News From the Festival
SUU BUSINESS RESOURCE CENTER CAN Help
The Southern Utah University Business Resource Center is a one-stop source for answers to business questions. Especially in this time of quarantines, closed businesses, and social distancing, the center resources can be invaluable. With various partners, the center is prepared to offer extensive resources, coaching, and business expertise to help businesses fulfill their pursuits. Meeting with a counselor is free. The center’s purpose is to help build the local economy by helping businesses grow and go! Starting and running a business isn’t easy, and the center can help in many ways.
Some of the services offered include business planning, improving your business, financing alternatives and money management, starting a business, technology services, buying or selling a business, and marketing programs.
Festival Cancels 2020 Season
Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre
Randall L. Jones Theatre
MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS: Click on photos to download.
CEDAR CITY, UT — The Utah Shakespeare Festival announced today it will cancel its 2020 season because of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the Festival announced a revised season on April 13, there are simply too many obstacles to overcome. The safety and health of the Festival’s staff, artists, audiences and community guided this difficult but necessary decision.
“This is a direct result of the devastating impacts of COVID-19 on performing arts,” said Frank Mack, executive producer. “When we announced our revised season, we indicated that we would cancel our season if we had to, and sadly it has come to that.”
The season had been planned for July 9 through Sept. 5 featuring five shows playing in rotating repertory and a free greenshow.
Among the myriad challenges facing the season, Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union of professional actors and stage managers, will not be extending contracts to professional theatres until their new safety protocols are written and implemented, a decision the Festival fully supports. The Festival planned to start rehearsals June 15 and requested information from AEA on the availability of contracts last week. On May 8 the Festival received this statement from the director of the Western Region of AEA: “At this time in the COVID-19 pandemic, the landscape is continuing to change in scientific knowledge regarding the contagion and avoidance of this disease. And as you are aware, we have very recently contracted Dr. David Michaels to assist our union—and our industry—in the establishment of appropriate safety protocols for actors, stage managers and others in live theatre.”
The Festival explored numerous options to safely produce the season including quarantining, testing and health monitoring for the seasonal staff and substantially limiting costuming and scenery, as well as measures for the audience such as seating six feet apart and extensive sanitizing.
Southern Utah University President Scott L Wyatt said, “We did everything in our power to keep the Festival open this summer. We know this news is difficult for the many individuals and small businesses in Cedar City who add so much to the Festival experience. They are our most important partners and we look forward to next summer when the streets, restaurants, shops and hotels of Cedar City are full of theatre-goers once again.”
Jeff Larsen, chairman of the Festival Board of Governors, said, “The management team and the amazing staff at the Festival have gone above and beyond all expectations to try and keep the 2020 season alive and bring professional live theater to Utah this summer, and the Board of Governors extends its appreciation for their efforts.”
Brian Vaughn, artistic director of the Festival, said “We look forward to safely gathering in 2021 for the Festival’s 60th anniversary season when we can join in unity to celebrate the history of magnificent artistry for which the Festival is known.”
The Festival is looking forward to staying in touch with its audiences through a variety of virtual programming which will be announced soon. Please stay tuned and follow the Festival online.
The Festival will contact all ticket holders for the 2020 season and will provide full refunds. Patrons who prefer to roll their ticket purchases into the 2021 season can do so, or donate the value of their tickets. Ticket holders can call 800-PLAYTIX, or wait to hear from Festival staff.
“There will be better days ahead, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival will once again be a source of joy, imagination and insights into the human condition. I’m heartbroken we can’t do that this season, but am enthused by the prospect of our 60th anniversary next year,” Mack said.
Costume Director Receives Distinguished Achievement Award
Jeffrey Lieder
By Parker Bowring
Jeffery Lieder, Utah Shakespeare Festival costume director, has received the Distinguished Achievement Award for Costume Design and Technology from the United States Institute for Theater Technology (USITT). According to the USITT website, the award, “honors individuals who have established meritorious career records in specific fields of expertise in any area of design or technology in the performing arts or entertainment industry.”
Lieder has been a part of the Utah Shakespeare Festival for 35 seasons, directing the creation of costumes for all the performances and productions at the Festival. “For the first 33 seasons, I also was also a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, commuting back and forth each summer. Because of the combination of my academic and professional lives, I was able to open doors for student artisans and give them an opportunity to test their skills in a professional setting. Many of the staff who got their start at the Festival are now in leadership roles at major companies across the country,” said Lieder.
