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Century-Old Opera Tradition Returns to Northern Utah

By Judith Anderson

The Utah Festival Opera Company is situated in northern Utah's beautiful Cache Valley. This agricultural university community ninety miles north of Salt Lake City may not, at first glance, seem a likely arena for Madame Butterfly. But the company's founder, Michael Ballam, felt it would be the ideal location for a world-class opera festival. Nestled between two lofty mountain ranges, the charming small town of Logan sits at the mouth of Logan Canyon, where mountain man Jim Bridger fished for trout and trapped for beaver.

Ellen Eccles Theatre in Logan Utah

Today US-89, from Logan to the turquoise waters of Bear Lake, is one of the West's most spectacular scenic byways. In this magnificent setting, the Utah Festival Opera offers a summer repertory season of grand opera, operetta and musical theater in the beautifully restored Ellen Eccles Theatre.

Artistic roots have long been established in northern Utah, particularly the vocal arts. Local legend has it that Mormon leader and pioneer Brigham Young sent a young Welshman, Peter Maughan, to organize the settlement of Cache Valley in the 1850s. Like many of the Welsh, Maughan was fond of singing and of choral music. He supposedly stationed himself at the entrance to the valley and asked the occupants of every arriving wagon one question: "Do you sing?" If the answer was "yes," his reply was "settle here." If the answer was "no," his direction was "drive on." Whether this story is true or not, every town in the valley, no matter how small, at one time had its own community opera house.

In the late 1800s, Logan was a cultural arts center, boasting three theaters: Logan Hall, the Reese Opera House, and the Thatcher Opera House, which hosted extravagant national touring companies and local community performances until destroyed by fire in 1912. At the loss of this grand facility, a new and more elegant theater was erected in 1923, the Capitol Theatre. This towering structure, acclaimed as Logan's crown jewel, housed one of the most elegant interiors and well designed stages in the country. Its stage hosted John Philip Sousa and his band, the Marx Brothers, George Burns and Gracie Allen, grand opera, and other productions of national renown. Logan was known throughout the intermountain region as "the Athens of the West."

In the late 1950s live performances ceased and the theater was allowed to deteriorate. The stage was empty and the orchestra pit silent. Lights dimmed in the auditorium and dirt and debris collected in the dressing rooms. The ornate murals and gilded plaster carvings were covered with burlap; the frescoes and moldings were covered with a shroud of green paint. In 1988 the theater was scheduled for demolition.

Plans to raze the building came to the attention of Michael Ballam. Having sung in many of the most beautiful opera houses in the world, he knew that the old Capitol Theatre, with its elaborate neo-classical ornamentation and superb acoustics, was a match for most of them. He approached the owner, Eugene Needham, and persuaded him to donate the structure to the City of Logan.

"Persuading Gene was easy," says Ballam. "He's a very generous, renaissance-type guy. Persuading the city to accept the building was another story." A final, passionate debate took place during a city council meeting. While some residents argued against saving an unprofitable building, the final appeal came from an elderly woman, who asked, "When was the last time your rose gardens earned a profit? Beauty takes sacrifice."

In a dramatic 3-2 city council vote, the theater was accepted and restoration efforts began. Ballam spearheaded the $6.5 million fund-raising effort. Hundreds of volunteers also caught the vision, donating thousands of hours of labor, shoveling out the refuse that had accumulated backstage, uncovering the beautiful murals and decorative plaster carvings, and reversing decades of neglect. New seats designed to accommodate late-20th century standards of comfort were installed, reducing the theater's seating capacity from 1400 to 1100. The stage and backstage areas were renovated to state-of-the-art theatrical capability and the orchestra pit was enlarged. The Capitol's intricate neo-classical architecture was restored, and a piece of Utah history was preserved. Despite years of neglect and decay, a long-forgotten structure had reclaimed its glory.

Utah Festival Opera's 2000 Production of Handel's Julius Caesar

The theater reopened in 1993 under a new name, the Ellen Eccles Theatre, in honor of a prominent Utah pioneer. From the beginning, Ballam envisioned producing professional opera in the theater's elegant environment. In July of 1993, the Utah Festival Opera opened its inaugural season with La Bohème, a double bill of Trial by Jury and The Impresario, and Naughty Marietta. Highlights of sub sequent seasons have included an exclusive revival premiere of Frank Loesser's Greenwillow, produced with special permission and under the direction of the composer's widow, Jo Sullivan Loesser; a workshop production of a new American opera, The Coyote Tales, by Henry Mollicone and Sheldon Harnick (Fiddler on the Roof), who were both in residence for the season; and a glowing production of Georg Frideric Handel's baroque masterpiece, Giulio Cesare.

Utah Festival Opera's artists are drawn from across the country and around the world. Excellent facilities, top-flight talent, and a wonderful, picturesque community setting make the opera festival a must for all who appreciate great music, great theater, and great natural scenery. The four-production repertory season, which begins in mid-July and runs for four weeks, can be seen by visitors during a two- or three-day stay. The season also includes vocal and orchestral concerts and a full schedule of audience enrichment activities.

The mix of grand opera, operetta, and musical theater the company produces has proved to have wide appeal. Utah Festival Opera draws 75% of its patrons from outside the northern Utah area. The Utah Festival Opera was recently ranked one of the top twenty summer opera festivals in the world by Money Magazine.

"We may not have regained our status as the Athens of the West," says Ballam, "but we're well on our way to becoming a Florence, Italy. We don't have a Medici family in Logan, but we have been able to appeal to the community that we can all be Medicis in a small way. Something as magnificent as Florence happens out of sacrifice. This community has that spirit of sacrifice. We are modern Medicis."

The grass roots effort to save and restore of one of Utah's architectural treasures - the Ellen Eccles Theatre - and the establishment of a world-class summer opera festival has been a marked success. For the Utah Festival Opera, returning grand opera to northern Utah was a dream motivated by love and propelled by determination - a dream that has become reality.