THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR DEC. 12 - 18 

• Joan Marcus

Kimberly Akimbo
It's certainly not unusual for a Broadway musical to have a play as its source material. It is, however, a bit less common for a playwright to look at his own previous narrative play, and see the seed for a musical interpretation. That's what happened after David Lindsay-Abaire worked with composer Jeanine Tesori on the Broadway musical version of Shrek, and subsequently considered a return collaboration based on Lindsay-Abaire's own 2000 play Kimberly Akimbo, about a 16-year-old girl with a progeria-like genetic disorder that causes her to age faster than usual.

In a 2023 interview with Broadway World, Lindsay-Abaire described how the musical version—which won the 2023 Tony Award for Best Musical—allowed him to revisit the story and the characters from a more mature perspective. "The play is the play, and those are those characters, and [in creating the musical] we could forget them and try to hold onto whatever the spirit and the seed of the play was that we loved," he said. "Twenty years has passed, I was in my 20s when I wrote Kimberly and really connected with the teenagers, but now as the father of two boys I understand the parents in a way that I didn't then."

Broadway at the Eccles brings the touring production of Kimberly Akimbo to the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) Dec. 10 – 15, with performances 7 p.m. Wednesday – Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets begin at $59; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Courtesy photo

Doug & Lynne Seus: The Grizzlies and Us
For nearly 20 years, if you saw a grizzly bear in a movie, standing on its hind legs and roaring ferociously at a human or animal protagonist, chances are good that it was Bart the Bear. His filmography included Clan of the Cave Bear, Benji the Hunted, The Bear, The Great Outdoors, Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, White Fang, Legends of the Fall, The Edge and many more, all showing off how owner/trainers Doug and Lynne Seus made him into an icon, whose success they later parlayed into the Vital Ground Foundation, dedicated to protecting grizzly habitat in the Rocky Mountains.

While Bart passed away in 2000, his legacy lives on in the Seuses' other trained bears (including Bart the Bear II, no relation), and in a two-day Bart the Bear Festival that took place in Heber in November, partly as a book release event for Lynne Seus' new memoir, The Grizzlies and Us. This week, Doug and Lynne Seus visit Salt Lake City to share stories from their lives as bear trainers and sign copies of the book. The event is also scheduled to include screening of clips from some of Bart's film appearances. Attendees will also have an opportunity to donate to the Vital Ground Foundation.

Doug and Lynne Seus visit Ken Sanders Rare Books in The Leonardo (209 E. 500 South) on Saturday, Dec. 12 from 6 p.m. – 9 p.m. The event is free and open to the public; visit kensandersrarebooks.com for additional event information. (SR)

• Courtesy photo

Fem Dance: Tetrad
Those of us aging Gen X-ers who grew up with Schoolhouse Rock have it burned into our brains that "three is a magic number." But for Salt Lake City-based Fem Dance, the magic in 2024 is coming from the number four. This year marks the fourth anniversary of the company, and to mark the occasion, they're producing an evening of four new pieces from four choreographers. And the event is appropriately named Tetrad.

Company director Alicia Ross, Becca Webb, Christi Harris and Mary Timmer are the featured choreographers for Tetrad, addressing a range of themes. But perhaps above all, it could be considered a celebration of the company reaching some milestones, as Ross said via email. "This is our closing show of an especially wonderful year," Ross noted. "As a company, we produced the most projects we've ever done in a season this year. After traveling to New York City, performing in the Utah Arts Festival for the first time, and producing three evening-length shows, we are beaming with pride. The four pieces in Tetrad explore themes of togetherness and joy, lightness versus darkness, and tapping into the deep power of feminine energy. We are thrilled to share what we've created for this intimate performance."

Fem Dance's production of Tetrad comes to the Regent Street Black Box Theater (144 Regent Street) at the Eccles Theater for two performances, on Friday, Dec. 13 and Saturday, Dec. 14 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25 general admission for individual tickets, $20 for select group purchases. Visit arttix.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)