Please join us for an afternoon of performance, tours, and celebration of the new John & Marcia Price Theatre Arts Building at the University of Utah, home of the College of Fine Arts Department of Theatre!

John & Marcia Price Theatre Arts Building Tour
Tuesday, October 19 4:30-6:00P* 
332 S 1400 E Salt Lake City, UT 84112 

*Main Program to begin at 4:30P – reception at the new Price Family Amphitheatre to follow

Please RSVP by Monday, Oct. 18 to  (479) 466-4340

Parking

Safety Information

For the safety of our community, we ask that all patrons attending to follow recent CDC guidance, which calls for everyone to wear face masks indoors. We ask that patrons please not attend any show if they have been exposed to COVID-19 or are feeling unwell.

By: Marina Gomberg

When you study at University of Utah College of Fine Arts, you’re not just introduced to some of the finest faculty members on the planet. You oftentimes also get to enjoy the benefits of those faculty members’ vast and esteemed networks, too. 

This was the case with the graduating seniors in the University of Utah Department of Theatre’s Actor Training Program (ATP), who got to have one final guest artist experience with assistant professor, Robert Scott Smith’s graduate school buddy — oh, and Emmy and Golden Globe winner — Jim Parsons.

Smith wanted to provide something really special to the ATP students who are graduating during this global pandemic, and a visit with Parsons was his Big Bang Theory (har har), especially because the two of them had their own experience graduating during a particularly challenging time.

“We finished our graduate work from the University of San Diego after 9/11,” Smith noted. “So, I thought the students might uniquely benefit from hearing how he faced life after school in what felt like a pretty uncertain world.”

In an intimate and invite-only Zoom meeting, Smith and Parsons bantered back and forth about their time together in school, and Smith posed questions to Parsons from the personal to the professional.

 “I think the thickest common thread of our experience to this experience is that it forces you to realize your commitment to what it is you want,” Parsons said, as he reflected on how the world’s uncertainty made him surer of his own drive and passion as an artist.

The two spoke about life in quarantine, protecting art in the dollar-driven business of artmaking, Parson’s work producing the series “Special,” and his works on Broadway, navigating between playing to a camera versus a live audience, the value of being prepared, and handing life when it all feels like trial by fire.

He opened up genuinely about his own personal writing practices, the discovery of his aversion to the business side of the work, and how he overcomes his own doubts and fears.

 “I do think that’s a big part of it, is to understand that fear and uncertainty are the companions — they’re always in the side car. And when you quit fighting them — for me at least — they become smaller, for lack of engaging with them as much. But they also offer their own excitement and mystery, and you learn, sometimes, to let that be the joy.”

After about 45 minutes of what felt like watching two longtime friends catch up in their living room (which even included the recipe for Parsons’ apparently famous Velveeta chip dip), Smith opened the session to student questions, which ranged from the more pragmatic and tactical to philosophical and lofty. Each of the questions, though, was paired with profuse gratitude for the opportunity to hear from Parsons and pick his brain.

It was a big bang, indeed.

Parsons sent one final thought after the call for Smith to share with the students:

"YOU ARE ENOUGH. I think it’s THE most CRUCIAL information I ever received and it means something new and deeper to me with each passing year but, as an actor, I HIGHLY advise saying it to yourself as often as you can remember to do so and until you believe it!"

The University of Utah’s Department of Theatre will present Qui Nguyen’s She Kills Monsters at Kingsbury Hall, by special arrangement with Samuel French, Inc. Directed by Jamie Rocha Allan, this tale of friendship, loss, and acceptance follows young woman Agnes Evans as she grieves the death of her sister, Tilly. While exploring her sister’s life, Agnes discovers that Tilly was a well-known Dungeons and Dragons player and dives into a fantastical world chock-full of supermodel elves, dominatrix warrior women, and nasty ogres.

She Kills Monsters runs Jan. 16-19 at 7:30 p.m. with 2:00 p.m. performances on Jan 18 and 19.  The 2:00 pm performance on Jan. 18 will be ASL interpreted. A talkback with the cast and creative team will follow the 7:30 p.m. performance on Jan. 18. As director Jamie Rocha Allan describes, the production is the result of many creative collaborations.

“What most excites me about bringing She Kills Monsters to the stage is the chance to show off all the incredible collaborators I have worked with, from faculty, to students to freelance artists. This really is an ensemble show on and off the stage.” The talented cast includes members of both the Actor Training Program and Musical Theatre Program of the U’s Department of Theatre including Allison Billmeyer as Tilly Evans, and Piper Salazar as Agnes Evans. Puppet designer Matt Sorensen collaborated with students to create several original puppets that enhance the imaginary world of monsters and dragons. The production features scenic design by Thomas George, costume design by Peter Terry, lighting design by Rachael Harned, sound design and composition by Gerard Black, dramaturgy by Mason Duncan, choreography by Aria Klein, and fight choreography by Harris Smith.

Read more about the creation of the production’s stunning puppetry here.

She Kills Monsters at a Glance

Dates and Times: January 16 – 19 at 7:30 pm Matinees January 18* and 19 at 2:00 pm *ASL interpretation available

Location: Kingsbury Hall is located at 1395 East Presidents Circle at the University of Utah. Free parking is available for all Kingsbury Hall events at either Rice-Eccles Stadium or Merrill Engineering. Meters are available along Presidents Circle. Most are free after 6:00 PM on nights with public performances at Kingsbury Hall, but fill up fast.

Tickets: General Admission tickets are $18, University of Utah faculty and staff are $15, University of Utah students are free with UCard, and all other students with valid student ID are $8.50. Tickets can be obtained by calling 801-581-7100, online at tickets.utah.edu or at the Performing Arts Box Office, located at Kingsbury Hall.  The performance on Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. will be FREE for any student (middle school, high school, college) with a valid student ID. Please redeem your ticket by 7:10 p.m. from the performing arts box office located outside the Kingsbury Hall Theater. Content warning: Children under four years of age, including babes in arms, will not be admitted. Contains simulated violence, sexual content, adult language, references to suicide.

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