News From the Festival
The Tour of Utah Returns to Cedar City
The 2015 Tour of Utah
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, billed as “America’s toughest stage race,” is returning to Cedar City July 30 for the popular team presentations and on August 1 for the finish of Stage 1 of the race.
Now in its 12th year, his week-long professional cycling race features 16 of the best men’s teams in the world. It will cover 705 miles of racing and 52,825 feet of climbing as it weaves through two national parks, two national monuments, four national forests, and two state parks.
Cedar City leads off the series of events with the popular Tour of Utah Team Presentation presented by America First Credit Union on Saturday, July 30 at the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s Ashton Family Greenshow Commons. Cycling fans are invited to meet and greet members of the 16 professional cycling teams who will be competing in this year’s Tour of Utah. They are encouraged to bring blankets or chairs to enjoy the one and one-half hour program. Each team will be introduced on an event stage and top riders will be interviewed by announcer Dave Towle. This free event takes place from 5 to 6:30 p.m.
Following this, spectators are invited to stay and enjoy *The Greenshow,*a free, 30-minute program of dance, music, and light-hearted entertainment that is part of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. The production is free and takes place on the same stage as the team presentation.
For those who want a VIP Experience Package on Saturday for the team presentation, tickets are available online for $125 per person. The VIP Experience Package provides an exclusive private viewing area along with light refreshments. The VIP area is adjacent to the stage, with some athletes stopping by to connect with fans.
On Monday, August 1, fans will want to return to witness the finish of Stage 1 of this breathtaking event. Stage 1 begins at Zion Canyon Village, winds through Dixie National Forest to the crest at Cedar Breaks National Monument, and then down Cedar Canyon, concluding with three downtown circuits, 2.5 miles each lap to finish at the corner of 300 West and Center Streets, near the new Beverley Center for the Performing Arts, home of the Utah Shakespeare Festival and the magnificent new Southern Utah Museum of Art.
Fans will be able to watch this fast-paced finish from the sidewalks and other vantage points around the course.
The Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah continues to be free to all spectators. It is the first internationally-sanctioned cycling competition in North America following the Tour de France. More information about the Tour of Utah, the host venues and the teams can be found by visiting www.tourofutah.com, as well as social channels Facebook (tourofutah), Twitter (@tourofutah, #TOU16), Instagram (thetourofutah), and YouTube (tourofUtah).
Festival Excitement Continues with Two New Shows in New Theatre
Paul Helm (left) as Marcus Moscowicz and John Wascavage as The Suspects in Murder for Two.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently opened five plays, three greenshows, and a new theatre; but the excitement continues. Two more plays are set to open over the next three weeks as the Festival christens the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre.
William Shakespeare’s political masterpiece Julius Caesar previews July 29 and opens July 30. The hilarious musical murder mystery Murder for Two previews August 4 and opens August 6.
It is, indeed, an exciting time for the Festival, in new buildings that offer new possibilities as the theatre company celebrates its fifty-fifth season. “The Anes Studio Theatre is at the center of the Festival’s commitment to exploring new and original works in the canon of dramatic literature,” said Festival Artistic Director David Ivers. “As we continue to produce the best in classical theatre, we must also usher in new voices, new work, and new artists in order to present the most inclusive and dynamic programming available to us. This theatre provides the framework, the space, and the context for us to push forward over the next several decades.”
Directed by Joseph Hanreddy, Julius Caesar runs through October 22. Hanreddy’s credits at the Festival include adaptor/director of Sense and Sensibility in 2014, adaptor of Pride and Prejudice in 2010, and director of Macbeth in 2010 and Private Lives in 2009.
The play’s numerous roles will be played by twelve actors, led by Paul Michael Sandberg (who last appeared at the Festival in 1991) as Julius Caesar, Jeffrey Cummings (at the Festival in 2008) as Marcus Brutus, Rex Young (who appeared here in 2003 and 2004) as Caius Cassius, and Sam Ashdown (who is playing Henry V this year) as Mark Antony.
In Julius Caesar, Shakespeare poses questions that we are still asking 400 years later: When people can no longer trust their elected leaders, what do they do? Do they remain loyal, or do they stab their opponents in the back? Especially poignant in an election year, it is a dazzling masterpiece of betrayal and faithfulness, treachery and trust.
