Things to do / Travel Guide
Some of the nation's best and most interesting performing arts troupes make their homes in northern Utah, an unexpected oasis of serene song and fancy footwork. But if your idea of a good time means after-dark dances and some booze, you won't be disappointed either.
Performing Arts in Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City is home to the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Their Thursday evening rehearsals and Sunday morning radio and TV broadcasts in Historic Temple Square are free to the public. For wacky, comedic, musical, and dramatic theater, try the Off Broadway Theatre on South Main Street. Giggle and guffaw as Utah's longest-running comedy troupe, Laughing Stock, hosts their family-friendly innovative improv shows at this same venue. If you are in the mood for more-straightforward stage plays, try Hale Centre Theatre, just outside of Salt Lake City in West Valley City, Utah's most-attended live theater venue (appropriate for all ages) for more than 21 successful show-stopping seasons.
The buck doesn't stop with these top-notch groups: Ballet West is considered one of the nation's leading ballet companies, and their performances at Capitol Theatre on West 200 South offer a vast and varied repertoire. A focal point of fine arts, catch a concert at the world-class Utah Symphony, housed in the ultra-modern architectural masterpiece that is Maurice Abravanel Hall on West South Temple, known for some of the country's finest acoustics. For less formal concerts, try the outdoor plaza at Gallivan Center around lunchtime, when you can usually catch a free, open-air performance.
Just down the street from Maurice Abravanel Hall, you might want to try the major headliner concerts held in the 20,500-seat Delta Center, the largest arena within a five-state radius and the venue for many 2002 Olympic Winter Games skating events. The Depot, on West South Temple, is located in the historic Union Pacific Station and offers a schedule packed with live music, performances, events, and entertainment including headliners like Ziggy Marley. Check the local City Weekly publication for a listing of performances around Salt Lake City.
Other Performing Arts Venues in Northern Utah
Outside of Salt Lake City, the commitment to culture continues in northern Utah. Eccles Center for Performing Arts, in Park City, features the over-1,200-seat Kearns Auditorium, which boasts a year-round calendar featuring a wide range of concerts and films. The 1,100-seat Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan is home to the Utah Festival Opera Company, with its own world-class productions of Porgy and Bess, West Side Story, and other shows. Peery's Egyptian Theater is a rarity not only in Utah, but also in the United States. This Ogden design extravaganza, an ornately-decorated Egyptian amphitheater-style hall, is on the National Register of Historic Places and is billed as a performing arts stage and movie palace.
Bars, Saloons, and Live Bands
While Utah liquor laws are convoluted and tricky, hardcore partiers have found a way to have their fun, and so can you. Downtown Salt Lake City stays up all night dancing with the best of them. Hotel lobbies often live it up with drinks and dancing. Visitors will also find live jazz venues, a dueling piano club, country-western line dancing, live music pool halls, martini bars, wine bars, pubs, and high-end cocktail bars serving everything from vodka on the rocks to local microbrews. State-of-the-art sound and lighting in the nightclubs on South West Temple (boasting an occasional celebrity visitor) will keep your heart thumping and blood pumping to the beat of techno, house, disco, and hip-hop. Park City has its own pubs and clubs; walk up and down Main Street after hours and you'll hear the funky sounds spill out onto the sidewalk. Provo's Center Street is the town's hub for everything from live music watering holes to alcohol-free dance clubs. Ogden's Historic 25th Street is hardly stuck in the past when it comes to live jazz, rock, and bands of local and national import. Microbreweries set out their mugs of suds, and you'll probably want to stop off at the city's Shooting Star Saloon. Built in 1879, it bears the title of Utah's oldest, continuously-operating saloon - USA Today found it worth their while, we think you will as well.
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