The Essentials | City Weekly's Entertainment Picks Feb. 5-11 | Arts & Entertainment | Salt Lake City Weekly

The Essentials | City Weekly's Entertainment Picks Feb. 5-11 

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THURSDAY 2.5
nCathode Ray: Video Works by Tyrone Davies
nThere aren’t many local artists working in video art, the Sidewalk Cinema series notwithstanding. Video art is usually thought of as one or two videos on the same number of monitors.

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Tyrone Davies, however, has assembled an entire constellation of video art pieces on enough monitors to fill an entire gallery. Equally impressive is the stylistic ambition and range of his “Cathode Ray” series, starting with the “Jelly Boil” mashup of Billy Joel music videos that greets you on a large monitor upon entering Nobrow Coffee. Other works, such as “Battle Brigades” (pictured above) use images from war footage and old-school video games, two very different views of the abstracted, depersonalized nature of life in the post-modern world. “Aluminum” explores the intersection between war and commerce by showing Coke and Pepsi cans loaded into grenade launchers.

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“Cathode Loop 1” depicts TV sets being smashed in, while “Farnsworth Memorial 1” includes a loop about “how RCA stole the invention from inventor Philo T. Farnsworth.” “I am really fascinated with the line between ‘outsider’ art and ‘real’ art,” he explains. “Who decides what gets to be made? … Obviously, the entity with the money decides. I like to question big media’s authority.”

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The Salt Lake City native—currently studying at the San Francisco Art Institute—founded Loaf-I.com, an organization of independent musicians, filmmakers and video artists developing a “low-fi” aesthetic of producing work without much financial means or high-end technology means. Fitting to display at a place called Nobrow. (Brian Staker)

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Cathode Ray: Video Works by Tyrone Davies, @ Nobrow Coffee & Tea, 315 E. 300 South, 801-364-344, through Feb. 16.

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FRIDAY 2.6
n Carleton Christy: Big Wreck
nIt’s the defining SportsCenter highlight for any NASCAR or Indy Car race: a spectacular crash, flip or other wipeout. As spectator popularity of auto racing has surged over the past decade, for the uninitiated, it continues to be defined less by the winners than by those who wind up injured, or even dead.

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Los Angeles-based artist Carleton Christy explores the intersection between public spectacle and life-and-death consequences in his pencil drawing Big Wreck. Throughout a depiction of plumes of smoke, Christy includes the car numbers of every NASCAR driver who has ever died as a result of a racing accident. With the vibrant colors of the live event shaded in monochrome, the piece forces you to look at something that might have been just another highlight-ready crash and ask, “Are you not entertained?” (Scott Renshaw)

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Carleton Christy: Big Wreck @ Sego Art Center Annex, 169 N. University Ave., Provo, 801-599-0680, Feb. 6-27. Artist reception Feb. 6, 6-9 p.m. SegoArts.org

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Julia Voye: Never the Real, Never the Bad
nArtist Julia Voye sees people, nature and herself with a vision uniquely her own. Her artistic sensibility is influenced by her battle to confront the psychological impairment agoraphobia, coupled with depression. Having overcome this condition, Voye is now able to revisit the journey that was her trial through photography, currently showing at Art Access II Gallery.

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For three years, Voye lived with this debilitating condition that manifests itself in a fear and anxiety of leaving home. As she cloistered herself in her finite environment, Voye said she “began to examine my surroundings in ways I never had before.” In the same way that inanimate objects in Disney cartoons are anthropomorphized and come alive for the viewer, for three years, the magnitude of meaning in Voye’s immediate environment intensified.

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Using a digital camera and the ability to manipulate the image (“Be Closed or Open” is pictured), Voye recaptures objects, landscape and even the sense of self that was once her sole reality. She evokes the same meanings she came to know and connected with through those arduous years.

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Voye, like many artists with physical or psychological impairments who battle limitations, creates work that is all the more profound and visionary. She can, she said, “acknowledge that this happened, has changed my life, and now I can move on. I cannot pretend it didn’t happen—it is a part of who I am—but it helped turn me into the person I am today, and for that I am grateful.” (Ehren Clark)

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Julia Voye: Never the Real, Never the Bad @ Art Access II, 230 S. 500 West, 801-328-0703, through Feb. 13. AccessArt.org.

