THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 2 - 8 

• Tom Meinhold Photography

Peking Acrobats
Let's face it: Audiences love spectacle. There are plenty of reasons to go out to the theater, but among the most persuasive is a chance to see things you just don't ordinarily get a chance to see—like folks who can balance atop a pyramid of chairs, or engage in acts of trick cycling and other similar bits of physical prowess. And that's exactly what the Peking Acrobats troupe has been delivering for more than 30 years to audiences around the world.

The Peking Acrobats and their unique skills have been featured on television programs since the mid-1980s, including That's Incredible!, ABC's Wide World of Sports and The Wayne Brady Show, as well as Fox's Guinness Book Primetime television show in 1999, where they balanced six people atop six chairs 21 feet in the air without safety lines. The troupe is often accompanied by live musicians playing play traditional Chinese instruments, mixing with high-tech special effects and awe-inspiring acrobatic feats to create an exuberant entertainment event. Even those who might not think they've ever seen a Peking Acrobats performance may have seen the legacy of their work, as troupe alumnus Qin Shaobo became well-known to American audiences as the nimble Yen in the 2001 film Ocean's Eleven and its two sequels.

The Peking Acrobats featuring the Shanghai Circus visit the Val Browning Center at Weber State University (3950 W. Campus Dr., Ogden) on Thursday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $9 - $55, available via onstageogden.org. Visit the website for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Jim Martin

Wasatch Theatre Company: The Final Act
It's been a busy 25th anniversary season for Wasatch Theatre Company, including multiple recent productions—including Dreamers and Moises Kaufman's Gross Indecency—as well as relocating from a home in The Gateway to the Eccles Black Box after the closing of the former venue. But the material just keeps coming, including a new play by a veteran of the WTC family.

Former Wasatch Theatre Company board member Georg Plautz serves as playwright for The Final Act, a new show set—perhaps unsurprisingly—in the world of theater. It follows two longtime best friends, Greg (Jonathan Ybanez) and Ben (Tom Roche), who have always shared a love for the theater along with their caring for each other. That relationship is put to the test, however, when Ben presents a play that challenges Greg sense of trust in his old friend. And how does Greg's girlfriend Jen (Sam Torres) fit into this world of which she isn't entirely a part?

The Final Act runs Feb. 3 – 14 at the Regent Street Black Box (144 Regent St.) of the Eccles Theater. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Feb. 3-4, 10-11 and 13-14, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees on Feb. 5 and Feb. 12. Tickets are $20 general admission/$15 student, plus a special two-for-one offer for the closing Valentine's Day performance using the code VALENTINE; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. A portion of the proceeds from ticket sales will benefit WTC's George Plautz Emerging Playwrights program, supporting the development of new plays by local writers. (SR)

• Izzy Arrietta

Repertory Dance Theatre: Regalia
To some degree, it always feels like artists are working against the clock. It's a bit of a different dynamic, though, when they're working against the literal clock to create a piece within the constraints of a few hours. That's part of the fun—and craziness—that makes for the unique experience of Repertory Dance Theatre's annual Regalia fund-raiser and choreography competition.

Every year, RDT invites choreographers to create a brand-new work with specific company dancers and thematic or other restrictions. Beginning at 2 p.m. on the day of the performance, those choreographers begin a marathon creative process lasting just six hours to stage the works and have them ready for the audiences. This year, the program features four choreographers, all with strong Utah ties: Angela Smith, Ruger Memmott, Rebekah JoAnn Guerra and Constance Anderson. And at the end of the show, it's the audience members whose votes will decide which of the four pieces will receive a commission from RDT to produce the piece at a later performance.

RDT's Regalia takes place on Saturday, Feb. 4 at the Rose Wagner Center (138 W. 300 South), with performance at 8 p.m. However, admission includes a full evening of activities, beginning at 6:30 p.m. with a cocktail hour that also features bidding on silent auction items and a chance to view the choreographers at work on their pieces. Following the performance, guests are invited to join an on-stage dance party with music by the Joe Muscolino Band. Tickets are $75; visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)