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Show A&EDiversions Page 6 Friday, Nov. 12, 2010 Lyric Theatre has long story to tell Call helped establish an endowment fund for the company and began to engage the first staff writer professional equity actors to work with young students. The streets of Logan are a fascinating view. Since Call's renovation of the Lyric in 1961, Each building has a story, a transitive narrait has come under the control of the universitive of what they were, are and will be. One ty and has many close ties to the arts departsuch building, located on Center Street just ments here on campus. west of Main, has had a recent mishap in its Jarrod Larsen, director of Production colorful history. Services for the Caine College of the Arts said According to Dennis Hassan, the current with all of the different transformations the artistic director of the Old Lyric Repertory building has undergone, it's hard to know Theatre, The Caine Lyric Theatre was estabhow old certain elements of the construction lished in 1913. The building was built in are. This is where certain difficulties have the 1880s but had served as banking offices recently come into play. As of August 2010, and a publishing house of the Utah Herald. Larsen said the Caine Lyric Theatre's rigging It was transformed into a system was condemned by theatre because of the needs safety inspectors; the stressed "It's one of the of the Thatcher Opera cornstate of the rigging components oldest buildings pany when their theatre, the and the outdated system itself Thatcher Opera house, had were deemed too dangerous to in town and the burned down the previous year facade of it has remain installed. and they saw the building as a "As the engineer was discusschanged several temporary performance space ing the shape of the space to times over the while the new stage, the Ellen us he explained that he felt Eccles Theatre, was being built. years to suit its the environmental load, or the Hassan said over the course purpose." load the building takes just as of 10 years, the Thatcher existing as a building, was fine, Dennis Hassan, Company performed in the the building would be able to artistic director of the support itself safely without Lyric until the Eccles' construction was complete. During that Old Lyric Repertory a problem," said Larsen. "The time, the Lyric became the Theatre rigging load was considered most reputable theatre ticket in an immediate threat to life; the region. so much so that he moved the "It really became the place that took care meeting off the stage so we could all be safe." of the theatre community in Logan," Hassan Hassan said the inspector was up in the said. "It's one of the oldest buildings in town rafters over the stage taking pictures of when and the facade of it has changed several times he got to the beams of the fly system, saw over the years to suit its purpose." how bad the situation was and how twisted Hassan said after the Eccles Theatre was and warped they were, and took pictures and finished, the focus shifted away from the ran off of the stage, they were so comproLyric and it was eventually transformed by mised. other businesses. It became a movie theatre "The next day we ripped out all of the and had a large movie marquee attached lighting instruments, the ropes, beams and to the front of it by the 1960s, when busipulleys and essentially gutted the whole ness took a turn for the worse and the space system in a couple of days, leaving an empty was scheduled to become bowling alley. shell over the stage itself," Hassan said. At that time, W. Vosco Call purchased the Hassan said this particular removal and building and adapted it once more to a replacement of the system is not going to hinspace for staged theatre. Hassan said Call der the quality of the Lyric's productions, in recently received an award from the Old Lyric the short term. It may get in the way of design Repertory Company for his lifetime contribu- and logistics within any one production, but tions to the establishment. the audience will probably have a hard time According to the Caine College of the Arts noticing if the designers do their job well. website, Call opened the theatre in 1961 with The concern for the replacement is in the pera production of "Hamlet" in which he played spective of the long term needs of the Lyric. the title role. A few years later, he began the They can make do for a while without the summer repertory theatre, now known as the proper system in place, but not long. Old Lyric Repertory Company. In addition, "Survival of the lyric is going to depend on By JESS WALLACE Candy: Offering customers a variety I continued from page 3 give the candy a buttery aftertaste. "The flavor is all the taste," Shelton said. In addition to homemade candies, Pee Wee's Sweets also sells ice cream and nostalgic sodas, including a root beer float made from Triple XXX root beer, the oldest familyowned brand of root beer. "People say it is the best root beer float they have ever tasted," Shelton said, explaining the root beer has a smooth texture and a caramel flavor. "I get it directly from the family," Shelton said. The hard-scooped ice cream served in Pee Wee's Sweets also comes from a unique source: Aggie Ice Cream. "We're proud of that," Shelton said. "It's part of this community, this culture. Why not sell it?" Aggie fans can also buy chocolate-covered sunflower seeds in Aggie blue and white. "We have a lot of candies you just don't find anywhere else," Shelton said. Shelton, who graduated from Utah State University in 1997 with a degree in marketing, was raised in Logan and is excited to now own both a toy store and a candy store in the area. He remembers getting his haircut in a barbershop located below