• The 2013 Living Traditions Festival runs all weekend at Washington Square, 400 South and State Street, Salt Lake City. Events run tonight from 5 to 10 p.m., Saturday from noon to 10 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 7 p.m. Free.

• British singer-songwriter Kate Nash performs tonight at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Dresses. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $17, at Smith’s Tix.

• Ballet West unveils “Innovations 2013,” its annual showcase of up-and-coming choreography (including some by Ballet West artists), tonight and Saturday at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 Sou...

The big studios are steering clear of the U.S.S. Enterprise this weekend. (You can read The Cricket’s review of “Star Trek: Into Darkness” here.)

So the arthouse slate is picking up the slack, with some intriguing Friday openings.

Best of the lot is “In the House,” a seductive and twisty French thriller about a high-school student (Ernst Umhauer) who tries to insinuate himself into the middle-class home of a classmate — with an eye toward the kid’s hot mom (Emmanuelle Seigner). The student relates his progress through his writing assignments, handed into his French teacher (Fabrice Lucchin...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• After creating a tarted-up version of Merida, the arrow-shooting Scotswoman from the movie “Brave,” Disney has apparently backed down in the face of a massive online protest. [The Daily Beast]

• Candice Glover is your new “American Idol.” Do you care? [The Huffington Post]

• A painting by John Currin, “Bea Arthur Naked” (which shows exactly what you think it does), has sold at auction for $1.9 million. [Entertainment Weekly]

...

• Spy Hop Productions conducts its annual benefit, this year with the theme “Be Bold,” at The Gateway, 116 S. Rio Grande St. (in the former Anthropologie store site). The event starts at 6. Tickets are $50, available at the Spy Hop website.

• Brit Floyd, a Pink Floyd tribute act with note-for-note re-enactments of album sides, performs at Maverik Center, 3200 S. Decker Lake Drive, West Valley City. Show starts at 8. Tickets, from $25 to $64.20, available at TicketMaster.

• Musician Bill Payne, founding member of Little Feat, will perform and talk about his photography, at The State Room, 6...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• David Beckham is retiring from soccer, leaving more time for his careers as underwear model and Posh Spice’s arm candy. [NPR]

• Looks like Nicki Minaj won’t be returning to “American Idol” next season, prompting the question, “Does anybody really care about “American Idol” anymore?” [Vulture]

• The rumor mill around “Saturday Night Live” is churning, with reports that regulars Fred Armisen and Jason Sudeikis are probably leaving at the end of the season (which is this Saturday). [Entertainment Weekly]

...

• Rock/hip-hop act Flobots performs at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Wheelchair Sports Camp, Burnell Washburn. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $20, at Smith’s Tix or 24Tix.

• Guitar legend Junior Brown performs at The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening act: The Hollering Pines. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $23, at the venue’s website.

...

Who’s excited for “Star Trek: Into Darkness”?

If you’re not, you should be. Director J.J. Abrams’ second mission with the U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew is full of action, smart plotting, and enough references to the original canon to make an old-like Trekkie squeal with delight.

The movie opens tonight on IMAX screens, and Thursday in wide release.

For more information, check out The Cricket’s review of the film here.

...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• After the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch said he didn’t want larger women and “not so cool” kids wearing his company’s clothes, an L.A. filmmaker found a hilarious way to strike back: Giving A&F-logoed clothes to the homeless. [Upworthy]

• Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal are reportedly in talks to play the Princes Charming in the movie version of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Into the Woods.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Being a celebrity doesn’t always mean a guaranteed success on Kickstarter: Actress Melissa Joan ...

• UK trio The Virginmarys performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 6. Tickets are $10, at Smith’s Tix.

• Indie-folk band Daughter performs at The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Jeremy Messersmith. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $14, at 24Tix.

...

To artist Kent Christensen, sugar in all its many forms is “Mormon heroin.”

It’s also the basis for his art, which satirizes Mormons’ obsession with sweets by using candy, cakes, Jell-O and other sugary treats to recreate personal, religious and cultural symbols.

