The Amazing Story of an Amazing Dreamcoat

Joseph Heninger-Potter (left) as Joseph, René Thornton Jr. as Reuben, and Matt Bomer as Isaacher in the Festival’s 1998 production.

By Kathryn Neves

In the decades since it was written, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat has quickly become a classic. Kids everywhere sing along to “Any Dream Will Do” while their parents rock out to the classic Elvis sound of “Song of the King.” There are filmed versions, community theatre productions, high school showcases, and numerous professional productions of the musical Bible story. You’d be hard-pressed to find someone—especially in Utah and Nevada—who hasn’t seen the show, or at least come in contact with it in some way. But even with all this mania over the musical, most people don’t know the fascinating story of how it came to be.

This show was written, as many shows are, by a musical duo: Andrew Lloyd Webber, who wrote the music, and Tim Rice, who wrote the music. Their partnership was eventually very successful, landing them in the ranks of such teams as Gilbert and Sullivan and Rodgers and Hammerstein. They first began working together, even before Joseph, at a very young age; Webber was seventeen, and Rice was twenty when they wrote their first musical together. Only a few short years later, in 1968, they were asked to write a Biblical “pop cantata” for the choir at a local school, the Colet Court School in London choir.

The goal was to write something poppy and fun; something short that would easily captivate children and teach them the Bible story of Joseph in Egypt. So, the duo got together and wrote a fifteen-minute show. It was filled with zany characters and lots of fun musical styles— pop, rock, country, calypso, you name it.

But Rice and Webber didn’t just stop there. They kept working at it, adding bits and pieces here and there, until it was around twenty minutes long. At this point, the project started getting attention. Positive feedback and review led to more expansion, until the show was thirty-five minutes long. It was at this point that the show was first published in 1969. The company Novello picked it up and ran it alongside other Biblical pieces in their catalogue. Decca Records recorded the production with Tim Rice himself as Pharaoh!

And for a while, Joseph stayed as it was. Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber went on to write yet another Biblical musical: Jesus Christ Superstar. This show was immensely popular, and Rice and Webber realized that there was still quite a market for this sort of thing. So they went back to Joseph, promoting it and revising it, adding more and more. Theatre companies began to pick it up, putting on performances that continued to evolve the piece. Then, in 1973, the show had its first West End run.

This Joseph was a little different than the one we know and love today. Today’s Joseph has practically no dialogue; instead, the show features a “sung-through” score in between the big musical numbers. But in the 1973 production, all of that was actually part of a separate piece that ran before the show, known as Jacob’s Journey. People loved it. They got hooked by the varied music and the universal story of families. So, Webber and Rice kept working. They combined Jacob’s Journey with Joseph, and finally—after almost a decade of work—the first performance of the what we know today as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was born.

Even though the musical has been around for about half a century, its popularity hasn’t faded. Schools, theatre companies, and communities around the world have embraced the story of Joseph, his flawed-but-funny brothers, and of course that beautiful coat. What’s not to love? After all, this is the Festival’s second time putting it on! (The Festival’s first production was in 1998, with the now-famous Matt Bomer playing Isaacher.)

So whether you’ve seen Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat one time or one hundred, be sure to make your way to Cedar City this summer to enjoy one of the most fun pieces of theatre you’ll ever see. With the brilliant Brad Carroll at its helm and the awesome talent of Utah Shakespeare Festival actors and technicians, it’s sure to be a performance you won’t forget.” Close your eyes, [we’ll] pull back the curtain,” and you’ll see for certain just how great this show really is.

Something Terrific Happened at the Gala

J. Stuart Adams (left), speaker of the House of Representatives, and Spencer J. Cox, lieutenant governor, perform.

“Something terrific’s happened!” gushed Hildy, “Wait till I tell you!”

Hildy is the heroine of the hilarious play, The Front Page, presented at the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s recent Make a Scene Gala, a gala with a twist. A newspaper reporter, Hildy was excited about a big story she was working on; but she could just as easily have been talking about the Festival’s new and exciting event which took place on February 8 at Harman Hall Theatre in West Valley City.

