2024 Summer Guide 

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• Utah Shakespeare Festival

Summer Guide 2024 Summer Theater
Utah Shakespeare Festival, Tuacahn, Sundance and many more shows for the season.
By Scott Renshaw

Every summer, many of Utah's performing arts organizations take a well-earned summer break to gear up for their new seasons in the fall. But that doesn't mean stages are entirely bare throughout the warm-weather months. Between outdoor venues with seasonal programming and indoor spots choosing not to go on hiatus, there are many opportunities to enjoy musicals, plays, dance and more while the sun shines.

Utah Shakespeare Festival
Cedar City's little showcase of the Bard's canon is justifiably world-renowned, including a regional theater Tony Award. Every season includes indoor and outdoor performances, with this year's Shakespeare lineup featuring Henry VIII, The Winter's Tale, The Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing. Non-Shakespeare plays also join the festivities, with productions of The 39 Steps, Silent Sky and The Mountaintop. The season runs June 17-Oct. 5, but individual show runs vary. Individual ticket prices begin at just $15. bard.org

Tuacahn
The red rocks of Ivins provide a magnificent backdrop for a season of hit shows. This year's summer season of Broadway musicals includes Disney's Frozen (through Oct. 17); Anastasia (May 17-Oct. 18); Jersey Boys (July 13-Oct. 19) and Ring of Fire (June 21-Aug. 10). Tickets are $35-$132. tuacahn.org

SCERA Shell Orem
Orem's SCERA Shell Outdoor Theatre provides a wonderful setting with mountain views, and celebrates its 40th season in 2024. In addition to concert performances and outdoor movies, SCERA serves up a few seasonal theater productions, including Disney's The Little Mermaid (June 7-22), Crazy for You (July 5-20) and Fiddler on the Roof (Aug. 2-20). SCERA.org

Sundance Summer Theatre: Disney's Newsies
If you've never experienced a play at the wonderful outdoor amphitheater at Sundance Resort, you're really missing something. Each year, the venue hosts a (usually) family-friendly production, and this year's show is Disney's Newsies, the stage musical version of the film about the New York newsboys strike of 1899. The production runs July 18-Aug. 10, with performances Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m. nightly; ticket pricing is $32-$54. Guests may also enjoy a pre-show BBQ dinner on-site for an additional fee. sundanceresort.com

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• Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre

Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre
It's well worth a visit to Logan for its annual four-week season of beloved musical theater favorites and classical opera at the Ellen Eccles Theatre. The 2024 lineup includes Cole Porter's Anything Goes; Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats; Little Shop of Horrors; Guys & Dolls; and a program of Puccini's Gianni Schicchi and Buosso's Ghost. Additional one-night-only offerings include Verdi's Requiem and the annual Michael Ballam Vocal Competition. The season runs July 10-Aug. 3; individual performance dates vary by show. Full season tickets and individual tickets are available. utahfestival.org

Salt Lake Acting Company Summer Show: Close Encounters With the Beehive
SLAC's long-standing annual summer tradition of an all-new satirical musical production continues. This time around, a pair of aliens are sent to Earth to determine if our planet is worth saving. What will they learn about humanity when they land in Salt Lake City? Cabaret table seating is available for groups, and guests often bring their own picnics to the event. Performances run June 26-Aug. 18, with tickets beginning at $41. saltlakeactingcompany.org

Hale Centre Theatre
It's year-round theater on two stages for the stalwart Utah company located in Sandy, as productions continue into the summer. Currently scheduled shows for the season include May We All: A Country Musical (through June 8); The Time Machine (through July 20); The Nutty Professor (July 1-Aug. 17); Freaky Friday: The Musical—Youth Production (July 22-Aug. 2); A Musical Tribute to Elton John, Billy Joel & Friends (July 25-Aug. 3); The Addams Family (Aug. 19-Nov. 16). hct.org

New World Shakespeare Company
Contemporary interpretations of Shakespeare classics continue through the summer at the Sister Dottie S. Dixon Blackbox of the Alliance Theater (602 E. 500 South, SLC, in Trolley Square). The Sir John Falstaff spinoff comedy The Merry Wives of Windsor runs through May 18, and All's Well That Ends Well drops in Aug. 16-25.
newworldshakespeare.com

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• SB Dance Curbside Theater presents Tarotville

SB Dance Curbside Theater: Tarotville
The engaging pop-up mix of dance and theater that SB Dance pioneered during the pandemic continues with an updated version of its ongoing production Tarotville. A portable stage comes to a variety of outdoor venues (dates and locations July-September still TBD at press time), with dancers, live music and a kind of roving carnival experience including tarot readings for audience members. curbsidetheater.sbdance.com

Many other community theaters will be running shows throughout the summer, including on outdoor stages, including Murray Arts in the Park. Visit the website of your local company for even more chances to enjoy seasonal theater.

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• Living Planet Aquarium

Web head: Summer Guide 2024 Creature Comforts
Web sub: What's new this year for Hogle Zoo, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and Tracy Aviary
By Scott Renshaw

There's nothing uniquely summer about Utah's best places for up-close experiences with animals; facilities are open year-round, and each season has its own appeal. But with kids out of school, parents are often thinking about visits to Utah's Hogle Zoo, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and Tracy Aviary at this time of year—even if they can also be wonderful places for grown-ups to enjoy an experience without any youngsters in tow.