For example, Christensen has created a canvas depicting Spiral Jetty, Robert Smithson’s famous earthwork in the Great Salt Lake, out of salt-water taffy. And he’s created a gold-spired LDS temple out of Coca-Cola bottles. (Presumably caffeine-free Coke.)

More than 60 of Christensen’s works are n...

A string quartet from the University of Utah is going to New York next week — but it’s not a vacation.

The University of Utah School of Music Graduate String Quartet will be taking part in the Juilliard String Quartet Seminar, a prestigious and intensive weeklong workshop that runs from May 20 to May 24.

“This quartet is a symbiosis of four highly talented and accomplished string students, who has hit a very successful combination of ambition and ability,” Hasse Borup, the group’s director and an associate professor at the U., said in a statement. “I am very proud of their achievements and...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• Angelina Jolie disclosed in a New York Times op-ed that last month doctors completed a double mastectomy — a preventive measure because the actress carries a gene that increases the odds that she would contract breast cancer. [The New York Times]

• Stefon is hopping to another club, as Bill Hader is leaving “Saturday Night Live” after eight seasons. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Dr. Joyce Brothers, who became a pop psychologist on TV in the 1960s and paved the path for the likes of Phil or Dr. Drew, died Monday ...

• Electro-pop act Marina and The Diamonds performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Charli XCX. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets are $18, at Smith’s Tix or 24Tix.

• Folk-rock musician Laura Stevenson performs at The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Field Mouse, Cody Taylor. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• “The Great Gatsby” made an impressive opening, old sport, taking in $51.1 million this weekend. But it still only rated a second-place showing, behind “Iron Man 3,” which took in $72.5 million in its second weekend. [Box Office Mojo]

• “Saturday Night Live” head writer and “Weekend Update” anchor Seth Meyers will take over NBC’s “Late Night” when Jimmy Fallon moves up to hosting “The Tonight Show.” [CNN]

• It’s official: Barbara Walters will announce her retirement, after a half-century in news, today on “T...

• Indie-rock band The Thermals perform tonight at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $14, at 24Tix.

• Electronic-dance duo The Egg and singer-songwriter Sophie Barker (of Zero 7) share the bill tonight at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 9. Tickets are free, available at Smith’s Tix outlets (not online) or at The Depot box office.

• Singer-songwriter Joshua Radin performs tonight at The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening act: My Name Is You. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $40, at the venu...

Yes, it's great.

Baz Luhrmann's “The Great Gatsby” is an eye-popping visual feast of Jazz Age excess, with Luhrmann's over-the-top visuals neatly matching the appearance-is-everything mindset of its title character (played with charm and intensity by Leonardo DiCaprio). The cast, which includes Carey Mulligan as the waiflike Daisy Buchanan and Tobey Maguire as the ever-observant Nick Carraway, is perfect in this feverish adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel.

Another fascinating take at an obsessed character is Matteo Garrone's biting satire “Reality.” It centers on a Neapolitan f...

• Singer-songwriter Caitlin Rose performs at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Daniel Romano. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

• Rapper Big Boi, half of the hip-hop duo Outkast, performs at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Killer Mike. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $31, at Smith’s Tix.

• Experimental indie-rock band The Appleseed Cast performs at The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Hospital Ships, Huldra. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $14, at 24Tix.

• Metalcore band Attack Attack! performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: The Plot in You, Get Scared, Dangerkids, Closer to Closure. Show starts at 6. Tickets are $14, at Smith’s Tix.

• Singer-songwriter Stephen Kellogg performs at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Rebecca Pidgeon. Show starts at 6:30. Tickets are $18, at 24Tix.

• Rock duo Middle Class Rut performs at Bar Deluxe, 666 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening act: Starmy. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $12, at Smith’s Tix or 24Tix.

The first trailer for “Ender’s Game,” the long-awaited movie adaptation of Orson Scott Card’s 1985 science-fiction novel, is available online — and it certainly boasts action and brooding youth.

