Don Quixote

Ballet West brings Don Quixote to the Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre from February 12 to 20, 2027. It's a Spanish-themed ballet that follows the spirited Kitri and her clever suitor Basilio, while the idealistic Don Quixote dreams of his own perfect world. The production is choreographed by Anna-Marie Holmes, after Marius Petipa, and set to Ludwig Minkus's music, performed by the Ballet West Orchestra.

One of the things that sets this revival apart is an all-male ensemble whose flamenco segment is carried by nothing but the primal rhythm of stomping feet and clapping hands—a touch that earned the show heaps of fun from The Guardian. It's billed as ballet's greatest comedic masterpiece, and that flamenco sequence is a good example of the kind of energy it brings to the stage.

The venue itself has a bit of its own history. The Janet Quinney Lawson Capitol Theatre opened in 1913 as the Orpheum Theatre, a vaudeville house that now serves as the home of resident companies Ballet West and Utah Opera. Its 1944 Nutcracker production is a designated Living Historic Landmark of Utah. The building was designed by San Francisco architect Gustave Albert Lansburgh, who used the latest technologies of the day, including steel reinforcement and a terra cotta-clad exterior, and the lobby houses a Byzantine-style mosaic called 'Capriccio'.

There are six performances over the run: Friday, Feb 12 at 7:30 PM; Saturday, Feb 13 at 7:30 PM; Thursday, Feb 18 at 7:30 PM; Friday, Feb 19 at 7:30 PM; and Saturday, Feb 20 with a 2:00 PM matinee and a 7:30 PM evening show. Doors open one hour before each performance, and tickets start at $30.