“Master Class” is another wild card in the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre’s 2019 season. Like the previous “Bravo, Caruso!,” this drama is an homage to one of the 20th century’s operatic superstars, the late Maria Callas.

The Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre launched its 2019 main-stage offerings with a rousting production of “Newsies,” an old-fashioned, crowd-pleasing musical.

If you’re shopping for family-friendly, child-oriented summer entertainment, look no further than the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre’s ongoing production of the musical fantasy “Mary Poppins.”

When performing one of the greatest works in the whole canon of American musical theater, the quality bar is naturally set sky-high. The Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre’s ongoing production of the classic “West Side Story” easily vaults that bar and continues into the heavens.

If a ghoulish-looking being named Count Orlok believes you have a “lovely neck,” you might be in trouble.

In a surprisingly gutsy move, the Lyric Repertory Company is playing the high-voltage drama card again in its 2019 season.

“Spider-Man: Far From Home” attempts to wrap up the “Endgame” storyline, while simultaneously blazing a new path for the Marvel Comic Universe, or MCU. And yet, what this newest installment in the storied, but fractured, “Spider-Man” franchise does is tedious, well-worn and adds no new creat…

Amid all the things in his garage crammed with stuff that shows his affinity for old-time cars, there’s a plaque hanging on the wall that former Cache Valley doctor F. Robert Bryner likes to point to.

Given gifted performers and inspired direction, an intimate small-cast play can still have a big dramatic impact. Local audiences were treated to a perfect example of that theatrical lesson when the Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre recently debuted the drama “Bravo, Caruso!”

The ongoing production of “Mamma Mia!” by the Lyric Repertory Company is pure mindless fluff, exactly as this juke box musical featuring 1970’s hits by the Swedish pop group Abba was meant to be. It’s also rollicking good fun.

Incoming Utah State University freshman Abigail Edwards knows the feeling of having the spotlight on her when she’s performing in front of an audience, whether its in an auditorium at Green Canyon High School or the in the Big Apple.

For Craig Mecham, trying to get a good night’s sleep isn’t just routine, it’s part of the process of songwriting.

The “Toy Story” franchise has an uncanny ability to peel back the layers of humanity to find out what really makes us tick. Sure, they’re toys, but what they go through, the problems they encounter and the emotions they deal with are all deeply human.

Any good theater production can make you laugh or cry. But only a truly great show has the power to frighten you.

Listless and unimaginative are the adjectives that come to mind when trying to best describe “Men in Black International.” For a well-known blockbuster franchise starring two charismatic leads, this installment falls dreadfully, and somewhat surprisingly, flat.

LOGAN, Utah — Cache Valley native Jocelyn Wellings remembers going to the Summerfest Arts Faire as a little girl and making her own art at the “creation station” or hanging out and watching live music next to her father, who worked the sound.

The first “Secret Life of Pets” movie was marketed with silly clips of what animals do when humans aren’t around. They were charming little short films. The first film should’ve been more like that and less like a full movie-length narrative that we’re used to. The second film almost achieve…

Usually, superhero movies tend to become bogged down in scenes or dialogue that strictly exists for exposition purposes. So much of these movies are spent explaining character origins, motivations and why the bad guys are doing what they’re doing. “Dark Phoenix,” the latest in the “X-Men” fr…

Part of the genius of Gareth Edward’s 2014 “Godzilla” reboot was realizing that the humans were simply inconsequential bystanders, the equivalent of a swarm of ants about to be crushed by a giant boot. “Godzilla: King of the Monsters” doesn’t understand this and it’s worse for it.

These Disney live-action remakes are more effective when they don’t tell the exact same story that the animated version told. “Beauty and the Beast” was essentially the same thing, whereas “Maleficent” told us a familiar story but from a different point of view. The new “Aladdin” is more lik…

The “John Wick” franchise is the perfect counterpart to superhero fever. The series is now on its third movie, so it’s well known. But it creates a setting in which the action is a more intimate affair. John Wick is simply trying to save himself. He doesn’t care about saving the world. And y…

Any parent who’s seen their kids watching a random “Pokémon” anime or has been dragged to one of the various “Pokémon” movies, might think “Oh no! Here we go again.” Those anime movies are usually geared toward the kids and have very little in the way of adult entertainment. Have no fear tho…

“Ugly Dolls” is based on of a toy line of dolls that aren’t all that ugly to begin with. It’s not like they’re Garbage Pail Kids or anything; they’re plush and huggable. Sure, they might have one eye or a lopsided face, but they’re still fuzzy little dolls that kids can cuddle. So, it’s a li…

LAS VEGAS — Sir Elton John gave actor Taron Egerton some unlikely advice for portraying him in “Rocketman”: Don’t do an impression. Sing the songs the way you want.

The culmination of the Marvel cinematic universe is, surprisingly, a thoughtful, poignant adventure that allows for its popular characters to feel and experience the human condition. It’s unexpectedly emotional and character-driven rather than action-driven. It’s the first Marvel movie of its kind.