Asa Butterfield, who played the title role in “Hugo,” plays Ender Wiggin, a young man sent to Battle School to train ahead of an impending alien invasion. The movie stars Harrison Ford as the school’s commander, Col. Graff, and Ben Kingsley as Ender’s trainer, Mazer Rackham. Also in the cast are Viola Davis (“The Help”), Hailie Steinfeld (“True Grit”) and Abigail Breslin (“The Call”).

The movie, di...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• Hot off the success of “Iron Man 3,” director Shane Black has lined up his next project: A reboot of the ‘30s pulp hero Doc Savage, “The Man of Bronze.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

• When a new Miss America is crowned in September, she won’t be hearing the familiar words, “There she is, Miss America,” as pageant organizers have nixed the song for this year’s ceremony. All of this raises the question: We still have a Miss America pageant? In 2013? [Entertainment Weekly]

• Google is celebrating the 93rd birthday...

How far would you go to satisfy your love of music?

Utah music fan David Sullivan was scheduled to go to New York Tuesday night — the second of two trips to the Empire State — because the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra is performing a rarity, Russian composer Reinhold Gliere’s Third Symphony.

According to The Buffalo News, Sullilvan flew to Buffalo last weekend to hear the work performed there, and tonight will hop a red-eye to New York, where the BPO is playing the work at Carnegie Hall tonight.

Sullivan, who works in the tech industry, did some sightse...

• Comedian and “Parks & Recreation” co-star Aziz Ansari performs his stand-up act at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $35, at Smith’s Tix or ArtTix.

• Belgian folk-rock trio K’s Choice performs at The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening act: Super Water Sympathy. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $20, at the venue’s website.

• Alt-punk/metal band Taproot performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Boy Hits Car. Show starts at 8:30. Tickets are $16, at Smith’s Tix.

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• Ray Harryhausen, the stop-motion genius who made movie monsters move in the days before computer animation and inspired generations of filmmakers (as well as the restaurant in “Monsters, Inc.”), has died at the age of 92. Among his movies were “Mighty Joe Young” (1949), “Twenty Million Miles to Earth” (1957), “One Million Years B.C.” (1966) and the original “Clash of the Titans” (1980). [ComingSoon.net]

• Singer Lauryn Hill has been sentenced to three months in a federal prison, for failure to pay taxes on $1.5 million she earned from 2005 to...

• Pop-rock band Paramore has canceled tonight’s show at Saltair, due to singer Hayley Williams’ illness. Refunds available at point of purchase.

• Indie-rock band Maps & Atlases performs at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Young Man. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $12, at 24Tix.

• SoCal folk-rock duo Milk Carton Kids performs at The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Opening act: The Barefoot Movement. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $15, at the venue’s website.

• Canadian noise trio Metz performs at The Ur...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• “Iron Man 3” opened with a massive $175.3 million at the box office this weekend. That’s the second biggest opening of all time. (No. 1 was “The Avengers” last year.) [Box Office Mojo]

• In a rule change that could expand the voting bloc for short and foreign-language Oscar contenders, Academy voters will be able to watch DVD screeners instead of having to attend official theater screenings. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Thank God that awful [redacted; team I hated] didn’t win “The Amazing Race.” [Entertainmen...

• Rapper Andre Nickatina performs tonight at The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Roach Gigz, MUMBLS. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $25, at Smith’s Tix.

• The Utah Symphony performs the music of John Williams — best known for his movie scores for “Star Wars,” “Jaws,” “Indiana Jones” and more — tonight and Saturday at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 8 p.m. each night. Tickets available at ArtTix.

• The 10th annual Live Green Festival happens Saturday at Library Square, at 200 East and 400 South, Salt Lake City. Sustainability demos...

The summer blockbuster season begins for real today, with Robert Downey Jr. and a red-and-gold suit leading the charge.

“Iron Man 3” returns both Downey’s Tony Stark and his armor-clad superhero persona, and it turns out it’s the first one we missed the most. Stark finds himself reeling after a nasty terrorist, The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), attacks Stark’s Malibu house. Stark must rebuild, regroup, and track down the truth behind his shadowy new nemesis. Director/co-writer Shane Black knows Downey’s rhythms well (Black’s first directorial effort was “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”), and only falters as the demands of a mega-sized actio...