The Make a Scene event to raise funds for the Festival education programs was not just another gala and dinner. It was a fun night of theatre starring some of Utah’s most notable luminaries: Lieutenant Governor Spencer J. Cox in the role of The Mayor; his wife Abby as Mrs. Schlosser; President of the Utah State Senate J. Stuart Adams as Pincus; Utah State Representative Patrice M. Arent as Earl Williams; radio host Doug Fabrizio as McCue #1; Salt Lake Tribune columnist Ann Cannon as McCue #2; KTVX news anchor Don Hudson as Bruce Grant #2; Deseret News Head Digital Officer Burke Olsen as Kruger #1; business leaders Craig C. Wagstaff (Bruce Grant #1) and Jeffery R. Nelson (Kruger #2); as well as many more. It was directed by Festival Founder Fred C. Adams and popular actor Quinn Mattfeld.

“This is the first of its kind for a Festival fundraiser, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the results,” said Donn Jersey, director of development. “It was an evening filled with good spirit, entertaining improvisation, and tremendous laughs.”  

This madcap comedy by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur is set in a 1920s Chicago newsroom and definitely tickled everyone’s funny bones. The play was preceded by recognition of the evening’s honorees, former President of the Utah State Senate Wayne L. Niederhauser and Dominion Energy, and was followed by a party with gourmet food stations and socializing. 

“We’re very excited and pleased with the results,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “I want to thank all of our sponsors, West Valley City and its staff, the staff of the Festival, and everyone who performed and attended. Together they helped us make a fun and memorable event that will be a great financial benefit to the Festival’s education programs.”

The generous sponsors of the Make a Scene Gala were Zions Bank, the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, the George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation, Embassy Suites, Big-D Construction, Dominion Energy, Rocky Mountain Power, the Larry H. & Gail Miller Family Foundation, and West Valley City.

As the Mayor said near the end of the play: “I personally am tickled to death!”

Announcing Four New Staff Members

Four new year-round employees have recently been hired at the Utah Shakespeare Festival and are already in their offices, or soon will be, working toward the 2019 season and beyond. The four are Brandon Burk, development associate; Emily Duncan, development associate; Gabrielle Piazza, company manager; and Danielle Davis, assistant electrics director.

 “The Utah Shakespeare Festival is fortunate to have identified four terrific professionals to fill key roles on the staff,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “All four were hired after national searches, and it’s always rewarding to see high quality theatre professionals eager to work here.”

Brandon Burk

 Brandon Burk is well known to Festival audiences as an actor, but is now working year-round at the Festival as a development associate, helping to bolster the Festival fundraising efforts. He has played various roles the past four years, including Cliton in The Liar and Roderigo in Othello in 2018. He holds an MFA from the University of Nevada–Las Vegas’s Professional Actor Training Program and a B.A. in theatre from Indiana University Pennsylvania. He has worked as an instructor and coach of acting, dialects/speech, and stage combat and as a guest artist and adjunct faculty member at High Point University and UNLV. He is also the former artistic director of The Onyx Theatre and Off Strip Productions in Las Vegas.

 “From the moment I arrived in Cedar City for the first time as a patron in 2005, I’ve been in love with the Festival and southern Utah,” he said as he started work on February 4. “My hope is to connect even more with this community in the coming years and inspire others to fall in love as much as I did. I want to spread my passion for the Festival to everyone I meet and help my new Festival family push this amazing company even further.”

Emily Duncan

 Emily Duncan will be joining Burk on March 4 as another development associate. She comes to the Festival from Jacksonville, Alabama, and said she gets very invested and involved in the community. “I look forward to collaborating with everyone to advance the vision and mission of the Festival,” she said. “Furthermore, I’m an avid outdoor enthusiast, so from mountain biking and hiking to theatre and the arts, I am excited about the opportunities and adventures in store. I look forward to meeting everyone and working in an environment where there is such a treasured legacy for the arts.”

 Most recently, Duncan has worked as the public relations coordinator and tourism and marketing director at the Calhoun County Area Chamber and Visitors Center in Anniston, Alabama. She caught the theatre bug in high school and has worked in various positions in the field. Most notably she served on the Community Actors’ Studio Theatre board of directors in Anniston and, alongside Southern Utah University alum Carrie Colton, co-founded the Shakespeare Project which provides free professional productions of Shakespeare’s works to schools and the community.