where his candy shop is located "It's kind of fun to see it come full circle," Shelton said. Logan High School student April Allen, who has worked at Pee Wee's Sweets since it opened this summer, said, "There's so much stuff that you can't really have a favorite overall." This "stuff" includes: homemade chocolates, gourmet popcorns, bulk candy, taffy, brittles, caramel, fudge, cotton THE CAINE LYRIC THEATRE, located on Center street, was established in 19 I3.The building was built in the 1880s and has served as banking offices and a publishing house of the Utah Herald. MAKAELA HERRAN photo a lot of sponsorship from the government, community, university ... ." Hassan said. "Everyone putting in a little is what is going to make it survive. With the economic downturn we took a great loss, like many others, and with the proper support we should be able to recover." Larsen said they will accept anything they can. staff writer candy, glazed nuts, hard tack candies, nostalgic sodas and chocolate covered orange and raspberry candy sticks. "They were a tasty, delicious snack," said Annie Smith, a freshman at USU, of the candy sticks. "It was a perfect mix with a crunchy chocolate and a yummy jelly inside." "We use a really, really good chocolate," Shelton said. He said the chocolate can be bought and used in fondues or as a dipping chocolate for everything from pretzels to strawberries. "We're adding more stuff all the time," Shelton said, mentioning their plans for having a hot chocolate machine. And with the upcoming holidays, there will be even more candy options, especially ones including peppermint and pumpkin flavors. Right now Pee Wee's Sweets sells a limited-time pumpkin fudge. "It's like a pumpkin pie but without the crust," Shelton said. Pee Wee's Sweets is located on the northwest corner of Center Street and Main Street. Store hours are Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. — marleahjacobson@aggiemad. usu.edu — jess.wallace@aggiemail.usu.edu Students encouraged to Tip-Toe into Asia By CHELSEE NIEBERGALL PEE WEE SWEETS is located on the northwest corner of Center and Main. The shop opened this summer. JOSHUA BUTTS photo "It works really well for what we need; intimate performances of good theatre. There are 380 seats, all of which are close to the stage so that the audience is right up there with the actors or singers. It really is something quite important for us to fix and we'll be doing all we can to make that happen," Larsen said. The Asian American Student Council (AASC) will host their annual "Tip-Toe into Asia" event Friday to teach students and the community about their culture. "A lot of students are Americanized and they want to share the culture they have grown up with," said Jael Thompson, multi-cultural program coordinator. Thompson said Tip-Toe into Asia has been going on for nine years and was started by students. The event, planned by AASC members, will include dinner, several performances and a fashion show. For the performances, James Akagi, AASC's activities and recruitment officer, said he really wanted to "spice things up" so he has been working extra hard to get strong performances for this year's show. They will have Taiko drummers, a Taekwondo performance, a dance number from India and the annual fashion show. "I've worked with many amazing and generous people who have helped out a lot. The credit isn't mine, it belongs to all of those who have volunteered their time and talents to make this year's show simply spectacular," Akagi said. Akagi said he got involved with AASC and Tip-Toe into Asia because he is proud of his culture and wanted to learn about other cultures as well. Akagi said the theme for the fashion show is "Then and Now" and will feature clothing from a variety of Asian cultures with traditional dress and modern clothing. Kuen Lin Liou, who handles public relations for AASC, said the event is a representation of the Asian communities in Utah and its culture. Liou said he is grateful he is a part of AASC because it has taught him how to be responsible and he said it is a good way to learn about the Asian culture. "I think it's great because with the performances it allows us to show some Asian talents that we never would have known about," said Alyson Oka, AASC president. Oka joined AASC last year to do service hours for a scholarship she received. She said she enjoyed learning about other students' cultures and learning about the different countries in Asia she didn't know about. Oka said she has been involved with the event ever since. Amy Chanthalyxay, AASC treasurer said, "One year at Tip-Toe I found out that there is this one family who comes every year and brings their two daughters who are from China and Korea. I admire them for trying to teach their daughters about their culture and that this is a part of them." Chanthalyxay said though the girls are young and may not understand what is going on, she appreciates what their parents are trying to do for them. Chanthalyxay also said Tip-Toe gives Asian students a chance to re-connect with their culture. "We make it a low-cost event because we want as many students and community members as we can to come to the event," Thompson said. Most of the money that will be generated from the event will go toward the cost of the activity. However, most of those helping to organize the event are volunteers, so some profit will be made, Thompson said. "Our ultimate goal is we want a quality event for the students to enjoy," Thompson said. Tip-Toe into Asia will be Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the TSC Ballroom. Tickets are $10 for dinner and the show and $5 for only the show. Contact Jael Thompson, 435-7972326, for more information. — chelsee.niebergall@aggiemail.usu.edu |