| Show The Salt Lake Tribune THE ARTS ElO Sundance shows off its new outdoor theater 1 C Continued from - i f 4 f I 7 4 - te- le l‘ 110 i ‘t 't I 2 i 1 i 1 'IIr - I ! i e t !k f 0 i' -- f i 1 I T' Musicals- have Ogden theater - humming happy tune: Sellout year's season only 10 are affiliated with Weber State Everyone else is hired independently The theater relies on ticket sales advertising and private and corporate donors for its stability "We are pretty close to operating in the black" Mr Christian said Ile compared UNIT's situation to those experienced in the early years by Pioneer Theatre Company on the campus of the University of Utah and the Utah Shakespearean Festival at Southern Utah University "Both of those theaters now have separate identities from their universities" The congenial director would also like to announce that the state of Utah continues past Davis County "I feel comfortable saying that because I grew up in Murray" he said with a laugh "For a long time I thought nothing happened beyond Bountiful but I'm going on record now as saying Utah Musical Theatre is not somewhere in Canada "The funny thing is we have a stronger reputation outside of the state than inside I've seen over 1100 people for the acting company alone and many of them have told me UMT is a hot ticket" He credits much of the success to UMT's advisory board which includes 30 members from the Ogden community "We have a good work ethic here and it is a nice place to be We try to select a season that will Melich By Nancy TI1E SALT LAKE TRIBUNE Every company should have such problems Utah Musical Theatre is growing so fast artisticmanaging director Jim Christian is running out of seats The fourth summer U MT sea- son opens Thursday in Ogden with 75 percent of the tickets al- ready sold Productions offered this year in order of appearance: "My Fair Lady" starring Robert Peterson (June 4) "The "CabaFantasticks" (July 1) "Seven ret" (July Brides for Seven Brothers" (Aug 25-Jul- 23-Au- "I stand in the middle of this huge facility and I watch the wonderful combination of people with varied skills — the bulldozer operators the actors — working alongside one another to make this happen" — Jayne Luke artistic director Sundance summer Theatre shows and two Broadway musicals will share the Sundance spotlight "The Adventures of Por Quin ly" developed by the SCT and "The Right Self" will be on the smaller Alexandra Monroe King stage during the day "Carousel" and "Li'l Abner" alternate evenings on the larger Eccles stage The arrival of a new theater during recessionary times is no small accomplishment It is even more extraordinary that the outdoor theater is the fourth performing-artfacility to be built in as many years in a state with fewer than 2 million people Most of the funding has come from Utah's philanthropic families In 1989 the $54 million Alice Sheets Marriott Center for Dance opened at the University of Utah funded by $304 million appropriated by the Utah Legislature The balance came from the J Willard Marriott family That same summer the $55 million Randall L Jones Theatre opened at the Utah Shakespearean Festival in Cedar City Major donors were descendants of Mr Jones a Cedar City native In 1991 the $25 million Jewett Center for the Performing Arts opened at Westminster College financed by Salt Lake City arts patron Berenice Bradshaw The George S and Dolores Dore Eccles e Foundation is the principal donor for the Eccles Theatre t main stage the with its control booth concession building restrooms rehearsal space and dressing rooms The foundation also provided a program grant to underwrite the component and productions for y g When Mr Christian became director of the program in 1989 season-ticke- t sales were at 300 His first year they increased to 500 then 700 last year they reached 1100 Now the number is about to pass 2000 There are 3200 seats available during a season Monday-nigh- t performances have been added but Mr Christian said many nights are already sold out What is the secret to his success? Programming Audiences want to see musical theater Mr Christian concedes he wouldn't be doing as well were he offering four plays by Tennessee Williams The other ingredient: quality "I audition nationally" Mr Christian said "and in my travels around the country I've found that our work is on a par with any other summer stock and that actors want to work here" sustain an acting company throughout the summer" As for the future Mr Christian said his company has been invited to be the anchor performing group for Ogden's Egyptian Theatre Plans are under way to restore the Egyptian built in 1924 and include it as part of the proposed ConferencePerforming Arts complex in downtown Ogden The Peery Egyptian as it was known was part of a chain of Egyptians throughout the country All but two — with the unique environmental ceiling design — have been razed Mr Christian said the target date for UMT to make the big move is 1994 Tickets for the 1992 season are $8 and $10 per show and available weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm at the Dee Events Center ticket office on campus This year's company of 80 which includes actors technicians and designers comes from 13 states and Canada The pay scale is flexible depending on the position Housing is provided and some travel expenses Operating budget for the '92 season is $250000 The program began in the '70s as the Golden Spike Repertory Theatre presented under the auspices of Weber State University The name was changed in the mid'80s Shows are presented in the Allred Theatre of the Browning Center on the Weber State campus Mr Christian