 “Brandon and Emily both have a love and passion for the Festival that our patrons and donors will truly appreciate. We look forward to seeing the impact they will have in the development department where we are coming off one of our best years in the Festival’s history,” said Development Director Donn Jersey. “Their contributions will certainly take us to new heights in the contributed revenue arena, and the future looks very bright with these new significant additions to the team.”

Gabrielle Piazza

 Gabrielle Piazza joined the Festival February 1 as company manager. “The Festival has restored the key position of company manager which had been eliminated several years ago, and we are excited to welcome Gabrielle to this critical role,” said Executive Producer Frank Mack. “With approximately 300 seasonal staff to care for, this year-round position is essential, and we are fortunate to have Gabrielle join us.”

 Piazza is completing her MFA degree in arts leadership this spring at Virginia Tech. She also received a BA in mathematics and musical theatre, with a minor in Spanish studies, from Adrian College and studied with the Young Americans College of the Performing Arts. She has worked at various theatres, including as company manager for the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, as patron services team member at Interlochen Center for the Arts, and as company manager, resident assistant, and tour cast member for the Young Americans.

 “As the Festival’s company manager, I hope to encourage a culture of support and welcome for the individuals that call the Utah Shakespeare Festival their home for any length of time,” she said. “As an artist, I have relied on the hospitality of others and understand the importance of sincerity and empathy in creating space, and I aim to replicate that in this role.”

Danielle Davis

 Danielle Davis worked for the Festival the last three seasons as a master electrician, assistant master electrician, and programmer, but joined the Festival as part of the year-round staff on February 5 as assistant electrics director.

 Since graduating from Millikin University with a BFA in theatrical production and design, Davis has been splitting her time between various summer stock theatres and freelancing as a lighting and video technician in and around Chicago. Most recently, she has been working as a fabricator and lead technician for RGB Lights, Inc., creating custom LED arrays and video panels for architectural installs, festivals, and street art pieces. When not at RGB, she worked with the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts as a master electrician coordinating lighting and video needs for tours, concerts, and various theatre performances.

“I hope to help the electrics department continue to grow and better cater to the needs of our wonderful designers,” she said. “This will be an exciting opportunity to be a part of a community that is committed to creating high caliber art. I am excited to get back into an environment that allows me to be a mentor to others while continuing to grow my own knowledge.”

 “We are thrilled to welcome Danielle as assistant electrics director,” concluded Mack. “She has worked several years at the Festival and brings a wealth of technical and artistic skill to our electrics and sound department.”

 The 2019 lineup of plays includes four by Shakespeare: Macbeth, Hamlet, Twelfth Night, and the Festival’s four and one-half hour finale of the King Henry VI plays dubbed The Conclusion of Henry VI: Parts Two and Three. In addition, the season will include The Book of Will by Lauren Gunderson, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Price by Arthur Miller, and Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan MacMillan with Jonny Donahoe.

 Tickets for the season are now on sale: visit the Festival website at bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office at the Beverley Center for the Arts.

Community Leaders to Star at "Make a Scene"

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is inviting everyone to Make a Scene and join them in their annual fundraising event in Salt Lake City February 8, 2019 at 7 p.m. in Harman Hall Theatre—with a twist that is sure to make this the best time you’ve ever had at a fundraising event.

The evening will feature a staged reading of the hilarious play The Front Page, with several local and state politicians, business leaders, and media personalities starring in various roles. A reception with gourmet food stations will follow the performance. Harman Hall Theatre is located at 3333 Decker Lake Drive in West Valley City.

This madcap comedy by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur is set in a 1920s Chicago newsroom and will definitely tickle your funny bone—especially when such local celebrities as Lieutenant Governor Spencer J. Cox, media personalities Don Hudson and Doug Fabrizio, and various senators, representatives, and business leaders take the stage. The show will be directed by Festival Founder Fred. C. Adams and popular Festival actor Quinn Mattfeld. 