Two years ago Lieder retired from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaulkee and moved west to live in Cedar City year-round. “When I drove west for the first season, I never thought that the Festival would be my artistic and full-time home,” said Lieder, reflecting on his time at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
The United States Institute for Theater Technology plays a large and important role in American theater, with more than 6,000 members from across the U.S. and worldwide. The Institute fosters collaboration and communication at all levels and provides vast resources to its members. The institute also connects performing arts design and technology communities and provides a platform for lifelong learning.
Lieder has been a member of USITT for more than 40 years, and each year the Costume Commission of the Institute plans and hosts the summer Costume Symposium. With the support of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, Lieder was able to host four events over the years. “The events, lasting three days each, attracted about 40 participants of all skill levels. Master teachers introduced new skills, and the participants were introduced to the wonder of the Utah Shakespeare Festival! At the first symposium in the 1990s, then Governor Michael O. Leavitt spoke to the group at lunch about how he learned to wear tights when he was a trumpeter in The Greenshow,” said Lieder.
Because of the ever-changing social climate due to COVID-19, the annual USITT conference in Houston for 2020 was canceled. It will instead be held in Columbus, Ohio in 2021. Here all the award winners will be formally recognized. Lieder is looking forward to connecting with friends and colleagues at that time.
Reflecting on what the award means to him, Lieder said, “I am honored to be nominated for this recognition. The artistry of interpreting costume design to reality is an important part of the theatrical process, and this award shines a light on that process. This award reflects on the collaborative work we do at the Shakespeare Festival and I am happy to accept on behalf of and share it with the talented staff at the Festival.”
Festival and Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Join Forces
A scene from the Festival’s 2019 production of The Book of Will, directed by Melinda Pfundstein (photo by Karl Hugh).
CEDAR CITY, Utah and LONDON, England —The Utah Shakespeare Festival and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) recently announced a five-year artistic exchange program, bringing RADA graduates and student productions to the annual Utah Shakespeare Festival, as well as training workshops for students, faculty and staff in both Utah and London. The five-year collaboration began Jan. 1, 2020 and will continue through Dec. 31, 2024, based on financial support from an anonymous donor.
RADA acting students perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Rachel Bagshaw in the Jerwood Vanbrugh Theatre at RADA (photo by Alicia Clarke).
The program will include a commitment from the Festival to hire at least one RADA student or graduate in its acting company each year. RADA will bring its second-year students’ touring production of a Shakespeare play to the Festival’s 200-seat Anes Theatre for one week each July. Additionally, RADA faculty and staff, and Festival staff will conduct a variety of educational and artistic exchanges. Festival audiences will see RADA students and graduates performing in Festival shows each season, and RADA students performing their international touring production, which had previously only been seen in Europe but will now be presented in the United States for the first time.
Frank Mack, executive producer of the Festival, said, “This is an extraordinary opportunity for two organizations to combine their strengths in different aspects of classical theatre performance. RADA is among the finest actor training academies in the world, and the Festival is the perfect place for their students and graduates to practice what they learned for our wonderful audiences.”
Edward Kemp, director of RADA, said, “I’m delighted about RADA’s collaboration with the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the opportunity it presents for our students to enrich their learning. We look forward to exploring new ideas and common goals and are very grateful to be able to share our work with the audiences, artists and communities in Utah.”
Located in London, UK, RADA has offered world-leading training in the dramatic arts for more than a century. RADA was established in 1904 by renowned actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in rooms above His Majesty’s Theatre in the West End. RADA is an academy founded by the industry for the industry. It has maintained strong links with the performing arts industries ever since, and has built an outstanding reputation as a world-renowned center of excellence. RADA’s distinguished alumni include notable actors such as Charles Laughton, Vivien Leigh, Alan Rickman, Anthony Hopkins, David Harewood, Cynthia Erivo and Phoebe Waller-Bridge—to name just a few. The current president of RADA is Sir Kenneth Branagh, also a RADA alumni.