said the association with the university is a mixed blessing Weber State is only one of the funding sources for UMT but that fact is often misunderstood when it comes time to raise money Donors erroneously believe that Weber State pays for everything Mr Christian said of the 80 people involved with this so" The Eccles foundation has given financial support to the Sundance Institute for several years Sizable donations have aided the construction of the Rehearsal Hall and the Screening Room In 1988 the foundation assisted the institute with a $250000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Arts which the institute matched Alonzo Watson Jr director and secretary of the Salt foundation said the organization continues to support Sundance because "it is our basic belief that Robert Redford and his group down there are contributing a great deal to the community Redford has assembled a quality staff over the years and his film lab is promoting an important part of the industry" Regarding the children's project Mr Watson said "In order for the institute to put on a first-ratprogram that would achieve national significance we thought it needed to have a new theater to do the job properly" Michael and Barbara King provided fundsecond stage where the ing for the children's productions will be presented this year The Alexandra Monroe King Children's Utah-base- d Lake-base- d Sun-danc- 780-sea- children's-playdevelopme- n ing alongside one another to make this happen Then I think of the money that is being spent and well I never thought I would live long enough to see this The Eccles family should feel so honored that they are still giving money to the arts when it is no longer fashionable and certainly not profitable to do s Connie Dykstra Robert Peterson star in UMT's "My Fair Lady" Theatre is named for the Kings' daughter Mr and Mrs King have been supporters of the film institute for several years Gary Beer president of the Sundance Group said the Kings liked the concept of the children's theater and wanted to make an extra contribution The Kings residents of California are the founders of Kingworld a leading distributor of first-rusyndicated television programming including "Wheel of Fortune" "Jeopardy!" and "Oprah Winfrey" The theater was designed by Salt Lake architect John C Shirley along with theater consultant Jack Bogan from the Los Angeles firm of Landry and Bogan Also assisting was the Park City firm of Plunkett and Kuhr sign designers Hoyt Cousins an architect who moved West last fall from Boston to become general manager of Sundance Properties said every effort has been made to have the theater blend into the environment The mountain remains the dominant attraction on the walk uphill to the theater the only visible signs of a structure are the log columns for the lighting catwalks The control booth and concession buildings are settled into the earth surrounded by stone walls The roofs will be covered with sod and eventually wildflowers A path through the woods leads audiences to the children's theater and its E1 11Emnoim 1 t June 21 1992 Sunday nt grass-terrace- $800000 "I stand in the middle of this huge facility" Ms Luke said "and I watch the wonderful combination of people with their varied skills — the bulldozer operators the actors — work d seats Dedication of the theater will be Saturday beginning at 4:30 pm with a performance of "The Adventures of Por Quin ly" written by Long with music Quincy by Michael Sil- versher A reception and barbecue will follow The Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "Carousel" will bow on the Eccles stage at 8:30 e three years Total gift: approximately I pm Tickets for this fund-raisin- g event are $25 with corporate and family packages available 250-se- For further information Resort contact the Sun-danc- e Lab cultivates works for children Children and art In Robert Redford's mind the two are synonymous The founder of the Institute has long believed that in the area of new plays and films for young people the cupboard is bare He hopes with the emergence of the Sundance Children's Theatre and Lab the dire situation will improve seven AmeriFrom July can playwrights will be at the resort working toward the goal of creating new children's literature for the stage and screen "The Adventures of Por Quinly" premiering Saturday at the new Sundance theater is the prototype for the program The play began as an idea at last's year lab and will receive full production this summer The story tells of a little boy who hates his birthday and decides to run for president "because presidents get what they want" He goes off on a wild adventure and returns confident and empowered Playwrights and their projects at the 1992 lab: Paul Allman — "Otis Furioso": The story of a young fool who falls in love with a young woman A witch casts a spell on Otis making him fall in love with a cloud Thomas Babe — "Scared Silly": The play concerns a child who refuses to be scared Alexander Buravsky and Howard Korder — "King of Li Sun-danc- 2 e ars" Mr Buravsky a Russian Jew was a playwright in the Soviet Union whose works did not get published until Gorbachev came to power He and his actress wife immigrated to California His "Search and Destroy" was presented at South Coast Rep with Mr Korder Russell Davis — "The Traveling Jekyll and Hyde Show" Jim Leonard Jr — "Crow and Weasel" This is a cross-ove- r project from the film lab At last summer's lab Mr Leonard and Barry Lopez began the project of adapting the story from Mr Lopez's Wien was the last time you were paid to take the bus? 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