“Julius Caesar is a tremendously relevant play to our current political debate,” said Hanreddy. “The Anes Theatre has allowed us to design a unique seating arrangement that will support an intimate, visceral, visually exciting production, as well as invite the audience to play a vital part in the storytelling.
Murder for Two is directed by Brad Carroll, who has directed numerous Festival plays, including South Pacific, The Comedy of Errors, Les Misérables, The Mousetrap, H.M.S. Pinafore, and Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical, which he also co-wrote. This two-actor comedy also plays through October 22.
“Eileen and Allen Anes have been cherished friends of mine for years, so I’m delighted and honored to be directing one of the flagship shows going into the theatre that bears their names,” said Carroll. “Murder for Two, a fairly new show to most audiences, is perfect for the new space. It is a true tour-de-force for two actors, and has something for absolutely everyone!”
Everyone is a suspect in this two-person hilarious musical murder mystery with a twist: One actor (Paul Helm) plays Marcus Moscowicz, a police officer, would-be detective who investigates the crime. The other (John Wascavage) plays all the suspects. And they both accompany themselves on the piano! This zany blend of classic musical comedy and madcap mystery is a highly theatrical duet loaded with killer laughs.
Both actors are new to the Festival this year. In addition to their work in Murder for Two, they both appear in The Cocoanuts: Wascavage is playing Robert Jamison (Zeppo) and Helm is the associate music director and a member of the band.
“I can’t wait for our audience to see these two dynamic productions,” said Artistic Director Brian Vaughn. “They promise to be unlike anything we’ve produced before, and I can assure you, you won’t want to miss them.”
Tickets for these two plays and for the currently running plays are all available on the Festival website at bard.org or through our Ticket Office at 1-800-PLAYTIX.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
NAPP Plans Readings of Two New Plays
The 24th annual New American Playwrights Project (NAPP) takes the stage at the Utah Shakespeare Festival from August 12 through August 27. Two plays will be presented as staged readings in the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre at 10 a.m. on selected dates. Chosen from hundreds of plays submitted, this year’s lineup includes One Big Union by popular Salt Lake City playwright Deborah Threedy and How To Fight Loneliness by nationally-acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute.
Playgoers will have the unique opportunity to see a staged reading of these new pieces and take part in an after-play discussion with the playwright, director and actors. Audience members should be aware that the plays in this series are written for contemporary adult audiences and contain themes and explicit language that some may find offensive and that may not be appropriate for children.
Tickets are $10 each and are on sale now at 1-800-PLAYTIX and www.bard.org.
How To Fight Lonelines by Neil LaBute will get its first public reading at NAPP August 19, 20, and 27 in preparation for a full-scale production and Utah premiere as part of the 2017 Festival season. It will be directed by Festival Artistic Director David Ivers.
One of LaBute’s first well-known plays was In the Company of Men, which premiered at Brigham Young University, his alma mater, and which he later adapted into a movie starring Aaron Eckhart. He has since written numerous plays, including reasons to be pretty, which appeared on Broadway and was nominated in 2009 for three Tony Awards;In the Beginning; Fat Pig; Miss Julie; Reasons To Be Happy; Good Luck; Over the River and through the Woods; and many more*.* In 2013, LaBute was recognized with the Arts and Letters Awards in Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
“Neil’s muscular and deft use of language, offset by his tightly conflicted characters will lend boldness, gravitas, and a fresh voice to our 2017 slate of programming,” said Ivers. “The play is provocative, funny, and heart-breaking all at once and should inspire audiences to engage about the importance of fostering the ‘Shakespeare’s of tomorrow.’”
The play explores a modern-day husband and wife, Brad and Jodie, who are at a life-changing crossroads. They must make a monumental decision, but can’t seem to do it on their own. To help, they enlist an old schoolmate, which brings unexpected results leading to a spiral of recrimination, deceit, and (ultimately) relief, in this surprising play about life, love, and the right to choose your own destiny.
In addition, LaBute, who recently had two successful shows close off-Broadway and has another, All the Ways To Say I Love You, opening this fall at MCC Theater, has agreed to host a special lecture and discussion, “Conversations with Neil LaBute” about playwriting and his current work. The event is free to the public and will be Saturday, August 20 at 5:30 p.m. in the Anes Theatre.
