Happy New Year! I hope you all had a great Christmas holiday and are enjoying the beginning of the new year. Make sure you check out my Best of the year post here but also I did an end of the year podcast for Onstage Blog here:

I do have a couple of shows in the final weeks of December to log (not full reviews just a few quick thoughts to shows I attended as a patron)

The Nutcracker- Ballet West, Salt Lake

I am not that much of a ballet person but Ballet West is one of the best ballet companies in the world and I will usually try and and at least see The Nutcracker during each holiday season. If you didn’t know Ballet West rendition of this ballet was the first full-length production in the United States- first in San Francisco in 1944 and then moving to Utah in 1950 with choreography by William Christensen. It just shows what a legacy of the arts we have in Utah that we had the first Nutcracker in the whole country!

The spectacle is incredible with beautiful sets and costumes throughout. The night I attended Dr Drosselmeyer was performed by Dominic Ballard with Loren Walton as the Nutcracker Prince and Lexi McCloud and David Huffmire as the Snow Queen and King respectively. Katlyn Addison and Adrian Fry really stand out as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Cavalier. My favorite section is the presentation of the Kingdom of Sweets to the royalty. I like the variety of the music and dancing in that sequence. If you want to introduce your family to ballet you can’t go wrong with Ballet West. They are world-class. More information can be found here.

A Christmas Carol- Hale Center Theatre, Sandy

Next up I saw A Christmas Carol at Hale Center Theatre in Sandy. I love Hale and even though it was my 5th viewing of A Christmas Carol this season I loved getting to see the production there with my Mom and sister. This is a classic staging of the Dickens story but it’s elevated with wonderful music and visual effects one expects with Hale. This is directed by John J Sweeney and David Weekes brings a sarcastic light-hearted take on Scrooge and the story. I particularly enjoyed what I call ‘crazy Scrooge’ when he gets all excited at the end.

Alex DeBirk was a sweet Bob Cratchit and Aioleoge Lesa stood out as our boisterous Ghost of Christmas Present. Like I said, the visual effect add a lot with Jacob Marley’s face giving a jump scare at the door and his chair getting literally elevated above the stage. Moments like that could only come at a place like Hale Center Theatre. Hale has a very promising 2026 coming up including an entirely new stage! More information can be found here.

Pride and Prejudice- Centerpoint Legacy Theatre, CEnterville

I’ve already logged Centerpoint‘s production of Pride & Prejudice here on the site but I had the chance to see the other cast before it closed on Dec 30th. The production sold out immediately so I felt quite lucky when tickets became available. My Dad, sister and niece ended up joining me and they all enjoyed it as much as I did. I love the way director Brighton Sloan worked in the projections into the black box space. It creates an immersive experience that is so much fun for fans of the material.

The TThS cast was all excellent but Andy Conlin as Bingley, Jordan Palmer as Mr Collins, Jessica Rampton as Mrs Bennett and Laurel Morgan as Mary Bennett especially stood out. I think I might have preferred the other Darcy and Lizzie better but I still really enjoyed Lily Hilden and Garrett Stephenson in those roles. It was just a wonderful production and I’m so glad I got to see it a second time. Centerpoint is a terrific bargain and their upcoming season is not to be missed. More information can be found here.

So that’s the last logs of 2025. Happy New Year and let’s hope we have loads of great theatre and the arts to enjoy in 2026.

The Nutcracker has music by Tchaikovsky and was first performed by Ballet West in the United States in 1944 with choroegraphy by Willam Christensen. A Christmas Carol is based on the novella by Charles Dickens with a book adaptation by Melany M and Richard G Wilkins with original musical score by Barlow Bradford. Pride & Prejudice is based on the novel by Jane Austen with an adaptation by Melissa Leilani Larson.

These logged shows I usually pay for out of pocket, and I’d love to do that as much as possible. If you have a show you’d like me to take a look at and write a full review let me know. I also have my patreon which is a great way to support what I do and get some really fun perks. Find out more here.

I also did a podcast ep on Rachel’s Reviews specific to the best of Utah theatre you should check out