Welcome to The Good Life, a blog devoted to the experiences, people, and ideas that enrich and elevate our quality of life. Come along with me as I discover, unpack, and share what is good in Salt Lake City, surrounding areas, and select travel destinations. I will cover my best moments going out, staying in,... Continue Reading →
Attending Ballet West's production of The Nutcracker has become one of my most-loved holiday traditions, so I was happy to attend the matinee last Friday afternoon. I enjoyed seeing some of my favorite Ballet West dancers in leading roles as well some new faces in others. This particular performance can best be described as expressive... Continue Reading →
Abravanel Hall is all dressed up this weekend in vibrant color and brilliant sparkle for the Utah Symphony's Holiday Pops Extravaganza. Guest conductor Lucas Waldin leads an up-tempo program of holiday favorites, Capathia Jenkins and Ryan Shaw deliver expressive vocals, and Vedrana Subotic adds beautiful piano melodies to the symphony's orchestration. This is a fun,... Continue Reading →
Park City Opera is a new arts organization, founded in 2024 and now in its third season, that offers a fresh vision for vocal arts performances in Utah. Its three co-founders seek to engage local audiences with accessible productions, outstanding talent, and nontraditional --- often intimate --- venues. Artistic Director Benjamin Beckman contacted me and... Continue Reading →
The Utah Symphony delivered a magnificent concert at Abravanel Hall last night! Guest conductor Pietari Inkinen led the orchestra in performing Unsuk Chin' subito con forza; Ludwig van Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37; and AntonÃn Dvořák's Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70. Piano soloist Shai Wosner mesmerized the... Continue Reading →
This season of Broadway at the Eccles includes Cirque du Soleil's 'Twas the Night Before... This production creatively interprets Clement Clarke Moore's poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("'Twas the night before Christmas") --- weaving together lines from the poem, new arrangements of familiar Christmas songs, glittering sets and costumes, and amazing acrobatic and aerial... Continue Reading →
Lovers of musical theater and movies based on musicals often fight the urge to sing along with the familiar songs from their favorite shows. Singing along during a performance or screening is generally considered to be an impolite disruption. Broadway Centre Cinemas (Salt Lake Film Society) answers this need and gives theater-goers an opportunity to... Continue Reading →
In my 2024 review of the film Young Woman and the Sea, I led with the idea that women of my generation and younger enjoy rights, opportunities, and a relative ease of life that were unavailable to women who came before us. We owe a debt of gratitude to the generations of women who worked... Continue Reading →
November 7, 2025 November 7, 2025 Some concerts are absolute perfection! Such was the case with the Utah Symphony concert last Friday night at Abravanel Hall. The program featured Gabriel Fauré's Requiem and Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74 -"Pathétique" conducted by Utah Symphony Music Director Designate Markus Poschner. Fauré... Continue Reading →
Attending productions at Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre is nostalgic for me because my grandma had season tickets there for several years while I was growing up. She introduced me to live theater, starting when I was 4 or 5 years old until I was about 12, taking me and my parents as her guests to... Continue Reading →
Ballet West began its 2025-2026 season with Michael Smuin's Romeo and Juliet set to music by Sergei Prokofiev. I was fortunate to see this ballet with my friend Mony a few years ago, and I absolutely loved it, so I was excited to have an opportunity to see it again. I purchased a ticket for... Continue Reading →
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