept. 19 -21: Re-Play

Jan. 30 – Feb. 1: Re-Mix

Feb. 7 – 8: Synthesis Young Artist Showcase

April 17 – 19: Re-Act

SALT Contemporary Dance (saltdance.com)

Nov. 8 – 9: Radio Silence

March 21 – 22: Spring 12

May 9 – 10: Salt2 in Concert

THEATER

Broadway at the Eccles (saltlakecity.broadway.com)

Sept. 10 – 15: Mrs. Doubtfire

Oct. 8 – 13: Funny Girl

Nov. 5 – 10: Peter Pan

Dec. 10 – 15: Kimberly Akimbo

Jan. 21 – 26: The Book of Mormon

Feb. 26 – March 9: Les Misérables

April 1 – 6: Life of Pi

April 16 – May 25: Wicked

June 17 – 22: & Juliet

Capitol Theatre (arttix.org)

Sept. 27: Celtic Thunder: Odyssey

Nov. 30 – Dec. 1: Cirque Dreams Holidaze

Desert Star Playhouse (desertstar.biz)

Through Nov. 9: Lord of the Rings: Back in the Hobbit

Nov. 14 – Jan. 4: Grinched: I’m Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Jan. 9 – March 29: Star Wars: May the Farce Be With You

April 3 – June 7: Mamma Mia!: ABBAcadabra

June 12 – Aug. 23: Survivor: Antelope Island

Hale Centre Theatre (hct.org)

Through Nov. 16: The Addams Family

Sept. 16 – Oct. 19: The Magician’s Elephant

Nov. 11 – Jan. 25: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Nov. 29 – Dec. 28: A Christmas Carol

Kingsbury Hall (artstickets.utah.edu)

Oct. 23: Duck Pond

Feb. 19 – 21: Banff Film Festival

April 3: The Aunties

Live at the Eccles (live-at-the-eccles.com)

Sept. 26 – 28: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in Concert

Nov. 15: Wild Kratts Live 2.0

Dec. 26: A Magical Cirque Christmas

Dec. 27 – 29: Shrek the Musical

New World Shakespeare Company (newworldshakespeare.com)

Nov. 1 – 10: The Lion in Winter

Off Broadway Theatre (theobt.org)

Oct. 4 – 26: Dracula vs. Henry Botter

Nov. 1 – 30: A Christmas Carol, Part 2

DANCE

Ballet West (balletwest.org)

Oct. 25 – Nov. 2: Jekyll & Hyde

Nov. 8 – 16: Pictures at an Exhibition

Dec. 6 – 28: The Nutcracker

Feb. 7 – 16: Cinderella

March 28 – 29: Aladdin

April 4 – 12: The Rite of Spring

May 14 – 17: Works from Within

Capitol Theatre (arttix.org)

April 18: State Ballet Theatre of Ukraine: Sleeping Beauty

Kingsbury Hall (artstickets.utah.edu)

Sept. 21: A Taste of Ireland

Nov. 21: Sean Dorsey Dance: The Lost Art of Dreaming

Feb. 27: Hubbard Street Dance

April 24: Malpaso Dance Company

The Book of Mormon

Not surprisingly, the Broadway smash The Book of Mormon found a receptive audience when the touring production first hit Salt Lake City in the summer of 2015, as the satirical show—about a pair of missionaries encountering challenges during a mission experience in Africa—sold out a long run of performances. It’s been back a couple of times in the ensuing decade, but for this latest visit, you have just a week of performances to catch the misadventures of Elder Price and Elder Cunningham, and watch as the delightfully sacrilegious

make audiences gasp-laugh.

and

The Book of Mormon

tunes by Robert Lopez ( Avenue Q , Frozen)

Trey Parker & Matt Stone (South Park)

Odyssey Dance’s Thriller returns

When City Weekly spoke to Odyssey Dance founder Derryl Yeager in September 2022 about his decision to put the company—and its popular productions like the Halloween-themed Thriller on hiatus while he and his wife served an LDS mission, he wasn’t sure at the time that the show would go on upon his return. But he can recall the very specific moment when he realized the company would come back. “We had a great experience,” Yeager says via email, “but at one point I was pressure-spraying 114 toilets one day, and I thought, ‘I think I’m better at this dance thing!’ And we realized that providing a professional dance experience to Utah’s talented dancers was a ‘mission’ in and of itself.” The revival of Odyssey begins with the return of Thriller, coming to multiple locations throughout Utah.

Continued from page 26

Pioneer Theatre Company (pioneertheatre.org)

Sept. 13 – 28: Jersey Boys

Oct. 25 – Nov. 9: Prayer for the French Republic

Dec. 6 – 21: Souvenir

Jan. 10 – 25: Dial M for Murder

Feb. 14 – March 1: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical

March 28 – April 12: A Case for the Existence of God

May 2 – 17: Waitress

Plan-B Theatre Company (planbtheatre.org)

Oct. 24 – Nov. 10: Full Color

Feb. 14 – 16: Kilo-Wat

March 27 – April 13: The Beatrix Potter Defense Society

Pygmalion Theatre Company (pygmalionproductions.org)

Oct. 4 – 19: Tender Hooks

Feb. 22 – March 9: (Little) Broken Rules

Salt Lake Acting Company (saltlakeactingcompany.org)

Oct. 2 – 27: Whitelisted

Dec. 6 – 30: Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! The Musical!

Feb. 5 – March 2: The Robertassey April 9 – May 4: Bat Boy: The Musical June 25 – Aug. 17: SLAC’s Summer Show

The Sting & Honey Company (stingandhoney.org)

Sept. 13 – 28: The Seagull

Utah Opera (utahopera.org)

Oct. 12 – 20: Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Jan. 18 – 26: Hansel and Gretel

March 8 – 16: Pagliacci

May 3 – 11: Madame Butterfly

Utah Shakespeare Festival (bard.org)

Summer 2024: Henry VIII

Summer 2024: The Winter’s Tale

Summer 2024: The Taming of the Shrew Summer 2024: Much Ado About Nothing

Summer 2024: The 39 Steps

Summer 2024: The Mountaintop Summer 2024: Silent Sky

Wasatch Theatre Company (wasatchtheatrecompany.org)

Oct. 11 – 16: Craven

Photo Credit: Nina Tekwani

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

When it comes to identifying a distinction between “opera” and “musical theater,” Utah Opera artistic director Christopher McBeth isn’t particularly interested in definitive categories—and he has good company in composer Stephen Sondheim, the late genius behind Sweeney Todd, the 1979 grand guignol masterpiece about a homicidal barber in Victorian London. “He never really thought of one as being different from the other,” McBeth says. “It was music and words, and the power of them coming together. Any kind of proprietary thoughts that people had that created class distinction about any art form really irritated Stephen.” Enjoy the power and dark entertainment of Sondheim’s words and music at Sweeney Todd this season.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

