THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR OCT 6 - 12 

• Jim Martin

Wasatch Theatre Co.: The Laramie Project
Nearly 25 years removed from the murder of gay teen Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyo., it's clear that threats to LGBTQ+ people aren't simply something in our historical rearview mirror. In planning The Laramie Project as Wasatch Theatre Company's 25th-anniversary season opener, director Jim Martin acknowledges that it's related to that ongoing danger, and the need to remember these horrors of the past: "Some of the cast members were not even born when Matthew Shepard was murdered. We as a diverse community must keep the issues that surfaced in 1998 at the forefront as our nation undergoes its own reckoning with rising hate crimes. ... This play is a very important production at this particular time in history."

The Laramie Project was born out of the efforts by Tectonic Theater Project, under director Moisés Kaufman, to visit Laramie in 1998 and collect interviews of locals in the wake of Shephard's murder, to discover the perceptions in that community regarding what happened, and why. Wasatch Theatre Company provides a spin by casting demographically diverse actors who don't necessarily represent the demographics of 1990s Wyoming, in addition to giving the production a local flavor through the use of music by Utah musician Ben Brinton, and a backdrop including photographs by Logan-based photographer Lucas Bybee.

Wasatch Theatre Company's production of The Laramie Project runs Oct. 6 – 15 at the Mid-Valley Performing Arts Center (2525 Taylorsville Blvd.) in Taylorsville, with performances Thursday – Saturday. Tickets are $25; masks are recommended but not required. Visit arttix.org for tickets, specific showtimes and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Shawn Miller

Joy Harjo @ Kingsbury Hall
Since 1985, when the role of Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress was officially created, 24 individuals have served in that capacity, including luminaries like Robert Penn Warren, Howard Nemerov and W. S. Merwin. Only three such individuals, however have ever served three one-year terms as Poet Laureate, and only one has been a Native American: Joy Harjo, whose term concluded this year.

A member of the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, Harjo was pursuing a career in medicine when she first enrolled at the University of New Mexico. But her experience as a teenager at the Institute of American Indian Arts, and the influence of her artist great-aunt Lois Harjo Ball, led her to switch her major first to art, and then creative writing. She returned to teach at the Institute of American Indian Arts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, and published her first volume of poetry, The Last Song, in 1975. Many honors and awards preceded her 2019 nomination as Poet Laureate, in work exploring colonization and imperialism through the lens of her cultural background. Her new book Catching the Light, from the Yale University Press "Why I Write" series, features reflections on creating poetry as "an expression of purpose, spirit, community and memory."

Joy Harjo visits Kingsbury Hall (1395 E. Presidents Circle) on Thursday, Oct. 6 at 7 p.m. in conversation with former Utah Poet Laureate Katharine Coles. Tickets are free, but required via online reservation; face masks are requested for all attendees, but not required. Visit kingsburyhall.org for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

• Courtesy Photo

Jay Pharoah
Jay Pharaoh is a clever guy. A six-season veteran of Saturday Night Live, he's earned an enviable reputation as an actor, a stand-up comedian and an amazing mimic whose dead-on impressions of Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Eddie Murphy, Will Smith, Chris Rock, Jay Z, Denzel Washington and Kanye West have proved strikingly true-to-life. His vocal abilities extend to voice acting as well, courtesy of his guest appearances on the popular animated series Family Guy, Bojack Horseman, Legends of Chamberlain Heights, Robot Chicken and the upcoming Supermansion.

His character Principal Daniel Frye, based on Pharoah's actual high school principal, provided his initial claim to fame, but he also offers a serious acting side as well, courtesy of his roles in 16 films in the past 10 years alone. With a second stand-up comedy special in the works and a steady string of club and college appearances, he's a busy man. However, an unfortunate incident involving an encounter with the L.A.P.D. proved to be less than funny when he was detained at gunpoint in the midst of the George Floyd protests and restrained by a cop who kneeled on his neck in the same manner that resulted in Floyd's murder by Derek Chauvin. A victim of mistaken identity, he eventually received an apology. Happily, there's no mistaking Pharoah's talent or tenacity.

Catch Pharaoh this week at Wiseguys Comedy's Gateway location (194 S. 400 West on Friday, Oct. 7 and Saturday, Oct. 8 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. each night. Tickets are $30; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (Lee Zimmerman)

• Utah Opera

Utah Opera: The Flying Dutchman
In the world of opera, Richard Wagner is perhaps most famous for his epic "Ring Cycle," and most infamous for being favored by Adolph Hitler. Yet the composer's work encompasses a broader scope than might be familiar to most laypeople, including the "romantic operas" of his middle career. And among those is the grand romantic fantasy of 1843's The Flying Dutchman.

The narrative, inspired by a satirical 1833 novel by Heinrich Heine, tells the story of a ghostly mariner cursed to sail forever as the result of blasphemy against God. He tells the merchant seaman Daland of his fate, and of the chance he has every seven years to come ashore and seek a true love, which would break the curse. When Daland learns of the gold the Dutchman possesses, he offers his own daughter, Senta, as a possible match—and Senta, already aware of the Dutchman legend, believes she could be the one to save him. But Senta's history with a former love might mean that the Dutchman will not be so easily saved. Veteran baritone Michael Chilodi takes on the role of the Dutchman for Utah Opera, with Metropolitan Opera regular Wendy Bryn Harmer as Senta.

Utah Opera's production of The Flying Dutchman comes to the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) for five performances, in German with English supertitles: Oct. 8 & 14, 7:30 p.m.; Oct. 10 & 12, 7 p.m.; and Oct. 16, 2 p.m. Tickets range from $15 - $110; visit utahopera.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)