Show v Interview 3 2 July Friday The 4 Page Something to aspire to An dud Ballam knocks on wood u lot Knocks on wood and pinches himself although it seems unnecessary In case you lie on another planet and didn't know this already the homegrown graduate of Sky View High School is an internationally-recognize- d opera star founder and director of Cache Valley's own Utah Festival Opera Company redeemer of the downtown Ellen Eccles Theatre and father to 1999's Miss Utah among other things Success hasn't just found Ballam it continually wrestles him to the ground kicking and screaming And still he knocks on wood? “I'm a little superstitious” he says wryly " wouldn't want to take anything for granted I’ve been blessed" he says looking skyward God takes center stage in the life of this graying angular aristocrat father of six His family is in the chorus hut God has (he starring role “I'm here doing what I'm doing for a reaI believe son passionately there's a spiritual part of what's happening here and I think it's about kids It's about giving children something to aspire to" Ballam says lie's referring to (he magic going on inside the historic pink Dansante building the other 323 days of the year when the Utah Festival Opera is no longer listening to applause and taking curtain calls Well that's not exactly true — in winter when 10 elementary classes wrote and performed their own operas with the help of Ballam and his crew there was plenty of applause and curtain calls Ballam didn't set out to play the role of curator of music appreciation to children of Cache Valley His destiny he thought was singing “My mother put me up on a table to sing for some of her friends and I've been up there since” After earning a degree in three years at Utah State University Ballam headed to Indiana University to earn degrees in vocal performance and operatic literature After that the ambitious tenor moved to New York City lived in a closet went on whirlwind tours singing the Met the White House Royal Mi 19 I 'm here doing what I'm doing for a reason I believe passionately there's a spiritual part of what's happening here and think I it's It's about kids about giving children something to aspire to" opera tenor talks about life in Logan Albert Hall — " every place it's legal to sing “ — his wife Laurie and a nruplc of kids in tow Then he got sick Really sick He was on his way to Caracas Venezuela when an infection found its way into his brain the same affliction tluil left a friend of his paralyzed Ballam came home to recover It was then he discovered ‘This wonderfully crazy man Gene Needham had purchased the Capitol Theater and really didn't know what to do with it" Ballam knew what to do with it He had performed in theaters around the world He knew this gem of a theater — built with love and pain and risk in the early 1900s by the Thatcher family — had been filled with greatness He hoped it would be again Later he would come to believe God made him sick enough to slow down long enough to see the possibilities in his own back yard Ballam helped convince of Logan Newel Dairies the preservation and restoration of the Capitol Theater would be in Logan's best interest Daines and the city of Logan Ballam funding from the Eccles family and a community spirit willing to get paint under its collective fingernails brought the decaying theater back to life And from that same energy the Utah Festival Opera was born "The only opera company in the nation to be born in and survive the ’90s” Ballam says proudly After that birth the Eccles received a sibling the Dansante building: A home for the UFOC and its many facets and an artistic Petri dish for the children of Cache Valley And even now with Ballam's uncanny — again he says it's about having God on your side — ability to convince people to open their checkbooks and take out their pens — the Dansante has its own capabilities (see this week's feature) But what's up with the pink building? "Pink is the ailor of heaven isn't it?" then-May- or Ballam jokes It is also the color of his vintage Thundeibird convertible with the license plate TENOR A gift from his wife As for the opera company it opened its seventh season this year with “The Tales of Hoffmann" "The Student Prince" and "Carousel" The proud father beams while talking about each show and its cast “Oh you've got to see 'Student Prince’ The lead male is amazing The day will come when people say ‘I heard Kevin Hill and you must see Hoffsing in Logan!' and the music of 'Carousel' mann to hear Nancy Shade sing ‘You'll Never Walk Alone!’ “Sometimes when I'm surrounded by many of my favorite people in the world tears" he says doing the things I love most coming close to the same While opera at the Eccles is playing to (urge crowds from around the country Ballam is perplexed by the lack of local interest At least 80 percent of the audience is from outside the valley “You can see one of our operas for $525 multimedia dancing singing orchestra aislumes sets and voices Excellence! " It’s a bargain at any price I don't understand why local people aren't coming through the door hearing these voices” How about hearing Ballam's voice? He’s playing the lead Billy Bigelow the same lead he played in Sky View’s 1968 production of “Carousel" “Guess I've come full circle” But will he stay? "Of course I’ll stay" Ballam psshaws “For one thing I could never sell my house It was built around pianos” Ballam also enjoys his role as a music professor at Utah State University Most of all though Ballam says he's grateful for the opportunity to do the things he loves in the place he'H always call home — by Nancy Bodily Cache Magazine |