GALLERY GUIDE 2024

BY BRANDI CHRISTOFFERSON

15th Street Gallery 1519 S. 1500 East, SLC 15thstreetgallery.com/m/

“A” Gallery/ Allen + Alan Fine Art 1321 S. 2100 South, SLC agalleryonline.com

Alpine Art & Frame 430 E. South Temple St., SLC alpineartinc.com

Andre Hoggan Studios 850 S. 400 West #111 andrehogganstudios.com

Anthony’s Fine Art and Antiques 401 E. 200 South, SLC anthonysfineart.com

Art Access

230 S. 500 West #110, SLC accessart.org

Brushworks Gallery 160 E. 800 South, SLC brushworksgallery.com

David Dee Fine Arts 1709 E. 1300 South #201, SLC daviddeefinearts.com

David Ericson Fine Art 410 E. 3rd Avenue, SLC davidericson-fineart.com

FICE Gallery & Boutique

160 E. 200 South, SLC ficegallery.com

Finch Lane Gallery 54 Finch Lane, SLC saltlakearts.org

F. Weixler Gallery 132 “E” Street, SLC fweixlerco.com

Harrington Art Studio 6810 S. 300 West #5, Midvale harringtonart.com

La Galeria de Mestizo 631 W. North Temple #700, SLC mestizocoffeehouse.com

Lanny Barnard Gallery 110 Trolley Square, SLC lannybarnardgalleryslc.com

Material Gallery 2970 S. West Temple materialartgallery.com

Modern Wes t Fine Art

412 S. 700 West #150, SLC modernwestfineart.com

Phillips Gallery 444 E. 200 South, SLC phillips-gallery.com

Salt Lake Pottery Studio 965 E. 900 South #100, SLC saltlakepotterystudio.com

Southam Gallery

7160 S. Highland Dr, Cottonwood Heights southamgallery.com

Urban Arts Gallery

116 S. Rio Grande Street, SLC urbanartsgallery.org

Anthony’s Fine Art & Antiques

Walk-ins welcome! Monday–Saturday 11am–7pm

Swing by anytime to learn more from our creative team.

“We specialize in your transformation.” - The Hive SLC is a creative powerhouse, investing in self- driven, honest, supportive artists and their community. Here

Appointments preferred. Free consultations.

foster a culture of supporting innovative ideas to transform your personal vision into a distinct, unique tattoo—and piece of art.

GALLERY GUIDE 2024

MUSEUMS

Clark Planetarium 110 S. 400 West, SLC saltlakecounty.gov/clark-planetarium

Discovery Gateway Children’s Museum 400 W. 100 South, SLC discoverygateway.org

Fort Douglas Military Museum 32 Potter Street, SLC fortdouglas.org

Hill Aerospace Museum 7961 Cottonwood St., Building #1955, Hill AFB aerospaceutah.org

Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point

2929 N. Thanksgiving Way, Lehi thanksgivingpoint.org

Natural History Museum of Utah 301 Wakara Way, SLC nhmu.utah.edu

This Is the Place Heritage Park 2601 E. Sunnyside Ave, SLC thisistheplace.org

Utah Museum of Contemporary Art 20 S. West Temple, SLC utahmoca.org

Utah Museum of Fine Art 410 Campus Center Dr., SLC umfa.utah.edu

Bret Webster Images

312 Main Street, Park City bretwebsterimages.com

David Beavis Fine Art 314 Main Street, Park City davidkbeavis.com

Gallery MAR

436 Main Street, Park City gallerymar.com

JG Art Gallery & Events 2078 Prospector Ave., Park City jgartgallery.com

Julie Nester Gallery 1280 Iron Horse Drive, Park City julienestergallery.com

Meyer Gallery 305 Main Street, Park City meyergallery.com

Montgomery-Lee Fine Art 608 Main Street, Park City montgomeryleefineart.com

Mountain Trails Gallery 301 Main Street, Park City mountaintrailsgalleries.com

Summit Gallery 825 Main Street, Park City summit-gallery.com

Susan Swartz Studios 260 Main Street, Park City susanswartz.com

Trove Gallery 804 Main Street, Park City troveparkcity.com

Julie Nester Gallery

PHOTO

2024 FALL ARTS ISSUE LITERARY LISTINGS

BY SCOTT RENSHAW

Whether you’re a reader, a writer or a little bit of both, Utah has so many places to celebrate the power of words.

Here’s a sampling of where to go to get your lit on.

INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORES

Central Book Exchange

2017 S. 1100 East, central-bookexchange.com

General interest bookstore in Sugar House, featuring more than 75,000 volumes on their shelves.

The Golden Braid

151 S. 500 East, goldenbraidbooks.com

Focus on religion, philosophy, mindful living and alternative thinking.

Ken Sanders Rare Books

209 E. 500 South, kensandersbooks.com

Veteran bookseller with a collection of thousands of vintage books, including those with a focus on Utah and the American West.

The King’s English Bookshop

1511 S. 1500 East, kingsenglish.com

General interest bookstore highlighting local authors, with frequent author and other literary events.

Legendarium

349 E. 900 South, legendariumbooks.com

Science-fiction, fantasy and horror bookstore, with space for regular in-person game-playing activities.

Lovebound Library

145 E. 900 South, Instagram.com/loveboundlibrary

Romance fiction covering a wide range of genres, including literary, historical, fantasy and young-adult.

Marissa’s Books

3302 S. 900 East, marissasbooks.com

The largest brick-and-mortar bookstore in the Salt Lake Valley in square-footage terms, with plenty of space to get lost with a book.

The Printed Garden

9445 S. Union Square, Suite A, Sandy South Valley full-service bookstore featuring new, gently-used and rare volumes.

Under the Umbrella

511 W. 200 South #120, undertheumbrellabookstore.com

Fiction and non-fiction with queer themes and by queer authors, and a safe LGBTQ+ gathering space.

Utah Book & Magazine

327 S. Main St.

Quaint and quirky spot with thousands of vintage books and magazines.

Weller Book Works

607 Trolley Square, wellerbookworks.com

Celebrating 95 years in 2024 of the Weller family bringing new, used and rare books to Utah.

Bookseller

Continued from page 36

COMIC BOOK SHOPS

Black Cat Comics

2261 S. Highland Dr., blackcat-comics.com

Dr. Volt’s Comic Connection

136 S. Rio Grande St., drvolts.com

The Nerd Store

3601 S. 2700 West (Valley Fair Mall), nerdstoreutah.com

WRITER RESOURCES/EVENTS

Community Writing Center

210 E. 400 South, #8, slcc.edu/cwc

A project of Salt Lake Community College, featuring many regular workshops and coaching

for aspiring and veteran writers.

League of Utah Writers leagueofutahwriters.com

Specialty chapters for various writing genres in all areas of the state, providing support, writing groups and more.

Salt Lake City Library slcpl.org

Eight branches in the Salt Lake City area, including many author events, art exhibits and event spaces, with in-person and digital availability.

Salt Lake County Library slcolibrary.org

Eighteen branches to serve you throughout the Salt Lake Valley, featuring event spaces and massive in-person and virtual catalog.

Dr. Volt’s

Salt Lake City Main Library

DINE

Doughnut Dreams

Salt Lake’s The Other Side Donuts sells doughnuts with a side of community service.

BY ALEX SPRINGER comments@cityweekly.net @captainspringer

Restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries all provide some level of community service—we all need a place to hang out and expand our culinary horizons from time to time—but there aren’t a whole lot of eateries that exist solely to benefit the underserved communities in Salt Lake. For example, The Other Side Donuts is a west side-based doughnut shop that raises money for local nonprofit The Other Side Village. I finally got to check this local bakery out, and they’ve really got something special going out here.

