9 minute read
QSaltLake’s Fall Arts Guide
Grand Theatre Company Presents:
The Wonderettes
AUG. 16–SEPT. 8, GRANDTHEATRECOMPANY.COM GRAND THEATRE, SLCC
Follow four girls, with voices as big as their hair and personalities as kooky as their crinoline skirts, from prom night to their 10- year reunion. Learn about their lives and loves as they serenade classic hits including “Lollipop,” “Dream Lover,” “Stupid Cupid” and “Lipstick on Your Collar.” Featuring over 30 classic 1950s and ‘60s hits, you’ll smile ear-toear with this musical trip down memory lane.
Grand Theatre's "The Wonderettes"
Courtesy, Grand Theatre
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Presents:
Marisa Morán Jahn: Mirror / Mask
AUG. 16–DEC. 9, UMFA.UTAH.EDU UMFA, UOFU
Mirror/Mask is a project by New York City-based artist Marisa Morán Jahn (Studio REV-) whose work uses mirrored masks to explore how we see ourselves reflected — or distorted — in others. It delves into ideas of identity, presentation, and self-reflection through an immersive exhibition in the ACME Lab as well as works juxtaposed with UMFA objects in the permanent galleries. Jahn cites her interest in Asian, African, and Greek rituals and dramaturgy masks as influences for the artwork.
Jahn’s interventions of sculpture, performance, photography, moving GIFs, and video into the museum’s permanent collections of European portraiture, Egyptian funerary objects, and African works raise questions about how we present ourselves (whether in painting or selfies) and imagine the other.
Utah Museum of Contemporary
Art Presents:
Ryan Ruehlen: Georythymic Drift Music
AUG. 17–NOV. 3, UTAHMOCA.ORG CODEC GALLERY UMOCA
Ryan Wade Ruehlen’s Georhythmic Drift Music project is part of his research on deep listening.
The interdisciplinary sonic art installation incorporates field experiments investigating very-low-frequency radio emissions, unmanned aerial vehicles, and impromptu sound art performances transmitted to remote listening stations. Ruehlen uses aerial technology as a courier system and an “acoustic prosthetic” that utilizes the quadcopter as a tool for capturing the auditory potential of the atmosphere with the aid of extended, ground-to-sky antennas. He describes this as a psychogeographical project with the objective of demonstrating an aesthetic listening experience, which illuminates natural materials hidden from human perceptual faculties.
A Gallery / Allen+Alan Fine Art presents:
Sculpture
AUG. 31–SEPT. 29 (ARTISTS RECEPTION SEPT. 21), AGALLERYONLINE.COM, 1321 S. 2100 East, SLC
View and procure dynamic three-dimensional works by some of the regions most exceptional sculptors. The exhibit includes new work by Jim Jacobs, John Hess, Brian Christensen, Anne Gregerson, Seth Fairweather, Dahrl Thomson, Ed Pogue, Ryoichi Suzuki, Darl Thomas,and Kraig Varner.
Ballet West Presents:
Beer & Ballet
SEPT. 7, BALLETWEST.ORG JEANNE WAGNER THEATRE ROSE WAGNER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Ballet West presents their annual Beer and Ballet — a yearly event where balletomanes knock back bottles of Blue Moon then drink in the ballet dancers ballon about the stage. It’s a great time!
Utah Arts Alliance Presents:
Urban Arts Festival
SEPT. 15–16, UTAHARTS.ORG/URBAN- ARTS-FEST GALLIVAN CENTER
The Urban Arts Festival is the largest free community art event in Utah. It’s a two-day celebration of Salt Lake’s urban and artistic culture for the community, art lovers, and families. The festival features artists, music, dance performance, automotive arts, projection art, virtual reality and new media arts, street basketball league, fashion, live street art and mural painting displays, and more.
Utah Repertory Theatre Company presents:
Afterglow
SEPT. 21–OCT. 7, UTAHREP.ORG BLACK BOX THEATER SORENSON UNITY CENTER
Afterglow is a raw, one-act play exploring the emotional, intellectual, and physical connections between three men and the broader implications within their relationships. Josh and Alex, a married couple in an open relationship, invite Darius one night to share their bed. When a new intimate connection begins to form, the three men must come to terms with their definitions of love, loyalty, and trust as futures are questioned, relationships are shaken, and commitments are challenged.