The Festival is Utah’s only Tony and Emmy award-winning professional theatre. Located in Cedar City, and part of Southern Utah University, the Festival attracts more than 100,000 guests annually to its three theatres, the 900-seat outdoor Elizabethan-styled Engelstad Theatre, the 700-seat Randall Jones Theatre, and the 200-seat Anes Studio Theatre. The Festival is a destination theatre that presents life-affirming classical and contemporary plays and musicals, in rotating repertory, and interactive experiences. All of our work is intended to entertain, educate, and enrich regional and national audiences.
Brian Vaughn, artistic director of the Festival, said, “This incredible partnership is a prime example of the Festival’s continued mission to provide world class productions of Shakespeare and the classics. RADA is the premiere actor training program in the world and to have the opportunity for their actors to collaborate with the incredible talent on display at the Festival is a gift beyond measure.”
For more information on visiting the Festival, which will perform from June 1 to Oct. 10, 2020, visit www.bard.org. For more information on RADA, visit http://www.rada.ac.uk.
Funeral Set for Friday, February 14
Cedar City, UT (February 6, 2020) – “Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, his honor and the greatness of his name shall be” (William Shakespeare, Henry VIII).
It is with deep sadness that the Utah Shakespeare Festival and Southern Utah University share the news that Fred C. Adams, founder of the Festival, passed away early today in Cedar City, Utah. The state’s most prominent arts leader, Adams made a deep and lasting impact on everyone he met, and it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our leader and friend. Words can’t express our sorrow or grief at this time.
Fred C. Adams and his wife, Barbara Gaddie Adams in the then-new Adams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre
“Fred was a genius,” said Governor Gary R. Herbert. “He truly was the visionary behind the Utah Shakespeare Festival, which is beloved by both our state and our nation. Fred was one of a kind, and he will be sorely missed. We join with all Utahns in expressing condolences to his family.”
“Fred Adams was a visionary leader, one of a handful of great artistic geniuses that helped create the regional non-profit theatre movement,” added Frank Mack, executive producer. “His invention of the Utah Shakespeare Festival is a great innovation that forever changed the destiny of the state of Utah, Cedar City, and the country. I got to know Fred not only as a mentor and an organizational leader, but as a friend who I’ll miss profoundly. However, I’m dedicated, along with the entire Festival community, to preserving and advancing his legacy and vision. Our entire organization joins his family in mourning.”
Adams founded the Utah Shakespeare Festival in 1961 with his late wife Barbara Gaddie Adams. Under his guidance, the Festival grew from a budget of $1,000 and approximately 3,000 paid admissions in 1962 to an annual attendance today of approximately 100,000 and an annual budget of more than $8 million.
The Festival is considered one of the most prestigious theatres in the United States and has received the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, an Emmy Award, and the Utah Best of State Award, among other accolades.
During the past years, Adams nurtured the Festival and arts in Utah in many ways. He directed all three plays the first season in 1962: The Taming of the Shrew, Hamlet, and The Merchant of Venice. He was also the main fundraiser, producer, and cheerleader of the fledgling company. He worked tirelessly to have the Festival’s first permanent building constructed: the Adams Memorial Shakespeare Theatre, named for Thomas and Luella Adams (the parents of Utah philanthropist Grace Tanner, wife of Obert C. Tanner). The building was finished in 1977 and was the home of the Festival every summer through 2015.
He was also instrumental in building the Randall L. Jones Theatre in 1989, which later became the first building on the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, which was completed in 2016 and included three theatres: the Randall Theatre and the new Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre and Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
“Fred is the most creative, passionate and tireless person I have ever known,” said Southern Utah University President Scott L Wyatt. “In the Utah arts world he was without equal. No one has elevated the reputation of Southern Utah University and Cedar City more than him. Without doubt, he will remain in the hearts of thousands who knew him and countless others who were blessed by the art he created.”
Adams was the consummate theatre professional. He was part teacher, part actor, part director, part producer, and a friend to all who worked with him. He spent much of his time crafting the future for the Festival as he met with artists and administrators to ensure the artistic integrity of the Festival’s plays, educational offerings, and numerous peripheral activities. He was a mentor to many, including Brian Vaughn, who started at the Festival as a young actor and is now the Festival’s artistic director.
“I’m struck with deep grief and sadness as I try to measure the impact of love and generosity he gave to the world,” said Vaughn. “The achievements he made during his lifetime are monumental and I am honored that I’ve been blessed to call him friend. A great light has gone out.”
Fred C. Adams, 2017, in front of the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre.