“This event will be unlike anything the Utah Shakespeare Festival has ever done in its 57-year history,” said Adams. “You will have the time of your life as you laugh along with many cultural and political leaders and celebrities throughout Utah. Please, come laugh with us and support the many important education programs at the Utah Shakespeare Festival.”

The ticket price is $275 and is all inclusive; no additional fundraising will be part of the event. Honorees for the evening will be former President of the Utah Senate Wayne L. Niederhauser and Dominion Energy.

For information, the latest casting, and to order tickets, visit bard.org/make-a-scene, call Director of Development Donn Jersey at 435-586-7880, or email info@bard.org.

Education Tour Hits the Road

Stefanie Resnick (left) as Lady Macbeth and Jennifer Vosters as Malcolm in the Festival’s 2019 Shakespeare-in-the-Schools production of Macbeth

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is once again hitting the road with its Shakespeare-in-the-Schools touring production—this year performing one of the world’s first psychological thrillers, William Shakespeare’s Macbeth.

The tour will be performing nearly 60 shows for over 120 schools and 25,000 students across the states of Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. The cast and crew will be on the road for thirteen weeks from January through April to bring this classic tragedy to schools, community centers, and correctional facilities. Students will have the chance to watch the show and then participate in a post-show discussion and workshops in Stage Combat, Performing Shakespeare’s Text, Technical Theatre and Developing Character through Improvisation.                                             

Macbeth will premiere in Cedar City with school performances on January 22 at Foothill High School Youth Detention Facility and on January 22 and 23 at the Southern Utah University Auditorium Theatre. The first public performance will be on January 23 at 7:30 p.m., also in the Auditorium Theatre. General admission tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Festival ticket office at 800-PLAYTIX (800-752-9849) or online at www.bard.org/tour. Tickets purchased ahead of time will be available at will call in the Auditorium Theatre. On the night of the performance, only cash and checks will be accepted at the Auditorium Theatre door, whereas credit and debit cards will be accepted at the Festival’s main ticket office next to the Anes Theatre. Admission is free for SUU students.                                                     

Michael Bahr, the Festival’s education director for twenty years is directing this year’s touring production. Previously he taught high school in California and northern Utah. He has created numerous outreach programs that serve over 30,000 students annually. He has a bachelor’s degree in theatre and a masters degree in education from Southern Utah University. 

“For many of our audiences this will be the first time they have seen a professional Shakespeare production,” said Bahr. “This program seeks to entertain, enrich, and educate with innovative  and accessible performances to rural and urban schools and communities, many of which would not have this opportunity otherwise.”  

Actors in the touring company include a number who have worked at the Festival, as well as professionally across the country. They are:

Cordell Cole (Witch, Macduff) received his BFA in acting from Brenau University (Gainesville Theatre Alliance). He is new at the Festival, but some favorite credits include American Shakespeare Center Alliance Theatre, American Players Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare, Essential Theatre Festival.

Abby Nakken (Witch, Duncan) is a recent graduate of Southern Utah University and a Cedar City native. She has appeared at the Festival in Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in Love, Fiddler on the Roof, and The Greenshow. Other credits include work at Second Studio Theater Company and the Neil Simon Festival.

Stefanie Resnick (Witch, Lady Macbeth) previously toured with the Festival’s The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Originally from New York, she received her BA in journalism from UW-Madison and her MFA in performance from UNLV. She has performed in all but five U.S. states.

Tim Sailer (Macbeth) is new to the Festival. He received an MFA from the University of Houston and spent five years at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia. Other theatres include Texas Shakespeare Festival, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, and Commonweal Theatre Company.

Karen Thorla (Banquo, Lady Macduff) is a New York based actor and writer with a BFA from Savannah College of Art and Design. She has worked with the Utah Shakespeare Festival (Julius Caesar, educational tour of A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Great Lakes Theater, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, and others.

Jennifer Vosters (Malcolm, Fleance, Musician) is an actor, director, and musician from Wisconsin. She performed at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in 2017 and has also worked at Lyric Repertory Company, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival, and several Milwaukee theatres. 

