Musical features characters inspired by Moab
Apr 24, 2014 | 1582 views | 0 0 comments | 16 16 recommendations | email to a friend | print
Shane Bartosh (left) Kaitlin Harris (front) and Lance Bartosh perform in “Moab’s Wild Western Show,” a new musical that premieres April 25 at Moab Backyard Theater. Courtesy photo
Shane Bartosh (left) Kaitlin Harris (front) and Lance Bartosh perform in “Moab’s Wild Western Show,” a new musical that premieres April 25 at Moab Backyard Theater. Courtesy photo
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“Moab’s Wild Western Show,” a new original musical comedy inspired by Moab, will premiere at the Moab Backyard Theater at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 25. Written by Moab’s own Sand Sheff and co-produced with his wife, Sunnie Sheff, the musical features a “rapid-fire collection of 25 songs and sketches capturing the history of Moab from dinosaurs to four-wheelers,” Sand Sheff said in a news release.

The performance stars The Uranium Players, featuring local favorites Shane Bartosh and Kaitlin Harris. Bartosh has starred in and directed several productions with Moab Community Theater. Harris is also a fixture of local theater as well as a coordinator for the Youth Garden Project. Bartosh’s younger brother, Lance Bartosh, rounds out the cast, appearing in the production in various key roles ranging from cowboy to mountain biker to legendary uranium miner Charlie Steen.

The show is performed in classic American vaudeville style, with short three-minute songs and skits and many costume changes. The Moab Big Star Band, featuring Dave Steward, provides musical accompaniment for the show. Sand Sheff serves as the musical’s narrator in the guise of a character named “Utah Jack.”

A wide variety of characters will appear throughout the evening, including a French fur trapper, pioneers, outlaws, Park Service rangers and many more.

“It is a family-friendly show, though it does contain some mild adult innuendo,” Sand Sheff said, adding, “Those kind of jokes usually go right over the head of anyone too young to understand the word ‘innuendo’.”

Sheff said Moab Backyard Theater plans to present the musical at various times throughout the warm-weather season.

Moab Backyard Theater is Moab’s newest entertainment venue. Located at 56 West 100 South, the theater is “a throwback to old-style country entertainment, featuring an open-air stage sheltered by a cottonwood tree surrounded by Christmas lights,” Sheff said.

Tickets cost $10 and children are admitted free of charge.
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