Adams retired from the leadership of the Festival in 2005. Since that time, he has kept active in a variety of activities, including directing, acting, fundraising, and coming to his office nearly every day. He sustained warm relationships with the entire staff and board and throughout the community.
Adams was a professor of theatre at SUU from 1959 to 1997 and was named professor emeritus upon his retirement from teaching. In addition to teaching SUU students, he was a mentor to countless theatre artists and administrators throughout the world.
Adams is the recipient of the prestigious SUU Presidential Medallion of Service (2019), Shakespeare Theatre Association Lifetime Achievement Award (2015), Burbage Award for Lifetime Service to the International Shakespeare Community (2010), the Utah National Guard Bronze Minuteman Award (2010), the Governor’s Award from the Utah Humanities Council (2010), the Pioneer of Progress Award for the Days of ’47 in Salt Lake City (2005), the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2003), the Utah Theatre Association’s Lifetime Service Award (2000), an honorary doctorate degree from Southern Utah University (1999), the Institute of Outdoor Drama’s Mark R. Sumner Award (1998), Brigham Young University’s Distinguished Service Award (1995), Geneva Steel’s Modern Pioneer Award (1994), the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce Arts Contribution Award (1992), Southern Utah University’s Outstanding Alumni Award (1991), the Citizen Meritorious Service Award from the American Parks and Recreation Society (1991), Utah Business Magazine’s Outstanding Business Leader recognition (1989), the First Annual Governor’s Award in the Arts (1989), and the Distinguished Alumni Award from Brigham Young University (1984 and 1987). He was also honored to carry the Olympic flame in Cedar City during the 2002 Winter Olympic Torch Relay.
Adams was born in Cedar City, Utah on January 30, 1931 to Paul Monroe Adams and Louise Cruikshank Adams and moved with his family to Delta, Utah, where he graduated from Delta High School. He served in the United States Army (NSA) during the Korean War from 1952 to 1954, stationed in Washington, D.C., and fulfilled a three-year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Finland from 1955 to 1957.
He earned his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brigham Young University in theatre arts and Russian. He did his pre-doctoral studies at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and the University of Utah. The author of many articles appearing in several professional magazines, he was a favorite lecturer for educational institutions and professional organizations throughout the United States and Europe. He also helped create and establish the Shakespeare Theatre Association, a professional association of Shakespeare theatres.
“We are deeply saddened at the passing of Fred Adams, our founder, mentor, and friend,” said Jeff Larsen, Festival board of governors chair. “His inspiration and contribution to the performing arts is irreplaceable, and his presence at the Utah Shakespeare Festival will be greatly missed.”
“Fred Adams is a true hero, not only to me personally but to the state of Utah as a whole,” added Evan J. Vickers, Utah Senate majority leader. “He has done the work of ten men and managed to accomplish it in just one lifetime. We are all indebted to him for the amazing things he has done for us. He will truly be missed, but his memory and legacy will last forever.”
Adams was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Barbara; and his sister, Martha Henstrom. He is survived by his brother, James; four children, Dorcas (Gene) Woodward, Glynis (Alan) Neves, Addison (Dana) Adams, and Josh (Jamie) Adams; fourteen grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and many cousins and friends.
Viewings will be held on Thursday, February 13 from 5 to 8 p.m., and the next morning from 9 to 10:30 a.m. at the Southern Utah Museum of Art. The funeral will be Friday, February 14 at 11 a.m. in the Randall L. Jones Theatre, with overflow seating and video broadcast in the Auditorium Theatre. The funeral will also be live-streamed on YouTube here. To honor Fred, please wear something with a little sparkle.
Adams’ wishes were that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Utah Shakespeare Festival.
Fred C. Adams in the Adams Memorial Shakespearean Theatre.
Utah House Recognizes Every Brilliant Thing Tour
Utah State Representatives Elizabeth Weight (left) and Steve Eliason join the touring companies of Every Brilliant Thing with the official citation honoring the tour and the Festival.
On January 31, the Utah State House of Representatives honored the Utah Shakespeare Festival and its touring production of Every Brilliant Thing for its efforts in suicide prevention. The Festival has offered the play to every high school in the state for no charge.
Two touring companies left Cedar City in October with a goal to perform for as many schools as possible before the middle of February. Thus far it has taken its message of suicide awareness and prevention to more than 45,000 students with 147 performances in 27 counties.
