Newlywed thespians Katie Fay Francis and Scott Fuss will perform a holiday-themed show entitled “Our First Christmas” at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Wednesday.
LOGAN – The finale of the current Random Acts show series at the Ellen Eccles Theatre will bring a familiar face back home to Cache Valley for the holidays.
That event will feature New York City performers Katie Fay Francis and Scott Fuss celebrating “Our First Christmas” as husband and wife with lively versions of beloved Christmas melodies on Wednesday.
Ms. Francis is well-known to patrons of the Lyric Repertory Company, having appeared in leading roles in numerous shows since 2012.
Those memorable performances include the roles of the tragic Susan Wilkes in “Big River” in both 2012 and a revival of that show in 2017; a gender-bending turn as the title character in “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” in 2015; and female leads in “Arsenic and Old Lace,” “Singin’ in the Rain” and “You Can’t Take It With You” in 2016.
Ms. Francis has since graduated from the Theatre Arts program at Utah State University, transferred her talents to the Big Apple and acquired a husband, Scott Fuss.
A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Fuss’ professional stage credits include “Romeo and Juliet,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Ragtime,” “Little Women,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Full Monty,” “Shrek” and “The Pirates of Penzance.”
The newlywed thespians were recently cast together in a production of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
“Our First Christmas” will be the last of more than a dozen Random Acts and Resident series performances scheduled at the Eccles Theatre during December despite the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Of those shows, only an appearance by the Bar J Wranglers on Dec. 19 had to be cancelled due to non-local issues related to viral infections.
CacheARTS director Wendi Hassan credits precautionary measures taken by the theater management and the wiliness of local residents to abide by them for allowing a nearly full schedule of events to be successfully staged under the present circumstances.
“Our First Christmas” is part of the theater’s Random Acts series, a cooperative effort with local and regional artists to replace traditional holiday season events that were cancelled due to spiking COVID-19 infection rates.
Those Random Acts shows fully complied with current state guidelines for organized public gatherings, Hassan adds, including requirements for all audience members to wear face coverings throughout the performances. Ticket holders were also screened for COVID-19 symptoms prior to entering the theater and seated at least six-feet distant from other patrons.
The Random Acts Community Performance Series was subsidized by grants from the “Create in Utah” program provided through the federal CARES Act by the Utah Legislature and administered by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums.