By Amy Nicholson

Old-fashioned comedy, catchy show tunes and happy endings are all part of the show "Lucky Stiff," opening at Heritage Theatre in Perry this weekend.

Jacob Thompson of Deweyville is directing the show, which he saw for the first time about 10 years ago. "It is fun and fresh," he said.

Thompson said he caught the bug for acting and directing a little later in life than most. Although he had played the part of an orphan in a production of "Oliver" at the age of 8, and participated in high school choir, he didn't re-enter the theater arena again until he was 21.

"The theater has a unique way of entertaining, educating and enlightening people. Some shows leave a mark on your spirit. Others help you relax," Thompson said.

"Lucky Stiff" is more along the lines of pure entertainment, he said.

Thompson believes the lighthearted storyline is just what audiences are craving during current tough economic times.

"I like to see the vision that I have unfold on the stage. It's not something made with my hands like other art mediums, but it is still something to be proud of," he said of the directing experience.

The cast has 10 characters, five principal actors, four actors who play several more minor characters, and one actor playing a dead guy for the duration.

The plot

As the plot unfolds, lead character Harry Witherspoon, a shy shoe salesman from England, receives word that a distant uncle has been shot and killed. He has left his estate of $6 million to Harry, but only if Harry follows his instructions.

Harry is told that his uncle would never miss a vacation for anything, not even death, and his final wish was to take a trip to Monte Carlo.

In "Weekend at Bernie's" fashion, Harry hauls the corpse around in a wheelchair, irritated by the things he must do, but also liberated from his boring life and excited to be on an adventure.

If Harry, played by Brett Johnson of Layton, fails to carry out his uncle's wishes, the $6 million will go to a charity that benefits dogs.

Sarah Johnson, who in real life is married to Brett Johnson, plays the part of Annabel Glick, a sweet charity worker who shows up on Harry's adventure, determined to watch his every move and take the money if he makes a mistake.

The Johnsons met while singing in a show choir at Utah State University. The two married 10 years ago and have three sons, ages 7, 4 and 1.

Both enjoy acting and try to do at least one show per year despite their busy family life.

"Theater is our hobby. We try to get away and do it whenever we can," Sarah Johnson said.

The play is a fun one, she said: "It has a little twist and a fun ending you'd never expect."

Playing together

Another couple, Bree Hoskisson and Derek Hendricks of Roy, are also cast in the show. The two have been dating for the past five years and frequently appear in shows together, participating in about five shows each per year.

Hoskisson plays Rita, a hard-edged chain smoker from New York who totes a gun and is determined to get her hands on the $6 million she says was stolen from her.

She pulls her brother, Vinnie Di Ruzzio, a quiet optometrist played by Hendricks, into the plot and spends a lot of time pushing him around.

Hoskisson is currently pursuing a musical theater degree at Weber State University, and Hendricks earned his associate's degree in theater from Western Wyoming Community College.

"We have a song together. It is the first time we've gotten to sing onstage -- just the two of us," Hoskisson said.

the original story can be found here.

The Weber State University performing arts department’s 2011-2012 theater season came to a close with the showing of a completely student-run production, The Cradle Will Rock. The show was put on by the Associated Actors and Technicians.

“I love the student-directed stuff here just because it really shows the intense dedication,” said Shauna Ross, who has recently joined AAT and was house manager for the performances, enabling her to see the show several times.

The show was directed by Trent Cox, a theater education major at WSU. According to Cox, there were several difficulties that could go along with holding the title of student director.

“It’s difficult kind of drawing that line between ‘Now I’m director, and now I’m your friend,’” Cox said. “But I feel like there wasn’t any issues with that or anything. I wouldn’t say just as a student director, but as a director in general, just the material is difficult. It’s a 75-year-old play, and just relating it to nowadays is a great challenge.”

The Cradle Will Rock was written by Marc Blitzstein and was originally part of the Federal Theater Project in the 1930s, a program used to put theaters back to work during the Great Depression. However, the program had some past problems with censorship, and shortly before it was about to open, the show was shut down.

“The cast and director (Orson Welles) gathered the opening night audience, the cast and one piano, and walked 21 blocks to a new theater, and performers were told they were going to be arrested if they performed the show on stage because of ‘political overtones,’” Cox said.

He said that Marc Blitztein just got up and started performing the show’s music by piano, and one by one the cast members got up from the audience and sang their parts, performing the entire opening show within the audience.

“I just go to thinking what a great experience that would be as an audience member, as a performer, as just someone in the theater at that time; so I wanted to put that into nowadays and relate that to now,” Cox said.

The in-audience feel of the performance may have been the live piano performance of all the show’s music by music director Rick Rea, and even having the cast perform its own side effects off-stage while the show continued.

The show is about an average American town in the 1930s called Steeltown, USA, which is being rocked by the efforts of an average worker, Larry Foreman, to form a laborers’ union. This doesn’t go over well with greedy steel tycoon, Mr. Mister, as he’s gone out of his way to own the entire town from the preachers to the press in order to make sure this very thing doesn’t happen.

Foreman is arrested giving a public speech about the union along with a group of Mister’s various henchman called the Liberty Committee who were sent to break up the speech and are awaiting Mr. Mister to bail them out for their loyalty. Each of their stories are told of how they sold their souls for Mr. Mister’s money, and in the end it is left up to the people to decide whether the union or a corporate agenda will succeed.

“Mr. Mister, who’s like the government, he owns everything, he pays everyone off to say what he thinks is good to help him personally,” said Addison Welch, the graduating theater performance student who played Larry Foreman. “But we need to fight for what we know is true and what we know is right.”

Welch believes that the show deals with some of the issues faced in today’s politics, and even though they aren’t exact, he still finds them to be applicable.

“I’ve had to really be honest and truthful and pull from what I know is true from the situations happening in our media right now, our life right now, and apply to this character in the thirties,” Welch said.

The show closed last Saturday, but AAT is opened for all students to join if anyone has  interest in these opportunities for the upcoming theater season.

“I think the central theme is talking about those weaker people, the people that weren’t part of the richer class,” Ross said. “This theme is about those people that got tired of being suppressed. They got tired of being pushed down, and they were able to build up into these unions and help to support what America is today and the rights that we have.”

the original article can be found here.

OGDEN — In the 17th century, poet John Donne penned the line “No man is an island, entire of itself.” Is it true, or was Paul Simon closer to the truth when he wrote “I am a rock, I am an island” about 350 years later?

“Coil,” a new piece of choreography, explores the question of how connected people are to society and the world.

Weber State University’s Moving Company performs the dance at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, March 29, in the Browning Center’s Austad Auditorium, on campus at 3848 Harrison Blvd. Admission is free.

“Coil,” inspired by Donne’s “Meditation XVII,” is a collaboration between Moving Company and the university’s chamber choir, with 15 dancers and 24 singers performing.

Additional performances are scheduled for local sixth through ninth grade students who are receiving study materials created by WSU graduate student Jennifer Alverson and professor Gary Dohrer.

These performances are part of the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, hosted March 29-31 by Weber State University. WSU students Brett Cragun and ShayLynne Clark studied the collaboration that created “Coil” and will present their data at 8:30 a.m. Thursday in Room 136 of the Browning Center.

Oral presentations and poster sessions at the conference, covering undergraduate research on everything from science and history to electrical engineering and legal studies, are open to the public.

For more information about “Coil,” call 801-626-6431. For information about the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, including presentation schedules, visit www.weber.edu/ncur2012.

The original article can be found here.

By J. Michael Call

Utah musical theater lovers may have already heard Clinton native J. Michael Bailey sing the moving number “Bring Him Home” from the megahit musical “Les Misérables.”

But now audiences from Utah and beyond will have a chance to hear him sing not only that number, but all of Jean Valjean’s songs. Bailey has been selected to play the leading role in the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s upcoming production of the epic musical.

“It’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a long time,” Bailey said. “Now I get to own the role for up to six months, and it’s quite a thrill for me.”

After conducting a national casting search in New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles, artistic directors David Ivers and Brian Vaughn announced Bailey’s selection this week. They were familiar with Bailey’s work as he was in the festival’s 2009-10 acting company. Bailey played Jaggers in the premiere of the musical “Great Expectations” that season at the Cedar City festival.

In considering Bailey for the role of Valjean, the festival flew Bailey to Las Vegas and had him sing through the entire score.

“We needed to know if J. Michael had the vocal strength and range to withstand the demands of this show, and he nailed it,” said Ivers in a press release.

Bailey, who lives in North Salt Lake, grew up on a small farm in Clinton, where he played football and rode horses. He was 18 when he saw his first production of “The Phantom of the Opera” and fell in love with the theater. He studied musical theater at Weber State University and now has over 20 years of experience acting and singing all over the state.

In addition to the festival, the actor with the melodic baritone has appeared in numerous concerts and theatrical productions along the Wasatch Front. Bailey was the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in “Sweeney Todd” at the Egyptian Theatre in Park City. He was recently the Cowardly Lion in Grand Theatre’s production of “The Wizard of Oz,” in which his wife, Mary Anderson Bailey, played the Wicked Witch of the West.

WSU audiences will also recognize him as Capt. Hook in “Peter Pan” and John Wilkes Booths in “Assassins”

Bailey also appeared for three years with a small group of other performers in the Broadway-style Valentine’s concerts at WSU. Bailey’s performance of “Bring Him Home” during those concerts always won enthusiastic applause.

Based on Victor Hugo’s classic novel, “Les Misérables” is an epic and uplifting story about the survival of the human spirit. It focuses on the struggles of ex-convict Jean Valjean as he searches for meaning, love and redemption in 19th-century France.

“I am so grateful that the festival is trusting me to play Jean Valjean,” said Bailey, who is the father of three children. “I feel a strong attachment to Valjean because of the passion and sacrifices he’s willing to make for his child. ‘Les Misérables’ is the ultimate love story with justice, redemption, forgiveness, truth and hope; what more could an actor ask for?”

The musical includes some of theater’s most memorable songs: “I Dreamed a Dream,” “On My Own,” “Bring Him Home” and “Do You Hear the People Sing,” among others.

Written and composed by Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, with lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer, “Les Misérables” is the world’s longest-running musical. It will be playing in the festival’s Randall L. Jones Theatre from June 23 to October 20. The show may be extended, Bailey said, depending on audience support.

For more information or to buy tickets call 1-800-PLAYTIX or check online at www.bard.org.

The original story can be found here.

By J. Michael Call

The show must go on -- even if you don't have a set, costumes or any actors onstage.

That's the story behind the political satire "The Cradle Will Rock," opening March 23 at Weber State University.

The play is directed by Trent Cox, a senior at Weber State University studying theater education. Cox recently appeared as Geoffrey in "The Lion in Winter," Paris in "Romeo and Juliet," and the Stage Manager in "Our Town," all WSU productions.

He has also directed productions at local schools, as well as one-act plays at WSU.

"The Cradle Will Rock" is a co-production of the department of performing arts and the Associated Actors and Technicians at the university.

"It's a show that rarely gets done and is a great piece of theater history," Cox said.

AAT selected "The Cradle Will Rock," Cox said, because of its importance in history. The play -- an allegory of corruption and corporate greed -- was originally directed in 1937 by a young Orson Welles. It was written by Marc Blitzstein and produced by John Houseman as part of the Federal Theatre Project.

"It was causing some controversy and the government was really concerned that it has some leftist ideas and issues," Cox said. "Members of the WPA (Works Progress Administration) came in three days before the opening of the show and closed the theater down. They just pretty much locked the theater with everyone's sets and costumes and props."

The producers were forbidden to use the costumes or sets, and the actors were threatened with arrest if they appeared onstage.

But that didn't stop Welles, Houseman and Blitzstein from cleverly getting around the government's attempted shutdown. They rented another theater and planned for Blitzstein to sing, play and read the entire musical. Without prior planning, cast members joined in the show without violating government dictates.

"They did the entire show from the audience, not on the stage," Cox said.

The show's success led Welles and Houseman to form the Mercury Theatre in New York City. Welles would go on to fame in theater, radio and film, most notably for his movie "Citizen Kane" -- widely considered one of the best films of all time.

Brechtian style

However, "The Cradle Will Rock" was not what the wily director had originally envisioned.

"One of the things that they were concerned about when Orson was originally directing the show was that he was kind of going too over the top with it," Cox said. "The original set was huge and there was a lot of spectacle elements. There were pyrotechnics, and there was actually a part where the stage rocked back and forth. So they went from this huge, elaborate production to kind of like this bare-bones theater."

Cox is taking WSU's production in that direction, using the "Brechtian" style in his directing. Bertolt Brecht was a playwright who was a major influence on Blitzstein as he created the show.

"I'm going for the alienation of the theater, but the audience will be aware that they are watching a show at all times," Cox said. The production includes music, a minimal set, projections, live sound, labeling and 29 different characters portrayed by 16 actors.

Cox noted that 90 percent of the show is either sung or has musical underscoring. The score has a definite '30s vibe and includes a wide variety of styles, he said, including rumba, Hawaiian and big ballads.

"It's tons of different styles of music," Cox said. "But don't come expecting what we know today as a piece of musical theater. It's not even billed as a musical, it's billed as a play with music, but it's definitely kind of an operetta style."

Mister meanie

"The Cradle Will Rock" is set in Steeltown, USA, where Larry Foreman is trying to unionize the town's workers and combat greedy businessman Mr. Mister, who controls the town's factory, press, church and social organizations.

"He cannot stand the thought of a union happening," said WSU student Trevor Dean, who is playing Mr. Mister, "Any way he can try to snuff it out, he's going to do it because that shows there's someone else getting control over what they want in their lives."

Mr. Mister is a character somewhere between Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life" and Lord Voldemort in the Harry Potter series.

"He's all about being the big bad bully on the playground," said Dean, whom audiences will remember as the stuffy Sir Evelyn Oakleigh in WSU's recent production of "Anything Goes."

"He's trying to manipulate everyone in the town to get on to his side," Dean said. "And although everyone in the town is terrified of him, they're more terrified of what he will do to them if they don't join his 'Liberty committee.' He just wants to monopolize everything and get everyone under his grasp."

The greatest challenge playing such a villain for the fun-loving Dean has been to command the stage and get in touch with his inner meanie. He was apprehensive about the role when he first landed the part, but is now enjoying the show and thinks audiences will as well.

Although it was first produced 75 years ago, both Dean and Cox said the show will resonate with modern audiences -- particularly in light of the Occupy Wall Street movement.

"It has a lot to do with the 99 percent trying to rise up to that 1 percent and actually have a say that matters," Dean said.

"One of the main themes in the show is prostitution ... prostitution of one's self, the government, the church, the press ..." Cox added. "Mr. Mister owns Steeltown's press, church and all of the town's factories. He is the 1 percent."

‘WAITING FOR LEFTY’

In conjunction with Weber State University’s production of “The Cradle Will Rock,” the department of performing arts presents a lecture by John Sillito on the New Deal at 1:30 p.m. March 28 in Room 305 of the WSU Shepherd Union Building on campus at 3848 Harrison Blvd., Ogden.

The “Waiting for Lefty” lecture is free and open to the public.

Sillito teaches history at WSU and has done extensive research on radicalism and Utah labor. He co-authored “A History of Utah Radicalism: Startling, Socialistic and Decidely Revolutionary” (USU Press, 2011) with John S. McCormick.

“This lecture will serve as ‘collateral support’ for our audience to have a better understanding of this time period,” said performing arts marketing director Caril Jennings in a press release. “The interesting part, to me, is that we appear to be having the same discussions today as we did almost 75 years ago.”

the original story can be found here.

By J. Michael Call

Weber State University's giggle-inducing production of "Xanadu" has made some people smile on a national level.

The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival has announced its national awards for 2011, and the WSU musical earned some kudos.

In each of 21 categories, the KCACTF awards recognize one outstanding show and several distinguished achievements for productions showcased at the eight regional festivals held across the country in January and February. WSU hosted the Region 8 presentation last month on the Ogden campus.

"Xanadu" earned three distinguished recognitions, including Distinguished Production of a Musical. The lighthearted romp back to the '80s was directed by Jim Christian, director of musical theater studies at WSU. Christian earned Distinguished Director of a Musical and Distinguished Choreography for the show.

"We were pleasantly surprised, it's always nice to receive things like that," Christian said. "We had an audience member who came and saw it at the festival. She came up to me the next day and said, 'That was the most delicious piece of literary bubble gum I have ever chewed.' "

Others Region 8 awards included Rene Michelle Aranda, who won the Outstanding Performance by an Actress as Willy the Space Freak in Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy's "The Unseen Hand." The college's production also was awarded Distinguished Performance and Production Ensembles.

Brigham Young University's production of "The Elephant Man" also won awards, including Distinguished Performances by an Actor, which went to both Darick Pead as Frederick Treves and Graham Ward as John Merrick. Jennifer Chandler also earned a Distinguished Performance by an Actress as the cellist/narrator for that same production.

