For Utah Shakespeare Festival founders Fred and Barbara Adams, the new Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts represents the fulfilment of a dream born more than five decades ago.
In the playbill for the festival’s inaugural season in 1962, the couple described their hope for the festival to grow to the point that one day Cedar City would have an all-encompassing theater complex.
“This is our dream,” the message in the playbill states. “We realize it will take years to accomplish, but we are not in a hurry. The popularity of William Shakespeare’s art has lasted for centuries. We are sure it will continue to last until our dream reaches its fulfillment.”
Fred Adams said his wife, who passed away in 2008, had a “clearer vision” of how much work it would take to make their dream a reality.
“She often said, ‘Be careful what you wish for, Fred. You may get it.’ And we got it,” Adams said. “We had dreamed the idea, but when it turns into concrete and steel and granite, it surpasses what we were dreaming.”
According to SUU’s website, the center, referred to by many as “The Beverley,” incorporates “visual arts, live theater, and dynamic arts education on the Southern Utah University campus in Cedar City” by providing a new home to the Utah Shakespeare Festival as well as the Southern Utah Museum of Art.
Check out this list of what to expect from the Utah Shakespeare Festival this year.