The story of Every Brilliant Thing is simple on the surface. It begins when the lone character in the play, at seven years old, learns that his or her mother is in the hospital after her first attempt to take her own life. Thus, the character begins a list—a list of everything brilliant about the world, everything worth living for. With humor and inventiveness, the story then explores depression and hope, uncertainty and change, relationships and solitude, risk and resilience, guilt and forgiveness. And throughout it all, the protagonist increases the number of brilliant things on the list, and interacts with audience members to share this story of hope.
After the play, the actors and mental health professionals are available to talk to students and offer training, suicide prevention education, and critical connections for students to health service providers. In the end the play offers four clear messages:
1. You are not alone.
2. You are not weird.
3. It gets better.
4. Life goes on.
The citation recognizes the need for this type of programming, in that “the State of Utah has the highest rate of suicide for youth ten to twenty-four years old and ranks sixth highest in overall suicide rates in the nation.”
The citation concludes: “The Utah State Legislature recognizes the Utah Shakespeare Festival, the professional theatre company at Southern Utah University for its commitment to saving and changing lives through this unique theatrical event and congratulates the Festival on its efforts to be a positive force in communities and in the State of Utah.”
“This is a great honor, and producing this beautiful play across our great state wouldn’t have been possible without support from the Utah State Legislature and our wonderful partners that believed in the mission.” said Donn Jersey, Festival development and communication director. “This effort has saved and changed young lives for the better; for that reason alone, the Utah Shakespeare Festival could not be more proud of this memorable effort to deliver a message of hope to students all over our great state.”
“The student response has been phenomenal,” according to a report prepared by the two tour managers. “Utah students are so wanting to be heard and are willing to share life experiences with us and their peers.”
The citation also recognized the sponsors of the tour: the Utah State Legislature, the Utah Department of Heritage and Arts, the Utah Division of Arts and Museums, the Ashton Family Foundation, the Hemingway Foundation, Southern Utah University, and SUU’s Rural Health Scholars.
For more information on the tour, go to https://www.bard.org/brillianttour-info.
Festival's Hamlet Receives BroadwayWorld Regional Awards
BroadwayWorld recently announced the winners of its 2019 Salt Lake City regional awards, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Hamlet walked away with an armload of prizes. The highly-praised Shakespearean tragedy won in the areas of Best Play, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Lighting Design, Best Scenic Design.
In fact, Hamlet was recognized more than any other play in the non-musical category.
Regional productions, touring shows, and more were all included in the voting by audiences for plays that opened between October 1, 2018 and September 30, 2019. According to the BroadwayWorld website, 2019 had a record number of both nominations and votes.
Besides Best Play, other awards were for Brian Vaughn for best direction, Quinn Mattfeld for best actor, William C. Kirkham for best lighting design, and Jason Lajka for best scenic design.
The play was recognized throughout the 2019 season as a stunning interpretation and presentation of Shakespeare’s popular and soaring tragedy.
“We are very proud of the artists that worked on this play and all our plays during the 2019 season,” said Frank Mack, executive producer. “These awards recognize their creativity and hard work, as well as the work of our entire organization.”
The complete list of awards can be found here.
Educational Tour Once Again Hitting the Road
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is once again hitting the road with its Shakespeare-in-the-Schools touring production—this year performing one of the world’s most popular and tragic love stories, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
The tour will be performing nearly 60 shows for over 120 schools and 25,000 students across the states of Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The cast and crew will be on the road for thirteen weeks from January through April to bring this classic tragedy to schools, community centers, and correctional facilities. Students will have the chance to watch the show and then participate in a post-show discussion and workshops in Stage Combat, Performing Shakespeare’s Text, Technical Theatre and Developing Character through Improvisation.
Romeo and Juliet will present one public performance will be on January 29 at 7:30 p.m., in the Auditorium Theatre at Southern Utah University. General admission tickets are $5 and can be purchased at the Festival ticket office at 800-PLAYTIX (800-752-9849) or online at www.bard.org/tour. Tickets purchased ahead of time will be available at will call in the Auditorium Theatre. On the night of the performance, only cash and checks will be accepted at the Auditorium Theatre door, whereas credit and debit cards will be accepted at the Festival’s main ticket office next to the Anes Theatre. Admission is free for SUU students.