In addition, the tour company includes two technical and administrative artists:

Austin Andrews (Company/Tour Manager) is returning to the Festival for his fifth season. He is recent graduate of Southern Utah University’s BFA technical theatre and design program and has worked on productions such as the Festival’s 2016 Henry V and Much Ado about Nothing.

Casey Duke (Technical Director) comes from Mississippi, where she earned her BA in theatre in 2014. New to the Festival, her previous credits include multiple seasons at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, designing lights in the Tallahassee circuit and in regional summer stock companies, and mounting the then-Broadway-bound Holiday Inn at Goodspeed Musicals.

In addition to support from the Shakespeare for a New Generation program which is sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, this tour’s school performance partners are the Utah State Office of Education: Professional Outreach Programs in the Schools, Wells Fargo; Mountain West Small Business Finance, Ally Bank, and Southern Utah University.                                                                                                                     

For more information, visit www.bard.org/tour

Announcing Auditions for Playmakers Youth Program

CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced auditions for its Playmakers production Newsies. Youth ages six to seventeen are invited to audition.

The program provides young actors a chance to rehearse, learn, and then perform this fun and popular musical. An audition workshop is scheduled for January 9 from 4 to 6 p.m. in the Randall L. Jones Theatre. This will give a chance for those interested to prepare for auditions the next day, January 10. Audition music is now available on the Festival’s website at bard.org/playmakers, and a signup form to schedule audition times will be available after the first of the year.

Once auditions are completed and participants are announced, rehearsals will begin on January 14 and extend through the opening performance on March 13. School performances of Newsies will be from March 14 to 18, with special public performances on March 15 and 18 at 7:30 p.m. and March 16 at 2 p.m.

The program trains youth in theatre fundamentals, including how to sing and dance with a live piano, rehearsal and performance etiquette, and how to work, share, give, and play with others.

Britannia Howe is directing and teaching this program. She created a similar program for young performers in Ashland, Oregon, and is thrilled to provide this training for young artists here in Cedar City.

“It’s thrilling to know that the youth of Cedar City will be telling a story about adolescents their very age who lived one hundred years ago,” she said. “Newsies has many themes, but my favorite is that children do, indeed, have power. It’s for that reason I’m excited that Playmakers is producing this delightful play.”

For more information, call 435-865-8333 or visit the webpage at www.bard.org/playmakers.

Michael Bahr Honored as Educator of the Year

The Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce recently announced the recipients of the sixty-eighth annual Best of Cedar City Awards, including Utah Shakespeare Festival Education Director Michael Bahr as Educator of the Year.

After four months of nominations and voting by the community, the chamber announced the winners in twelve different categories, and will announce the Cedar City Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Award at the chamber gala. The winners will receive their awards and recognition at the annual chamber gala on January 18, 2019 in the Sharwan Smith Student Center Ballroom at Southern Utah University.

“Thanks to the chamber of commerce and to everyone who voted. This is a wonderful honor,” said Bahr. “I am thrilled to be a part of this community which is so supportive of education and our children.”

Other award winners are Southern Utah University President Scott L Wyatt, Man of the Year; Jennie Hendricks, Woman of the Year; Ken Bettridge Distributing, Business of the Year; Southwest Technical College, Employer of the Year; Lin’s Fresh Marketplace, Customer Service of the Year; Southwest Technical College, Innovative Business of the Year; Kenadie Terry, Young Citizen of the Year; Centro Wood Fired Pizza, Restaurant of the Year; Iron County Care and Share, Organization of the Year; Michael Stults, Medical Professional of the Year; and Eric Schmutz, Legacy Award–Lifetime Achievement.

According to the chamber, these awards “honor community members and businesses for encouraging and promoting a positive and vital economy and preserving those unique qualities that make the Cedar City area a very special place to live, work, and visit.”

“I am so glad to see Michael Bahr receive this recognition which is so abundantly deserved,” said Festival Executive Producer Frank Mack. “Michael is a devoted educator and a core part of the Utah Shakespeare Festival, and it’s wonderful to see the community express its appreciation for his brilliant work.”

