Theatre Community Podcast

What is the current state of theatre criticism? Some have said it is a dying art. Keolanani Kinghorn started her own business called The Rhetorical Review with a focus on theatre criticism. In the process, she is working to change perceptions about theatre criticism and alter the way that theatre criticism works in relation to the art being created on stage. https://rhetoricalreview.com/

Joe Salvatore fell in love with verbatim theatre and ethnodrama in his earlier days and has carried this forward to his work as an NYU Professor, where he and his students actively engage with verbatim-style projects on a regular basis. Their latest project has to do with migration. Joe discusses what verbatim is and how it is different from ethnodrama, why this style of theatre is important and how we can use it in our own theatrical practice. www.joesalvatore.comhttp://steinhardt.nyu.edu/verbatimperformancelabInstagram: @profjoesal & @verbatimperformancelab

TVY, or Theare for very Young Audiences, is a staple in London but hasn't quite found its footing in Utah. Until now. Lauren Carn and Bryce Romleski have brought Utah's first TVY group to local stages with their To the Moon Theatre Collective. Their next show FRIENDLY UNIVERSE, in collaboration with Wsaatch Theatre Company (WTC) and WTC Kids, will run February 7 and 8 at the Regent Street Black Box at the Eccles. For more on To the Moon, visit slctvy.orgFor tickets, visit https://www.saltlakecountyarts.org/events/friendly-universe/For information on Wasatch Theatre Company, visit https://wasatchtheatrecompany.org

Selah DeGering talks with Jim about her latest project A DOZEN ROSES opening at the Regent Street Black Box in SLC on February 12. For this project, Selah is the playwright, the director, the set designer, the costume designer, and an understudy. Talk about multi-tasking! Selah discusses inspiration, Lauren Gunderson, and why she feels so much more free to write what she wants now. To get discount tickets to the V-Day performance, visit https://my.arttix.org/overview/38433/?promo=VALENTINEFor all other tickets, visit https://wasatchtheatrecompany.org

Spencer Ford has about six musicals under his belt, and one of them is traveling to Scotland this summer for the international Fringe Festival. The musical is called POSSESSIVE! and is a fun exploration of demon love. It turns out, demons really do love. Spencer discusses his group's progress to Edinburgh and how he developed POSSESSIVE, as well as his approach to writing musicals in general. To contribute to the cause, visit https://wasatchtheatrecompany.org.

We have theme music thanks to the uber-talented Matt Heider. Does this make us as an official podcast? Anywho, here is our first round of theatre dishing including opinions about The Queen of Versailles which closed on Broadway in December, Wicked and why the novel got banned when the musical and the movie are Disney-fied, theatre kid as an insult, the future of theatre, and recorded theatre (is it really theatre?). Content warning: there is a mention of pubic hair. Don't forget to subscribe. What do you want us to dish about?

Mitch Tyler is a Wasatch Theatre Company Ensemble Member who, along with his two collaborators, brough A DOZEN ROSES to WTC as a possible collaboration. WTC's mission is about supporting the emergence of new voices and so agreed. Mitch talks about the new play A DOZEN ROSES written by Selah DeGering. He discusses what it's about and why you should come. We finish the conversation with Mitch discussing his favorite play-to-movie adaptations and vice versa.

Wasatch Theatre Company has been affiliated with George Plautz since 2000. He was an actor, director, playwright, amd teacher who loved to share his creativity. He wrote many plays produced by Wasatch and directed many shows there as well. George passed away in 2023, and his friends and family have devoted themselves to finishing a project George had begun before his death. The project was a musical about Vivian Maier who took street photography for her own enjoyment but never saw her work reach acclaim. She died in 2009 only to be "discovered" later. Mary Anne Heider has taken the mantle of finishing the script started by George in preparation for a Wasatch Theatre Company production in April of 2026.