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• “Tired of taking the heat” after five cast members’ deaths, TV therapist Dr. Drew Pinsky says he’s done with “Celebrity Rehab.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Speaking of rehab, Lindsay Lohan has checked into the Betty Ford Center, but not without some last-minute drama. [New York Daily News]

• A biopic of Fred Rogers, the beloved children’s-show host, is in the works. [Vulture]

...

• ‘90s metal band Powerman 5000 performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 6. Tickets are $21, at Smith’s Tix.

• Indie hip-hop artist Aesop Rock performs at The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Rob Sonic, DJ Big Wiz, Busdriver. Show starts at 6. Tickets are $20, at 24Tix.

• Soja headlines a reggae night at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Los Rakas, Rootz Underground. Show starts at 7:30. Tickets are $26 (for 21 and over) and $28 (for under 21), available at Smith’s Tix.

The Utah Museum of Fine Arts’ newest major acquisition is now on the walls — and it’s different than what museumgoers might be used to seeing.

The work is a piece of language sculpture by Lawrence Weiner, who’s considered one of the founders of the Conceptual art movement.

The 1976 sculpture, “BENT TO A STRAIGHT AND NARROW AT A POINT OF PASSAGE,” consists of that enigmatic title rendered in large blue cut-vinyl capital letters over three walls of UMFA’s otherwise empty main first-floor gallery, the G.W. Anderson Family Great Hall. It will be on display there now through mid-2014.

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• The Internet has blown up a little bit at the rumor that Michael B. Jordan (“Chronicle,” “Fruitvale Station”) might be cast as Johnny Storm, a k a “The Human Torch,” in a “Fantastic Four” reboot. Why does this matter to comic-book nerds? Because Jordan is African-American. [IndieWire]

• Chris “Mac Daddy” Kelly, one half of the ‘90s kid rap duo Kris Kross, has died at the age of 34. [Los Angeles Times]

• A child star of an entirely different era, Deanna Durbin, has died at the age of 91. Durbin was a teen ...

• Singer-songwriter Alex Clare, known for his dubstep song “Too Close” (used in a Microsoft ad), performs at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Opening act: The Knocks. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $21 (for 21 and over) and $23 (for under 21), available at Smith’s Tix.

• Norwegian punk-metal band Kvelertak performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Cancer Bats, Black Tusk. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $14, at Smith’s Tix.

• Producer/DJ Quantic spins his mix of soul, electronic and Latin music at The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City....

Here’s what’s happening today in pop culture:

• “The Young and the Restless” topped the Daytime Emmy nominations this morning, with 23. [Entertainment Weekly]

• Michael Fassbender and Natalie Portman will star in a new movie version of “Macbeth.” [The Hollywood Reporter]

• It looks like John Williams will be writing the music for the next “Star Wars” movie. [Vulture]

...

• Pop-rock duo Touche performs at Kilby Court, 741 S. Kilby Court (330 West), Salt Lake City. Opening act: Koala Temple. Show starts at 7. Tickets are $8, at 24Tix.

• R&B performer Har Mar Superstar plays The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Salt Lake City. Opening act: Custom Model. Show starts at 9. Tickets are $10, at 24Tix.

...

Regular readers of The Cricket (yes, both of you) may remember past mentions of Keala Settle, the Southern Utah University alum who received raves for her performance in the Broadway musical "Hands on a Hardbody," which opened in late March and closed early this month.

Today there's a happy ending to Settle's brief "Hardbody" tale: She received a Tony nomination, as featured actress in a musical, for her role as one of the contestants in an endurance contest to win a pickup truck.

...

Here's what's happening today in pop culture:
• The musical "Kinky Boots" (adapted from a 2005 British movie that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, by the way) leads the Tony nominations with 13. The musical "Matilda," based on the Roald Dahl story (which also was made into a movie), received 12. [Vulture]
• What's wrong with Hollywood? Recently retired filmmaker Steven Soderbergh says a lot, starting with the fact that "there are fewer and fewer executives who are in the business because they love movies." [The Huffington Post]
• What else is wrong with Hollywood? Tech entrepreneur Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and an early Facebook investor, says moviemakers spen...

