THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR FEB 22 - 28 

• Courtesy photo

In the Now Productions: The Gaza Monologues
The ongoing devastation in Gaza has inspired international outrage, with tales of indiscriminate warfare affecting families and traumatized children. Sadly, these stories are not new: In 2010, Palestine-based Ashtar Theatre collected the accounts of young people who had survived the 2008-2009 bombardment of Gaza as The Gaza Monologues, allowing these written narratives to serve as a kind of trauma therapy. In the wake of the most recent campaign, Ashtar Theatre put out a call for theater artists around the world to perform these monologues as part of an International Day of Solidarity last November.

Now, Utah's own In the Now Productions has created a recorded version of The Gaza Monologues, incorporating the participation of 36 all-volunteer artists from around the country, many with Utah ties. The events they capture through the performance are disturbingly similar to what is going on right now, yet the stories are not just about violence; they are also stories of resilience, conveying what the writers of these recollections hope they might see in the future. According to In the Now founder William Richardson, "As theater artists, we strive to tell stories that uplift the human spirit and to elicit change. It is our obligation to support not only our colleagues in Palestine, but the millions of people currently displaced, in the wake of the devastation in Gaza."

The Gaza Monologues is currently available for free via In the Now's YouTube channel (@IntheNowShows). Viewers are encouraged to donate to Ashtar Theatre's Psycho-Social Relief Fund (globalgiving.org/projects/traumareleasepalestine/), which provides trauma relief for children in Palestine. Visit facebook.com/inthenowshows for additional information. (Scott Renshaw)

• BW Productions

Pioneer Theatre Company: Bonnie & Clyde
The story of Clyde Barrow and Bonnie Parker had already taken on the aura of myth during their lifetime, as the two Texas natives and lovers launched a crime spree in the early 1930s that lasted until their death by posse gunfire in Louisiana on May 23, 1934. An antiheroic chronicle of their Depression-era exploits was ideal for the risky "New Hollywood" era of the late 1960s, as Arthur Penn's Oscar-winning 1967 film Bonnie & Clyde demonstrated. But turning that story into a musical? Now there was a bold proposition.

It was one that paid off, however, as writer Ivan Mitchell, composer Frank Wildhorn and lyricist Don Black collaborated on the 2009 musical version of Bonnie & Clyde, which was nominated for Tony Awards for its Lead Actress and Original Song Score. The narrative opens with a prologue showing the aforementioned violent end of Bonnie and Clyde, before flashing back to the first meeting between waitress Bonnie and recently-broken-out-of-prison Clyde. Their respective dreams for fame and fortune eventually lead them to joining forces for a series of robberies—and eventual murders—in a story set to a score combining blues, gospel and rock 'n' roll music to create something uniquely American, just like Bonnie & Clyde themselves.

Pioneer Theatre Company presents the Utah premiere of Bonnie & Clyde at the Pioneer Memorial Theatre (300 S. 1400 East) Feb. 23 – March 9, with performances Monday – Thursday at 7 p.m., Friday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $55 - $79 in advance, $5 more day of performance; visit pioneertheatre.org to purchase tickets and for additional event information. (SR)

• Matthew Murphy

MJ: The Musical
As controversial as the life of Michael Jackson has been over the years—both during his life and since his passing in 2009—it's impossible to deny the influence of his music. With The Jackson 5, the precocious young Michael voiced multiple Motown hits; as the MTV era dawned in the 1980s, his electrifying physical presence and infectious songs became the soundtrack for a generation, including some of the best-selling albums of all time. It's the kind of life and creative career that makes great material for a jukebox musical, as happened with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lynn Nottage and choreographer Christopher Wheeldon bringing MJ: The Musical to Broadway in 2022.

The story is framed around the launch of Jackson's Dangerous World Tour in 1992, including rehearsal preparations and an interview with a journalist. That provides a chance to explore Jackson's childhood and early career at Motown, his blockbuster collaborations with producer Quincy Jones, and the challenges of being such a celebrity with public scrutiny of all his eccentricities. And of course, along the way, we get a chance to hear many of the performer's biggest hits—"I'll Be There," "Beat It," "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough," "Billie Jean," "Bad," "Human Nature," "Smooth Criminal" and more—set to fantastic dancing.

The touring production of MJ: The Musical visits the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) Feb. 27 – March 3, with performances 7:30 p.m. Tuesday – Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. & 8 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. & 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $149 - $169; visit arttix.org for tickets and additional event information. (SR)