Quick Facts
Need basic information in a hurry? Then, this is the place for you—just the facts, and nothing else.
Mission Statement
The mission of the Utah Shakespearean Festival is to present professional repertory theatre that illuminates the human condition and that propels us to artistic excellence. We do this in an engaging and stimulating festival atmosphere where playgoers can watch, participate in, and be immersed in experiences which entertain, enrich, and educate.
2000 Tony Award
for Outstanding Regional Theatre
The Festival was named the recipient of the coveted Tony Award for America’s Outstanding Regional Theatre on May 8, 2000. The Tony Award is the most prestigious and sought-after award in live theatre, the equivalent to the Academy Awards in film and is presented by the American Theatre Wing and the League of American Theatres and Producers. The Festival was nominated for the award by the American Theatre Critics Association. The award for the Outstanding Regional Theatre was added to the Tony Awards in 1976 and honors a regional theatre company that has “displayed a continuous level of artistic achievement contributing to the growth of theatre nationally.”
2001 National Governors
Association Award
In 2001 the National Governors Association honored the Utah Shakespearean Festival with the award for Distinguished Service in the Arts for Artistic Production at its Ninety-third Annual Meeting in Providence, Rhode Island. Established in 1980, the National Governors Association Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts is given in two categories: artistic production and arts support. The award recognizes outstanding service to the arts, focusing on contributions that improve the quality of life and bring distinction to the state or community.
Other Awards
The Utah Shakespearean Festival has also been the recipient of numerous other awards. Most recently the Festival was honored with the Best of State Award in arts and entertainment. The Best of State program “is dedicated to promoting higher visibility and public awareness for outstanding individuals, businesses, and organizations throughout Utah.” In addition Festival Founder and Executive Producer Fred C. Adams was named Utah’s 2003 Entrepreneur of the Year for Community Enrichment by Ernst & Young.
History and Location
The Festival’s first season was in 1962, and it is now in its forty-fifth year. It is one of the oldest and largest Shakespearean festivals in North America. The Festival is located in Cedar City, Utah, a community of approximately 28,000 people, and is within a day’s drive of seven national parks and numerous national and state forests, monuments, and recreation areas. Via Interstate 15, it is two and a half hours northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada and three and a half hours south of Salt Lake City, Utah. The Festival is located on and around the Southern Utah University campus.
2008 Summer Season
June 19 – August 30
In the Adams Shakespearean Theatre
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jesse Berger
Othello
By William Shakespeare
Directed by J. R. Sullivan
Cyrano de Bergerac
By William Shakespeare
Directed by David Ivers
In the Randall L. Jones Theatre
The Taming of the Shrew
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Jane Page
Fiddler on the Roof
By Jerry Bock, Sheldon Harnick, and Joseph Stein
Directed by Jim Christian
The School for Wives
By Moliere
Directed by Robert Cohen
2008 Fall Season
September 19 – October 25
Julius Caesar
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Kate Buckley
Gaslight
By Patrick Hamilton
Directed by J.R. Sullivan
Moonlight and Magnolias
By Ron Hutchinson
Director to be announced
Additional Activities
The Summer Festival offers free nightly Greenshows featuring music, song, and tales on three outdoor stages; the New American Playwrights Project, showcasing work of new playwrights; free literary seminars, Tuesday-Sunday, discussing the season's plays; bi-weekly props, actor, and costume seminars; backstage tours, Monday-Saturday; and play orientations before all shows.
The Fall Festival offers free literary seminars, Wednesday–Sunday, discussing the season’s shows; free actor seminars every Wednesday and Friday; free prop seminars every Thursday and Saturday; intimate and detailed backstage tours Thursdays and Saturdays; and play orientations before all shows.
Festival Organization
R. Scott Phillips was named interim director in January 2006 and executive director in October 2007, succeeding Founder Fred C. Adams at the helm of the Festival. Adams now functions as executive producer emeritus and executive director of the Festival Centre Project. A six-member executive council works with Phillips as the day-to-day leadership. Kathleen F. Conlin and J. R. Sullivan are associate artistic directors. A twenty-eight person volunteer regional board of governors oversees all long range planning, marketing, and development of the Festival and is chaired by David E. Simmons.
The Festival employs twenty-eight people year-round. The summer and fall production company consists of approximately 350 individuals. Approximately six non-acting positions are needed in areas such as production, marketing, management, and administration to support each performer seen on stage. Over 300 additional community members donate their time to support Festival activities.
Facilities
The Adams Shakespearean Theatre, dedicated in 1977, was designed by Douglas N. Cook, Festival producing artistic director emeritus, along with Max Anderson of the Utah State Building Board, and is patterned after drawings and research of sixteenth century Tudor stages. Experts say it is one of a few theatres that come close to the design of the Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre. It is so authentic, in fact, that the British Broadcasting Company filmed part of its Shakespeare series there. It is named for Grace Adams Tanner, a major benefactor of the Festival, and her parents, Thomas D. and Luella R. Adams. It seats 888.
The Randall L. Jones Theatre, dedicated in 1989, was designed by the firm of Fowler, Ferguson, Kingston, and Ruben, with theatrical design by the California firm of Landry and Bogan, as well as Cameron Harvey, Festival producing artistic director. It was built at a cost of $5.5 million, to expand the Festival’s offerings, especially in the area of world classics, and was featured in the August 1990 edition of Architecture magazine. The theatre is named after a Cedar City native known as the father of tourism in southern Utah. It seats 769.
The Auditorium Theatre, completely renovated in 2004, is the venue for matinees of Romeo and Juliet (ensuring that playgoers stay cool and in the shade on hot summer afternoons) and for performances "rained in" from the Adams Shakespearean Theatre (ensuring that the show goes on and patrons stay dry). The theatre seats 853.
Education
The educational programs for the Utah Shakespearean Festival include a variety of classes that vary from week-long camps to two-day courses, and most are for university credit. Classes that are part of the Festival’s educational offerings include Shakespeare for Junior Actors, Actor Training; Theatre Methods for the Classroom, Acting for Directors; Camp Shakespeareand Camp Shakespeare for Seniors; Tech Camp; Shakespeare’s Plays and Forums, and others.
The Festival Education Department each year tours an abbreviated version of a Shakespearean play to schools throughout the Southwest. The play chosen for 2007, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will bring magic and drama to classrooms. To fully enhance the participants’ experience, the tour also includes workshops in acting, stage combat, character development, and design.
Budget and Economic Impact
The Festival has grown from a budget of under $1,000 in 1961 to over $6 million today. Nearly 65 percent of the Festival’s budget is funded from ticket sales and concessions, with the remaining support coming from contributed income such as memberships, grants, and foundations.
The Festival’s economic impact in Cedar City and the surrounding area is enormous. In 2002 alone, direct and indirect expenditures by the Festival and its patrons were estimated at nearly $64 million.
Audience
In the first year of operation, the Festival attracted 3,276 visitors. Today, the audience is projected to be nearly 150,000. According to recent data, 60 percent of the Festival’s audience comes from Utah; 24 percent from Nevada; 6 percent from Arizona; 6 percent from California; and 4 percent from other areas throughout the country.
Photo: Dudley Knight as Old Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice , 2006.
Photo by Karl Hugh. Copyright Utah Shakespearean Festival.
Copyright 2006 Utah Shakespearean Festival
351 West Center Street
Cedar City, UT 84720
800-PLAYTIX
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