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Jeff Foxworthy
nIf you don’t already know one of the most popular comics ever, you might not be a redneck. His Blue Collar Comedy Tour spawned a new era of arena-filling comedy shows and made him a household name—not to mention extremely wealthy. As his ventures veered away from the stage, he dedicated less time to touring and more to broadcasting. He currently hosts a weekly satellite radio program called The Foxworthy Countdown and continues to host the popular TV game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

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His busy schedule means that he hasn’t been able to release a new album since 2004, so he’s opted for an “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” approach to comedy. As a result, audiences already may be familiar with the bulk of Foxworthy’s stand-up material, yet his years of experience allow him to deliver with such polish and style that people feel as if they were seeing him for the first time. (Jennifer Heaney)

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Jeff Foxworthy @ EnergySolutions Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Friday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m., 801-325-SEAT. EnergySolutionsArena.com

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SATURDAY 2.7
n Chris Gorsuch: Wurlitzer pipe organ concert
nWe all have our ideas of what a classical music performance looks like—and, in those ideas, it probably doesn’t look much like a pipe organ.

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Wurlitzer organs have been used in Utah in recent years to accompany silent films, they haven’t really been viewed as an instrument for the great compositions. This week, Chris Gorsuch acts as a “unit orchestra” behind the keys of a 3-manual, 23-rank Wurlitzer for a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto in A minor with soloist R. Jelani Eddington. Can one man carry an entire orchestral score? What transforms a live pipe-organ performance from pop art to high art? Visit Ogden’s Egyptian Theatre this week and explore a side of this mighty instrument you might never have considered before. (Scott Renshaw)

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Chris Gorsuch @ Peery’s Egyptian Theatre, 2415 Washington Blvd., Ogden, 801-395-3227, Saturday, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m. PeerysEgyptianTheater.com

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Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet
nIf you think that you know ballet—if you think that it’s always tutus and slippers and tippy-toes dancing—think again.

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As a relatively new fish in the pond, Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet—founded in 2003—has made a splash by innovatively infusing various contemporary dance forms with ballet movements. The company makes it a point to commission work from around the world, and will be presenting pieces such as Ohad Naharin’s Decadance and Crystal Pite’s Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue alongside their newest acquisition: Frame of View, choreographed by Didy Veldman.

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According to executive director Greg Mudd, artistic director Benoit-Swan Pouffer was immediately attracted to the theatricality of Veldman’s work, knowing that her “eclectic movement” was a perfect fit for their repertoire. In this piece, she uses a music collage that includes Nina Simone, Jaques Offenbach and Dean Martin to explore the many ways humanity hides emotions behind masks.

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Cedar Lake also will present an excerpt from its Three Thursdays installation series at the Main Library. Although it premiered in 2006, the installation will be slightly modified for the space, allowing for maximum audience participation. The installation series is designed to “break down the barrier between performer and audience member,” says Mudd. “During the installation, audience members are invited to move freely throughout the space as the action unfolds around them. The audience literally becomes a component of the performance.” (Jacob Stringer)

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Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet free installation @ Main Library, 210 E. 400 South, Friday, Feb. 6,12 p.m. Performance @ Kingsbury Hall, 1395 E. Presidents Circle, 801-581-7100, Saturday, Feb. 7, 7:30 p.m. KingTix.com.

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SUNDAY 2.8
n Dark Play, or Stories for Boys
nMy first reaction was that Carlos Murillo’s Dark Play just didn’t seem to work. The fact-based premise was edgy and challenging: College student Nick (Jesse Pepe, pictured above) flashes back to the age of 14, when he created a female online alter-ego to woo 16-year-old Adam (Michael Gardner), who has commented in a chat-room profile that “I want to fall in love.” But tonally, it ranged from creepy to broadly satirical, including late plot developments that seemed absurdly over-the-top. Was this a warning about the psychological dangers of the Internet age, or a spoof of warnings about the psychological dangers of the Internet age?

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Gradually, I began to appreciate that Salt Lake Acting Company’s production, under director Tobin Atkinson, improbably had managed to be both. Giving Nick the job of narrator, Murillo gets inside the head of a generation that’s both more connected and more distanced than ever. And as deadly serious as some of the repercussions of Nick’s actions may be, the play refuses to turn into a stern-voiced public-service message.