• “Psychedelic hip-hop punk rock” group Kottonmouth Kings headlines the “Fight to Unite” tour, at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Deuce, Dizzy Wright, Snow Tha Product, Eskimo Callboy. Show starts at 5. Tickets are $21, at Smith’s Tix.

• Pop-punk band Transit performs at In the Venue, 219 S. 600 West, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: Seahaven, Young Statues. Show starts at 6. Tickets are $14, at Smith’s Tix.

• “Deathcore” band Aristeia performs at The Shred Shed, 60 E. Exchange Place, Salt Lake City. Opening acts: The Afterimage, Dweller, Reformers. Show starts at...

Salt Lake City is getting its own Comic-Con.

The first Salt Lake City Comic-Con is slated for Sept. 5-7 at the South Town Expo Center in Sandy, according to the event's website.

The event is an expansion of the GEEX Gaming and Electronics Expo, which highlights tech and gamers' interests.

According to the website, the following celebrities will be attending the Comic-Con:

• Tia Carrere ("True Lies," "Wayne's World," "Relic Hunter")

• Lou Ferrigno ("The Incredible Hulk," "I Love You, Man")

• Jonathan Frakes ("Star Trek: The Next Generation")

• Richard Hatch ("Battlestar Galactica," both versions)

• Sofia Milos ("CSI: Miami")

• ...

Richard Dutcher is taking the "starving artist" thing literally.

The Utah County filmmaker is trying to raise money to finish his latest movie, the comedy "The Boys at the Bar," and he's launched a hunger strike to raise awareness to his Kickstarter campaign.

The Kickstarter campaign is has so far raised more than $10,000 - about a third of the amount Dutcher is seeking -- with three weeks to go. Dutcher says he will consume only water until the $30,000 goal is reached or the Kickstarter deadline is hit, whichever comes first.

"I've decided to take a little inspiration from Gandhi," Dutcher says on a YouTube video he posted Sunday, in which he ceremonially eats two ...

If you like the heart Salt Lake City, and have a camera, the city's Downtown Alliance has an offer for you.

The Downtown Alliance is sponsoring a contest, encouraging people to submit short (as in 100 seconds or shorter) videos online on the theme "I Am Downtown."

Folks have until June 17 to submit their videos, which will be judged by a panel of industry experts. The grand prize for the winning entry is $5,000.

For details, go to the Downtown Alliance's Facebook page.

DOWNTOWN ALLIANCE OFFERS $5,000 GRAND PRIZE FOR VIDEO CONTEST
Contestants are asked to explain or define “I Am Downtown” in short films

...

So what's a Utah Jazz fan to do, with no one to root for in the following month or so of NBA playoffs?

Jazz management has made a suggestion, on the readerboard outside EnergySolutions Arena: Root for the Boston Celtics.

The message, with a Celtics logo and the words "United We Stand," was put up as a show of solidarity with the city of Boston after this month's bombings at the Boston Marathon.

However, if Jazz fans want to root for the Celtics, they'd better do it fast. The guys in green are down 3-1 to the New York Knicks in the first round of the playoffs. (At least they're putting up a fight, unlike the Lakers, amirite?)

...

Here's what's being talked about today in pop culture:

• Michael Bay's crime comedy "Pain & Gain" led the weekend box office, with $20 million - while "The Big Wedding" was a big lemon, scoring only $7.5 million. All will be blown to smithereens this weekend, as "Iron Man 3" ushers in the summer blockbuster season. [Box Office Mojo]

• NBA center Jason Collins, a free agent after being traded midseason away from the Boston Celtics, has become the first active player for a major American men's sports league to come out as gay. [Sports Illustrated]

• Actor Hal Holbrook returns with his one-man show “Mark Twain Tonight,” tonight at the Capitol Theatre, 50 W. 200 South, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 8 p.m. Tickets at ArtTix.

