For Utahns looking to enjoy the performing arts this summer, there are plenty of options.
Two of Utah’s biggest summer festivals are a good distance away from the Wasatch Front. But even more events are planned across the state.
Here’s information about the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the Deer Valley Music Festival and more — including Broadway performances and outdoor shows.
Utah Shakespeare Festival
The celebration of William Shakespeare fills Cedar City with theater-lovers every summer. This year’s festival runs from June 16 to Oct. 4. Go to bard.org for ticket information. This year’s plays are:
“Macbeth” • (June 16-Sept. 4) Shakespeare’s dark drama of murder and ambition — a psychological thriller so intense that saying its name in a theater is considered bad luck.
“Antony and Cleopatra” • (June 17-Sept. 5) Marc Antony, Rome’s great military hero, meets his match in one of Shakespeare’s less-produced tragedies.
“As You Like It” • (June 18-Sept. 6) Shakespeare’s romantic-comedy follows Rosalind as she disguises herself as a boy to find her father in the forest of Arden – and ends up being employed by her beloved, Orlando, to woo his crush: Rosalind.
“A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” • (June 19-Oct. 3) In this comedic musical — book and lyrics by Robert L. Freedman, music and lyrics by Steven Lutvak — a man finds he’s ninth in line to be Earl of Highhurst, so he devises a plan to kill the eight relatives in front of him. As in the 1949 movie “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” which used the same novel as its source material, all eight potential victims are played by the same actor.
“The Importance of Being Earnest” • (June 20-Oct. 4) Two young men in London each take on a fake name — Ernest — to woo two young women, leading to numerous complications, in Oscar Wilde’s classic farce.
“Steel Magnolias” • (June 21-Oct. 4) Robert Harling’s play (made into a 1989 movie) centers on women who work at and frequent a beauty salon in a Louisiana town, forming friendships as they do.
“Dear Jack, Dear Louise” • (July 11-Oct. 4) Playwright Ken Ludwig chronicled his parents’ courtship in this romantic drama — about an Army doctor and an aspiring actress exchanging letters during World War II.
“A Midsummer Night’s Dream” • (July 29-Aug. 2) A brief run of Shakespeare’s fantasy romance, presented as part of the festival’s artist exchange program with the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.
(Charles Sykes | Invision/AP file photo) Musician and actor Common is scheduled to perform with the Utah Symphony at the Deer Valley Music Festival on July 11, 2025.
Deer Valley Music Festival
The Utah Symphony’s summer shows, at Snow Park Amphitheater, 2250 Deer Valley Drive South, Park City. For tickets and information, go to utahsymphony.org.
Thursday, July 3 • “Patriotic Pops,” a selection of traditional songs for the Independence Day weekend, with Broadway singer Nikki Renée Daniels as vocalist.
Saturday, July 5 • “A Salute to John Williams,” a selection of works written for the movies by Williams. Lawrence Loh is conductor.
Friday, July 11 • The rapper Common, with Enrico Lopez-Yañez conducting the symphony.
Saturday, July 12 • “The Music of Paul Simon,” with Chester Gregory and Morgan James as vocalists. Ted Sperling conducts the symphony.
Friday, July 18 • “Disney in Concert: ’80s & ’90s Celebration.” Ron Spigelman conducts.
Friday, July 25 • Dance/electronic violinist (and Brigham Young University alum) Lindsey Stirling. Wesley Schulz conducts the symphony.
(Utah Symphony) Broadway stars Kelli O'Hara, left, and Sutton Foster are scheduled to perform together with the Utah Symphony at the Deer Valley Music Festival, in the Snow Park Amphitheater in Park City, on July 26, 2025.
Saturday, July 26 • Broadway musical superstars Sutton Foster and Kelli O‘Hara perform together, with Michael Rafter conducting the symphony.
Friday-Saturday, August 1-2 • Legendary surf-rock band The Beach Boys.
Friday, August 8 • “The Music of Journey,” with vocalist Juan Del Castillo. Brent Havens conducts the symphony.
Saturday, August 9 • A performance of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, conducted by Jessica Rivero Altarriba. And, yes, there will be live cannons.
More performing arts
(Matthew Murphy | courtesy Broadway at the Eccles) Lorna Courtney plays Juliet in the Broadway production of "& Juliet," a jukebox musical that considers what happened if Shakespeare's young lover had lived. The touring production is set to run at Salt Lake City's Eccles Theater, June 17-22, 2025.
Broadway at the Eccles • The touring production of “& Juliet,” which imagines Shakespeare’s heroine getting past Romeo, aided by a slew of ’90s pop anthems, runs June 17-22. Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City. Tickets available at saltlakecity.broadway.com.
Busker Fest • The annual celebration of street performance, featuring around 100 Utah acts plus some international performers. May 30-31, 5 to 10 p.m., in the Eccles Theater, 131 S. Main St., Salt Lake City, and on Regent Street behind the theater. Information at buskerfestslc.com.
Hale Centre Theatre • Utah’s popular community theater organization has the following planned on its two stages at Mountain America Performing Arts Centre, 9900 S. Monroe St., Sandy. Tickets available at hct.org.
Meanwhile Park • The theater company presented in its founder’s backyard returns with two short plays, “Vacation” by Nathan Johnson and “Red Devil” by Andrea Berting, July 10-20. The location, near Herman Franks Dog Park, is given out when theatergoers buy their tickets. Go to MeanwhilePark.com for details.
(Richard Bowditch) Tessa Lark, a Grammy-nominated violinist, is the recently appointed artistic director of the Moab Music Festival.
Moab Music Festival • Violinist Tessa Lark guides her first festival as artistic director with planned concerts and related events at various locations in Moab and the neighboring redrock landscape. Runs Aug. 27 to Sept. 12. Go to moabmusicfest.org for information and tickets.
Salt Lake Acting Company • SLAC’s annual comedy revue suggests that writers Austin Archer, Penelope Caywood and Olivia Custodio have been watching a lot of reality TV. The title: “The Secret Lives of the Real Wives in the Salt Lake Hive.” The play runs June 25 to August 17. SLAC, 168 W. 500 North, Salt Lake City. Tickets available at SaltLakeActingCompany.org.
Tuacahn Amphitheatre • Southern Utah’s musical showcase has three productions this summer: “The Little Mermaid,” now through Oct. 25; “The Wizard of Oz,” now through Oct. 23; and “Disney’s Newsies,” running July 12 through Oct. 24. 1100 Tuacahn Drive, Ivins. Go to tuacahn.org for tickets and information.
Utah Arts Festival • The festival highlights multiple genres of art — visual, dance, music, spoken word and more, June 19-22. The national music headliners are: jam band Leftover Salmon on Thursday; pedal-steel guitarist Robert Randolph on Friday; hip-hop act Souls of Mischief on Saturday; and contemporary Latin act MV Caldera on Sunday. Library Square, 200 E. 400 South, Salt Lake City. Go to uaf.org for tickets and information.