Fall is approaching — and along with the brightly colored leaves, the lower temperatures and the Halloween decorations going up way too soon, it’s also time for Utah’s major performing arts groups to launch their new seasons.
Here’s a thumbnail guide to what the Salt Lake City area’s major performing arts groups — theater, dance, classical music and opera — are staging from now through December.
Ballet West • One of America’s leading ballet companies, the troupe kicks off the 2024-2025 season with a new full-length ballet based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic psychological thriller “Jekyll & Hyde,” Oct. 25-Nov. 2. That will be followed by “Pictures at an Exhibition,” a trio of works — two of them world premieres — that includes the title dance, a suite of dances choreographed by Alexei Ratamansky to Modest Mussorgsky’s work, as well as Christopher Wheeldon’s Vivaldi-inspired “Within the Golden Hour” and a reprise of George Balanchine’s classic “Serenade,” Nov. 8-16. Then comes Ballet West’s Christmas tradition, celebrating its 80th anniversary, “The Nutcracker,” running Dec. 6-28. Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at BalletWest.org.
Broadway at the Eccles • The revival of “Funny Girl” — with ‘70s songstress Melissa Manchester playing Mrs. Brice, mother of comedienne Fanny Brice — runs Oct. 8-13. That’s followed by the 1954 Broadway musical “Peter Pan,” with a rewrite by playwright Larissa FastHorse that removes the offensive Indigenous stereotypes, will play Nov. 5-10. And the 2021 Tony winner, the coming-of-age musical “Kimberly Akimbo,” will come to town Dec. 10-15. Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. Tickets available at saltlakecity.broadway.com.
(Matthew Murphy | courtesy Broadway at the Eccles) Capt. Hook (Cody Garcia) and his crew perform a tarantella in the musical "Peter Pan." The touring production of the classic musical is set to run at Salt Lake City's Eccles Theater, Nov. 5-10, 2024.
Hale Center Theatre • Utah’s durable community theater organization is programming year-round is playing the musical “The Addams Family” through Nov. 16 in the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Theatre. The U.S. premiere of “The Magician’s Elephant,” a musical about an abandoned boy seeking his long-lost sister, will be mounted at the Young Living Centre Stage starting Monday and running through Oct. 19. Then come the holiday shows: Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” in the Centre Stage from Nov. 11 to Jan. 25; and the 39th annual staging of “A Christmas Carol” in the Jewel Box, Nov. 29 to Dec. 28. Mountain America Performing Arts Centre, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy. Tickets available at hct.org.
Pioneer Theatre Company • “Jersey Boys,” the musical biography of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, launched this weekend and runs through Sept. 28. Then there’s a production of Joshua Harmon’s acclaimed drama “Prayer for the French Republic,” Oct. 25-Nov. 9. And for Christmas, PTC switches things up wth an intimate comedy in the Meldrum Theatre, playwright Stephen Temperley’s “Souvenir,” based on the life of infamous socialite and bad singer Florence Foster Jenkins. Pioneer Memorial Theatre, University of Utah campus, 300 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at PioneerTheatre.org.
Plan-B Theatre • The avant-garde company’s fall production is “Full Color,” an anthology of works by eight BIPOC writers in Utah, Oct. 24-Nov. 10. Jeanne Wagner Theatre, Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at PlanBTheatre.org.
Repertory Dance Theatre • The dance troupe will stage “Noa,” a pair of works by choreographer Noa Zuk, Oct. 3-5. That’s followed with “I Am,” featuring choreography by Natosha Washington and actor/playwright Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin, Nov. 21-23. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at RDTUtah.org.
Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company • The company will offer its fall performance, “Re-Play,” including LajaMartin’s “The Bunker,” Monica Bill Barnes’ “Wish You Were Here,” and a world premiere of a work by the company’s artistic director, Daniel Charon; Sept. 19-21. Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at RirieWoodbury.com.
Salt Lake Acting Company • SLAC is serving the regional premiere of “Whitelisted,” Chisa Hutchinson’s comedy about a young woman going through some weird, supernatural stuff, as cosmic justice fills in the gap left by a lack of social justice; Oct. 2-27. For the holidays, SLAC will put on their children’s show, a musical based on Mo Willems’ book “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus”; Dec. 6-30. SLAC, 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at SaltLakeActingCompany.org.
Utah Opera • The company will stage Stephen Sondheim’s dark musical “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” about the murderous barber and his meatpie-making neighbor; Oct. 12-20. Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at UtahOpera.org.
Utah Presents • Eclectic shows at Kingsbury Hall: The “Jazz at Kingsbury” series (an offshoot of the long-running JazzSLC program) launches with Delfeayo Marsalis & the Uptown Jazz Orchestra, Oct. 18; “Duck Pond,” the touring company Circa’s humorous reimagining of “Swan Lake,” Oct. 23; Sean Dorsey Dance’s “The Lost Art of Dreaming,” Nov. 21; and The Lower Lights’ annual Christmas concerts, Dec. 11, 13 and 14. Kingsbury Hall, University of Utah, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at UtahPresents.org.
(Karl Hugh | Utah Shakespeare Festival) Alia Shakira, left, plays Camae, and Abdul Khaliq Murtadha plays Martin Luther King Jr., in Utah Shakespeare Festival's production of the two-character play "The Mountaintop."
Utah Shakespeare Company • Sure, it’s a summer thing, but the Utah Shakespeare Festival is still running its indoor shows through Oct. 5, with ongoing productions of “Much Ado About Nothing” and “The 39 Steps” in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, and “Silent Sky” and “The Mountaintop” in the Anes Studio Theatre. Southern Utah University, Cedar City. Tickets available at bard.org.
Utah Symphony • Utah’s premier classical music organization has a full slate of programs scheduled from now through December, but there are some highlights: Gershwin’s “An American in Paris,” Oct. 25-26; Beethoven’s Third Symphony, “Eroica,” Nov. 22-23; the annual “Messiah” sing-in, Nov. 30 and Dec. 1; an evening with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Dec. 11; and the symphony’s “Holiday Pops Extravaganza!,” Dec. 20-21. Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at UtahSymphony.org.