For a complete list of winners, visit http://kcactf.blogspot.com/2012/03/kennedy-center-american-college-theater_04.html

A Grand show

Christian first fell in love with the zany "Xanadu" when it premiered on Broadway in 2007. He vowed then and there to bring the show to Utah audiences. WSU was the first Utah theater to premiere the musical, written by Douglas Carter Beane, with music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar. The show sold out when it played on campus in November in the Browning Center's black-box Eccles Theater.

Because of budget cutbacks within the KCACTF, Christian won't be taking the show to Washington, D.C., next month for the national festival.

But he isn't quite done with "Xanadu." Utah audiences will have another opportunity to see Christian's vision of the show as he directs a new production of "Xanadu," opening in May at the Grand Theatre in Salt Lake City.

"It's an absolute joy to work on," Christian said. "It's a very clever script and it's got music that is caught in the hearts of everybody who lived through the '80s. It's just one of those little confections of a show."

That Grand Theater production will feature many of the same elements that were used in the WSU show, as well as some of the same actors, including WSU senior Sean Bishop as Sonny.

Sonny is a chalk artist living in 1980 Venice Beach, Calif. Discouraged over his sidewalk mural depicting the Greek Muses, Sonny becomes despondent and suicidal. He needs help and inspiration, which comes in the form of a Greek muse named Clio, who rises with her sisters out of his sidewalk creation to help Sonny find Xanadu. The musical fondly spoofs the 1980 movie starring Olivia Newton-John, as well as the 1980s version of "Clash of the Titans."

Other returning cast members include Shelby Andersen as wicked muse sister Calliope, Maggie Goertzen as Urania, and Stephanie Jameson, who will take on different role and serve as Christian's dance captain for the show.

"It's going to be really fun to explore the show in the Grand Theatre space just because of the big open proscenium. There will be all types of different things that we will be able to do because of that," Christian said.

The original story can be found here.

By Ben Fulton

The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Mar 14 2012 03:04 pm • Last Updated Mar 14 2012 03:04 pm

Similar to Emile Zola’s Germinal, John Sayles’ "Matewan" and Elia Kazan’s "On the Waterfront," "The Cradle Will Rock" is a classic of working-class drama and literature. A classic, except for the fact that some people still know nothing about it.

Marc Blitzstein’s 1937 story of Larry Foreman’s attempts to unionize workers in "Steeltown, USA" in opposition to Mr. Mister sounds almost cartoonish in its outline, but impressed Orson Welles so much that he directed it as part of the Federal Theatre Project’s series of works that began as a program of the Works Progress Administration to employ unemployed artists, actors and theater writers during the Depression. The WPA, in turn, was so alarmed by unabashed political message behind Blitzstein’s drama that they tried to shut it down. Weber State University’s department of performing arts has selected "The Cradle Will Rock" both for its superlative qualities that stand alone, matched with its current relevance to the Occupy movement.

Trent Cox, director of this production, stated in press materials that the hand of German dramatist Bertolt Brecht guided his hand. "Ninety percent of the show is either sung or has musical underscoring—a great challenge," Cox notes.

‘The Cradle Will Rock’
When » March 23-31, 7:30 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinee March 31.
Where » Eccles Theater at Val A. Browning Center for the Arts, Weber State University, 3848 Harrison Blvd, Ogden
Tickets » $8-$11. Call 1-800-WSU-TIKS or visit www.weberstatetickets.com for more information. 

Original Article can be found here.

Accusations of witchcraft and McCarthyism may be relics of the past, but fear is still a factor in this post-9/11 world.

The power of fear is one of the driving forces in Arthur Miller's award-winning play "The Crucible," opening March 7 at the Grand Theatre on the Salt Lake Community College campus.

The play, which won the 1953 Tony award for best play, takes place during the Puritan era and dramatizes the hysteria and frenzy surrounding the Salem witch trials. Miller famously wrote the play as an allegory of the McCarthyism of the 1950s.

"It's the idea of what-does-fear-do-to-us," said Ogden native and actor Tyson Richard Baker, who is playing the Rev. John Hale in the production. "At what point do we draw the line, where we're starting to suspect our neighbors and suspect people that we've known all of our lives? What do we do in those situations?"

Hale is a well-respected minister with a reputation as an expert on witchcraft, Baker explained. He comes to Salem to lend his expertise when a young girl is unable to move in her bed and the villagers suspect witchcraft.

"The town kind of looks to him as the go-to guy to try to fix their problem," Baker said. "He's someone the audience can follow and empathize with really easy, because he is on the same journey of being introduced to this madness of the girls claiming that everybody's a witch."