Jason Michael Spelbring, familiar to Festival audiences through his many acting and directing stints for Festival plays, is directing this production. He is associate professor in the Department of Theatre Arts at Utah State University–Caine College of the Arts and associate artistic director for Lyric Repertory Company. Directing credits include An Iliad at the Festival and Twelfth Night at the Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. He is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
“For many of our audiences this will be the first time they have seen a professional Shakespeare production,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “This program seeks to entertain, enrich, and educate with innovative and accessible performances to rural and urban schools and communities, many of which would not have this opportunity otherwise.”
Actors in the touring company include a number who have worked at the Festival, as well as professionally across the country. They are:
Ian Allred (Benvolio, Paris) recently received his BFA from Southern Utah University. He has appeared at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, *Big River,*and The Greenshow.
Dane Michael Braddy (Romeo) is from Logan, Utah, where he also earned his BFA from Utah State University in 2019. Favorite credits include Levin in Anna Karenina, Paul in The (Obsolete) Unkindness of Ravens, Will Bloom in Big Fish, and Henry in Next to Normal.
Kenna Funk (Tybalt, Lady Capulet, Peter, Friar John) is attending Southern Utah University for her BFA in acting. SUU credits include Private Lives, Richard III, and Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. She has appeared at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Hamlet and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
Rachael Hodge (Nurse, Prince) is a recent graduate of Utah State University with a BFA in acting. Favorite credits include Mamma Mia! (Lyric Rep), Anna Karenina, Xanadu, Much Ado about Nothing (Utah State University), and Oklahoma!, Romeo and Juliet, The Drowsy Chaperone (MiraCosta Theatre).
Marena Kleinpeter (Juliet, Sampson) earned her B.A. in theatre arts from the University of Northern Colorado then relocated to Seattle to work with Intiman Theatre. She has worked at Seattle Public Theater, 5th Avenue Theatre, Edmonds Driftwood Players, LG! Theater, and GreenStage: Shakespeare in the Park.
Trey Plutnicki (Mercutio, Montague, Friar Lawrence) recently graduated from Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio with a BFA in musical theatre. He has appeared at the Festival in The Greenshowand *Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.*Other credits include Otterbein Summer Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse, and Franklin Theatre Works.
Bailey Savage (Capulet, Balthasar) has worked in several roles with the Festival Education Department. She holds a BIS degree from Southern Utah University. She is a member of Jacaranda Collective, and previous credits include The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Midsommer Flight, Intrinsic Theatre Company, and Lyric Repertory Theatre Company.
In addition, the tour company includes three technical and administrative artists:
Emily Cacho (Company Manager) is returning to the Festival for her fifth year. She has previously worked in the Festival’s Ticket Office as a ticket office supervisor. She is a recent graduate of Southern Utah University’s theatre arts program with a minor in arts administration.
Collin Hall (Technical Director) is a lighting designer and technician from Tennessee. She has worked for the Utah Shakespeare Festival for the past two summers as an electrician and has designed at such theatres as the Clarence Brown Theatre, Flying Anvil Theatre, Theatre Aspen, and Maples Repertory Theatre.
Jaclyn Pageau (Stage Manager) earned her BA in Theatre from Dartmouth College. Based in New York City, some of her favorite recent credits include *BrandoCapote,*Raylynmor Opera (Die Fledermausand Barber of Seville), and *Sigh No More,*as well as her work with Northern Stage’s education program
The Festival’s Shakespeare-in-the-School touring production is made possible by generous donations from the National Endowment for the Arts in conjunction with Arts Midwest, the Hearst Foundations, the Utah State Office of Education, Ally Bank, Mountain West Small Business Finance, and Southern Utah University.
Join Us for the Second Annual "Make a Scene"
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is inviting everyone to join them in the second edition of the most popular fundraising event in its history. The second annual “Make a Scene” festivities will be March 5 at 6 p.m. in Harman Theatre in West Valley City—featuring an elegant dinner and stage appearances by Utah government, business, and media notables.
Harman Theatre is located at 3333 Decker Lake Drive in West Valley City.