Broadway at the Eccles "Waitress"
Courtesy, Broadway at the Eccles
Broadway at the Eccles Presents:
Waitress
SEPT. 25–30, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG DELTA PERFORMANCE HALL GEORGE S. AND DOLORES DORÉ ECCLES THEATER
Inspired by Adrienne Shelly’s beloved film, Waitress tells the story of Jenna — a waitress and expert pie maker who dreams of a way out of her small town and loveless marriage. A baking contest in a nearby county and the town’s new doctor may offer her a chance at a fresh start, while her fellow waitresses provide her with their recipes for happiness. But Jenna must summon the strength and courage to rebuild her life solely.
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company presents
Splice
SEPT. 27–29, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG JEANNE WAGNER THEATRE ROSE WAGNER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
This dynamic repertory program will include the return of four compelling dances: “Star Mark” (2016) by Joanna Kotze, “Prima Materia” (2015) by Adam Barruch, “Construct” (2014) by RDC Artistic Director Daniel Charon, and “Strict Love” (1994) by Doug Varone.
Kingsbury Hall Presents:
Monica Bill Barnes: Happy Hour
SEPT.27–28, KINGSBURYHALL.UTAH.EDU KINGSBURY HALL, UOFU
Happy Hour comes to Salt Lake in this fun and subversive show that “breaks all the rules of theater.” Dressed in a pair of everyday men’s suits, Monica Bill
Barnes and Anna Bass crash an after-work office party playing two instantly familiar guys. With microwave popcorn flying through the air and dollar store décor, Happy Hour offers two options: a karaoke version that is all ages, and a more traditional Happy Hour with beverages for a 21 and older crowd. No matter which you choose, it’s challenging, hilarious, relevant, and mostly a whole lot of fun.
Utah Symphony Presents:
An American in Paris
SEPT. 28–29, USUO.ORG ABRAVANEL HALL
Grab your passport and travel back 90 years to the streets of Paris with blaring taxi horns and bustling crowds that inspired George Gershwin’s An American in Paris — a piece that delights today just as it did audiences at its debut. A perfect complement follows with Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G major. Deeply infused with jazz idioms and harmonies, the work begins with a whipcrack and continues to use other elements reminiscent of Gershwin.
Utah Museum of Fine Arts Presents:
Site Lines: Recent Work by University of Utah Art Faculty
SEPT. 29–JAN. 6, UMFA.UTAH.EDU UMFA, UOFU
Lines, one of the most basic elements in art and a foundation of mark making, feature prominently, both conceptually and through the skillful employment of materials, in this exhibition by UofU art faculty. These lines and marks tackle diverse ideas about borders, brinks, divisions, paths, and dualities across different sites — from the natural landscape to manmade structures to the human form. In a more abstract sense, each artist tackled the complexity of how we get from point A to B — how we experience the world, how our memory and perception shape it and going forward, how we will construct it.
Grand Theatre Company Presents:
The Rocky Horror Show
OCT. 4–27, GRANDTHEATRECOMPANY.COM GRAND THEATRE, SLCC
When a newly engaged couple, Brad and Janet, innocently set out to visit an old professor, a thunderstorm and a flat-tire lead them to seek help at the castle of the alien, transvestite scientist, Dr. Frank ‘N’ Furter. As Brad and Janet are swept up into Frank ‘N’ Furter’s latest experiment, the night’s misadventures cause them to question everything they’ve known about themselves, each other, love and lust. This humorous tribute to the classic “B” sci-fi films and horror genre, with an irresistible rock’n’roll score, is a wild ride that no audience will soon forget.
Repertory Dance Theatre Presents:
Spirit
OCT. 4–6, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG JEANNE WAGNER THEATRE ROSE WAGNER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Spirit includes the historical masterpiece “Rainbow Round My Shoulder” by the late Donald
McKayle, as well as the work of Japanese national Michio Ito. Alongside these historical dances are two groundbreaking commissions by Tiffany Rea-Fisher, artistic director of Elisa Monte Dance, and Utah’s Natosha Washington, artistic director of The Penguin Lady.
Pygmalion Theatre Company presents:
Tigers be Still
OCT. 19–NOV. 11, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG BLACK BOX THEATRE ROSE WAGNER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Sherry Wickman finds herself unemployed, overwhelmed, and back at home after earning her master’s degree in art therapy. When Sherry gets hired as a substitute art teacher, things begin to brighten up. Now if only her mother would come downstairs, her sister would get off the couch, her first therapy patient would at least do one of his take-home assignments, her new boss would leave his gun at home, and someone could catch the tiger that escaped from the local zoo, everything would be hunky-dory. It’s a comedy about depression.