• The Utah Symphony performs the world premiere of a commissioned work by British composer Simon Holt, along with works by Mozart and Berlioz, tonight and Saturday at Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 8 p.m. both nights. Tickets available at ArtTix.

• Hip-hop star Flesh-N-Bone (of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony) performs tonight at The Complex, 536 W. 100 South, Salt Lake City. Opening act:...

It’s only a week until the start of the summer blockbuster season (which is detailed in The Cricket’s big Summer Movie Preview, out today).

To get ready, Hollywood is purging itself of its remaindered merchandise this weekend.

First movie in the clearance bin is “Pain & Gain,” a hideous and reprehensible “comedy” directed by Michael Bay, who is to comedy what a flame thrower is to lawn care. This crime tale, based on a horrific real case, follows three Miami bodybuilders (Mark Wahlberg, Dwayne Johnson, Anthony Mackie) who carry out a kidnapping and extortion scheme on a fast-food mogul (T...

Here’s what’s going on today in pop culture:

• Country legend George Jones, known as “The King of Broken Hearts” for his sad ballads and “No Show Jones” for his mid-career habit of missing gigs, has died at the age of 81. [AP, via The Salt Lake Tribune]

• This is a few days old, but it’s still amazing: An analysis, in graph form, of how male stars have aged but their leading ladies have not. [Vulture]

• Comedy writer and famed L.A. drag performer Jackie Beat is on strike against E!’s “Fashion Police,” for not providing health coverage while he’s in need ...

A lot of people hang out at the Utah Arts Festival — but nobody does it like this.

The aerial dance troupe Bandaloop, whose members suspend from climbing ropes to perform dynamic choreography on the vertical faces of buildings, will make its second appearance at the Utah Arts Festival in June, festival organizers announced today.

Bandaloop will perform on the curved glass facade of the Salt Lake City Library’s main branch, at 6 and 8 p.m. each night during the festival.

The troupe — based in Oakland, Calif., and under the artistic direction of Amelia Rud...

• Author Peter Rock will read from and sign copies of his latest novel, “The Shelter Cycle,” at The King’s English, 1511 S. 1500 East, Salt Laek City. The reading starts at 7. The event is free.

• Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company debuts the final show of the season, “One” — which is also the final show for artistic director Charlotte Boye-Christensen — at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City. Show starts at 7:30 (and repeats at the same time Friday and Saturday). Tickets are $30, at ArtTix.

• Singer Monika Jalili performs Persian pop songs from the ‘40s to...

The folks who bring you the Sundance Film Festival every January are in London this week, giving the Brits a taste of Park City (minus the snow) at the second annual Sundance London Film and Music Festival.

At the opening press conference Wednesday, Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford took a light jab at the U.S. government’s lack of support for the arts.

“When you have a country [the U.S.] with an extremely conservative body that sees money spent on movies and the arts as trivial, it’s bad,” Redford said, according to the British paper The Express. “Someone needs to step up and argu...

Here’s what’s going on today in pop culture:

• Zach Braff has raised $1.5 million on Kickstarter to fund his new indie movie, but also faced a Twitter backlash from those asking whether a big star like him needs the crowd-funding site. [International Business Times]

• Talk is brewing that Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt could star in a remake of the musical “Guys and Dolls.” Intrigued? [Vulture]

• Police in Sweden found unidentified drugs on Justin Bieber’s tour bus. No arrests were made. [The Hollywood Reporter]

• Folk band Spirit Family Reunion performs at The State Room, 638 S. State St., Salt Lake City. Show starts at 8. Tickets are $15, at the venue’s website.

• Rock guitarist Zakk Wylde — known for his work fronting Black Label Society and playing with Ozzy Osbourne — plays an acoustic set with bandmate Nick Catanese, at The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. The show, which includes readings from Wylde’s new book, “Bringing Metal to the Children: The Complete Berzerker’s Guide to World Tour Domination,” begins at 9. Tickets are $35, at Smith’s Tix.

• Breakbeat duo Stanton Warriors p...