One Big Union by Debora Threedy will appear at NAPP on August 12, 13, and 26. It will be directed by Jerry Rapier, producing director of Plan-B Theatre in Salt Lake City.
Although not as well known to national audiences, Debora Threedy, who has degrees in theatre arts and law, is very well known in Utah and the Intermountain West. After many years appearing on stage in Salt Lake City, including at Salt Lake Acting Company, she turned to playwriting. She wrote and performed a one-woman show, Desert Wife, which toured the state with funding from the Utah Humanities Council. She has had a number of plays produced by Plan B Theatre in Salt Lake City, most recently The Third Crossing, which also was one of the winners of the Fratti-Newman New Political Play Contest in New York.
Her play, One Big Union, focuses on legendary union agitator Joe Hill who was executed by the State of Utah in 1915. Considered a martyr by many, his songs at the time envisioned gender and racial equality and criticized the gross income disparities of his time. Today, he remains an enigmatic folk hero, but beyond the mythology lies a larger story of protest, still relevant a century after his death.
“Theatre companies have to look to the future as well as the past,” said Michael Bahr, Festival education director. “NAPP allows us to do this, and it helps audiences be informed by new works and the ideas of up and coming artists, as well as classic theatre. That’s when we can really tell the story of what it means to be human.”
Playwright biographies and more information are available at www.bard.org/napp.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).
Shakespeare and the Wild West
By Brooke Vlasich
At first glance, Shakespeare and the early American West probably seem to have little in common. However, having worked in numerous theatres on the west coast, including the Old Globe Theatre, my own personal experience has told me that this is not the case. So, why do I need see the “Willy the Kid” exhibit at Southern Utah University’s Gerald R. Sherratt Library (open now through October) when I already know Shakespeare is prevalent in the West?
As it turns out, this display revealed that the roots Shakespeare has in the West run deep. As I visited the exhibit, which traces Shakespearean beginnings in the West that start as early as 1849, I was fascinated to learn about the ordeals and trials many underwent to make Shakespeare a part of their community.
According to the exhibit, many performers moved from the east coast to the west coast in search of higher wages. During the early 1850s, performers followed the gold rush to San Francisco and endured many difficult passages which included options such as three to seven months on the California Trail or a two- to three-month journey that involved sailing to Nicaragua, crossing the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific on steamboats or pack mules, and continuing up to the west coast by steamer. One famous tragedian, Junius Brutus Booth, Sr. encountered one unfortunate incident in which he was robbed in Panama, performed for two weeks at the St. Charles Theatre for extra income, and eventually died while on the Mississippi River. Learning this, I’m taken back to my former work backstage in costumes when I and many other theatre artists traveled miles from job to job and put in grueling and long work hours at unusual times of the day. It seems that no matter the era we all are dedicated and deeply committed to our involvement in the arts.
Another aspect of this exhibit that resonated with me is how much time and money companies spent on advertising and marketing. Each week theatre employees printed playbills and continually distributed them throughout the towns, and some employees would travel ahead of touring companies to hang posters and other advertising materials. Special events had separate invitations printed, and programs were available for every performance. Thinking of the intricate coordinating and planning ahead that must have gone into this process reminds me of my current role in the communications department of the Utah Shakespeare Festival. During the recent Beverley Center for the Arts opening, employees from all departments were arranging interviews, managing tickets for groups and the press, and constantly organizing dates to prepare newsletters, programs for numerous dedications, advertisements, and social media. As it turns out, no matter your place in time, theatre always needs advertising and careful planning to gain support and interest from the local area.
In addition to these pieces of new information, I find there is plenty to uncover at the “Willy the Kid” exhibit. From the first female theatre manager, Sarah Kirby, to the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, there is something for everyone to discover about Shakespeare in California, Salt Lake City, and beyond. Peering at old promptbooks next to modern day costume sketches and stage management paperwork, it’s clear our passion for Shakespeare has never disappeared. Reading “Ode to Shakespeare” in honor of the opening of a theatre known as the American, it’s evident how much we admire this classic English playwright:
The shrine is yours, where falls the grateful tear—
Your cherished gifts have raised this temple here.
Then join us, while we the offering bring,
A sacred gift to Avon’s heaven-born King;
The God-like Poet, on whose sacred Urn,
Shall Memory here like heavenly incense burn.