The Other Side Donuts works in tandem with The Other Side Village and The Other Side Academy to serve members of our community who are transitioning out of chronic homelessness. The village provides affordable housing, the academy provides skill-based education and the doughnut shop provides a place to work and develop marketable skills. The Other Side’s philosophy is that community provides the basis upon which to build a home, which is why its different operations help build communities for those who need them to get back on their feet. Obviously. this spot should be on your radars because buying doughnuts is a great way to help fund a desperately needed local outreach program, but The Other Side provides a top-tier doughnut experience. For starters, the space looks

like something out of Homer Simpson’s subconscious: bright pinks frost the walls, colorful neon signage greets you as you enter and the doughnut display case pops with enough variety to warrant serious consideration.

I’d say it’s a good idea to peruse the menu online first to get a sense of what kind of doughnut adventure you’d like to take. Their menu is organized in categories that range from classics ($2) like familiar maple bars and chocolate frosted raised doughnuts, to a walloping TANG doughnut topped with gummy orange slices. My favorite offering from this side of the menu was the Maple Dream Buttercream, because I am a sucker for maple bars that favor thick frosting instead of glaze.

The Day Dream ($2.50) category is where things start getting a little crazy. Most of the filled doughnuts are here, and I was gobsmacked by the Forever Yours Twinkie. Taking its cues from the bonkers cuisine you might find at your local state fair, this is a riff on a Hostess Twinkie that takes a Long John doughnut, fills it with pastry cream and then tops it with a white cake crumble. It’s essentially a Twinkie topped with Twinkies, and it’s audaciously delicious. I also liked the Maple Butterfinger doughnut, which adds crumbled Butterfinger candy bars to its maple icing. Something about the way the candy bar chocolate tied the peanut butter filling with the maple forced a double take out of me.

You know you’re in Sweet Dream ($4) territory when you start seeing doughnuts that look like a cake decorator has been let loose on them. The Blockbuster’s crunchy popcorn crumble and buttery glaze make this a sweet and salty delight.

A doughnut called Under the Sea takes a risky pivot by making a tropical-inspired doughnut that is filled with cantaloupe whip and a passionfruit icing, but this totally works. Someone at Other Side has a deft hand when it comes to making pas-

try cream.

Cloud Nine ($6) is reserved for Other Side’s heavy hitters—they’re experimental, unconventional and filled with surprises. The Beehive Donut and the Strawberry Habanero flirt with spicy ingredients, which isn’t something that doughnuts often embrace. The 24K Maple Honey Bacon Long John is peak indulgence, with its vibrant notes of maple, honey and smoky bacon. Fans of maple bacon doughnuts will need this one in their lives pronto.

Now, based on the whimsical descriptions of Other Side’s doughnut menu, it might be easy to get distracted by the whole style-vs.-substance argument. Sure, this place might have a wide range of creative doughnut recipes, but how’s the execution? I wondered the same thing when I entered, and was again a bit shocked when even their raised dough was perfectly chewy and their cake dough nailed the slightly dense texture. I’ve already mentioned their pastry cream game; this is where a lot of doughnuts head south for me, but even their more tropical flavors are well-balanced.

I’m never one to shy away from a food-based metaphor, but it’s interesting that the Other Side organizations chose doughnuts as their preferred commercial product. As a ring-shaped baked good, doughnuts evoke the endless circle of how putting something good into the community has a way of creating an infinite loop of positivity within that community. Doughnuts also appeal to our collective sense of creativity and whimsical belief that there are times when the impossible can be possible. Thanks to the team at The Other Side donuts, the humble doughnut has become a symbol of what can be possible with just a little love. CW

French Silk doughnut

2 Row Brewing

73 West 7200 South, Midvale 2RowBrewing.com

On Tap: Lollygaggin’ Farmhouse Ale

Avenues Proper

376 8th Ave, SLC avenuesproper.com

On Tap: I am the VVitch Seasonal Golden Ale with Pumpkin and Spices

Bewilder Brewing

445 S. 400 West, SLC BewilderBrewing.com

On Tap:  Cerveza De Mayo for Bewilder.

Bohemian Brewery

94 E. Fort Union Blvd, Midvale BohemianBrewery.com

On Tap: California Steam Lager, American Heritage Lager NEW: Oktoberfest Märzenbier

Bonneville Brewery

1641 N. Main, Tooele BonnevilleBrewery.com

On Tap: Peaches and Cream Ale

Chappell Brewing

2285 S Main Street

Salt Lake City, UT 84115 chappell.beer

On Tap: Pie Hole; Strawberry Rhubarb Tart Ale

Craft by Proper 1053 E. 2100 So., SLC properbrewingco.com

On Tap: I am the VVitch Seasonal Golden Ale with Pumpkin and Spices

Desert Edge Brewery

273 Trolley Square, SLC DesertEdgeBrewery.com

On Tap:  Ay Curuba! Curuba Sour

Epic Brewing Co. 825 S. State, SLC EpicBrewing.com

On Tap: Chasing Ghosts IPA

Etta Place Cidery

700 W Main St, Torrey www.ettaplacecider.com

On Tap: All-American Blend Cider, Lemon-Lime-Grapefruit Session Mead

Fisher Brewing Co.

320 W. 800 South, SLC FisherBeer.com

On Tap: A rotation of up to 17 Fresh Beers!

Grid City Beer Works

333 W. 2100 South, SLC GridCityBeerWorks.com

On Tap: Cask Nitro CO2

Helper Beer

159 N Main Street, Helper, UT  helperbeer.com

Hopkins Brewing Co.

1048 E. 2100 South, SLC HopkinsBrewingCompany.com

On Tap: Mission Improbable - West Coast Pilsner (A Collaboration with Lauder Day Brewers)

Kiitos Brewing

608 W. 700 South, SLC KiitosBrewing.com

On Tap: Dark Czech Style Pilsner (a collab with Ogden Brewing Company)

Level Crossing Brewing Co. 2496 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Vienna-Style Lager

Follow us on Instagram: @ levelcrossingbrewing

Level Crossing Brewing Co.,

POST

550 South 300 West, Suite 100, SLC LevelCrossingBrewing.com

On Tap: Bat Country Blonde Ale FREE yoga every other Saturday. 10:15am

Moab Brewing

686 S. Main, Moab TheMoabBrewery.com

On Tap:  Arnie (Co-Lab with 2 Row brewing): cream ale base with Lychee black tea and fresh pasteurized lemon juice.

Mountain West Cider

425 N. 400 West, SLC MountainWestCider.com

On Tap: Pina Colada cider

Offset Bier Co 1755 Bonanza Dr Unit C, Park City offsetbier.com/ On Tap: DOPO IPA

Ogden Beer Company 358 Park Blvd, Ogden OgdenBeerCompany.com

On Tap: 11 rotating taps as well as high point cans and guest beers

Park City Brewery 1764 Uinta Way C1 ParkCityBrewing.com

On Tap: GNAR Juice - 5.0% Hard Seltzer, infused with electrolytes from Gnarly Nutrition

Policy Kings Brewery 223 N. 100 West, Cedar City PolicyKingsBrewery.com

Prodigy Brewing 25 W Center St. Logan Prodigy-brewing.com

On Tap: 302 Czech Pilsner

Proper Brewing/Proper Burger 857 So. Main & 865 So. Main properbrewingco.com

On Tap: I am the VVitch Seasonal Golden Ale with Pumpkin and Spices

A list of what local craft breweries and cider houses have on tap this week

Proper Brewing Moab 1393 US-191, Moab properbrewingco.com

On Tap: I am the VVitch Seasonal Golden Ale with Pumpkin and Spices

Red Rock Brewing 254 So. 200 West RedRockBrewing.com

On Tap: Gypsy Scratch

Red Rock Fashion Place 6227 So. State Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Munich Dunkel