Pioneer Theatre Company Presents:
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
OCT. 26–NOV. 10, PIONEERTHEATRE.ORG PIONEER THEATRE, UOFU
“I was what some would say a virgin to Sweeney Todd. So before I attended my first production of Benjamin Barker’s legendary and bloody reign of terror on the dark, damp cobblestone streets of 19th century London, I had certain expectations,” wrote QSaltLake’s Tony Hobday. “I had painted Barker as a purely evil psychopath with absolutely no emotion or sense of morality. But much to my surprise, Barker a.k.a. Sweeney Todd is a mild-mannered man turned unhinged by his surroundings. Not to say I agree or even comprehend with which he attempts to balance justice in a selfish, uncouth world, but honestly, how evil is a man who’s pushed into a sea of predators?”
Tayler Mac is coming to Kingsbury Hall
Photo by Ian Douglas
Kingsbury Hall Presents:
Taylor Mac: A 24-decade history of popular music, abridged
NOV. 3, KINGSBURYHALL.UTAH.EDU KINGSBURY HALL, UOFU
Back by popular demand, the luminous Taylor Mac returns all decked and bedazzled in gloriously irreverent regalia for a night that is “startlingly unique…a must-see for anyone who wants to see a kinder, gentler society”. The abridged version of Taylor’s transformative “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music” is a captivating, community-building experience that reflects our nation’s diverse and sometimes dysfunctional story to reinvigorate a distinctively American sense of possibility. Told from the perspective of groups whose stories are often “forgot, dismissed, or buried,” the show highlights various musical styles and artistic voices ranging from murder ballads to disco, Walt Whitman to David Bowie, and beyond.
Broadway at the Eccles Presents:
Come From Away
NOV. 6–11, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG DELTA PERFORMANCE HALL GEORGE S. AND DOLORES DORÉ ECCLES THEATER
The New York Times Critics’ Pick takes you into the heart of the remarkable true story of 7,000 stranded passengers and the small town in Newfoundland that welcomed them. On 9/11, the world stopped. On 9/12, their stories moved us all.
Kingsbury Hall Presents:
SALT Contemporary Dance: The Bridge
NOV. 8–10, KINGSBURYHALL.UTAH.EDU KINGSBURY HALL, UOFU
During the height of the Civil War, a young man awaits his hanging for attempted arson. As his mind races to his family and ideals, his battle for survival becomes a battle for self. This genre-bending dance and music performance — created by Salt Lake City natives Andrew Maxfield and Stuart Maxfield (singer/bassist of Fictionist) — retells Ambrose Bierce’s classic short story.
Utah Arts Alliance Presents:
Illuminate Salt Lake
NOV. 9–10, UTAHARTS.ORG/ILLUMI- NATE-SALT-LAKE THE GATEWAY
The 2nd annual Illuminate Salt Lake Light Art and Technology Festival invites the community to explore the city in entirely new ways and to see it in a whole new light, by illuminating the culture and community through art and technology. The festival features installations by more than 30 artists, live music and performances, kids activities, kids short film fest, interactive light art demonstrations, virtual reality arts displays, after-glo parties, food trucks, local brews and spirits, and more.
Repertory Dance Theatre Presents:
Mosaic
NOV. 15–17, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG JEANNE WAGNER THEATRE ROSE WAGNER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Utah is home to a rich and diverse culture that can trace its origins to almost every country on earth. We celebrate our diversity in movement inspired by rituals, work and warrior dances, and steps performed at gatherings for centuries. The production features RDT along with guest artists performing traditional works from Utah’s ethnic communities.
David Sedaris
Photo by Adam Detour
Broadway at the Eccles Presents:
An Evening with David Sedaris
NOV. 18, ARTSALTLAKE.ORG DELTA PERFORMANCE HALL GEORGE S. AND DOLORES DORÉ ECCLES THEATER
With sardonic wit and incisive social critiques, David Sedaris has become one of America’s pre-eminent humor writers. He is the master of satire and one of today’s most observant writers addressing the human condition. Beloved for his personal essays and short stories, David Sedaris is the author of Barrel Fever, Naked, Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, Let’s Explore Diabetes with Owls, and others.
An Other Theater Company Presents:
Perfect Arrangement
NOV. 30–DEC. 22, ANOTHERTHEATERCOMPANY. COM
An Other Theater, Provo In Topher Payne’s biting comedy, Perfect Arrangement, it’s 1950 and new colors are being added to the Red Scare. Two U.S. State Department employees, Bob and Norma, have been tasked with identifying sexual deviants within their ranks. The twist: Both Bob and Norma are gay, and have married each other’s partners as a carefully constructed cover. Inspired by the true story of the earliest stirrings of the American gay rights movement, madcap I Love Lucy sitcom-style laughs give way to provocative drama as two “all-American” couples are forced to stare down the closet door, confronting the same struggles facing society today.