These words still hold the same meaning today, and many words just like them were spoken during our own dedication for the new Englestad Shakespeare Theatre last week.
The exhibit runs through the end of October, Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Gerald R. Sherratt Library, Special Collections Room.
And, after you have whet your appetite on the exhibit, you may be interested in a lecture series featuring Shakespeare, theatre, and history scholars presenting their thoughts on Shakespeare and theatre in the early American West. The lectures are July 15 and 29 and August 8 and 9.
“Willy the Kid” is free and open at the Gerald R. Sherratt Library on the Southern Utah University from now until October 2016. For more information on the exhibit and the lecture series, contact Special Collections at 435-586-7945 or specialcollections@suu.edu.
Festival Announces Nine Plays for 2017 Season
At the end of a three-day celebration of the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2016 season and the opening of the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts Saturday night, the Festival’s artistic directors shifted everybody’s sights ahead, and drew more applause and excitement, when they announced the plays for the 2017 season.
The season, which will run from late June through late October, includes nine plays (one more than in 2016), with five premieres and four enduring classics. Actual dates will be announced soon. Tickets will go on sale beginning in August. Watch the Festival website, bard.org, as well as social media and the electronic E-Globe for updates.
The Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre
David Ivers (left) and Brian Vaughn, artistic directors
Two complementary plays, William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet and the theatrical adaptation of the Academy Award-winning movie Shakespeare in Love, will anchor the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. Shakespeare in Love is about young William Shakespeare, who, out of ideas and short of cash, meets his ideal woman and is inspired to write one of his most famous plays, Romeo and Juliet. These interdependent story lines provided the impetus behind the Festival producing these two plays in repertory—with a shared cast and set.
The Festival has been selected as one of three theatres to present the first productions in the United States. It is based on the original screenplay by Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard, with the stage adaptation by Lee Hall. It is presented by special arrangement with Disney Theatrical Productions and Sonia Friedman Productions.
Rounding out the Engelstad Theatre will be the Shakespeare comedy As You Like It. This rollicking frolic of confused courtship between Rosalind and Orlando features beautiful poetry and unsurpassed wit. It was last produced at the Festival in 2009.
Those who have been following the Festival’s History Cycle (all ten of Shakespeare’s history plays produced in chronological order) may notice that there is no history play in the 2017 season. The Festival will continue the cycle in 2018, using the coming year to develop a production approach for the Henry VI plays which will tell the story of the War of the Roses and the Tudor dynasty in all its artistry and majesty.
The Randall L. Jones Theatre
Four plays will fill the stage in the Randall L. Jones Theatre in 2017, offering a variety of genres and stories.
First will be the classical musical Guys and Dolls, with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows and Jo Swerling. Considered by many to be the perfect musical comedy, Guys and Dolls ran for over 1,200 performances when it opened on Broadway in 1950. Winner of many Tony Awards and numerous other theatre prizes, it has been frequently revived and has proven to be perennially popular. Featuring such memorable songs as “A Bushel and a Peck” and “Luck Be a Lady,” this oddball romantic comedy will find a comfortable home at the Festival.
Next will be the Mountain West premiere of Mary Zimmerman’s glorious adaptation of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Treasure Island. This critically-acclaimed adaptation premiered in a joint production by Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago and Berkeley Rep in Berkeley, California. The Festival is the first theatre beyond them to receive rights to this play. This epic tale based on classic literature will thrill the entire family with tales of buried treasure, cutthroat pirates, the larger-than-life Long John Silver, and the courageous young cabin boy Jim Hawkins. A play with music, Treasure Island is dramatic story-telling at its theatrical best.
Possibly Shakespeare’s most beloved comedy, A Midsummer Night’s Dream will also appear in the Randall Theatre. This story of fairies, dreams, and moonlight tells the tale of love which never does run smooth, of feuding fairy kings and queens, and of young lovers caught up in the world between waking and dreaming. Perhaps Shakespeare’s most accessible comedy, the entire family will enjoy the antics of Puck, Titania, and Nick Bottom and his hilarious band of rustics.
