Festival Opera's 'West Side Story' falls short

A couple of weeks back, I wrote a review of the four main productions of the Utah Festival Opera.

With limited space, I stuck to the subject at hand, and had to leave out other, more tangential material.

But with a new day and a new space, I'd like to tell, as they say, "the rest of the story."

I think that if I had to choose one single assignment I enjoy the most as a music critic, it's the Utah Festival Opera.

At the core, it's because those behind the event have created something really great. The quality has put it on the map as a destination event for thousands of people. Every year it's growing into more of a northern, operatic equivalent of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, drawing attention and visitors from all over.

Part of what I like about it is the package deal.

Going to the Utah Festival Opera isn't just about catching a show for the evening, sandwiched between a hectic schedule and workday life. It's accompanied by a number of other events — and the beautiful sights of Cache Valley. The whole atmosphere, the whole experience has always been positive.

The area is beautiful; Logan Canyon is gorgeous and the city has a number of locally owned shops (rather than national chains) within walking distance of the theater, which make for unique and interesting shopping. During the time we've been there, we've found some favorite food shops, such as Gossner's Cheese factory, the Pepperidge Farm factory and Cox Honeyland. When we're able, we also try to go canoeing down the Bear River (available through a local farm family), or go up to Bear Lake for the day.

And the festival itself has always been extremely enjoyable. They have a number of events in connection with it — most of which, I must confess, I have not attended — but which nonetheless look interesting, and people who attend them describe them as enjoyable.

The productions are (usually) consistently good. The review I wrote of the four main productions this year may have taken Utah Festival Opera to task on some things, but it's in the context of expecting great things from this event. And part of the reason great things are expected is because it has consistently done a great job over time.