Tag: Theater

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Harry Potter and the Cursed Child

Courtesy-of-HARRY-POTTER-AND-THE-CURSED-CHILD.-Photo-by-Manuel-Harlan

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child • September 23, 2026 • Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Alisha Gregson

Photography by Manuel Harlan courtesy of Broadway at the Eccles

Courtesy of HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD. Photo by Manuel Harlan
Courtesy of HARRY POTTER AND THE CURSED CHILD. Photo by Manuel Harlan.

The touring production of the Broadway play, “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child,” brought its magic to the stage at Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City. 

I have always been a Harry Potter fan. I read the first book the year it came out, when I was just 9 years old. I would eagerly wait for the release of each of the following books. I have read the series straight through multiple times, even as an adult. I have thrown at least 4 Harry Potter parties; I have a framed quote from Dumbledore hanging in my entryway, and I was Voldemort for Halloween a few years back. 

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Hadestown

Photo Credit: Evan Zimmerman for Murphy Made

There’s something almost ritualistic about experiencing Hadestown live, and its recent stop at the Eccles Theater in Salt Lake City felt less like a night at the theater and more like being invited into a haunting, intimate storytelling circle. From the moment the first notes drifted through the hall, the production established a mood that was equal parts smoky jazz club and mythological dreamscape, pulling the audience into its underworld with quiet confidence.

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SUFFS

SUFFS • November 11, 2025 • Eccles Theater

Photography by Joan Marcus courtesy of Broadway at the Eccles

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus coutesty of Broadway at the Eccles

The touring production of SUFFS arrived at Eccles Theater in Downtown Salt Lake City with a burst of energy, conviction, and theatrical confidence that makes it one of the most engaging new musicals of this season of Broadway at the Eccles. The show, which dives into the final chapters of the American women’s suffrage movement, balances history with emotion in a way that feels both entertaining and unexpectedly urgent. What makes this touring version particularly striking is how it manages to retain the intimacy of the story while embracing a broader national audience.

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Some Like It Hot

Some Like It Hot • September 30, 2025 • Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Photos by Matthew Murphy courtesy of Broadway at the Eccles

The 2025/2026 Broadway at the Eccles season has officially begun! Some Like It Hot, the Tony Award-winning musical, brings the classic 1959 film starring Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon, Marilyn Monroe, and written and directed by Billy Wilder, roaring back into the 1930s Prohibition era once again. This time, with a modern lens. Principally around issues of gender identity, inclusion, and discovering one’s identity. The score is by award winners, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray, Catch Me If You Can, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). The book is by Matthew López and Amber Ruffin, with choreography and direction by Casey Nicholaw.

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& Juliet

The-company-of-the-North-American-Tour-of-JULIET-Photo-Credit-Matthew-Murphy

& Juliet • June 17, 2025 • Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy courtesy of Broadway at the Eccles

Jukebox musicals can be a polarizing topic in the musical theater world.  Some people love them. Others dismiss them due to the fact that the shows are created with songs that have already been written.  I enjoy them.  If they’re done right.  Jersey Boys, Mamma Mia, Rock of Ages, Crazy For You, and, Moulin Rouge, to name a few, have been well done and are some of my favorite musicals to see whenever I get the chance.  I won’t name the jukebox musicals that are not well done, but let’s just say when they’re bad, they’re really bad.  The music and story feels forced. The musical & Juliet is one of the most recent jukebox musicals to hit Broadway.

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The Play That Goes Wrong coming to The Ruth

Mayhem and Mischief Take Center Stage in The Play That Goes Wrong at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater

PLEASANT GROVE, Utah – May 28, 2025

What happens when an amateur theater troupe attempts a murder mystery well beyond their capabilities? Total, glorious chaos. This Summer, The Play That Goes Wrong will turn catastrophe into comedy at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater.

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Kimberly Akimbo

Kimberly Akimbo • December 10, 2024 • Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Entering Eccles Theater on Tuesday night, I knew about as little about the musical Kimberly Akimbo as I think I have for any show ever.  I knew that it won the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2022 and that this show was called Kimberly Akimbo.  That’s about it, which is rare for me.  As a musical theater fan, I am usually up to date on most productions. And while I try to hold off on knowing too much until I’ve seen the show, for some reason this one totally slipped by me.  It was only as I talked to another colleague that I learned that the show was about a teenager in high school with a rare condition that ages her faster to the point where she looks like a woman in her 60s.

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Girl From The North Country

Girl From The North Country • June 11, 2024 • Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Photos provided by:

Photo Courtesy of Melissa Cohen (BOND Theatrical)

With the Tony Awards being broadcast this Sunday night, it felt fitting to find myself inside Eccles Theater watching a musical.  A Tony Award-winning (Best Orchestrations) musical at that.  The audience seemed in great spirits, ready to enjoy another great evening in downtown Salt Lake City with another show in the Broadway At The Eccles series.  

Girl From The North Country is a musical featuring the music and lyrics of the great Bob Dylan with the book by Conor McPherson.  It is set in Duluth, Minnesota in 1934 in the shadow of The Great Depression.  The show takes place inside a guesthouse, or hotel of sorts.  The cast consists of various people staying at the home.  As the show goes along we are made aware of the different trials, tribulations, and struggles that each character faces or has experienced.  

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Hairspray

Hairspray the Musical• April 11, 2023• Eccles Theater

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Photographs by Jeremy Daniel

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel

The 2022/2023 season of Broadway at The Eccles has been one for the books! Shows like Moulin Rouge, Ain’t Too Proud, and Dear Evan Hansen has thrilled audiences.  Eccles Theater has been packed to the rafters with satisfied patrons. The shows of this season have been excellent, but I must admit, when this season was announced, I was thrilled to see Hairspray on the list.  I didn’t know there was a tour up until that point.  Outside of the occasional regional or community theater productions, my Hairspray musical experience had ended.  I really love this musical so I’m sure you can imagine how delighted I was to see it on the season schedule, and how much more ecstatic I was to be sitting in my seat Tuesday night waiting for the show to begin.  

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Frozen October 27, 2021 Eccles Theater

Photo Credit: Deen van Meer

Disney’s Frozen the Musical Eccles Theater Salt Lake City October 27, 2021

Reviewed by Kevin Rolfe

Warning: This review contains mild spoilers. If you haven’t seen the production and don’t want anything given away, please read after you’ve seen Frozen.

Photo Credit: Deen van Meer

I’m sorry.  I really am.  But I have to do it.  You know I have to.  It’s the most obvious tee up ever. I kinda feel like you’d be disappointed if I didn’t do it. So here it goes (clears throat).  It felt so good to be inside Eccles Theater watching a Broadway musical “For the first time in forever”!  Ok, I did it, it had to be done, it’s over with.  Let’s move on.  In all seriousness, it felt amazing to be at a Broadway show.  To hear the orchestra warming up in the pit, the ushers guiding people to their seats and handing out programs, the bells indicating that the show was about to begin, all of those once so familiar ellements of live theater felt like a homecoming.  Broadway is back in Utah, and the excitement was felt inside the gorgeous Delta Performance Hall.  

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