THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR AUG 10 - 16 

• Matthew Murphy

Beetlejuice
Broadway is full of movie-to-stage versions that initially seemed like an odd fit, but "odd" certainly isn't a place where the story of Beetlejuice is uncomfortable. The theatrical adaptation of the 1988 feature film from director Tim Burton—with songs by Australian composer Eddie Perfect and a book by the team of Scott Brown and Anthony King (Guttenberg! The Musical)—faced a bumpy path, as the original 2019 Broadway production was forced to close due to the COVID pandemic. But fittingly enough for the subject matter of the show, that which seemed dead had a way of coming back and making itself heard again in the world.

That story tracks fairly closely to the film version, involving a country home where two residents—married couple Adam and Barbara Maitland—die suddenly, and find themselves haunting their house. Eventually, a new family moves in—including goth kid Lydia, her father and stepmother—which disrupts the routine established by the ghost Maitlands. But there's another guest in the house: a demonic entity named Beetlejuice, who only wants to rejoin the land of the living, if he could just get someone to say his name three times. The Tony Award-nominated version adds catchy tunes (like "The Whole 'Being Dead' Thing") to the anarchic humor of the original film, while also adding a more heartfelt arc for Lydia's grieving of her dead mother.

The current touring production of Beetlejuice takes up residence at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main Street) through Aug. 13, with varying showtimes. Tickets begin at $89; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Oluwaseye Olusa slash HBO

Marc Maron
The personal and professional path of Marc Maron certainly hasn't been a smooth one. After toiling away at a stand-up comedy career for more than 20 years, and being part of the launch of the left-leaning Air America radio network, Maron was facing an uncertain phase in his career in 2009 when he launched a podcast called WTF, which became one of the world's most popular podcasts and a forum for everyone from standup comedians to world leaders. Then, in 2020, he faced the sudden death of his partner—filmmaker Lynn Shelton—during the height of the pandemic. You could understand if a guy who has built much of his comedy around his anxieties was uncertain what to do next.

One result was his latest standup special, From Bleak to Dark, in which he dives right in by suggesting "I don't think anything's going to get better, ever again." And from there he spins off into meditations on everything from climate change to the changing nature of dumb-ness ("I miss 10 years ago stupid, stupid that had a little humility. ... Now there's sort of a brazen, confident stupid that's just loaded up with all kinds of bullshit information."), before moving into a searing reflection on his experience with grieving. Even when things appear to be at their worst, there seems to be nothing that Maron can't wrestle a laugh out of.

Marc Maron visits Wiseguys Comedy at the Gateway (190 S. 400 West) Aug. 11 – 12 for two shows nightly, 7 p.m. & 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $40 general admission; visit wiseguyscomedy.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

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• Courtesy Photo

Material Gallery grand opening
When local artists Jorge Rojas and Colour Maisch were facing the need to relocate from the studio space they had long shared, they decided on something a bit more ambitious than simply finding another studio space. "I'm so sick of being a struggling, starving artist, not knowing if I'm going to be able to pay the rent the next month," Rojas says. "The only other thing I've ever wanted to do besides make art is start a gallery." Maisch adds, "Jorge said, 'I have this hare-brained idea. ... What do you think about showing all the work we want to have shown?'"

The result is Material (2970 S. West Temple, Unit B, South Salt Lake), a contemporary art gallery that will feature exhibitions, studio spaces and a place for artists to teach classes. "One of the things Jorge and I are passionate about, in addition to not living hand-to-mouth, is to find a new paradigm inside the commercial gallery system, a way to put money in artists' hands," Maisch says. "We're early in this game, and still figuring all this stuff out, but we're wanting this to be a collaborative effort with artists we're working with."

Material kicks off with a community-celebration grand opening on Saturday, Aug. 12 from 6:30 p.m. – 9 p.m., with a reception for the space's first exhibitions: collaborative project Las Hermanas Iglesias' Loose Lips, and Utah artist Kathryn Knudsen's Collaborating with Excess. "They're established artists that we respect not just as artists, but as humans," Rojas says. "We only want to work with artists we like as people. We're too small to work with assholes." (SR)

• John Barkiple

Craft Lake City DIY Festival
Speaking to City Weekly last year, SLUG Magazine publisher and Craft Lake City founder Angela Brown noted that the COVID pandemic was an opportunity for more makers to be born, or for existing makers to expand the kind of work they do. "We've definitely seen that and heard that from participants, that they either found their craft during the pandemic, or worked better," Brown says. "The pandemic really did help people find that." So with a rich group of creative people now to draw from, the Craft Lake City DIY Festival returns again as a chance to see all of the different ways that people have turned their artsier side into something they can share with the world.

The centerpiece for the event is work by more than 350 local makers, working in jewelry, clothing, artisan food, fine art and more. The Google Fiber STEM building provides a particular showcase for interactive science projects, prototypes, 3D-printed items and more, along with the opportunity for kids to participated in a build-your-own-rocket STEM craft project (complete with on-site launch time). Two stages will provide live music entertainment from headliners including Grammy nominee Courtney Marie Andrews, L.A.-based art-punk band SEGO and a host of local acts.

The 2023 Craft Lake City DIY Festival presented by Harmons comes to the Utah State Fairpark (155 N. 1000 West) Aug. 11 (5 – 10 p.m.), Aug. 12 (noon – 8 p.m.) and Aug. 13 (noon – 6 p.m.). Tickets are $7 - $15 plus VIP options, and proof of purchase can be used as Trax fare to and from the event. Visit craftlakecity.com for tickets and additional event information. (SR)