The girl and a group of her friends are making the accusations because they are trying to hide a secret about themselves. As the frenzy escalates, the Salem witch trials begin and, ultimately, some of the townspeople are found guilty and executed.

Hale is largely responsible for whipping up the furor in the town and pushing for the trials.

Director Mark Fossen and the actors are trying to convey to audiences how real the fear of witchcraft was during the Puritan era and how that affected their behavior.

"Everything that he has ever known as a preacher, and as one who has studied the signs of witchcraft, these signs of witchcraft are pointing to 'yes,' and it's freaking him out," Baker said.

However, Hale begins to realize his folly and later struggles to persuade the accused "witches" to lie by confessing so they can live, rather than tell the truth and die.

"He sees that there is something innately good about the people who are being convicted," Baker said. "It is an inner torment for him."

A student of the play

Baker, who lives in Liberty, is working on a theater arts degree at Weber State University. Audiences will recognize the actor from recent roles as an apostle in "Jesus Christ Superstar" in Park City, Friar Laurence in "Romeo and Juliet" at WSU, and the summer season of the Old Lyric Repertory Theater Company in Logan.

A Baker not only in name but also by present occupation at the Great Harvest Bread Company on Historic 25th Street in Ogden, Baker is hoping to someday work as a full-time actor.

"I work in the early mornings so I can do theater at night, and hopefully will one day will be able to just act," he said.

Baker has studied "The Crucible" throughout the course of his education and was originally drawn to the role of John Proctor, the protagonist of the play who is accused of witchcraft and eventually faces the gallows.

But Baker said he has enjoyed fleshing out the part of the conflicted reverend.

One of his favorite lines comes in the final act as Hale tries to atone for his actions.

"Life is God's most precious gift; no principle, however glorious, may justify the taking of it," Hale says in the play.

Like his character, Baker came to the role with "newbie eyes" and has dived into the play along with the rest of the cast of 19, which includes Cassandra Stokes-Wylie as Elizabeth Proctor, David Hanson as John Proctor, Sahara Hayes as Abigail Williams and Max Robinson as Judge Danforth.

Other Utah favorites in the cast include Ron Frederickson, Richard Scharine, Stephen Williams, Toni Byrd, Barb Smith and Jon McBride.

"Everyone else in the show has really brought their A game, and I felt that from the get-go," Baker said. "People may have preconceived notions about what 'The Crucible' is, but they will find something entirely new with this one because everyone in the cast is very, very talented, and I'm really excited to be able to see how that comes across with the audience."

Related reading

In addition to the show, the Grand Theatre presents a free lecture by Joseph McCarthy scholar David Oshinsky, who discusses his 1983 book "A Conspiracy So Immense: The World of Joe McCarthy" and how it relates to the theater's production of "The Crucible."

Ochinsky will be speaking at noon March 7 in the Oak Room at the Salt Lake Community College Taylorsville/Redwood Campus, 4600 S. Redwood Road, Salt Lake City.

Prior to Wednesday's opening performance, Ochinsky will continue the conversation at 6 p.m. on the Grand Theatre stage in a question-and-answer session moderated by two SLCC faculty members.

The discussion will focus on Oshinsky's insight about the McCarthy era and how it influenced Miller and other artists of the time.

The events with Oshinsky are free and open to the public. 

OGDEN — Utah Opera’s upcoming “The Elixir of Love” puts a Western spin on Gaetano Donizetti’s Italian classic opera, and the Ogden Opera Guild will present a sneak peek of the show this week at Weber State University.

The preview presentation begins at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in the Browning Center’s Garrison Choral Room (Room 134) on campus, 3848 Harrison Blvd. Admission is free.

The reimagined rendition tells the tale of a timid ranch hand named Nemorino, who can’t get up the nerve to declare his love for a sassy cowgirl who goes by the name of Adina. When a rival appears on the scene, Nemorino uses a magic elixir to give him the courage to find romance.

The guild will present a shortened version of the show, with several resident Utah Opera artists participating. The artists include baritone John Buffett, soprano Jennie Litster, mezzo-soprano Sishel Claverie, tenor Andrew Penning and pianist Daveth Clark. The presentation is made possible through a RAMP grant.

Utah Opera presents “The Elixir of Love” March 10-18 at Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City. Tickets are $16 to $85, available through ArtTix or by calling 888-451-ARTS (2787).

The original article can be found here.