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Credit Jesse Pepe with taking on the tough task of finding a sympathetic core in Nick’s manipulations, as he uses anonymity to explore his sexuality for the first time. And credit the rest of the cast—particularly Jay Perry, who may already be local theater’s most reliably terrific actor—with walking that tightrope between comedy and tragedy. Dark Play works both in its darkness, and in its playfulness. (Scott Renshaw)

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Dark Play, or Stories for Boys @ Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North, 801-363-SLAC, through Feb. 22. SaltLakeActingCompany.org

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MONDAY 2.9
nFree reading: Mammoth
nIn 1806, Capt. Meriwether Lewis—along with William Clark—completed his expedition from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean and back. In 1807, he was appointed governor of the Louisiana Territory. And in 1809, he was dead at the age of 35, of an apparent suicide.

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In his play Mammoth, Utah playwright and actor Eric Robertson, inspired by his historian father and a trip through Montana, explores what might have led the celebrated man to take his own life. After four years of work—including changing what was initially a one-man play into a five-character piece—Robertson is ready to get an audience’s perspective on what he discovered. Join cast members Blake Barlow, Colleen Baum, Brenda Sue Cowley, William Ferrer and Cameron Jones—under the direction of Keven Myhre—for a free reading of this new work. (Scott Renshaw)

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Mammoth free reading @ Salt Lake Acting Company, 168 W. 500 North, 801-363-SLAC, Monday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. Open one hour before performance. SaltLakeActingCompany.org

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Rock Docs: Shine a Light
nLights! Cameras! Keith Richards with a barrel of makeup on! It’s the Rolling Stones like you’ve never seen, unless you happen to score an onstage pass.

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Last year’s concert documentary Shine a Light commences a three-part series of “Rock Docs” put on by the Salt Lake Film Center. As directed by Martin Scorsese, this rock-doc footage is raw and real. More rock and less doc, this film gets you moving in your seat.

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The second film in the series takes place March 9 and stars the iconic figure from the Clash. Joe Strummer: The Future is Unwritten gathers Strummer’s savvy posse of fellow rockers to tell the story of his influence on their music and the entire punk rock scene. Completing the series on April 13 will be Glastonbury, which examines the transformation of the music fest from the early ’70s days of organic love to the current corporate consumerism. Three insightful films about three classic genres of rock and roll—and it’s all free. (Kris Heitkamp)

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Shine a Light @ Sorenson Unity Center, 1383 South 900 West. Monday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. SLCFilmCenter.org

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TUESDAY 2.10
nUtah Symphony: Cho’s Anatomy
nJust because arts education in schools may not be considered a priority in budget-crunch times, that doesn’t mean your teen or tween needs to be relegated to a life of wondering how to make sense of culture.

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Utah Symphony assistant conductor David Cho leads what he refers to as an “anatomy lesson” in classical music when he dissects Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 in E minor. In a program targeted for students over the age of 12, Cho begins by exploring the parts that make up a great symphonic work: individual themes and melodies, choices of instrumentation and overall structure. After the intermission, the fully briefed audience will then have an opportunity to hear the Symphony present the work in its entirety.

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Take advantage of this unique, economical opportunity to dig into the guts of great music. It’s never too early—or too late—for a lesson in art appreciation. (Scott Renshaw)

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Cho’s Anatomy: Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 @ Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, 801-355-2787, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 7 p.m. UtahSymphonyOpera.org

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WEDNESDAY 2.11
n Julia Alvarez: Return to Sender
nTackling the looming political conundrum of illegal immigration would be a challenge for any novelist, let alone a young adult novelist. But Julia Alvarez spins a brave tale in Return to Sender, putting a face on the fears and challenges of illegal workers in America with personal aplomb.

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After being injured in a tractor accident, Tyler’s father hires a migrant family to help keep their Vermont farm going. Tyler can’t help but look on this family with fear—especially Mari, the oldest daughter among three, who is proud of her Mexican heritage but is slowly becoming connected to American culture.

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Regardless of what you might promote politically, a story such as this reminds one of the personal costs of poverty that affect millions on both side of the fence. Alvarez weaves a story of hope amid these differences, offering no easy answers, but ultimately crosses the borders of fear with a tale of friendship and love. (Dallas Robbins)

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Julia Alvarez @ The King’s English Bookshop, 1511 S. 1500 East, 801-484-9100, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 7 p.m. KingsEnglish.Booksense.com tttt

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