Utah Opera: Puccini's Tosca
The history of opera and musical theater is filled with unique, possibly unexpected choices for libretti to be transformed into music-driven stories. That description might be applied to Italian composer Giacomo Puccini's interest in Victorien Sardou's 1887 French-language play La Tosca, which Puccini first encountered during a tour of Italy in 1889. He obtained the rights to turn it into an opera in 1995, but it took more than four years for Puccini and his collaborators to figure out how to adapt the verbally-dense text of Sardou's play.

The 1900 Rome debut of Puccini's Tosca was an immediate popular hit, however. The premise involves political turmoil, jealousy, mistaken identity and—not surprisingly for a classic opera—tragedy, set during the Napoleonic assault on Rome in 1800. Much of the action surrounds the singer Floria Tosca, the lover of the painter Cavaradossi; Tosca is manipulated by the police chief who desires her, while he also pursues the political dissident Angelotti, a friend of Cavaradossi who hopes to flee the city in disguise. With beloved arias like Tosca's "Vissi d'arte," Tosca returns to the stage by Utah Opera for the first time since 2015.

Utah Opera's production of Tosca runs March 12 – 20 for five performances at the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre (50 W. 200 South), with tickets $15 - $110. Utah Opera currently requires face coverings and proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test for all audience members over the age of 5. Visit utahopera.org for tickets and additional information. (Scott Renshaw)

St. Patrick's Day Parade & Siamsa @ The Gateway
Annual traditions: The notion has become a lot more significant over the past two years, with so many of them taking a pandemic hiatus. Yet there is a tradition that we've missed even longer than a couple of years: Salt Lake City's St. Patrick's Day parade making its way through the streets of The Gateway. It's been five years since The Gateway hosted the Hibernian Society of Utah's March celebration, and while the event certainly predates The Gateway, and has used other routes in other years, this particular pairing just seems to work. "It is the best place in Utah to have a parade," Hibernian Society president Sean Clark said in a statement. "The ability to have spectators on both the upper and lower levels lends a high-energy, stadium feel."

This year's event brings both the parade and accompanying siamsa (Gaelic for "festivity") to The Gateway, for a full day of fun and entertainment. Live performances on two stages include music by Pladdohg, Murphy and the Giant, Shanahy and An Rogaire Dubh, plus dance presentations by Scariff, Harp Irish Dance, Smith Irish Dance and Rinceoiri Don Spraoi. In addition, Gateway merchants like HallPass, Flanker Kitchen & Sporting Club, Mystery Escape Room will be offering special deals on food, drink and activities.

The parade and siamsa begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 12 at The Gateway (400 W. 200 South), with all events free to the public; food and other vendor items are available for purchase. Visit atthegateway.com or irishinutah.com/parade for additional information. (SR)

Jim Jefferies
There's just no telling when or how fame can strike in the social-media age, but when it does, a performer's life can be changed forever in a matter of days. That's what happened in 2015 to Australian comedian Jim Jefferies, when a segment from his 2014 Netflix special Bare went viral, in which Jefferies went to town on the idea that Americans' obsession with guns is about anything other than the fact that "I like guns." For a big chunk of Americans, that made him an immediate liberal enemy; for another big chunk, he was immediately the voice of reason.

It would have been one thing if Jefferies had been a one-trick pony, ready to fade into the background as a pop-culture footnote after his five minutes of fame. Fortunately for him—and for us—he's had a lot more fuel to burn in his terrific comedy career. He landed the 2017 Comedy Central series The Jim Jefferies Show for three seasons in the wake of newfound name recognition. And his targets haven't always been American culture and its foibles. Some of his best material in post-Bare Netflix specials including Freedumb, This Is Me Now and Intolerant has focused on himself, and his struggles with relationships, fatherhood and mental health.

Now back on the road after a COVID-era hiatus, Jefferies visits Salt Lake City with "The Moist Tour" at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main St.) on Sunday, March 13, 7 p.m. Tickets are $34.75 - $174.75; proof of vaccination is required. Visit live-at-the-eccles.com for tickets and additional information. (SR)

The Band's Visit @ Eccles Theater
Over the past 25 years, it's become much more common for movies to be adapted into stage musicals than vice-versa—and not all of those adaptations have been obvious ones. Sure, it's understandable when a crowd-pleasing comedy like Legally Blonde, The Producers or Hairspray gets the Broadway treatment, offering fodder for lively production numbers. But it takes a different kind of vision to look at a non-English-language drama and see the potential for a musical—which is what writer Itamar Moses and composer David Yazbek did by adapting the 2007 Israeli film The Band's Visit into 2017 stage production, which joined classics like South Pacific and Sweeney Todd among the only musicals ever to sweep the "Big Six" at the Tony Awards.

The premise does offer the possibility of some intriguing culture clashing, as it begins with an Egyptian police orchestra visiting Israel to perform at the opening of an Arab cultural center. When language signals get crossed however, the band winds up on a bus not to their intended destination, but to a remote desert town. There the musicians find themselves stranded for a day, which is enough time for the band members and the residents, respectively, to face some of the tragedies of their past.

The Broadway touring production of The Band's Visit stops in at the Eccles Theater (131 S. Main) for eight performances, March 15 – 20, with tickets $49 - $119. At press time, face coverings are recommended but not required by the presenter. Visit broadway-at-the-eccles.com for up-to-date health & safety protocols, and to purchase tickets. (SR)