Richie Call, artistic director of the Lyric Repertory Company, announced a new talk show format for the Vosco Call Spotlight Concerts slated during the performing arts troupe’s upcoming season.
LOGAN – The format of the audience favorite Vosco Call Spotlight Concert will be new and different this year, according to Richie Call, the artistic director of the Lyric Repertory Company.
“Although music will still be very much a part of these performances,” Richie Call explains, “instead of a traditional concert, we’re going to shine the ‘spotlight’ on a different guest each night … in a talk show format.”
These concerts were added to the Lyric’s regular season line-up in 2019 to honor the late Vosco Call, the company’s founder and first artistic director.
The one-night only concerts were also intended to celebrate the repertory troupe’s patrons, feature the talents of its summer company and raise money for the Lyric’s endowment fund.
This year, however, the Vosco Call Spotlight Concert will be staged on three different nights, with guests Ross Peterson on Friday, June 26; Mary Heers on Tuesday, July 11; and Julie Hollist Terrill on Wednesday, July 19.
“My idea is that these guests have fascinating stories to tell,” Richie Call says. “We’ll learn about them, play some humiliating games and hear music inspired by their lives and unique interests.”
Richie Call will serve as master of ceremonies for each of these concerts, which will also feature the talent of Luke Shepherd and the Spotlight Band.
The Lyric’s artistic director had originally been scheduled to play the leading role in this summer’s production of One Man, Two Governors, a farce by Richard Bean. That character will now be portrayed by the gifted actor Michael Doherty.
Richie Call says that he has been trying to get Doherty to perform with the Lyric Repertory Company since the first time that the director saw him onstage at the Utah Shakespeare Festival in Cedar City.
“He’s incredible,” Richie Call says. “So incredible, in fact, that it’s been impossible to find a time that he’s available … until now!
“We’re beyond excited to welcome Michael to the Lyric Rep family.”
In addition to the lead role in One Man, Two Governors, Doherty will also play Malvolio in the Lyric’s production of Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.
One Man, Two Governors will be staged from Saturday, July 8 through Thursday, July 20.
Twelfth Night will run from Friday, June 23 to Friday, July 21.
That casting change will leave Richie Call with plenty of time to prepare for his master of ceremonies role in the three Vosco Call Spotlight Concerts.
“This year, the Vosco Call Spotlight Concerts are a passion project for me,” Richie Call admits. “Not just because it bear the name of our founder and my grandfather, but because we’re moving in a new and interesting direction.”
The Lyric Repertory Company’s summer 2023 season will also include the pop music review The Marvelous Wonderettes and the one-man show Break It Down, performed by returning actor and playwright Herb Newsome.
The summer season will also continue its annual play reading series entitled InterACT, highlighting three new plays on separate evenings.
Those play readings are slated for Monday, July 3; Wednesday, July 12; and Tuesday, July 18.
The Lyric’s summer season will run from Friday, June 16 to Saturday, July 22.
Tickets for the repertory company’s upcoming shows can be purchased at the Caine College of the Arts Box Office in the Chase Fine Arts Center on the Utah State University campus or online at www.lyricrep.org