Red Rock Kimball Junction 1640 Redstone Center Redrockbrewing.com

On Tap: Bamberg Rauch Bier

RoHa Brewing Project 30 Kensington Ave, SLC RoHaBrewing.com

On Tap: 19th Flow IPA

Roosters Brewing

Multiple Locations RoostersBrewingCo.com

On Tap: Roosters Ogtoberfest

SaltFire Brewing 2199 S. West Temple, South Salt Lake SaltFireBrewing.com On Tap: Passion Fruit/Orange/ Guava Wheat Beer

Salt Flats Brewing 2020 Industrial Circle, SLC SaltFlatsBeer.com

On Tap: Prickly Pear Kolsch

Scion Cider Bar 916 Jefferson St W, SLC Scionciderbar.com

On Tap: Scion Anjou Perry6.2% ABV

Second Summit Cider 4010 So. Main, Millcreek https://secondsummitcider. com

On Tap: Pineapple Mango 6.5%

Shades Brewing 154 W. Utopia Ave, South Salt Lake ShadesBrewing.beer On Tap: Slushies; Harvey Wallbanger Sour Ale

Shades On State

366 S. State Street SLC Shadesonstate.com

On Tap: Salud Mexican Lager; Spring Fever Grapefruit Radler

Silver Reef

4391 S. Enterprise Drive, St. George SGBev.com

Squatters Pub Brewery / Salt Lake Brewing Co.

147 W. Broadway, SLC saltlakebrewingco.com/ squatters

On Tap: Salt Lake Brewing Co. KOHATU IPA

Squatters and Wasatch Brewery 1763 So 300 West SLC UT 84115 Utahbeers.com

On Tap: Bulletproof Zest Lemon Kolsch

Small Batch Series Release: Polyandry Pilsner - Fri 9/13 Strap

BEER NERD

Light and Roasty

Transitioning from summer to autumn beers

BY MIKE RIEDEL comments@cityweekly.net @utahbeer

As autumn approaches, you’re going to start seeing some breweries offering darker, bolder flavors to ease you into the season. I thought it would be helpful to get into two lagers that have rich flavors, but are light in body. They’re perfect transitional beers to take you from summer to fall.

Ogden Beer/Kiitos - Tmavé: This collaboration beer is a Czech-style dark lager that takes the richness of dark beers and combines them with the clean smoothness of a light lager. It certainly looks nice—a deep, dark brown color with ruby notes and good clarity. A creamy two-finger light-brown head eventually dissipated to a thin layer. The nose yields dark, roasty notes along with a bit of charcoal; hints of coffee and baking chocolate along with a subtle hop presence appear on the finish, along with a slight licorice note. It’s redolent with dark walnuts, and a bit of creaminess on the nose as well.

It’s very smooth and pleasant on the taste, featuring lots of roasted malt, nutty notes and coffee, along with a subtle sweetness, mild bitterness and overall dry finish. I think the bitterness is achieved through a combination of both roasted malts and hops. I appreciated the charcoal dryness on the finish, almost reminding me of a smoked porter. It’s tasty, but I wish that it had a bit more depth of flavor and complexity—definitely easy to drink and enjoyable, though medium- to light-bodied in a manner appropriate for its weight.

Verdict: Malt-forward with a rich and

layered malt character, supported by just the right amount of noble hop spice and bitterness, this one is highly drinkable—and coming in at 5.0% ABV, it is sessionable as well. This is an excellent dark lager from two great lager breweries. Highly recommended!

Uinta - 801 Coffee Pilsner: While the aforementioned dark lager has some coffee-like flavors, this pilsner is actually infused with local Yes Yes Coffee. The pour is coppery orange, with a slight chestnut-brown hue from the coffee they used. There’s an eggshell-colored creamy head that lasts well and clings to the glass. Nose is predominantly coffee with little richness to it, and a slight touch of toast. The beer looks like a medium-roasted coffee bean: just red, so much vibrant color. Hops lend a light peppery spice, and the coffee is mellow but prominent. It does not push itself too far forward in the nose, nor does it hide under the malt.

Firm, bready richness glides across the palate with a touch of soft, light sweetness. Mellow coffee fills up the middle with a soft-spoken roast that is pretty strong considering the light flavors it yields. The carbonation is perfect, with just a light tingle, the smallest bite to showcase secondary flavors without letting them come to the forefront. The coffee is the dominant flavor, and while you might think this is drinking just a bit thinner than your usual lager, that’s a result of the dryness imparted by the combination of coffee and the malts, although they kiss you a bit at the finish.

Verdict: This pilsner presents a characteristic moment of sweetness in the finish as a counterpoint to all that coffee richness. As you drink, it gets richer rather than sweeter, and the coffee does not overwhelm the modest hop profile.

801 Coffee Pilsner was shelved by Uinta a few years back, but has been brought back for a limited time at Uinta’s brewery pub on draft only. Tmavé is in 12-ounce cans and draft, and can be found at both Ogden Beer and Kiitos Brewing. As always, cheers! CW

the BACK BURNER

BY ALEX SPRINGER | @captainspringer

SLC Tacos & Margs Crawl

Fans of Bar Crawl Nation’s (barcrawlnation.com) organized bar crawls will want to bid farewell to summer with the upcoming Tacos & Margs Crawl this weekend. The crawl kicks off at Gracie’s (326 S. West Temple), and will take you to Boomerang’s Down Under Bar, London Belle and The Green Pig. Attendees will be able to get drinks and tacos at each venue, and there are special prizes available for those who visit all the stops on the crawl. If you’ve visited one of Bar Crawl Nation’s other crawls, you know that this is a good time on the town. This event takes place on Sept. 14 starting at 2 p.m.

Kuchu Shabu Sugar House Opens

I have been keeping tabs on Kuchu Shabu’s Sugar House (2121 S. McClelland Street) location for a little while now, and I’m happy to say that this Park City ramen-and-pho joint is now open for business. Kuchu Shabu has been a part of Utah’s rapidly evolving ramen scene for some time now, and having a second location where we can get its signature brand of Asian noodle soups is exciting. In addition to these heavy hitters of the noodle soup world, diners can also get poke bowls and a few Korean-inspired rice bowls as well. Perhaps the most eye-catching menu item is their elk pho, which definitely bridges a culinary gap between East and West.

Annual Beef Feast at the State Fair

The Utah State Fair is in full swing which means it’s once again time for the Utah Beef Council’s Annual Beef Feast. On Sept. 13, from 11 a.m. until all the beef is gone, local grillers will be whipping up plenty of beef tenderloin steak sandwiches for a reasonable price of $12. As the State Fair is ground zero for junk-food aficionados, it wouldn’t be much of an event if one couldn’t assemble a deep-fried charcuterie of fried Twinkies, Oreos and corn dogs before chasing it all down with a steak sandwich. Those of you interested in feasting on beef should make a point to get there early, as this tends to sell out pretty quickly.

Quote of the Week: “Beef is the soul of cooking.” –Marie-Antoine Carême

Community Spirit

EDM promoters BLAQ VOID channel their community-building into a healthcare fundraiser.

BY ARICA ROBERTS comments@cityweekly.net

BLAQ VOID co-founders Drue Olsen, Brandon Gebo and Randy Jimenez have been friends since their high school days. Olsen started throwing parties at age 21, and over the past nine years, that undertaking has evolved to include Gebo and Jimenez. They were all separately inspired by the late-night parties they saw in Spain—especially the stark contrast between cultural attitudes towards latenight partying there and what they saw in Salt Lake City. However, their love for our city pushed them to build something here, despite the challenges and taboos.