Announcing the 2019 Directors

Melissa Rain Anderson

Vincent J. Cardinal

Brad Carroll

Kathleen F. Conlin

Britannia Howe

Melinda Pfundstein

Brian Vaughn

Sam White

Henry Woronicz

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Utah Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Brian Vaughn recently announced a slate of nine highly creative, talented, and experienced directors for the Festival’s 2019 season. The directors come from home bases across the country and bring a wealth of diverse experience to next season, which is themed around the family.                                                

“I have such profound admiration and respect for these directors,” said Vaughn in making the announcement. “They each bring a unique blend of insight, passion and commitment to the work that will electrify these plays with tremendous clarity and immediacy. I’m excited to have them here.” 

The 2019 season directors are:

Melissa Rain Anderson is returning to the Festival to direct the tragedy of Macbeth after directing two musical comedies here in the past: The Cocoanuts in 2016 and Big River in 2018.She is a New York-based freelance director and most recently directed a sold out production of Hair at Geva Theater Center where she is an affiliate artist. Upcoming projects include The Wolves at Repertory Theater of St. Louis and A Christmas Carol at Denver Center Theater Company.

“I am thrilled to be returning to the Festival to direct Macbeth,” said Anderson. “I’m interested in examining how any one of us might be tempted by the suggestion of ultimate power and how far we are willing to go to get it. I hope to illuminate the psychological journey, the suspense/ thriller aspect, and most importantly the human tragedy.”

Vincent J. Cardinal, who directed the Festival’s hilarious and popular comedy The Foreigner in 2018,is returning in 2019 to lead Every Brilliant Thing. He is currently the Arthur and Martha Hearron endowed professor of musical theatre, chair of the department of musical theatre, and professor of music at the school of music, theatre, and dance at the University of Michigan. He also directs across the country, with productions of I’m Not Rappaport in Syracuse, New York, and Sweeney Todd in Ann Arbor, Michigan, scheduled for this winter.

“I am eager to return to the festival with the intimate, hopeful, and wonderfully witty Every Brilliant Thing,” said Cardinal. “It is a play that is not so much watched, but experienced as the entire audience joins together to celebrate and remember a million brilliant things through the telling of one man’s journey.”

Brad Carroll is returning this year to direct the family musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. This will be his thirteenth Festival play, including Man of La Mancha, Lend Me a Tenor: The Musical (which he also composed), H*.M.S. Pinafore, Les Miserables*, South Pacific, and 2018’s The Liar. He is currently resident artist at PCPA Theaterfest/Pacific Conservatory Theatre in Santa Maria, California, and has directed, composed, acted, and lectured from Los Angeles, to Phoenix, to Tokyo.

“As seemingly silly and hilarious as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat can be, at the heart of Webber and Rice’s play is a compelling human drama—a story of sibling rivalry, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and, ultimately, forgiveness,” said Carroll. “I find great joy in this piece—in the story, in the music, and in the delightful way it combines the two.”

 Kathleen F. Conlin served for twenty-two seasons as the Festival associate artistic director and casting director, as well as directing numerous plays, including King Lear, The Boy Friend, The Lion in Winter, The Cherry Orchard, Born Yesterday, The Tempest, and Tuesdays with Morrie. She is returning to the Festival this year to direct Arthur Miller’s The Price. She is a much-honored director, theatre professional, and university administrator and professor. She was recently honored as the Roe Green Guest Director for Kent State University with a production of You Can’t Take It with You.

“I am pleased to return to the Festival for the 2019 season to direct one of Arthur Miller’s most emotionally vital plays, The Price,” she said. “The play is a dramatic tour de force burrowing into the secrets we come to believe and the grip of the past upon our present.”

Britannia Howe will be at the Festival for her second year in the row as writer and director of The Greenshow. She has directed the Festival’s Playmakers Junior production of We Are Monsters, as well as directing for the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center, Innovative View theatre Company, Women of Will, Willow Wind Learning Center, Cabaret Theatre, and various other venues.

“I am thrilled to return to direct and write for the 2019 season,” she said. “The Greenshow is a presentation of laughter, story, song, and audience participation. Keeping with tradition there will be three different shows, each themed to a different country.”

