If you’re even a casual rom-com fan, the basic plot of Fireflies, a play by Matthew Barber now at Pioneer Theatre Company, should be pretty familiar. You could probably get a good idea of where things are going from just the playbill summary—the narrative doesn’t depart much from the expected beats of an enemies-to-lovers arc. Despite, or maybe because of, the script’s if-it-ain’t-broke philosophy, Fireflies is a comforting, crowd-pleasing success. Sometimes, all you need is a pleasurable, well-told story with characters—who, in one notable way, depart from the expected mold—worth rooting for.

In a small Texas town, retired schoolteacher Eleanor (Joy Franz) lives alone on her parents’ property. (Both her mom and dad died years before the play began.) Though she is a respected figure in the community, Eleanor’s life is mostly a solitary one, aside from frequent, usually unannounced visits from her busybody neighbor Grace (Joy Lynn Jacobs). When a storm damages a roof on her property, Abel (David Manis), a drifter in town, offers to make repairs. While the prickly Eleanor is initially wary of Abel, their relationship slowly builds from distrust to cautious friendliness to an undeniable mutual attraction.

Fireflies stands out in one obvious way—both Eleanor and Abel are in their 70s. Onstage, and in pop culture more generally, it’s rare to see older characters as protagonists, especially in a story about new romance. Eleanor’s fear of aging, which is discussed simply and movingly, is a throughline in the play, including in a funny, fantastical scene where Eleanor imagines herself as an artifact at the natural history museum. The script’s matter-of-fact treatment of mortality adds dimension to the plot’s more conventional elements, and the characters’ ages are both central to the story and no-big-deal—the play reminds audiences that new experiences can happen at any age.          

A veteran of the stage for more than five decades, Franz leads the ensemble like the seasoned pro that she is. She is convincing as both a lovable curmudgeon and a lonely, sometimes vulnerable woman unmoored by aging and grief. The story just wouldn’t work without the chemistry between Eleanor and Abel, and both Franz and Manis are adept at portraying the couple’s slow burn—their opposites-attract connection always makes emotional sense. As the nosy neighbor, Jacobs gives a broad, lively performance. She gleefully chews on a sausage-gravy thick Texas accent, wears the hell out of a pink church lady ensemble (the costumes are by Brenda Van Der Wiel) and brings just enough pathos to prevent Grace from turning into a caricature. (Rounding out the cast, Tito Livas plays a small role as the dimwitted Sheriff Claymire, Eleanor’s former student.)                             

While characters occasionally spout nuggets of folksy wisdom, this intentionally modest play rarely strains to focus on anything more than the characters and their relationships. The appropriately low-key direction by Kareem Fahmy emphasizes quiet, simple moments, which all happen over the course of one week. Like Eleanor’s kitchen, the setting for almost all of the play, Fireflies is unassuming, warm and familiar. For audiences of any age, these characters, and the actors who play them, are easy to spend time with.        

Fireflies will be at Pioneer Theatre Company through April 16. For tickets and more information, visit PTC’s website. Read more theater reviews from Salt Lake.

More than 13 years after its first Broadway performance, Passing Strange is finally making its Utah debut. The raucous rock musical will be performed at Salt Lake Acting Company from April 6-May 15.

Written by Stew and Heidi Rodewald, both members of the rock band The Negro Problem, Passing Strange follows the artistic and personal coming-of-age of a young Black man in 1970s California, referred to only as Youth (Carleton Bluford). Youth, seeking what he calls “the real,” may be inspired by the gospel music he hears in church, but he still rejects the conservative Christian faith of his mother (Dee-Dee Darby-Duffin). With commentary from the wry, fourth-wall-breaking narrator (Lee Palmer), Youth travels to Europe in search of “the real,” diving headfirst into a messy exploration of sex, family and identity.

Though Passing Strange was embraced by critics and won a Tony Award, the musical is an underappreciated cult favorite rather than a big mainstream hit. Still, there remains a fan base for the show and its eclectic score, which features energetic rock songs with influences of soul, gospel and avant-garde music. One of those fans, Spike Lee, filmed the Broadway production in a documentary that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. (That’s not the musical’s only Utah connection. The creative team first developed Passing Strange at the Sundance Theater Lab in 2004 and 2005.) Now, Utah audiences will have their first chance to see the musical live onstage.

Before leading this production at Salt Lake Acting Company, director Todd Underwood was a fan of the show’s score, especially after watching the cast’s memorable performance at the 2008 Tony Awards. “I need to know this piece because this one little number is blowing my mind,” he thought to himself. Now, Underwood’s appreciation for the musical has only grown. “This piece continues to reveal itself to me every single day…It can change people, can heal people, can give voice to things that maybe you didn’t know needed.” 