Playing later in the summer in the Randall L. Jones Theatre will be a world-premiere adaptation of the satirical comedy The Tavern by George M. Cohan. Joseph Hanreddy (who adapted Sense and Sensibility for the Festival in 2014) is adapting this hilarious play and shifting the action and plot to locations and characters in Utah that just might feel familiar. As such, it is a dark and stormy night when a mysterious vagabond, a damsel in distress, and a politician all end up at a remote Utah tavern where they try, amid rising suspense and misunderstandings, to solve a recent robbery.
The Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre
One of the motivations for building the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre was to provide a space to produce new plays. The 2017 season will see the realization of that with two Mountain West premieres.
First will be nationally-acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute’s How To Fight Loneliness, which is receiving a its first staged reading at the Festival this summer, in preparation for this full production in 2017. LaBute recently had two successful shows close off-Broadway and has another, All the Ways To Say I Love You, opening this fall at MCC Theater. He and his work have been recognized with Tony Award nominations and Arts and Letters Awards in Literature, among others. How To Fight Loneliness explores a modern-day husband and wife who are at a life-changing crossroads and struggling to make monumental decisions about life and love.
And last, but certainly not least, is William Shakespeare’s Long Lost First Play (abridged), brought to you by the same guys responsible for The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged). The play tells the not-quite factual (well, not at all factual) story of an ancient manuscript purported to be the first play written by William Shakespeare. Using questionable scholarship and street-performer smarts, a trio of comic actors will throw themselves into a fast, funny, and frenzied festival of physical finesse, witty wordplay, and plentiful punning.
“This is a season with something for everybody, and one that propels us into the next stage of our development as a theatre company,” said Joshua Stavros, media and public relations director. “As Shakespeare said in Measure for Measure, ‘Look forward on the journey you shall go.’”
After Years of Dreaming, the Beverley Center Is Now a Reality
Ann Crocker, representing the Sorenson family and the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, addresses the crowd as members of the Sorenson family look on at the dedication of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts.
Just as the ribbon was about to be cut officially opening the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, a bright yellow monarch butterfly fluttered gracefully from the raised terrace, above the heads of the crowd gathered for the occasion, and up and over the new Utah Shakespeare Festival administration building. Most in the crowd didn’t notice, but those who did were captivated by this ephemeral visit that could easily symbolize the purpose of the new center and those who made it happen.
On this sunny July 7 morning, Ann Crocker, of the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, was speaking fondly of her mother (for whom the center is named) and of her deep-seated belief that the arts could lift us, enchant us, and beautify our world. It was her parents, James LeVoy Sorenson and Beverley Taylor Sorenson, who established the foundation which was the lead donor to the center. She was joined on the stage by several other Sorenson family members.
Also honored during the ceremonies were two other visionaries who were instrumental in the building of the $39.1 million complex: Fred C. Adams and Jimmie Jones.
Adams, who founded the Festival in 1962 with his late-wife, Barbara, has long dreamed of this day and of a world-class arts complex to be the home of the Festival. “This is an exciting weekend, one that we at the Festival and myself personally have been looking forward to for decades,” said Adams. “This arts center will provide inspiration and a place to reflect and learn for hundreds of thousands of guests and artists for years to come.”
Jones, who passed away in 2009, donated his artwork, his home, and other possessions to Southern Utah University to provide seed money for building the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA). Art historians have dubbed Jones “the premier landscapist of southern Utah,” and his towering paintings of Zion, the Grand Canyon, and Cedar Mountain now grace the Jimmie Jones Gallery in SUMA.
The celebration continued that day with a dedication and ribbon cutting at SUMA and that evening with the same in the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre. In between the dedications and continuing July 8 and 9 are three days full of parties, artist demos, concerts, and the Festival’s popular Greenshow, orientations, and play seminars, as well as much more. The complete calendar of events is at www.bard.org/schedule.
The center includes not only the Engelstad Theatre, but the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, the spectacular Southern Utah Museum of Art, the existing Randall L. Jones Theatre, offices and rehearsal space, a new costume shop, and beautiful walkways, patios, and sculpture gardens. The center, with visual arts, live theatre, and dynamic arts education will dramatically enrich the cultural life of SUU, Cedar City, and the surrounding area. It will be a year-round destination for hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors.