Melinda Pfundstein will be directing this year’s The Book of Will, after her critically acclaimed production in 2018 of The Merchant of Venice. As an actor she has appeared in over forty roles at the Festival. Other directing credits include ReParable with Zion’s Youth at the Smith Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, the Festival Shakespeare-in-the-Schools touring production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and others. She is also the founding executive director of Statera Foundation, a national advocacy nonprofit serving women in theatre.

**“**I am thrilled to return to the Festival to direct The Book of Will on the Engelstad Theatre stage,” she said. “It is a story of the power and legacy of friendship, community, laughter, and language. This play inspires awareness of what great care must be taken to hold precious the things and people we value, and the constant threat of how very easily they might slip away.”

Brian Vaughn, artistic director, is well known to Festival audiences for his acting and directing here for more than twenty-five years. This year, he will be taking the helm of Shakespeare’s masterpiece, Hamlet. Most recently, he directed Shakespeare in Love in 2017 and acted in the roles of Iago in Othello and The Poet in An Iliad in 2018. He has also acted and/or directed at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Nevada Conservatory Theatre, and Northlight Theatre.

“Hamlet is always relevant,” said Vaughn. “I think there is no better play to produce now in this world, a play about the discovery of authenticity and truth in a quickly shifting, sometimes caustic world.”

Sam White, will be directing at the Festival for her first time this season, taking the reins of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. However, this is not her first connection with the Festival: a visit to here ten years ago was one of the sparks behind her founding the emerging classical theatre, Shakespeare in Detroit. Her work there and elsewhere has earned her recognition across the country, including the 2017 Paul Nicholson Arts Management Fellowship at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a feature article this past year in Forbes magazine, and Pepsi’s Making Black History Now Award in 2016.

“It’s an incredible gift to be able to come here and direct such a delightful play as Twelfth Night, which centers around a character, or characters, who fall in love and begin a new journey with their respective partners,” she said. “I feel like my story with the Festival has also been a true love story after finding this place that changed my life in 2008.”

Henry Woronicz will follow up his acclaimed direction of Henry VI Part One in 2018 with the rest of the story, The Conclusion of Henry VI: Parts One and Two, in 2019. He has also directed As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, Coriolanus, Titus Andronicus, and Richard II at the Festival. He appeared on Broadway with Denzel Washington in Julius Caesar and has directed and acted at such theatres as Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Conservatory Theatre, American Players Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and many others.

“I am very excited to be returning to the Festival to stage the Conclusion of Henry VI: Parts Two and Three,” he said. “These plays always present a terrific opportunity for a director to dig into some early, formative work of Shakespeare. I look forward to the work ahead of us all, and bringing these intriguing and fascinating plays to vibrant, theatrical life.”

“These directors are an amazing group of professional theatre artists and it is exciting to see them develop their ideas and concepts,” concluded Executive Producer Frank Mack. “And this is how we start producing great theatre.”

Tickets for the 2019 season are now on sale: visit the Festival website at bard.org, call 800-PLAYTIX, or visit the Ticket Office at the Beverley Center for the Arts.

It's a Wrap for a Successful Season

Curtain call of The Merry Wives of Windsor

It’s a wrap for the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s 2018 season, and Festival administrators are excited about the season’s success both artistically and financially. The season ended October 13 with the final performances of The Liar, An Iliad, The Foreigner, and Othello. The curtain closed on the other four shows—The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Henry VI Part One, and Big River—the first week of September.

Everybody at the Festival took a deep breath, celebrated for a moment, and then continued work on the 2019 season which is fast approaching. But before they moved on, Executive Producer Frank Mack and Artistic Director Brian Vaughn took a few minutes to review the highlights of 2019.

“It was a great season. Artistically, I loved every show,” said Mack. “Also, we finished the season with a balanced budget. That is a major accomplishment.”

“Artistically, this season was one of the most rewarding ever,” added Vaughn. “I’m proud of the work and I’m proud of the company. You won’t find better productions anywhere of any of these plays.”

“In a season that was filled with complex, challenging subject matter, the work was thoroughly engaging and artistically rewarding both for our company and for our audience,” he said. “Every play was strong, engaging, relevant, and full of powerful performances.”

