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Murray Journal

Murray’s summer entertainment schedule heats up with full slate

May 30, 2019 02:50PM ● By Shaun Delliskave

The second Monday night of each month, Murray Senior Recreation Center (10 E. 6150 South) offers free summer entertainment on their outdoor plaza.

By Shaun Delliskave | [email protected]

Get your picnic blankets ready and your sunscreen on; Murray’s summer art season is officially in full swing. This summer’s offerings provide a full schedule of concerts, theatre and spoken word that features something for everyone.

This year’s events kicked off with the 4th annual Story Crossroads Festival on May 15. The festival featured a story train. While honoring the First Transcontinental Railroad, Karl Behling performed as a mountain man sharing the cultures he experienced in 1869. Israeli Noa Baum and Texas-based and West African-influenced Oba William King shared the stage and took audiences beyond the railway experience.

Theater

Outdoor musical theater season begins in June with the return of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.” Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber’s tale takes to the Murray Park Amphitheater (495 E. 5300 South) stage June 20–22, 24–26. 

“Beauty and the Beast,” based on Disney’s Broadway musical, is slated to take the amphitheater stage July 25–27, 29–31. In August, the Murray Arts Council will offer its final summer musical, “Little Women,” Aug. 9, 10, 12, and 15–17.

For up-and-coming actors, Murray City Cultural Arts is sponsoring the Kids Act Up Drama Camp. Aspiring actors can learn the fundamentals of being on stage. Activities will include improv games, musical theatre, props and how to develop a show. A performance for parents will be held at the end of the camp.

Concerts

Do you ever burst out singing when an ABBA song plays on the radio? Then you are invited, along with the rest of the “Dancing Queens,” to the “Mamma Mia” sing-along on June 1 in the amphitheater. The 2008 movie will play on the screen with captions so that you can break out in song.

“Musicals We All Know & Love” is the theme of Murray Concert Band’s June 29 amphitheater performance. Not to be forgotten is the Murray Symphony finale on June 8, “I Got Rhythm,” celebrating classic jazz and big band music under the stars at the amphitheater.

Free summer lunch concerts are held every Tuesday at noon in Murray Park Pavilion #5 from June through August. Bring your sack lunch and enjoy an hour of entertainment. Also held in Pavilion #5, free children’s matinee concerts every Thursday at 2 p.m. 

Family night concerts are held the second Monday of every month at 7 p.m. in the Senior Recreation Center outdoor plaza located at 10 E. 6150 South. 

Firefall, the 1970’s rock band, will perform at the amphitheater on Aug. 23. Best known for their hit, “You Are the Woman,” the band has three gold albums, two platinum albums, and 11 chart-topping singles.

Put down that synthesizer and catch the closing event of the amphitheater’s summer season, the Murray Acoustic Music Festival. The festival runs Sept. 2-3 and features many Intermountain West-based acoustic music groups.

Ballet

Ballet Under the Stars, produced by Murray’s Ballet Centre, will grace the amphitheater stage on July 12 and 13. 

Library

Looking for a way to keep your kids reading during the break from school? Sign them up for the summer reading program at Murray Library. The library’s reading program is especially rewarding for youngsters, as the program always ends with a huge end-of-summer bash featuring prizes and a fire hose.

Of course, the library has programs this summer for the whole family to enjoy. On June 18, Tracy Aviary stops by to talk birds. On July 9, the folks from Bad Dog Arts set up for an hour of squishy space art. The predators return on July 29, when HawkWatch visits. The library offers activities every day for kids: magic shows, Irish dancing, Legos, movies and more. For a calendar of library events, visit murraylibrary.org.

The Salt Lake County Library stops by Wheeler Farm at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday mornings at the ice house for songs and stories meant for preschoolers and their caregivers.