We spoke to representatives from the three facilities to explore what you can find there in the summer of 2024, including new exhibits, special scheduled events and more.

• courtesy photo
• Hogle Zoo

Utah's Hogle Zoo
2600 Sunnyside Ave., SLC, hoglezoo.org
The big news for this year is the addition of a brand-new 3-acre expansion—the Aline W. Skaggs Wild Utah Exhibit—which focuses on the wildlife of our own state. The area is slated to feature cougars, desert bighorn sheep, burros, grey foxes and more, in addition to an education animal center that allows for interactive experiences and a new bee mural by artist Matt Willey. As construction is completed, the Eccles Express electric train attraction will also be opening at an as-yet-unspecified summer date.

While the addition of new experiences is noteworthy, Hogle Zoo has experienced other changes in the past year, including the departure of the zoo's elephants and a red panda cub. According to Rachael Eames, marketing manager for Hogle Zoo, these decisions—while perhaps disappointing to some visitors—are part of efforts to follow best practices of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, including making sure elephants are part of larger, more multi-generational herds. "We really want to be transparent about animal well-being," Eames says. "In the past, people might not have had an understanding about why animals are coming and going. We're trying to manage the population in a way that's biologically sound, and geographically sound."

Summer at the zoo also includes several date-specific events. The after-hours Zoo Brew events—taking place on select Wednesdays in the summer—are 21-and-over occasions for visitors to have a different, perhaps more tranquil experience of the zoo while enjoying adult beverages. Then, on June 7-9, Chalk the Zoo brings chalk artists to the zoo for a chance to watch them at work and see the finished creations featuring animals represented at the zoo.

"There's a little bit of an assumption that you have to have kids to come to the zoo," Eames adds. "If you just need a little respite, it's a great place to just walk and unwind. ... Traditionally, the zoo has been looked at as an attraction, and we want to be part of the community fabric."

Loveland Living Planet Aquarium
12033 Lone Peak Parkway, Draper, livingplanetaquarium.org
A couple of new additions have made their way to The Living Planet Aquarium in the past 12 months. In June 2023, the aquarium welcomed a now-2-year-old Komodo dragon, still considerably short of the maximum size he might reach. And in April, a male Asian small-clawed otter joined the family; at press time, a contest was still ongoing to name him, with aquarium passes and a Penguin Encounter available to the winner. Meanwhile, construction is ongoing for the Science Learning Center building, with a planned opening in first quarter 2025.

In terms of seasonal activities, much is connected to the outdoor plaza, including the Nights Under Lights series, with the first one scheduled for June 15. This event marks a special occasion: the 15th anniversary of the "aqua-van" mobile exhibit that was the seed for The Living Planet Aquarium (which also marks 10 years in its Draper home in 2024). Marketing director Karmel Harper also notes that the "Love on Thin Ice" series featured on the aquarium's TikTok draws attention to the fact that it's penguin breeding season, and that "we may have some penguin eggs, and penguin babies."

While summer camps are likely sold-out, at press time, ongoing activities include the before-hours Nature Storytimes, as well as the Monday night "SEArenity Yoga" set against the backdrop of the aquarium's shark and ray tank. Planning ahead for events and visits is always advisable, since admission is on a flexible-pricing basis that varies based on day of the week and number of days out from the current date.

• Courtesy photo
• Tracy Aviary

Tracy Aviary
589 E. 1300 South, SLC, tracyaviary.org
The most noteworthy new addition to Tracy Aviary is something related not specifically to the familiar Liberty Park location, but to the aviary's Jordan River Nature Center (1125 W. 3300 South, South Salt Lake), a free-habitat (animals not under human care), free to the public facility opened in 2020. That facility is in the process of expanding, and rolling out a new name as the Nature Center at Pia Okwai ("big river" in the Shoshone and Piute language).

The aviary proper, meanwhile, is introducing a monthly "Exploring Nature" speaker series, included with admission, with staff talking about projects or local partners. "We wanted to target an older audience, maybe people who are retired, or people who want some continued learning," says Lora Eschtruth, Tracy Aviary social media and marketing coordinator. "A lot of our other programs are geared toward children, so it's about finding that balance—a little something for everyone."

While summer camps are currently full or close to full, there are always ongoing "nature play" opportunities that allow visitors to interact with nature in their own way. Other scheduled events also demonstrate that attempt to offer programming for all ages. June 20 marks a "Wine Takes Flight" night, partnering with Eat Drink Salt Lake and Wine Academy of Utah for an after-hours adult event. And June 22 includes a kid-focused "Breakfast with the Birds" fundraiser, including hands-on activities.

This wide-ranging programming is part of what makes facilities like Hogle Zoo, Loveland Living Planet Aquarium and Tracy Aviary appealing to guests of all ages—but not the only part. "People perceive zoos as for kids," Eschtruth says. "But getting out in nature, and learning about nature and wildlife can be kind of restorative, and good for mental health."