Hale Centre Theatre
.jpg) The Mountain America Performing Arts Centre, home of the Hale Centre Theatre in Sandy, Utah | |
 | |
| Location | 9900 South Monroe Street, Sandy UT 84070 |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40°34′18″N 111°54′02″W / 40.5717532°N 111.9004454°W |
| Capacity | 467 - Sorensen Legacy Jewel Box Stage 911 - Young Living Centre Stage |
| Website | |
| Hale Centre Theatre | |
 | This article contains promotional content. (July 2024) |
Hale Centre Theater is a theater company headquartered in Sandy, Utah. In 1985, Ruth and Nathan Hale partnered with their daughter, Sally Hale Rice, and their oldest grandson, Mark Dietlein, and his wife (also Sally) to start a theater in Utah. They converted an old lingerie factory in South Salt Lake to a theater-in-the-round with 220 seats. After a couple of expansions, they moved into a new facility in West Valley City in 1998. Based on the ticket sales of all 613 seats at Herman Hall, a new partnership was formed with Sandy City in 2017, where they opened the new home of Hale Centre Theatre at the Mountain America Performing Arts Center.
Hale Centre Theatre provides traditional play and musical theater productions on two stages under one roof in Sandy City. The smaller Soreness Legacy Jewel Box Stage seats 467 people; the larger Young Living Center Stage seats 911. The Theater has a total of 130,000 square feet and is the only professional theater venue between Salt Lake City, a half hour to the north, and St. George, four hours to the south.
Ruth and Nathan Hale
Ruth and Nathan Hale were drawn into the world of theater because they were asked to be drama leaders in their Mormon congregation in Granger, Utah. They decided to write their own plays because they did not have the money to pay for the royalties on existing ones. Their plays gained popularity and soon were performed in other Mormon congregations. Eventually, the Hales were invited to perform one of their plays at Brigham Young University. The evening of their first performance they received thirteen curtain calls.[1]
During World War II, the Hales decided to move to California to find better work opportunities. Nathan tried to find work at the Pasadena Playhouse, but the Playhouse only accepted actors and actresses from nearby studios and ones the company had worked with previously. The Hales went back to performing their plays for local Mormon congregations until Nathan was scouted by a talent agent.[2]
When Nathan’s opportunity fell through, the Hales decided to start their own theater in Glendale, California called the Glendale Center. It was a small theater seating 110 people; its popularity quickly grew. Eventually, the Hales decided to go back to Granger and build another theater by selling land left to Ruth by her father and with financial assistance from their daughter and son-in-law.[3]
Hale Centre Theatre work
The Hale Centre Theatre produces a mix of musical with traditional theater.[4] This has appealed to younger audiences and has continued a 200 year tradition of American musical theater as a mix of traditional drama and modern music.[5] Examples of these performances include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat (performed in 2017), The Scarlet Pimpernel Musical (2018) and The Heart of Robin Hood (2017). With increased performances accompanying greater demand, more expensive advertising methods have been used to maintain and grow the company's local presence.[6]
The legacy of the Hales is continued through the management of several other locations outside of Sandy, Utah, by their children and grandchildren. These theaters are independently owned.[7]
Awards and recognition
- Winner of Utah Best of State for "Theater Group/Director" 2005-2020[7]
References
- ^ Hale, Ruth. "A Candid Look at Herself." Interviewed by Women's History Archives Symposium at Brigham Young University. February 8, 1978. 6.
- ^ Hale, Ruth. "A Candid Look at Herself." 8.
- ^ Hale, Ruth. "A Candid Look at Herself." 10.
- ^ Bordman, Gerald (2011). American Musical Theatre: A Chronicle, ed. 4. Oxford University Press. p. 831.
- ^ Mates, Julian (1985). America's Musical Stage: Two Hundred Years of Musical Theatre. Greenwood Press. pp. 6–7.
- ^ Salzman, Eric; Desi, Thomas (2008). The Music Theatre. Oxford University Press. pp. 371.
- ^ a b "Hale Center Theatre at the Mountain America Performing Arts Center - Home".