October 1995 Blazer

A theatrical tradition in Cache valley

THE HISTORY BLAZER ArEtlrS OF UTAH'S PAST FROM THE Utah State Historical Society 300 Rio Grande Salt Lake City. LTT 88101 ( 801) 533- 3500 FAX ( 801) 533- 3503 A Theatrical Tradition in Cache Valley . - DUMA IN CACHEV ALLEYH AS A LONG HISTORY, stretching all the way back to Nauvoo, the Mormon city in Illinois. Joseph Smith encouraged his followers to build a combined theater and dance hall and to organize a dramatic company in Nauvoo. The first production took place in 1844 with Thomas A. Lyne as director. Lyne came to Nauvoo from New York City where he was known as a " tragedian." Under his direction the Nauvoo Dramatic Company advanced from being amateurs to having many fine actors. Early Mormon leaders such as Brigham Young and Erastus Snow took part in the plays. When the Mormons arrived in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847 they took care of their physical needs first, building homes and planting crops. But they never forgot the love of drama fostered in Nauvoo, Illinois, and within three years the Deseret Musical and Dramatic Association was organized. As the early settlers gradually moved north, looking for range for their cattle and good farmland, they carried this love for drama and musicals with them. After the early pioneers in Cache Valley had worked hard all day, they needed the diversion and entertainment of a play, square dance, or songfest as much as the food they were growing. The little town of Mendon proudly claims to have formed the first theater group in Cache Valley, but neighboring towns were not far behind. Soon after 1860 Providence residents began producing plays in their one- room log school. The scenery consisted of bedspreads donated by local residents. One wvered the back wall, and one was used for a drop curtain. So many children costumed as skunks were in one play that all of them wuld not fit on stage at once. So, when it was their turn to appear they were lifted in and out of a schoolhouse window. That must have been quite a sight! Hyrum's early productions took place in the outdoor bowery. Costumes and scenery were homemade and seating was scarce. Most viewers either sat on the ground or on chairs brought fiom home. Admission to these early plays, dances, and other entertainments was a small amount of cash, if possible. If not, it became the custom to accept almost anything of value, including vegetables, meat, wheat, household goods, or anything that people wuld spare. Early productions in Logan took place in Logan Hall, erected in 1862 near the corner of Main Street and First North. Known as the Old Hall, it served as an entertainment center as well as a meetinghouse for the community until the completion of the lower part of the Logan Tabernacle in 1877. ( more) In 1879 the Logan Dramatic Company was organized under the direction of George J. Bywater and his brother Joseph G. Bywater, former members of the Salt Lake Amateur Dramatic Association. Con& tions in the Old Hall were primitive, but the company presented three- act dramas and popular farces every Saturday night to full houses. During the winter of 1882- 83 attendance at the plays was so large that the old log building could no longer comfortably seat all who wanted to attend the plays. To solve the problem, David Reese was persuaded to build an opera house on Center Street. The building, constructed of wood, was completed in the fall of 1883. The first play presented by the Logan Dramatic Company in the new Reese Opera House was Z% e Streets of New York, a standard ' sensational" play of that time. In 1890 construction of the Thatcher Opera House was begun. George W. Thatcher, Sr., president of the Thatcher Brothers Bank, had sometimes acted as manager of the Salt Lake Theatre when the regular manager was on tour. When his Logan bank began to erect a new bank building, Thatcher decided to add an opera house to the upper floors. This building, located on the corner of Center and Main Street was completed in August 1890 at a cost of $ 50,000. It seated 800 people. To open the theater the Home Dramatic Club of Salt Lake City presented the Civil War drama Held by the Enemy. With the construction of the new opera house the Logan Home Dramatic Company was reorganized. This group put on several productions, the most significant of which was the 1903 presentation CoriMton, written by B. H. Roberts. The story was adapted from the Book of Mormon, and the music was written by George W. Thatcher, Jr., manager of the Thatcher Opera House. The chorus consisted of 102 persons, and the cast was made up principally of New York actors. The audience liked the musical so well that the production toured in Utah as well as other states. Some of the most popular and well- paid road companies of the day played in the Thatcher Opera House. The owners and the manager of the theater wanted to maintain a reputation for securing high- quality attractions. But slowly live theater began to die as other types of entertainment became available. Theater operators found it more profitable to show movies than to pay for stage productions. See Linda Thatcher, " A Theatrical Tradition in Cache Valley," Beehive History 5 ( 1979). THEH ISTORYB LAZERi s produced by the Utah State Historical Society and funded in part by a grant from the Utah Statehood Centennial Commission. For more information about the Historical Society telephone [phone] ( LT)