The evening will feature a staged reading of a shortened version of the hilarious Shakespeare play Much Ado about Nothing. Festival Artistic Director Brian Vaughn will play Benedick, and Kymberly Mellen, a well-known actor at the Festival and across Utah, will play Beatrice, two of Shakespeare’s most famous and joyful combatants and lovers. Utah politicians, business leaders, and media personalities will fill in all the other roles: the evil Don John, the bumbling constable Dogberry and his hilarious deputies, the young lovers Hero and Claudio, and many more.
Cast members confirmed thus far include Governor Gary R. Herbert and First Lady Jeanette Herbert; Lieutenant Governor Spencer J. Cox and his wife, Abby; Senator Don Ipson; Mary Brown Malouf, executive editor at Salt Lake Magazine; Boyd Matheson, opinion editor at Deseret News; Carole Mikita, senior arts and religion reporter at KSL; Representative Rex Shipp; Senator Evan Vickers; and Representative Elizabeth Weight.
An elegant buffet dinner will proceed the performance.
“We did this event last year for the first time, and it was great fun. This year should be even better,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “After a beautiful dinner together, we will go into the theatre for a short, script-in-hand reading of Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing, featuring unlikely performances by leaders of the business, government, and media communities in Utah—alongside great professional actors.”
This joyful play has been performed many times at the Festival, but our “guest stars” will bring a whole new level of hilarity and familiarity to the comedy as you recognize faces from various other business and government stages appearing on the show-biz stage of Harman Theatre.
“Performers from last year’s events included Lt. Governor Spencer J. Cox and Abby Cox; Doug Fabrizio from KUER; Evan J. Vickers, Senate majority leader; State Representative Patrice Arent; and many others,” said Development and Communication Director Donn Jersey. “Casting is on-going for this year, but we have a few surprise announcements to make in the coming weeks.”
“This is a uniquely fun way to raise critical funding for the Festival’s education programs,” added Mack. “I am grateful to everyone who supports this event, including our friends in West Valley City who do much to make the event so great.”
The ticket price is $275 and is all inclusive; no additional fundraising will be part of the event.
For information, the latest information, and to order tickets, visit bard.org/make-a-scene, call Director of Development Donn Jersey at 435-865-8002 or Development Associate Emily Duncan at 435-586-7877, or email jersey@bard.org.
Become a Playmaker! Youth Program Auditions Announced
A Playmakers performance of Newsies!, 2019.
CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced auditions and performance dates for its 2020 Playmakers production of Once upon a Mattress. The popular Playmakers program provides young actors a chance to rehearse, learn, and then perform this fun and popular musical.
Auditions will be January 9, starting at 3:30 p.m.; location is still to be announced, but the latest information is available at bard.org/playmakers. Youth ages six to seventeen are invited to audition.
Interested youth must reserve an audition time and should come prepared to sing one of three selected pieces. The audition reservations form and the song selections can also be found at bard.org/playmakers. An accompanist will be provided, and callbacks will be January 10 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Southern Utah University Music Building, room 209.
In addition, the Festival is offering an audition workshop on January 8, from 4 to 6 p.m., also in the SUU Music Building, room 209. Hopeful actors can come and play theatre games, get to know the Playmakers team, and learn the audition songs. There is no cost to attend. Attendance at the workshop isn’t required, but is highly recommended.
“If your child has questions,” said Festival Education Director Michael Bahr, “this is a great way to get to know the program.”
Once auditions are completed and participants are announced, rehearsals will begin on January 14 and extend through the opening performance on April 1 School performances of Once upon a Mattress will be April 1, 2, 3, and 6, with special public performances on April 3, 4, and 6.
The program trains youth in theatre fundamentals, including how to sing and dance with a live piano, rehearsal and performance etiquette, and how to work, share, give, and play with others.
Once upon a Mattress is a comedy with music by Mary Rodgers and lyrics by Marshall Barer. It opened on Broadway in 1959 and has garnered numerous awards. It is a musical adaption of Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Princess and the Pea. It is a jazzy, lyrical love-story of a spunky, charismatic, and original princess who finds love through a series of innovations and mishaps. The whole ensemble, comprised of intelligent, courageous ladies, caring and chivalrous knights, imaginative jesters and minstrels, tell the story through live music and dance.
“I love this musical,” said Bahr. “It is a jazzy, fractured fairy tale that requires unique actors to portray strong and spunky characters. The play is perfect for training artists in the fundamentals of the theatre.
For more information and to schedule an audition, visit bard.org/playmakers.