In a sea of computer animated kid movies, the Laika studio does things pain-stakingly different. Stop motion animation is a completely different beast when it comes to the animation process. The arduous task of meticulously placing and replacing figurines until a moving picture is created is…

After so many super-serious superhero movies, DC needed something like “Shazam!” to lighten the mood. All the movies leading up to “Justice League” — save “Wonder Woman” — have been somber affairs. Even the kooky “Aquaman,” the successor to “Justice,” was too full of itself. “Shazam!” is a n…

It seems like right after the first superhero movie of the season hits theaters that the summer movie season is suddenly thrust upon us. In box office land the summer season starts in March or April; it’s hard to tell anymore. This year’s “Captain Marvel” kicked things off, but it would seem…

Director Jordan Peele’s “Us,” the follow up to “Get Out,” is inventive and technically sound, all while being somewhat of a narrative mess. It’s an engaging, scary film that seems to stumble over itself in the end. But, boy oh boy, what a journey it is until you get to the end.

During a Q&A session with Utah State University students on Tuesday at her alma mater, New York-based opera singer Tamara Mumford received a bouquet of flowers and a medal from the Caine College of the Arts’ dean.

We don’t get many superheroine movies. Usually our super-people are appended with “man” and that limits the sort of wide diversity there is in the world. So, it’s kind of a shame that a movie like “Captain Marvel,” a concept with such promise, could fall just a tad flat compared to the other…

In a clip from a film trailer, an actress playing the part of Utah State University alumna and barrel racer Amberley Snyder complains to her mother about being paralyzed from the waist down, saying she might never ride a horse again.

The key to creating worthwhile sequels is understanding your characters and giving them chances to grow and learn; don’t just send them through the same sorts of adventures with new characters.

Utah State University student Tyler Coleman recalls the days when he was living in the bustling Phoenix metro area, having to travel some three hours to enjoy any quality fly fishing with his friends.

NEW YORK — First-time documentary filmmakers Tina Brown and Dyana Winkler lugged their cameras to Central Park in New York one day to capture the last few people still passionate about roller skating. Rinks across the country were gone. The activity seemed dead.

The late painter Bob Ross liked to say when it comes to making a work of art, there’s no such thing as mistakes — only happy accidents.

The first “Lego Movie” set a precedent that’s hard to live up to. Then came “Lego Batman” and “Lego Ninjago” and we soon discovered that the “Lego” movies, with their patented sardonic wit, will rarely, if ever, be bad. “The Lego Movie: Part 2 – The Second Part” is just as fun and delightful…

The celebrities have left, the makeshift theaters have returned to their original uses and Park City returns to normalcy after another Sundance Film Festival. The annual event founded by acclaimed actor and director Robert Redford has come and gone, but not without leaving us with some indel…

“They Shall Not Grow Old” is a film you won’t soon forget. It’s a film that showcases what the medium is capable of in the hands of talented, visionary people. It’s a stunning achievement.

“The Kid Who Would Be King” is one of those kids movies you, as a parent, might sigh at before taking your kids to see. From the previews, it appears to be like dozens of other kid-friendly live-action movies.

It feels like “Glass” exists because superhero universes are everything right now. Filmmaker M. Night Shyamalan’s “Unbreakable” never felt like a story that needed any expounding, but here we are. With one haphazard after-credit scene in “Split,” we now have a superhero franchise from him th…

I recorded a Best of 2018 movie show with Andy Morgan at KVNU. During the broadcast, we covered our 20 favorite movies of the year. I mentioned that had we done our top 40 movies, I still would’ve been able to find glowing things to say about 40 movies this year.

Eric Nelson, a retired Cache Valley public schoolteacher, knows an old joke when it comes to telling the difference between a rock band and a jazz band, like the one he plays with every week.

It’s too bad that the newspaper doesn’t support GIFs, because the perfect visual review of “Aquaman” would be the GIF of Brick Tamland from “Anchorman” yelling, “Loud noises!”

On Wednesday afternoon in downtown Logan, Mark Lunt sanded down walls and tore up floor tiles at The Cache Venue.

I’m usually a sucker for sci-fi movies that attempt to create new worlds apart from any established franchise or popular source material. World building is difficult. Realistic world building, from scratch, is extremely rare. So, when movies like “Mortal Engines” appear in cinemas I want to …

With the onslaught of super hero movies, it’s difficult to expect any radical change or shift in the genre. The Marvel cinematic universe is essentially an expensive television series hurtling towards an endless number of movies on the horizon. While the most recent Marvel films have been be…

These “Creed” movies get it. They understand what was so endearing about the “Rocky” franchise and in many ways, they expound on well-known storylines giving them a richness and depth that even the previous Rocky movies couldn’t portray.

Before our screening of “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” they showed us a “Previously on…” clip show that linked past “Harry Potter” movies to the “Fantastic Beasts” movies and that should tell you all you need to know about this movie.

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” is an odd mix of fantasy that never really finds its voice. A bland “Wizard of Oz” knock-off.

CORONA, Calif. (AP) — Jimmy Page once painted a dragon, and used it to slay.

A Western folk hero has been brought to life at Mountain Crest with the school’s production of “Annie Get Your Gun.”

“Hunter Killer” is a decent thriller about trying not to start World War III.

Steven and Jennifer Birch of Logan and Brandon and Jill Douglas of Providence are pleased to announce the marriage of their daughter Kassie Pearl Douglas to Mark Clayton Teuscher, son of Mark and Marilyn Teuscher of Logan. They will be sealed for time and all eternity in the Logan Temple on …

“Halloween” is sure to please horror aficionados who derive metaphor and meaning from schlocky slashers like this. I’m not one of those people.

In a world of sequels and prequels and franchises it’s nice to sit down to a movie sporting a confusing, cumbersome title and having zero expectations going in. There’s something about not knowing what to expect or even the characters you’re about to interact with. Those simple aspects of mo…