BLAQ VOID is truly a unique collective, because it’s always been less of a corporate business and more about what this close friend group embodies. Their success has been in creating shows that prioritize and build community, including giving upand-coming DJs and artists opportunities to build their careers right here in SLC.

“We felt like the culture could be molded in a way that, hey, you don’t have to move to L.A. to have a music career or experience the nightlife, or [to] New York or Florida or somewhere else,” Olsen explained. “You can still be here and have an awesome time from a creative perspective, and you can grow your career here if you choose to do that. We never wanted people to feel like they had to leave to accomplish that.”

While EDM shows in SLC were certainly a thing before BLAQ VOID, they brought a

unique take by curating events with different genres that you wouldn’t normally see in the late night. “For example, trap music going crazy at 4 a.m. didn’t exist in Salt Lake when we started,” Gebo said.

What they ask in return is for people to trust them. You may not know where the next party will be, nor will you know the DJs on the lineup until you are in front of the DJ booth, but regardless, you know it will be a good time. You may go through a secret tunnel or be in a multi-level garage, but there is an excitement to the surprise.

“We pretty much try to have a different venue every time,” Jimenez added. “Switch it up, keep people on their toes and you have kind of a clue of who might be the headliner, but it’s never the main thing that brings people necessarily. Most are DJs who have never played in Utah.”

What makes this upcoming event “Embrace the Void” special is that they’ve teamed up with Mohan Sudabattula, the CEO of Project Embrace. They met through a mutual friend, and immediately saw the connection between their communitybuilding intentions.

“We want a world where everyone has access to dignified healthcare, period,” Sudabattula stressed. “And what we do and how we accomplish that is we collect gently used medical equipment from hospitals, clinics, and vendors who are rotating out their inventory to replace it with next year’s model of whatever, intercept those things, clean them up, refurbish it, and get it out to low resource communities who don’t have access to that same tech to help get medical equipment out to communities that need it.”

This is the second year of the collaboration between Project Embrace and BLAQ VOID. Rather than holding a gala, they liked the idea of a more inclusive event that could especially galvanize young people to get involved.

“I remember one of the things that really stood out about BLAQ VOID was it is community first, and then all the things

MUSIC

that happened as a result—the music, the dancing, the vibes—that all that is a function of the community of BLAQ VOID, not the other way around,” Sudabattula said.

The goal for Project Embrace was “to take something as important and hard to talk about as healthcare and Trojan-horse it into something that’s as poetic, celebratory and welcoming as what these guys do,” he added.

The authenticity of the event has already proven itself in the past. Last year’s “Embrace the Void” included a security guard who during 2020 was bedridden and paralyzed from the waist down. Uninsured, he had limited options, but Project Embrace was able to supply him with a wheelchair, and he eventually reversed his condition. He attributes Project Embrace with saving his life.

Historically, celebrations and parties, concerts and events are supplementary to the cause. However, this collaboration and relationship is entirely complementary. And both groups agree that “the general

texture and tapestry of Salt Lake City is perfect for this,” Sudabattula said. “The community is already incredibly aware, very generous, wants to see the city grow and cares about the arts. And then at the same time, you now have this greater backdrop from the Olympics showing up, to NBA All-Star Weekend, Sundance, all these bids. It was a massive push for how the city solidifies itself.”

What will the future of SLC look like for future tourism, the music industry and healthcare? In a post-pandemic environment, things are different. And there is a need for innovation, adaptation and a greater investment back into the community that isn’t just money—it’s trust, it’s respect, it’s love, it’s culture.

Come support “Embrace the Void” Saturday, Sept. 14. Doors open at 9 p.m. The location is always secret until tickets are secured, and will be texted to attendees the day of the event. Check out their Instagram (@blaqvoid) for more event information as well as how to join the textlist. CW

BLAQ VOID Party

THURSDAYS

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 13

DJ NO FILTER

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 14

DJ CELLY CEL

SHARK SUNDAYS

POOL TOURNEY HOSTED BY TANNER

MONDAYS

REGGAE MONDAY WITH DJ NAPO

TUESDAYS

WEDNESDAYS KARAOKE

BEST BAR IN UTAH!

GREAT FOOD

MUSIC PICK S

Crucialfest @ Metro Music Hall 9/13-15

Metalheads rejoice: Crucialfest is finally upon us. Brought to us by our friendly neighborhood entertainment store Graywhale, Crucialfest showcases one of the heaviest lineups around town for a full weekend of headbanging and moshing. The full lineup includes: Black Tusk, Mars Red Sky, Jaye Jayle, Gost, Frail Body, Midwife, The Well, Howling Giant, Ex Everything, State Faults, The Otolith, Aerial Ruin, Horseburner, Triphammer, Somnuri, Chrome Ghost, Dark Crone, Last, Voidstrider, Onsetter, Iota, Violet Temper, Dehorn, Moray, Eleuthero, Blackshape and Honor Hour. The bands are spread across three days, and each show features nine bands, so that’s a lot of rocking to be done! You can grab tickets for individual nights, or bundle to save some money if you have the energy for all three shows. The lineup consists of a mixture of big names with locals for an excellent mix of metal awesomeness. Don’t miss this epic lineup Friday, Sept. 13 - Sunday, Sept. 15. Individual tickets, VIP tickets and multiple day bundles range from $22-125. Grab tickets at 24tix.com. (Emilee Atkinson)

MUSIC PICK S

Childish Gambino @ Delta Center POSTPONED

There is nothing trivial about art or Childish Gambino. Multi-hyphenate Donald Glover (a.k.a. Gambino) is hugely talented in virtually all arenas of entertainment. His latest LP from earlier this summer, Bando Stone & the New World, shows that he sits at the intersection of so many influences and cultures. The genre-hopping in it is exciting to listen to because you never know what’s coming next, and the individual tracks range from decent to amazing. The moments of acting thrown in makes the whole album feel imbued with human connection, fun and life. However, Bando acts as a curtain call for the Childish Gambino persona, as Glover stated recently it just doesn’t scratch that itch to him like it used to. “It really was just like, ‘Oh, it’s done.’ It’s not fulfilling,” Glover told the New York Times in July. “And I just felt like I didn’t need to build in this way anymore.” Bando Stone & the New World is a culmination of everything that has come before. Back at the start of Donald Glover’s rap career, he barely had the opportunity or means to have collaborations, or the luxury of making music. He has shown his prowess as an actor, director and now as a fully-fledged artist by solidifying his final album. Come say goodbye to Gambino as the New World tour hits the Delta Center on Saturday, Sept. 14. Doors at 8 p.m.; Willow Smith opens. Tickets for the all-ages show are $93 can be found here ticketmaster.com. (Mark Dago)

Fred Again MUSIC PICK S

Fred Again @ Utah First Credit

Union Amphitheatre 9/15

Frederick John Philip Gibson is a British producer who has found a way to sell out his surprise Australian tour—which included both arena shows and DJ pop-ups—in under five seconds. Fred Again (and Again and Again and Again) is often described as the Taylor Swift of EDM, due to his insane hype and fan base. How did it all begin?

