Rachel Reviews Theatre

Hello from beautiful Draper, Utah: the center of one of the most thriving and dynamic theatre scenes in the US. My name is Rachel Wagner and I have been a film critic for many years and recently became a professional theatre critic as well.

Those who don’t live in Utah might not realize the depth of the local theatre scene we have in our great state. Even as a seasoned theatergoer, I didn’t realize how many theatres there were until I started attending regularly.

When theatres shut down from the COVID-19 pandemic I was sincerely upset and traumatized. Determined to not see the artform I love be destroyed, I made it my goal when things opened back up to support local theatre as much as possible. After waiting the 3 weeks from my double vaccination, I attended my first post-pandemic show in April of 2021 and it was amazingly my all time favorite show Les Miserables (such kismet.) at Hale Centre Theatre. I then went on to see at least 2 shows a week if not more. At the start I reviewed each show I saw on my personal blog rachelsmusings.net but then it morphed into monthly posts as more movies were released and I became busier with my podcasts.

Then in March of 2022 I got the opportunity to write for Utah Theatre Bloggers Association. Not only was this an incredible experience to see and write about theatre but they actually pay for some reviews! After a trial run I was added as a regular writer and thanks to the help of patient editors I learned a lot about writing for theatre, which is actually quite different than writing for film.

In January 2023 I was admitted as a member of the American Theatre Critics Association and as such I wanted to set up a website that could solely feature my theatre reviews. I will still be writing for UTBA and my reviews for those shows will be exclusively on their site but my hope is to make this more than just a site for reviews. I hope to have interviews and company spotlights with members of the local theatre community (and perhaps beyond) and continue with my semi-annual Best of Utah Theatre Awards I have been doing since 2021.

I am also planning on having more theatre coverage on my youtube channel/podcast. I am currently covering the theatre-centric show Schmigadoon with 2 of my friends and I plan on having a new Theatre Tuesday segment each week.

While occasionally I am able to get comped tickets from theatre companies I try to pay whenever possible. The whole point of this is to support not make demands from local theatre. However, it can be quite expensive. I also would love to make a New York trip this year to see and give my reviews of the new shows. If you believe in what I do I have a patreon, which is a great way to support me. There are terrific benefits with weekly exclusive film reviews and monthly movie watch-alongs with actors, directors, writers and more. I honestly think it is the best bargain amongst any patreons I’ve seen. Please take a look and thank you for your support.

https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

I can’t overstate how much I love seeing and writing about these incredible shows. Sometimes I think I prefer the local imperfect productions full of heart over the slick Broadway shows. Either way, it’s an honor to be a theatre critic, and I can’t wait to see where this theatrical journey takes me. I hope you join me for all the fun!