For Underwood, the narrative of Passing Strange contains poignant parallels to his own life. He grew up in Tuscumbia, Ala. in a devoutly religious household—his grandpa even founded the church his family attended. He too discovered his love of music through the church—and eventually rejected some of the teachings he grew up with. After coming out of the closet in college, Underwood took his first professional job touring with a production of Blackbirds of Broadway in Europe, a period that was formative in his own self-discovery. 

As Underwood discovered his own personal connections to the material, he encouraged his cast to bring their own experiences and identities to their performances. Underwood describes the protagonist’s journey as “finding what Blackness means for him and how he can be his most empowered self in that Blackness.” To facilitate that same journey with his actors, Underwood’s process began with what one cast member called an “emotional inventory”—in one-on-one interviews, he asked each cast member “what was your search for your Blackness?” Underwood wanted to emphasize that racial identity was a process of discovery, not a fixed state. “It’s a constant search to see where you fit in, in the skin that you’re in,” he explains.

While Underwood says he always tries to create a safe, trusting environment for every production he directs, his experience with Passing Strange has been unique. “There aren’t a lot of all-Black shows that speak to Blackness, so to be able to share and be open and honest in a room like this is incredible,” he says. “There’s a freedom that I wish could go on in all spaces.” As the cast has shared their own stories, Underwood has gone through his own emotional inventory. He cites one particularly poignant line from Passing Strange—speaking with an important mentor, Youth says, “I don’t feel as ugly as I did yesterday.” “My journey is realizing that I’m not ugly because of my skin color, that I’m not ugly because I’m gay and I’m not ugly because I’m black and gay,” Underwood says.

While Passing Strange is rooted in the specific experiences of Black identity, Underwood says the musical is “universal in its themes—love, family, searching, acceptance.” “You learn a lot going to the theater, especially theater like this, where you are probably being exposed to something that you’ve never even thought of before. And I hope that the ride that [audiences] go on is one of joy and self-reflection and light.”

For more information and ticket sales, visit Salt Lake Acting Company’s website. Read more about theater in SLC.

In the wake of a worldwide pandemic shutdown, an earthquake that shook Salt Lake City and sudden isolation from others, Teah (Estephani Cerros), a single, LDS woman, goes to see a therapist and instead finds herself on a dating show. Aftershock, by Utah playwright Iris Salazar, will premiere next week at Plan-B Theatre, following the story of Teah as she, prompted by her therapist/game show host (Yolanda Stange), takes a step back to inspect not just life and dating, but also herself and her loneliness.

Salazar took the inspiration for this play from both her own experience as a single woman in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and from others’ experiences around her. “It’s 50% things I’ve actually seen or experienced and 50% made up,” she says.

Salazar had been wanting to write a play about single LDS people, and before the pandemic had written another story about a group of single LDS women that she described as more “cutesy.” But that wasn’t what she was aiming for with this play—she wanted to write more honestly and not sugarcoat the often painful experiences of single people in a religion that strongly emphasizes marriage. After shelving this previous play for a while, Salazar drew inspiration for Aftershock from social media posts she saw from other women openly describing the loneliness, depression and isolation they were experiencing in the pandemic. Salazar says this seemed to especially impact single LDS people, since they do not commonly move in with their partners without being married.

She says it was a challenge to write about therapy and living alone—she herself lives with her mom and brother. To create the character of Teah, she relied on her own interpretations of social media posts about others’ experiences. “I couldn’t relate to that loneliness that I would see people post about on Facebook, so I really had to explore that,” Salazar says.

That doesn’t mean Salazar avoided writing about her own emotions—there are still aspects to Teah that Salazar relates with. She says this personal connection makes this play unique compared to previous plays she has written. Salazar says she typically resists sharing her personal life onstage, but Aftershock required her to be a lot more vulnerable and open about her own emotions.

“I’m more hesitant to share personal things,” Salazar says. “But with this play, that 50% that I did put in there, I was like ‘Oof, this is a lot and people who know me are going to know what’s me.’”

Working a full-time job, Salazar hasn’t had much time to see her play comes to life in rehearsals. However, she has seen enough to feel excited about the play’s premiere next week. She particularly noted the natural flow of the actors, remarking that the actors appeared like they had been together forever.

For the viewers, Salazar noted that “the pandemic has really damaged connections” between people and their friends and family, resulting in some of the loneliness that Aftershock will explore, and she hopes that this play inspires people to find ways to reconnect.

“I hope that they take a step back and try to find those connections again or get help if they need help,” she says.

Aftershock will be performed at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center April 7-17, and will stream virtually April 13-17. For more information, visit Plan-B Theatre’s website. Read more Utah theater stories from Salt Lake magazine.