Gibson has been making music for a decade, including for mainstream pop artists like Rita Ora and Demi Lovato. But it wasn’t until U.K. pandemic lockdowns (which lasted 18 months straight) that he really blew up with his trilogy of albums Actual Life, which sampled conversations with his friends within house tracks. Since then, it’s been a lot of success in very little time. For example, he won Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards in 2020 (the youngest producer to ever win the title).

Then, in 2022, he performed a set for Boiler Room in London, the third most-watched set on their YouTube channel. He’s gone on to release collabs with Swedish House Mafia and Skrillex (the single “Rumble” featuring Skrillex also won Gibson a Grammy), playing alongside Four Tet at Madison Square Garden as well as Coachella last year.

Maybe it is all just hype, or maybe he is just that talented. Likely, his genre-bending production and mixing abilities make his appeal to a wider audience. His music can be best described as first and foremost indie pop and dance music that draws inspiration from deep and progressive house, breakbeat and garage. He just finished headlining the Reading Festival, and starts his North America tour with Salt Lake City as the second stop. To no surprise, this show will likely sell out, so hurry and get your tickets for Sunday, Sept. 15. Doors open at 8 p.m. general admission costs $68.20. Go to livenation.com. (Arica Roberts)

Hayes Carll and Band of Heathens @ The Commonwealth Room 9/15

Given the fact that Hayes Carll and Band of Heathens are both from Texas, it’s hardly surprising that they’ve pursued parallel paths. Carll was cited as “Best New Act” by the Houston Press following the release of his first album, while Band of Heathens were voted “Best New Band” at the 2007 Austin Music Awards. They also reached number one on the Americana Music Association’s radio chart for their 2008 self-titled studio album, and were subsequently nominated by the AMA

as “Best Duo/Group of the Year.” So too, their 2013 release Sunday Morning Record reached the number two position on the Americana charts. Carll’s been compared to any number of great Texas songwriters, including Townes Van Zandt, whom he cites as a prime influence. Carll’s song, “She Left Me For Jesus,” from his album Trouble in Mind, was chosen AMA’s Song of the Year in 2008. In addition, his album KMAG YOYO & Other American Stories received a nomination for Best Album by the AMA in 2011. He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Country Song in 2016, courtesy of his track, “Chances Are.” Meanwhile, Band of Heathens originally coalesced as a group of solo songwriters. Carll and the Heathens have performed together frequently over the years, so be assured that their joint appearance at The Commonwealth Room will offer a true taste of Texas tenacity. Hayes Carll and Band of Heathens perform a 21 + show at The Commonwealth Room at 8 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 15. Tickets cost $35 - $110 (plus taxes and fees) at axs. com. (Lee Zimmerman)

Crowded House @ Red Butte Garden 9/18

New Zealander guitarist, singer and songwriter Neil Finn launched Crowded House in 1985, out of the ashes of his previous group, Split Enz. Crowded House’s note-perfect melding of classic pop melodic sense and sharp, emotionally resonant lyrics stuck a chord with listeners, as the band’s breakthrough single “Don’t Dream It’s Over” from their self-titled debut album became a classic around the globe. Subsequent albums built upon and expanded Crowded House’s musical vision; in the process, the band became one of the world’s most successful rock groups, though success in the U.S. was more measured. Alongside Crowded House, Finn has found time to release nine solo albums, two with brother Tim, and one in collaboration with son Liam. In between all that, Finn even joined Fleetwood Mac for that group’s 2018-19 tour. Crowded House’s latest album is the sublime, subtle and engaging Gravity Stairs, released in May. These days, the group features Finn and founding bassist Nick Seymour, plus producer Mitchell Froom and two of Neil’s sons, Liam and Elroy. Crowded House comes to Salt Lake City on Wednesday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. at Red Butte Garden; tickets for the concert are $80, and can be purchased via etix.com. (Bill Kopp)

free will ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

One of the longest bridges in the world is the 24-mile Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana. During one eightmile stretch, as it crosses Lake Pontchartrain, travelers can’t see land. That freaks out some of them. You might be experiencing a metaphorically similar passage these days, Aries. As you journey from one mode to the next, you may lose sight of familiar terrain for a while. My advice: Have faith, gaze straight ahead, and keep going.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

My horoscopes don’t necessarily answer questions that are foremost in your awareness. This might annoy you. But consider this: My horoscopes may nevertheless nudge you in unexpected directions that eventually lead you, in seemingly roundabout ways, to useful answers. The riddles I offer may stir you to gather novel experiences you didn’t realize you needed. Keep this in mind, Taurus, while reading the following: In the coming weeks, you can attract minor miracles and fun breakthroughs if you treat your life as an art project. I urge you to fully activate your imagination and ingenuity as you work on the creative masterpiece that is YOU.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20)

The Gemini musician known as Prince got an early start on his vocation. At age 7, he wrote “Funk Machine,” his first song. Have you thought recently about how the passions of your adult life first appeared in childhood? Now is an excellent time to ruminate on this and related subjects. Why? Because you are primed to discover forgotten feelings and events that could inspire you going forward. To nurture the future, draw on the past.

CANCER (June 21-July 22)

You are lucky to have an opposable thumb on each hand. You’re not as lucky as koala bears, however, which have two opposable thumbs on each hand. But in the coming weeks, you may sometimes feel like you have extra thumbs, metaphorically. I suspect you will be extra dexterous and nimble, including mentally, emotionally and spiritually. You could accomplish wonders of agility. You and your sexy soul may be extra supple, lithe and flexible. These superpowers will serve you well if you improvise and experiment, which I hope you will.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22)

The internet is filled with quotes that are wrongly attributed. Among those frequently cited as saying words they didn’t actually say, Buddha is at the top of the list. There are so many fraudulent Buddha quotes in circulation that there’s a website devoted to tracking them down: fakebuddhaquotes.com. The following was articulated not by Buddha but by English novelist William Makepeace Thackeray: “The world is a looking glass. It gives back to every man a true reflection of his own thoughts.” I bring these thoughts to your attention, because it’s a crucial time to be dedicated to truth and accuracy. You will gain power by uncovering deceptions, shams and misrepresentations. Be a beacon of authenticity!

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22)

Peregrine falcons can move at 242 miles per hour. Mexican free-tailed bats reach 100 mph, and black marlin fish go 80 mph. These are your spirit creatures in the coming weeks. Although you can’t travel that fast (unless on a jet), I’m confident you can make metaphorical progress at a rapid rate. Your ability to transition to the next chapter of your story will be at a peak. You will have a robust power to change, shift and develop.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22)

Mythically speaking, I envision a death and rebirth in your future. The death won’t be literal; neither you nor anyone you love will travel to the other side. Rather, I foresee the demise of a hope, the finale of a storyline, or the loss of a possibility. Feeling sad might temporarily

be the right thing to do, but know this ending will ultimately lead to a fresh beginning. In fact, the new blooms ahead wouldn’t be possible without the expiration of the old ways. The novel resources that arrive will come only because an old resource has faded.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21)

Did you ever have roommates who stole your credit card and bought gifts for themselves? Does your history include a friend or loved one who told a lie that turned out to be hurtful? Did you ever get cheated on by a lover? If anything like this has happened to you, I suspect you will soon get a karmic recompense. An atonement will unfold. A reparation will come your way. A wrong will be righted. A loss will be indemnified. My advice—welcome the redress graciously. Dissolve your resentments and retire uncomfortable parts of your past.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21)

