Old Lyric Repertory Company Launches its 46th Summer Season
Utah State University’s Caine Lyric Theatre, home to the Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC), stands as Cache Valley’s tribute to the golden age of professional theater.
Six shows are being produced by the OLRC to celebrate the company’s 46th season. “Steel Magnolias” opens the season on June 14, with “Private Lives,” “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Lend Me a Tenor,” “Greater Tuna” and “Charlotte’s Web” to follow.
The OLRC is a professional theater program based in the Theatre Arts Department in the Caine College of the Arts at Utah State. Its summer home, the Caine Lyric Theatre, is a historical site located at 28 W. Center Street, Logan.
“The Lyric Theatre is a Logan landmark that has hosted more than 12,000 performances, and this season is going down as one of the all-time greats,” said Dennis Hassan, artistic director for the OLRC and faculty member at USU.
The OLRC was founded in 1966 by W. Vosco Call, Cache Valley theater patron and former department head of theater at Utah State University. This year also marks Call’s 46thseason withthe company, having been associated with the OLRC since its beginning.
“This summer, the shows are phenomenal,” said Denise Albiston, director of marketing for the Caine College of the Arts. “We have pulled out all the stops this year by contracting some of Broadway’s greatest hits and recruiting an all-star company to perform in Logan.”
The 2012 audiences can step into Truvy’s Beauty Parlor, where a seemingly frail southern belle can be as delicate as a magnolia and as tough as steel. The drama “Steel Magnolias” visits six women, united in friendship, supporting each other through triumph and tragedy with both tenacity and wit. The OLRC opener, “Steel Magnolias” hits the boards June 14, with selected dates June through August.
Two divorced couples find themselves honeymooning in neighboring rooms at the same hotel with their new spouses in Noel Coward’s “Private Lives.” This Tony Award winning play opens June 21.
Follow Jim and Huck Finn down the Mississippi in the musical “Big River: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.” This toe-tappin’, knee-slappin’ misadventure is based on Mark Twain’s classic 1884 novel and set to the music by the great country singer-songwriter Roger Miller. Opening June 28, “Big River” runs on select dates through Aug. 8.
Get ready for “Lend Me a Tenor.” Watch as opera star Tito Merelligoes missing during the Cleveland Opera’s gala fundraiser. With a nod to the madcap screwball comedies of the 1930s, this modern farce has had audiences gasping for breathas they navigate mistaken identities, blinding ambition, plot twists, slamming doors and inflated egos. See “Lend Me a Tenor” opening July 11, with selected dates through Aug. 11.
Find out what happens in the third smallest town in Texas, “Greater Tuna.” This two-actor show tunes into radio station OKKK, where the Lions Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never died. The comedy “Greater Tuna” opens July 17 and plays on select dates through Aug. 16.
See unlikely friends Wilbur the pig and Charlotte the spider capture the amazement of the state fair in “Charlotte’s Web.” Based on the timeless classic by E. B. White “Charlotte’s Web” opens July 30, playing select dates through Aug. 14. The production is presented by the 2012 OLRC High School Apprentices.
As one of the only remaining regional theater companies to produce shows in repertory throughout June, July and August, the OLRC is an exceptional training ground for advanced theater students at USU, said Hassan. Traditionally, actors from Utah, California, New York and other locations perform alongside USU students to form a world-class cast.
Tickets for OLRC productions can be purchased by visiting the Caine College of the Arts Box Office at Utah State University in room 139-B of the Chase Fine Arts Center, open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, by calling 435-797-8022 or online at the Caine College of the Arts website (arts.usu.edu). Individual ticket prices range from $18-$25 for adults, $15-$21 for seniors and USU faculty and staff and $12-$18 for USU students and youth.
An all-season pass is also available and includes one ticket to the first four shows (“Steel Magnolias,” “Private Lives,” “Big River” and “Lend Me a Tenor” and one free ticket to each of the bonus shows (“Greater Tuna” and “Charlotte’s Web”). Cost of the all-season pass is determined by the seat location in the theater. Passes are $72 (yellow section), $88 (orange) or $100 (green). See the seating chart at the website (http://arts.usu.edu/lyric/htm/tickets/seat-map) or call the box office for details.
For more information on the OLRC’s 2012 season, visit the OLRC website (arts.usu.edu/lyric).