“Visually, what guests to the new center will see will be a contrast to what they’ve been accustomed to if they have attended the festival the past 30 or 40 years,” said R. Scott Phillips, Festival executive director. “It is a planned center, something that was designed with the notion of the performing and visual arts, rather than an experience that was built onto an existing building.”
Phillips is quick to note that this will enhance, not diminish the experience visitors will have. For instance, the new Engelstad Theatre is physically much larger than the Adams Shakespearean Theatre that housed the Festival for over 40 years. But the acting space and seating is nearly identical to the Adams Theatre. The increased size is to accommodate a larger foyer, wider and more open entrances, and more public space. But the distance from the front of the new stage to the last row in the balcony is very nearly the same as in the beloved Adams Theatre.
“Guests will have a feeling of something they remember or are accustomed to,” said Phillips. “The experience should be something that is very reminiscent of what they recall.”
Festival Artistic Director David Ivers agrees, noting the Festival environment will be greatly enhanced by being in one location, allowing guests to be immersed in an artistic experience. He is excited about having two new theatres to house world classics. “Our audiences will be challenged in these new space,” he said. “They will see and hear plays, even plays they have seen in the past, in ways they haven’t before.”
Ivers is also looking forward to SUMA being on the center. “For me, because I think that any medium of art should go hand-in-hand with any other, the art on the walls of the galleries and the art on the stage will build on each other, giving context to the work we all do.”
SUMA will include four galleries, visible storage, and classroom spaces. It will also be the permanent home to the artwork of the late Cedar City artist, Jim Jones. In 2016, SUMA will focus on the National Park Service Centennial. “It is an ideal collaboration that will encourage our visitors to not only ‘Find Their Park’ but also to find their museum,” said Reece Summers, SUMA director. “The first thing visitors will see when they enter the museum will be 15 large paintings of Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks by Jim Jones, who left his art, estate, and copyright to help build this new museum.”
“It’s quite phenomenal,” concluded Phillips. “When I first came as a student, the Adams Theatre was brand new. To go from that building then and watch the transformation to an entire complex, from a building that cost under one million dollars to this nearly forty million dollar project, is extraordinary.”
Three Days of Celebration Planned
Plays, art exhibitions, dedications, tours, and entertainment of all sorts are planned for the grand opening of the Beverly Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts and the 2016 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, July 7 through 9.
The celebration kicks off on July 7 at 10 a.m. with the dedication of the new center. The public is invited to this historic occasion which will be on the Simmons Family Plaza. It will be followed by the dedication of the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA) at 11:30 on the Sam and Diane Stewart Plaza and the dedication of the Engelstad Shakespeare Theatre Dedication at 7:40 in the Engelstad Theatre. The dedication of the theatre immediately precedes the opening night of Henry V, so those who want to attend the dedication must have tickets to the play.
In between the dedication will be tours of the Festival facilities (including two new theatres, offices, and rehearsal and artistic studios) and of SUMA. The three days will also be full of parties, artist demos, concerts, and the Festival’s popular Greenshow, orientations, and play seminars, as well as much more. The complete calendar of events is at www.bard.org/news/schedule.
The center, which will officially open on July 7, will include not only the Engelstad Theatre, but the new Eileen and Allen Anes Studio Theatre, the spectacular Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA), the existing Randall L. Jones Theatre, offices and rehearsal space, a new costume shop, and beautiful walkways, patios, and sculpture gardens. The center, with visual arts, live theatre, and dynamic arts education will dramatically enrich the cultural life of SUU, Cedar City, and the surrounding area. It will be a year-round destination for hundreds of thousands of yearly visitors.
“Visually, what guests to the new center will see will be a contrast to what they’ve been accustomed to if they have attended the festival the past 30 or 40 years,” said R. Scott Phillips, Festival executive director. “It is a planned center, something that was designed with the notion of the performing and visual arts, rather than an experience that was built onto an existing building.”
Phillips is quick to note that this will enhance, not diminish the experience visitors will have. For instance, the new Engelstad Theatre is physically much larger than the Adams Shakespearean Theatre that housed the Festival for over 40 years. But the acting space and seating is nearly identical to the Adams Theatre. The increased size is to accommodate a larger foyer, wider and more open entrances, and more public space. But the distance from the front of the new stage to the last row in the balcony is very nearly the same as in the beloved Adams Theatre.