One of my oldest friends is Sagittarius Jeffrey Brown. We had rowdy fun together in our twenties. We were mad poets who loved to party. But while I went on to become a rock and roll musician, experimental novelist and iconoclastic astrologer, Brown worked hard to become a highly respected, award-winning journalist for the PBS News Hour a major American TV show. Among his many successes: He has brought in-depth coverage of poetry and art to mainstream TV. How did he manage to pull off such an unlikely coup? I think it’s because he channeled his wildness into disciplined expression; he converted his raw passions into practical power; he honed and refined his creativity so it wielded great clout. In the coming months, dear Sagittarius, I urge you to make him one of your inspirational role models.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Let’s hypothesize that you will be alive, alert and active on your 100th birthday. If that joyous event comes to pass, you may have strong ideas about why you have achieved such longevity. I invite you to imagine what you will tell people on that momentous occasion. Which practices, feelings and attitudes will have turned you into such a vigorous example of a strong human life? The coming weeks will be an excellent time to meditate on these matters. It will also be a favorable phase to explore new practices, feelings and attitudes that will prolong your satisfying time here on planet Earth.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)

Few Americans are more famous than George Washington. He was a top military leader in the Revolutionary War before he became the country’s first president. George had a half-brother named Lawrence, who was 16 years older. Virtually no one knows about him, but he was a renowned landowner, soldier and politician. Historians say his political influence was crucial in George’s rise to power. Is there anyone comparable to Lawrence Washington in your life? Someone who is your advocate? Who works behind the scenes on your behalf? If not, go searching for them. The omens say your chances are better than usual of finding such champions. If there are people like that, ask them for a special favor.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20)

Over 15 centuries ago, Christian monks decided Fridays were unlucky. Why? They were the special day of the Norse goddess Freyja. Friday the 13th was extra afflicted, they believed, because it combined a supposedly evil number with the inauspicious day. And how did they get their opinion that 13 was malevolent? Because it was the holy number of the goddess and her 13-month lunar calendar. I mention this because a Friday the 13th is now upon us. If you are afraid of the things Christian monks once feared, this could be a difficult time. But if you celebrate radical empathy, ingenious intimacy, playful eros, and fertile intuition, you will be awash in good fortune. That’s what the astrological omens tell me.

Multiple Positions, remote/ telecommuting from any location inside U.S. Senior Director, Software Engineering; Lead Technical Consultant. Please submit resume by mail, clearly indicating position to which you are applying. Simpler Postage, Inc., dba EasyPost, ATTN: I. Vida, 2889 W. Ashton Blvd., Ste. 325, Lehi, UT 84043

on instagram! @brennabnails @nailssbysam @Mckeldoesnails @polished.bytessa

now to hear what your neighborz were doing last night.

ENGINEERING

Applied Materials, Inc. in Salt Lake City, UT seeks: Process

Supprt Engrs (Req #S8493): Prvde highly visible cstmr spprt thru the prfrmnc of on-site instlltn. Travel to var unntcptd dmstc & int’l cstmr loctns up to 25%. May req relo thru-out U.S. Salary: $97,864$117,437/yr. Email resume to Applied Materials Inc. at applied_resumes_Team@amat.com. Must include REQ# in Subject Line to be considered.

urban LIVING

Affordability

Utah’s housing supply is still facing several challenges with not too much hope in sight. Housing supply drives affordability, so like any commodity, when the supply is low, prices are high. Housing production in Utah has been declining for years, from 37,000 housing starts in 2021 to 19,000 in 2023. Estimates for 2024 suggest that we won’t beat 2023’s numbers.

Why, why, why is this happening?

Labor shortages: Builders say that labor shortages are a major factor in the lack of new homes. Damn. After the hottest summer on record, who is seeking out roofing jobs, exterior painting, window installs and the like?

Land prices: High land prices like we’ve never seen before.

Zoning laws: Municipal zoning, fees, and regulations make it difficult to build new homes.

Home prices: Home prices in Utah are high and wages are not keeping up with housing costs.

Housing affordability: Utah is trending as one of the least affordable states to buy a home.

In an attempt to increase the supply of “attainable” homes, the Utah Legislature created tools to encourage new home prices around $350,000 to $450,000. HB572 allows for the Transportation Infrastructure General Fund to create a three-year program to offer low-interest loans to developers building affordable housing developments in the state by allowing the state treasurer to tap into $300 million from the state’s already existing funds.

Sadly, the $350,000-$450,000 price range is rare along the Wasatch Front, and according to the Wasatch Front MLS there are only 1,290 homes listed for sale statewide under an offering price of $450,000: 139 in Salt Lake County; 62 in Davis County; and 75 in Utah County. Summit County has 8 homes offered under that price point, with 6 in Wasatch County and 96 in Washington County and the St. George area.

CROSSWORD PUZZLE

ACROSS

1. ___ school (doc’s training ground)

4. “___ and the Pussycats”

9. Short story writer H.H. Munro’s pen name

13. Guac source, casually

14. Make changes to 15. “___ say a word”

17. Square

20. Quality of sound

21. Show lots of love

22. Automotive pioneer Benz

23. Online bidding site

26. Tommy Lee Jones, in “Men in Black”

28. Menlo Park surname

31. “Inception” director Christopher

33. Square

35. Caustic cleaning solution

38. Get ready

39. Jr.’s son, sometimes

40. “I’m in the ___ for love”

41. “Delta of Venus” author Anais

42. Square

46. Selected

47. Aisle guides

48. Denver-based “Baby Bell” telephone company until 2000

51. Word before bar or after swan

52. What the world will do on its axis

53. Tail end

56. Certain loaves or whiskeys

60. Square

64. Style where what’s old is new again

65. SAG-AFTRA, for example

66. Lucy of “Elementary”

67. Recolors

68. Element number 54

69. Former “Tonight Show” announcer Hall

DOWN

1. “Will & Grace” guest star Bomer

2. Cooking acronym popularized by Rachael

Ray

3. Like this clue (and many others)

4. “You Are” band Pearl ___

5. Cockney residence for ‘Enry, maybe 6. In poor shape

7. Enthralled with 8. Update a LinkedIn profile, perhaps 9. “Marry the Girl” (1937) screenwriter Herzig, or “Deadliest Catch” captain Hansen

10. Greet the day

11. 114-chapter holy book

12. Like 68-Across, chemically

16. “Me ___ Pretty One Day” (2000 David Sedaris essay collection)

18. Liam with a particular set of acting skills

19. “Seraph on the Suwanee” novelist Zora ___ Hurston

24. “___ voyage!”

25. Lauren Bacall’s first movie, “To Have ___ Have Not”

27. Long-jawed freshwater fish

28. Home of “SportsCenter”

29. Place to order a sandwich and a huge pickle

30. “___ See Clearly Now”

31. The color of coffee from a French press?

32. Hurty boo-boo

34. Cherry leftovers

35. Opera house seating section

36. “Habibi (I Need ___ Love)” (2014 single by Shaggy)

37. Dreyer’s ice cream, east of the Rockies

40. “Thanks for coming to the rescue”

42. Nervous speaker’s pause sounds

43. “The Hunchback of ___ Dame”

44. Rapa ___ (Easter Island, to locals)

45. “seaQuest ___” (1990s sci-fi TV series)

51.

54. Parisian waters

55. “SNL” guest host Hathaway

57. Christmas season

58. “National Velvet” novelist Bagnold

59. Poker variant

61. ___ Angeles Kings

62. Dove noise

63. Anderson Cooper’s network

Last week’s answers

This summer, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen unveiled several housing proposals, including a $100 million fund for community development financial institutions to assist in financing new housing projects, and a plan to reduce the costs of state and local housing finance agencies that would allow them to borrow federal money at the same rate as the federal government, to help fund more FHA loans.

