THE ESSENTIAL A&E PICKS FOR MAY 5 - 11 

• Magic Space Entertainment

Whose Live Anyway?
As a comedic form, improv is both difficult and much-parodied—a challenging art to master, and one often undertaken by amateurs. Creating comedy on the spot isn't something everyone can do, which made the popular early-2000s American TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?—an adaptation of the British series of the same name—a delight for audiences as they watched experts at work. That success resulted in a spinoff touring live version of the show, Whose Live Anyway?, featuring regular members of the show's various incarnations.

For the current tour, that includes comedians Ryan Stiles and Jeff Proops, whose tenure on Whose Line dates back to the British series more than 25 years ago. They're currently joined by comedian Jeff B. Davis and actor-comedian Joel Murray (brother of Bill) in a 90-minute program that follows a similar format to the TV series, with the cast members participating in a series of "games" based on suggestions provided by the audience, resulting in humorously-distributed points for the players. The audience-participation component for the live shows might even include being brought up on stage to be part of the fun. After all, what is improvisation if not being prepared for the unexpected?

Whose Live Anyway? comes to the Delta Performance Hall of the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) on Thursday, May 5 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30 - $60; based on current guidelines, Live at the Eccles no longer requires proof of vaccination or masking by patrons inside the venue. Visit live-at-the-eccles.com for tickets and additional event information. (Scott Renshaw)

• Robert Holman

Pygmalion Productions:Body Awareness
Pygmalion Productions' staging of Annie Baker's 2008 play Body Awareness is one of many local shows that was originally planned for presentation in 2020, only to be postponed by the COVID pandemic. But according to cast member Brenda Hattingh Peatross, it might actually be a more relevant show after all we've been through. "This play is about people dealing with some very personal situations and kind of getting a grip on things, when suddenly a wrench is thrown in the works," Hattingh Peatross says in a press release. "I think that was pre-pandemic for many of us. ... Everything we thought we knew about ourselves and our relationships was wrong in so many ways. It forced us to look at those things in a way we may not have done before."

Body Awareness applies that notion to a premise set in a Vermont college, where Body Awareness Week is underway. The event's organizer (played by Hattingh Peatross) and her family—including partner, Joyce (Teresa Sanderson, pictured), and Joyce's son Jared (Tom Roche), who might be on the autism spectrum—are hosting a guest artist, Frank (Tom Cowan) known for photography of female nudes. Thus begins a complex exploration of female body image and a family's own struggles with effective communication.

Body Awareness runs in the Black Box Theater of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center (138 W. 300 South) May 6-21, with performances Thursdays-Sundays. General admission tickets are $15 - $22.50; the presenter will require the wearing of masks throughout the performance. Visit pygmalionproductions.org for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

• Utah Opera

Utah Opera: The Pirates of Penzance
Let's face it: There are a lot of creative works that are best known by the general public for a part, rather than for a whole. Entire generations know "to be or not to be" without ever having seen Hamlet, or the "Ode to Joy" without experiencing the rest of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. That idea likely applies as well to Gilbert & Sullivan's 1879 comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, which includes among its musical solos "I am the very model of a modern Major-General," a rapid-fire lyrical tongue-twister which has been referenced and parodied for 100 years.

But if that's all you know of Penzance, you've got some fun in store. The show offers a delightful mix of comedy, romance and adventure in its story of a young man named Frederic who has spent most of his life apprenticed to a band of pirates. During his first trip out into the world, he meets a lovely young woman named Mabel, and hopes he might find a normal life for himself, only to discover that his "contract" with the pirates might run considerably longer than he expected. Of course, when you're dealing with a particularly empathetic band of pirates, things have a way of working out.

Utah Opera presents The Pirates of Penzance at the Jannet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South) May 7 – 15, with five performances. Tickets range from $15 - $110, depending on date of performance; Utah Opera currently does not require proof of vaccination or face coverings at performances. Visit utahopera.org for tickets and additional event information. (SR)

• University of Illinois Press

Revising Eternity @ King's English
In 2016, Arizona-based author Holly Welker released Baring Witness, a collection of interviews and comments by women members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about their experiences with love, sex and marriage. It seems only fitting, then, that the fellas would eventually get to tell their side of the story, which is exactly what Welker has done with her latest book, Revising Eternity: 27 Latter-day Saint Men Reflect on Modern Relationships.

As she did in Baring Witness, Welker serves primarily as editor, allowing her interview subjects to relate their own experiences in a series of essays centered around how male members of the Church approach romantic relationships and marriage, given the institution of marriage's centrality in Church doctrine. Their experiences cover a wide range of topics pertaining to relationships, including struggling with the Church's position on same-sex relationships, being unfaithful in marriage, facing crises of faith and much more. The honest and conversational contributions challenge the notion that marriage within the LDS church is a hegemonic experience, and how hard it is to be the kind of man—and husband—that is expected within the Church.

Welker visits The King's English Bookshop (1511 S. 1500 East) for an in-person event on Tuesday, May 10, 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. She will be joined for the reading by several of her interview subjects, including Joseph Broom, Kelland Coleman, Tyler Chadwick, Scot Denhalter andRobert Raleigh. The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place on the outdoor patio. Visit kingsenglish.com for additional event information. (SR)