“Guests will have a feeling of something they remember or are accustomed to,” said Phillips. “The experience should be something that is very reminiscent of what they recall.”
Festival Artistic Director David Ivers agrees, noting the Festival environment will be greatly enhanced by being in one location, allowing guests to be immersed in an artistic experience. He is excited about having two new theatres to house world classics. “Our audiences will be challenged in these new space,” he said. “They will see and hear plays, even plays they have seen in the past, in ways they haven’t before.”
Ivers is also looking forward to SUMA being on the center. “For me, because I think that any medium of art should go hand-in-hand with any other, the art on the walls of the galleries and the art on the stage will build on each other, giving context to the work we all do.”
SUMA will include four galleries, visible storage, and classroom spaces. It will also be the permanent home to the artwork of the late Cedar City artist, Jim Jones. In 2016, SUMA will focus on the National Park Service Centennial. “It is an ideal collaboration that will encourage our visitors to not only ‘Find Their Park’ but also to find their museum,” said Reece Summers, SUMA director. “The first thing visitors will see when they enter the museum will be 15 large paintings of Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks by Jim Jones, who left his art, estate, and copyright to help build this new museum.”
“It’s quite phenomenal,” concluded Phillips. “When I first came as a student, the Adams Theatre was brand new. To go from that building then and watch the transformation to an entire complex, from a building that cost under one million dollars to this nearly forty million dollar project, is extraordinary.”
Cedar City Council Creates Shakespeare Lane
Mayor Maile Wilson
CEDAR CITY, UT — Just in time for the opening of the 2016 Utah Shakespeare Festival and the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts, the Cedar City Council has changed the name of College Avenue between 100 West and 300 West to, appropriately, Shakespeare Lane.
The two block street borders the new center for the arts to the south and already sports new street signs recognizing the change.
“We at the Utah Shakespeare Festival are grateful to Cedar City for this thoughtful and meaningful gift,” said Joshua Stavros, Festival media and public relations manager. “Thanks to Mayor Maile Wilson and the city council for making it happen in this monumental year for the Festival. It is representative of the excellent working relationship between Cedar City, its residents, Southern Utah University, and the Utah Shakespeare Festival.”
“We know our residents and guests traveling down Shakespeare Lane will feel the spirit of welcome and hospitality as they come to see a play, enjoy The Greenshow, or see the latest exhibit at the Southern Utah Museum of Art,” he added.
Pastels To Be on Exhibition at the Randall Theatre
An exhibition of pastels by noted Cedar City artist Arlene Braithwaite will be featured this summer in the Randall L. Jones Theatre lobby. As part of the grand opening of the new Beverley Center for the Arts and the opening of the 2016 season of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, an opening reception is slated for July 9 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Entitled “Seasons,” the exhibition runs from July 1 to October 15, Monday through Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Braithwaite lives in southwest Utah, surrounded by the landscape that inspires her work. She earned her master’s degree from the University of Utah, then enjoyed a lengthy career teaching art at Southern Utah University. Braithwaite now paints full time when she isn’t exploring the area’s numerous canyons and expansive plateaus. She shares her love of pastels through presentations and workshops.
“In my work I attempt to evoke the sense of time and place that makes each scene unique,” said Braithwaite. “Often, my biggest challenge is to capture the rapidly changing interplay of light and atmosphere on a particular formation. Because of this, pastel is especially attractive to use. Setup is immediate and simply involves opening the pastel box and placing a board on my easel.”
The exhibit will feature twenty pieces, including “Columbine Ballet,” “First Light Hitting Angel’s Landing,” Autumn Stroll Along the Virgin,” and “West Desert Thunder Cloud.” All will be available for sale.
The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also include the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA). The Festival’s 2016 season runs from June 27 to October 22: Henry V, Much Ado about Nothing, The Three Musketeers, Mary Poppins, The Cocoanuts, Julius Caesar, Murder for Two, and The Odd Couple. For more information visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.
Numerous Events Scheduled for the Beverley Center for the Arts Opening
It will be three days full of activities–most of them free–at the grand opening of the Beverley Center for the Arts. Dedications, tours, concerts, seminars, demonstrations, family art projects, and (of course) plays are all part of the plans. Check out each day’s schedule below then join us for this once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
(You may click on each schedule to open a printable and downloadable PDF version of the day’s events.)