Yellen called on the 11 federal home loan banks to devote 20% of their net income to housing programs around the country, to help with down payment assistance for buyers as well as getting loans to developers.

We’ve got about two months until the presidential election. The two major candidates have vast ideas about solving the U.S. housing crisis. Both believe state and local regulations are what cause prices to rise and each are touting fixes like offering tax credits of $25,000 for new homebuyers and getting millions of federal dollars out into the communities struggling most with affordability.

If you think affordable housing is an important issue, please vote this November.

Complete the grid so that each row, column, diagonal and 3x3 square contain all of the numbers 1 to 9. No math is involved. The grid has numbers, but nothing has to add up to anything else. Solve the puzzle with reasoning and logic. Solving time is typically 10 to 30 minutes, depending on your skill and experience.

46. Middle, in Manitoba

48. “Back in the ___” (Beatles hit)

49. June 1994 release starring Keanu Reeves (yes, it’s 30!)

50. Clever and funny

Sap of energy

NEWS of the WEIRD

That Rule Doesn’t Apply to Me

Police in Brighton, New Jersey, charged Zyair J. Dennis, 24, on Aug. 23 with one count of defiant trespassing after an incident on Aug. 18, the Cherry Hill Courier Post reported. Dennis, of Millville, New Jersey, was recorded at the Cohanzick Zoo taunting a tiger after climbing into the animal’s enclosure. Police said she tried to “entice” one of the Bengal tigers through a second, inside fence. In the video, the tiger appeared to try to bite the woman’s hand. Dennis was also caught on camera at the zoo’s bear exhibit, demonstrating the same kind of behavior, said Bridgeton Police Chief Michael Gaimari.

Weird in the Wild

A bald eagle that was “rescued” near Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri because it couldn’t seem to fly wasn’t injured at all, Fox News reported on Aug. 25. Instead, wildlife officials at the Missouri Department of Conservation determined it was “too fat to fly.” “The bird was ... engorged with raccoon,” officials said. X-rays showed a raccoon paw in the eagle’s distended stomach. The bird was released near where it was found.

Florida

Tampa police responded to a call on Aug. 24 at the Rags to Riches Animal Rescue, WFTS-TV reported. Dominique Amerosa, one of the owners of the rescue, said she and her mother were doing a meet-and-greet with a potential owner for Bluey, a disabled pug, when they told the woman she wouldn’t be a good fit because of her other dogs. First, the woman wouldn’t give the dog back to the owners; then she retrieved a gun out of her car and pointed it at the back of Amerosa’s head. “My lovely neighbor came out and saw her with my mom and then ran in her house to call 911,” Amerosa said. “That is a very scary person,” she said. Police said they are investigating and working with the state’s attorney’s office to “determine the most appropriate charges.”

Unclear on the Concept

Rolando Ramos, the quarterbacks coach for the Cigarroa High School Toros football program in Laredo, Texas, was arrested on Aug. 19 after he called police to report that a prostitute had stolen money from him, the Laredo Morning Times reported. When Ramos tried to pay her, she allegedly grabbed $100 and ran away. Ramos, who is also a health and physical education teacher at Cigarroa High School, faced a $2,500 bond for soliciting prostitution and was released later that day. He was placed on administrative leave by the district.

SNAFU

The U.S. Navy has run out of pants, the New York Post reported on Aug. 21. The official “Navy Working Uniform,” or NWU, camouflage trousers are out of stock because of “Defense Logistics Agency vendor issues,” officials said. This particular uniform is allowed for wear on the job and out in public, but only new recruits will get new

pants until at least October. In the meantime, sailors will be allowed to wear coveralls off-base (so chic) or the “2-piece Organizational Clothing,” which features flame-resistant tops and bottoms.

Bright Idea

A 9-year-old boy left his home in Brooklyn, New York, for school on Aug. 22 but never showed up, the Associated Press reported. His parents called police, who released a description of the missing child. When the New York CBS News helicopter arrived at the scene, they spotted the truant on the rooftop of his family’s building. “We came across a person sitting in a chair over here on the rooftop. We zoomed in with the camera,” said reporter Dan Rice. “It appeared to be the child that fit the description of the missing child.” They alerted police and as the news helicopter watched, Rice said, “He just packs up his computer and his book bag and goes off with the police officers,” who took the boy to his parents.

Questionable Judgment

Back in January, a 33-year-old man underwent emergency surgery at Austria’s Graz University Hospital after a forestry accident, Sky News reported on Aug. 27. It wasn’t until July, however, that the patient learned the unnamed surgeon allowed his 13-year-old daughter to drill a hole in the patient’s head. “There was no contact, no explanation or apology, nothing,” said the patient’s attorney, Peter Freiberger. “That is simply undignified.” The operation was successful, but the patient is still recovering. The main surgeon and another specialist who was present during the operation were let go by the hospital. Investigations by the public prosecutor’s office are underway.

Wrong Place, Wrong Time

Riders on the Supergirl Sky Flight ride at Mexico City’s Six Flags Mexico were stranded on Aug. 18 as heavy rain and winds caused the ride to shut down, United Press International reported. Those who were on the ride at the time dangled about 240 feet in the air for 10 minutes as they were buffeted by the weather. Six Flags Mexico said the storm caused several rides to cease operating for a few minutes, but no injuries were reported.

Least Competent Criminal

Deario Wilkerson, 20, literally fell into law enforcement’s lap on Aug. 26 after he tried to hide out in the attic of a home in Memphis, NBC News reported. Wilkerson was wanted for first-degree murder in a case from April, in which Troy Cunningham was shot and killed in downtown Memphis. After the U.S. Marshals Service surrounded the home where Wilkerson was hiding, the fugitive fell through the ceiling into the kitchen of the home, landing uninjured.

Send your weird news items to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com

the Backstop

Senior Software Engineer @ Finicity Corporation (Salt Lake City, UT) F/T Act as prmry cntributr to the anlysis, dsgn, & dvlpmnt of most strtgic & complx API projcts, utilizng broad indstry awareness & Java dvlpmnt exprtise. Code, test, debug, & documnt fault-tolerant, maintainble, & scalable API solutns. Reqs a Bchlr’s deg or frgn eqvlnt in Info Tchnolgy, Compr Scnce, Comp Engg, Info Systms, Tchnlgy Lead, or rltd fld of stdy & 5 yrs of exp in job offrd or as a Sftwre Dvlper, Full Stack Dvlper, Sftwre Engnr, Bck-end Dvlper, or rltd. Qlifyng exp must inclde at lst 5 yrs w/h each of the follwing: Java; Spring; Spring MVC; Hibernate; SQL; Design Patterns; Systems Design; Agile methodology. Qlifyng exp must inclde at lst 2 yrs w/h each of the follwng: Spring Security; Spring Data; Spring Boot; Rest API; MongoDB; Docker; Kubernetes. Rte of pay: $151,862 - $184,000/ yr. ER will acpt any suitble combinatn of educatn, trning or exp. Telecommutng and/or WFH may be permissble pursuant to cmpny policies. Snd rsume to Luz Lara, Luz.Lara@mastercard.com, 434 Ascension Way, #200, Salt Lake City, UT 84123. Ref MC134-2024.