The Lyric Repertory Company performs for nearly 60 years
For almost 60 years, the Lyric Repertory Company has been performing a variety of professional theater productions during the summers, offering opportunities for USU theater students and cultural enrichment for the Cache Valley community despite recent construction to the Caine Lyric Theatre.
Fern Trousdale is a stage management intern with the company and assists in managing and organizing rehearsals and communication. Trousdale emphasized the opportunity the company provides for Utahn or out-of-state actors to try union-based or repertory theater.
Repertory theater is when an acting company produces a rotating repertoire of plays. A different show is put on each night of the week, and that cycle repeats for the whole summer. Each show consists of the same pool of actors whose roles differ for each production.
“Since repertory is mainly done in the summer with most programs, it really gives a lot of people an opportunity to really get to know shows in a very quick manner,” Trousdale said. “‘Bright Star,’ for example, we had about five weeks of rehearsal, and then we had tech week, and then we were up in six weeks.”
Trousdale said there are around 20 actors in this year’s group.
“Our lead actor is Stefan Espinosa,” Trousdale said. “He’s John Worthing in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest. He plays Jimmy Ray in ‘Bright Star,’ and he plays Sherlock Holmes in ‘Sherlock Holmes.’”
Renovations for the theater began this summer and are projected to be completed by 2026. The company traditionally performs in the historic theater, but due to the construction, it’s relocated to the Morgan Theatre and Black Box Theatre on Utah State University campus. Despite this change in theaters, community response has been encouraging, according to Trousdale.
Emily Alvey-Despain is an actor with the company and understudies for two major roles in “The Importance of Being Earnest” and “Home, I’m Darling.” An understudy steps into the role and performs the part when the main actor is unable to.
“It’s kind of a bridge between professional theater but also still working with people that I know, and it was a really great opportunity to have actors come down from out of town who have actually graduated from Utah State University in the program,” Alvey-Despain said. “Seeing how they apply the work that they learned there to their acting now and how everything they’ve learned are things that I’m learning now and just watch them apply it in real time.”
Alvey-Despain emphasized how Utah State provides students with connections to the professional acting world as well as the opportunity to work with professional actors.
“It’s just amazing to see all the different career opportunities that there are for me when I graduate and all the different things I can do and places I can go,” Alvey-Despain said.
The company gives the actors professional credit and prepares them for auditioning in the professional community. The company has also progressively gained popularity. The response from the community has been record-breaking, according to Alvey-Despain.
“This has been one of the highest grossing seasons since the Lyric was founded,” Alvey-Despain said. “We actually sold over 300 tickets for a house [audience] for the first time since 2017.”
Alvey-Despain said the company is committed to offering excellent performances and everyone has shown dedication and passion for the productions this year. The closely-knit community not only helps student careers but founds connection and sanctuary
“I’m so grateful that that’s a family that I’m a part of now,” Alvey-Despain said
Mia Gatherum has worked with the Lyric Rep Company every year since the summer of 2022, after her first year at USU in the BFA acting program. She plays one of the lead roles of Cecily in “The Importance of Being Earnest” and Alex in “Home, I’m Darling.” She described the company as originally being built to help students begin their journeys into professional careers.
“It’s taking what I’ve learned at school and applying it to the shows that I’ve done at the Lyric and being able to observe other professional actors who have been successful along the way,” Gatherum said.
The company has open auditions typically every October, meaning anyone can audition.
“In theater, you don’t have to have a degree specifically in theater or acting,” Gatherum said. “It helps for training wise, but theater is for everyone.”
Gatherum added to Alvey-Despain’s statement that the actors this season are incredibly dedicated and hard-working, along with being very professional.
“There’s just a big sense of camaraderie between everyone,” Gatherum said. “This year feels very much like a family, and we bonded very quickly. There’s never been a doubt in my mind that we would be able to do something for one of the shows.”
The theatre arts are vital and intrinsic to Cache Valley community, according to Gatherum. She emphasizes its importance in the world today with the uprise of social media and the consequential increase of disconnect between people.
“The arts is what keeps people going and makes the world go round. It keeps people happy and brings joy into everyone’s lives,” Gatherum said. “Especially with how things are politically right now, the arts are more in danger than they ever are.”
More information on the Lyric Rep Company and its upcoming 2026 season can be found at usu.edu/lyricrep/company. Gatherum encourages community members and students alike to attend and experience the magic of live theatre.
“There’s just a strong sense of community that never goes away when you’re in theater. It’s something that moves people, and it can change your perspective on things and make you think,” Gatherum said. “Theater makes you a more compassionate person. That’s one of the biggest takeaways I had from school, is that we are so human and we want to feel and be loved and be able to relate to others on stage.”