For example, the musical Big River dealt with some difficult subjects in a sensitive and inspired way. “The relationship of Huck and Jim, as played by Ezekiel Andrew and Rob Riordan, was beautifully woven,” said Vaughn. “And I could say similar things about all our plays.”

Mack agreed: “It was an amazing ensemble of artists. It was really about all of the artists doing amazing work.”

In addition, this was the first full season of the Festival after major leadership changes. Mack, who joined the Festival toward the end of last summer’s season, was excited about the administrative changes that have taken place since then. Since last summer, the Festival has promoted Kami Terry Paul to the position of general manager and has hired Donn Jersey as director of development and Tyler Morgan as director of marketing and communications.

“I am gratified that we filled the staff positions and that we got through all this transition.” said Mack. “We have terrific people across the board who are helping make the organization’s success possible.”

Part of that success and one of the highlights this year for Mack was balancing the Festival’s budget for the first time in several years. “Bringing our expenses in line with our revenue and getting the budget to balance, while maintaining artistic excellence, is to me our biggest achievement,” he said. “Everybody on the staff and board came together to balance that equation, which was extraordinary.”

He also thanked Southern Utah University President Scott L Wyatt, the State of Utah, the Festival board of governors, and many long-time institutional donors who “didn’t waver in their support for us.”

So, what does this mean for the next season of the Festival, and for seasons beyond that? “We are looking forward to next year,” said Vaughn. “This year was a season where we explored with our audiences the ideas of tolerance. Next year we have chosen plays which will focus on the family. We want to see how we can come together as humanity. It will be a season about love, life, and belonging.”

“We always need to keep working and to keep our vision focused,” said Mack. “This year tells us we can do it, and reminds us that telling great stories in a great way is our main purpose, but that we do it better when we are financially responsible.”

He noted that the Festival is engaged in a long-range planning process and will be proposing a new mission statement, vision statement, and statement of values soon. “We are excited about the future. We want to continue to build upon our successes, overcome whatever issues may face us, and produce great theatre for our great audiences.”

Planning is well under way for 2019, and tickets for the season, themed around the family, are on sale at 800-PLAYTIX and online at bard.org. The season will run from June 27 to October 12. Plays are Hamlet, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, and The Conclusion of Henry VI: Parts Two and Three, all by William Shakespeare. Also on the docket are the popular musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat by Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber; The Book of Will, a fanciful and fun telling by Lauren Gunderson of how Shakespeare’s plays were saved in print after his death; Every Brilliant Thing by Duncan MacMillan and Jonny Donahue, a funny and moving play which is a tribute to resilience, hope, and life; and Arthur Miller’s American classic The Price.

Food Drive Raises Over 3,600 Pounds

Utah Shakespeare Festival guests made life a little better for those in need this fall, by donating nearly two tons of food to the Iron County Care and Share. The food was donated as part of the Festival’s sixteenth annual Fall Food Drive from September 17 to October 13. Residents of southern Utah and eastern Nevada were able to donate six items of nonperishable food and receive a half-price ticket to a Festival production.

In total over 3,600 pounds of food was donated for the less fortunate in our community. Residents of Iron, Washington, Kane, Garfield, Sevier, Piute, and Beaver counties in Utah took part in the drive, as well as guests from Lincoln County, Nevada.                                     

“We are humbled and grateful to our community members for their support of this effort,” said Tyler Morgan, marketing and communications director. “The Festival’s annual fall food drive started in 2003, and over the years our guests have consistently demonstrated their generosity and caring in support of those in need, and we couldn’t ask for a better community partner than the Iron County Care and Share.”

The Iron County Care and Share was founded in 1984 by a group of local churches of different denominations to address the issue of hunger in our community. Working with partners in the community, neighboring counties, and in the state, the Iron County Care and Share is able to help homeless and low-income individuals and families work toward self-sufficiency. The Iron County Care and Share is located at 900 North 222 West Cedar City, Utah.

The Utah Shakespeare Festival is part of the Beverley Taylor Sorenson Center for the Arts at Southern Utah University, which also includes the Southern Utah Museum of Art (SUMA).