THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR AUG 18 - 24 

• 90&9productions

90&9: Fighter
On the website for their nonprofit organization 90&9, Nik and Darla Day describe its goal as its goal to "promote healthy living through media and the performing arts ... [and] help youth see the beauties of life and have an increased desire to thrive and help others." Those themes are at the center of the multimedia presentation Fighter, which finds spectacle in the inspirational notion of lifting yourself up through the process of lifting others up.

Salt Lake City's own Nik Day—a successful local songwriter of Christian-themed work—provided the original music for this production, which incorporates spoken word, dance, aerial arts and circus acrobatics. The premise revolves around a phoenix who becomes overwhelmed by the inner darkness of her own doubts and fears, and falls to ashes on the earth. But instead of immediately being reborn as a phoenix, she begins to experience life among high-school age humans—representing types like the Cheerleader, the Football Captain, and the Valedictorian—all of whom face their own struggles that are hidden from others who assume they have it all. It's only through providing support and guidance to these adolescents that the phoenix is able to shake off her own ashes and return to the sky (in a dazzling airborne dance with aerial silks).

Fighter runs Aug. 18-20 at the Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South), with performances 7 p.m. nightly, and an additional 2 p.m. matinee on Aug. 20. Tickets are $35-$55; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for up-to-the-moment information on health and safety guidelines. (Scott Renshaw)

• David Raleigh

marc t. wise / David Raleigh @ Finch Lane Gallery
Artistic explorations often feel much more interested in aesthetics than in pure functionality. That's why it makes for a unique theme for a paired exhibition when two artists are both investigating ideas of functionality, whether that encompasses our physical environment or our own bodies.

In Salt Lake City artist marc t. wise's show Normal Operations, he uses as his raw materials things that have been discarded as waste from industrial operations. By repurposing those materials in his sculptures—like "The Missing Hand," created in part from a piece of cut plywood, or "Carcass," with its bold blue remnants of objects punched out of a frame—wise questions how it is that something is determined to no longer be of value, and how a raw material can make a transition from object with a purpose, to trash, to art.

David Raleigh's Push and Pull applies a different sensibility to the notion of how things function, taking a look at how the human body seeks equilibrium, with that equilibrium is physical, mental or emotional. In his oil paintings like "Big Head" (pictured), Raleigh—a BYU graduate entering the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin, Madison—dives into the struggle to find that balance, using his figures in an often light-hearted way to address the more complicated, occasionally dysfunctional ways that we try to achieve wholeness in our bodies and minds.

Normal Operations and Push and Pull both run at Salt Lake Art Council's Finch Lane Gallery (54 Finch Lane) now through Sept. 23. Visit saltlakearts.org for gallery hours and additional information. (SR)

• Indigo Cook

Art for the Recovery Community Festival
When the idea for the Art for the Recovery Community Festival was born in 2019 out of conversations between members of the Utah Society of Addiction Medicine, it was as a way to present a side of the recovery community that wasn't always visible. According to board member Indigo Cook, "The public image of the recovery community is often very dark. We want to present a picture of the full person." The first festival took place that year, and now continues for the fourth year, even through the upheavals of COVID-19.

In part, for this event, that takes the form of works created by approximately 20 visual artists who identify as in recovery. Cook emphasizes that while the themes of the work might incorporate themes of recovery, because for many of them art is an important part of their recovery process, it's not inevitable, because "there's more to these artists than that." Visitors to the festival will have a chance to view the works on display, then enjoy live performances by local musicians and spoken-word artists.

The 2022 Art for the Recovery Community Festival takes place at the Sugar Space Arts Warehouse (132 S. 800 West) on Saturday, Aug. 20 as a free, in-person event. Doors for the art installation open at 6 p.m., with performances beginning at 7:30 p.m.; the concert is currently scheduled to be livestreamed. A digital gallery will also be available for viewing through Aug. 22 to explore the portfolios of the participating artists. Visit artfortherecoverycommunity.com for additional information. (SR)

Jay Whittaker
's been nearly three years since comedian Jay Whittaker, as he phrases it, "kind of quietly left" Utah to relocate to the Boston area. And while he's returned a few times since then for corporate and non-profit gigs, this week marks the first time Whittaker will be back in front of local comedy club audiences since 2019. "I've got a lot of love for Utah, and it's going to be exciting for me to come back," he says.

The Geek Show Podcast regular hits both Utah County and Salt Lake City during his weekend visit, and both locations have significance for the advancement of his comedy career. The Dry Bar Comedy stage in Provo was the location for taping a half-hour special that launched him on a nationwide tour, and the downtown SLC show will find Whittaker recording a planned comedy album. "I feel like it's only right that I do my best material in front of the crowd that gave me love, the place where I started," Whittaker says. "I'm born and raised in L.A., but Utah is a huge part of me."

Whittaker returns to Utah this weekend for two dates: Saturday, Aug. 20 at Dry Bar Comedy in Provo (295 W. Center St.) at 9 p.m., with $25 tickets at store.drybarcomedy.com; and Sunday, Aug. 21 at Wiseguys Gateway (194 S. 400 West) at 7 p.m., with $20 tickets at wiseguyscomedy.com. If you can't make it this weekend, plan ahead for FanX weekend Sept. 23-24, when Whittaker will play Wiseguys Ogden (269 25th St.) (SR)