Three of Utah's major summer theater festivals — the Old Lyric Repertory Company in Logan, Tuacahn's "Broadway in the Desert" series and Ogden's Utah Musical Theatre — are opening this week:
THE OLD LYRIC REP, housed in the newly renovated Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center, Logan, opens its 36th season with Ray Cooney and Tony Hilton's "One for the Pot," in which a wealthy mill owner offers 10,000 pounds (roughly 15,000 U.S. dollars) to the son of a former business associate, provided he can prove he's the only living relative.
OLRC founder W. Vosco Call is directing the comedy, which he sees as "a wonderful piece of summer tonic."
The cast, including several longtime Old Lyric Rep players, includes Fred Willecke, Vanessa Ballam Brenchley, Eric VanTielen, Leigh Selting, Steven Fehr, Aaron Lamb, Ron King, Amber Tuttle and Maribeth Evensen-Hengge.
Performances will be Thursday-Saturday, June 13-15, with additional performances on June 27 and 29, July 17 and Aug. 1, all at 8 p.m. — in repertory with "Dial M for Murder," "Nunsense" and "The Rivals," all of which are opening within the next few weeks. "One for the Pot" will have one Saturday matinee at 2 p.m. on June 29.
Single tickets are $10, $13 and $15 for premium seating and $8, $11 and $12 for regular seating. Half-price "student rush" tickets are also being offered this year for all high school and college students for any available seats 15 minutes prior to curtain. For reservations, call (435) 797-0305. Tickets may also be purchased in advance at the USU Spectrum box office or the USU Taggart Student Center or one hour prior to show time at the theater.
TUACAHN is bringing back "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat," starring David Osmond, and pairing it with Irving Berlin's classic musical, "Annie Get Your Gun," featuring Mindy Smoot-Robbins, who toured with the national company of "Les Miserables," and Andrew Husmann, who was Tom Wopat's understudy as Frank Butler in the recent Broadway cast of "Annie Get Your Gun."
Derryl Yeager is directing and choreographing "Joseph," and Jim Bennett, Tuacahn's artistic director, is directing "Annie Get Your Gun." Both are pleased with the amphitheater's red-rock canyon backdrop, which provides a natural setting for both the Wild West of Annie Oakley's adventures and the arid Holy Land desert of Joseph's journey. In the fall, Tuacahn will bring back the original musical, "Utah!" with a new script.
"Annie Get Your Gun" will play Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, June 12-Aug. 30, with "Joseph" playing on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, June 13-Aug. 31, all at 8:30 p.m. Tickets for both shows are $19.50 for children and $29.50 for adults in the center section, and $14.50 and $24.50 in the side sections. All toddlers are admitted for $10 each. Both productions feature optional pre-show Dutch oven dinners — Buffalo Bill's BBQ prior to "Annie" and a Pharaoh's Feast prior to "Joseph," both served on Tuacahn's plaza by Staheli Catering. Dinner prices are $11 for adults and $8 for children. Discounts are available for groups, senior citizens, students and local residents. For all reservations, call 1-800-746-9882.
THE UTAH MUSICAL THEATRE season in Ogden gets under way with "I Do! I Do!" in Weber State University's Browning Center, playing in repertory with "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Children of Eden," both of which will be playing within the next few weeks in the downtown Peery's Egyptian Theater.
"I Do! I Do!" is the musical version of Jan de Hartog's "The Fourposter." Written by Tom Jones (lyrics) and Harvey Schmidt (music), who also collaborated on "The Fantasticks"; it follows the up and downs of the 50-year marriage of Michael and Agnes.
Guest-directed by Linda Kerns, it features two professional actors — Dennis St. Pierre of Maine as Michael and Betts Malone Glaudini of Valley Village, Calif., as Agnes.
Performances will be 7:30 p.m. on June 14-15, 19 and 21-22. Then, following a short interruption for "Forum," it will return for nine more performances July 17-20 and 25-27, including Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. on July 20 and 27. Tickets are $22 for adults and $20 for students and senior citizens. Group rates, for 10 or more, are $16 each. For reservations, call the Dee Events Center box office at 626-8500 or 1-800-WSU-TIKS (978-8457).
E-mail: ivan@desnews.com