GARDEN CITY – If you’ve been wondering what the Pickleville on Tour folks have been up to recently, rest assured they’re alive and well, which they proved by announcing not one, but two productions coming our way.
The traveling troupe’s big news is that their original Christmas show entitled Bandito’s Holiday Heist will debut here at the Ellen Eccles Theatre at 7 p.m. on Nov. 22.
As they did in 2024, that premier will serve as a preview, after which the troupe will take the show out on the road throughout northern Utah and southern Idaho with performances in Salt Lake City, Idaho Falls, Burley and Roy.
After that, they will return here to close Bandito’s Holiday Heist with additional performances at the Eccles Theatre on Dec. 19, 20 and 23.
As usual, director TJ Davis says that Juanito Bandito and his gang of outlaw misfits will be singing and dancing to celebrate the holiday season, in a tradition shared by thousands of Utah families.
When Bandito stumbles into a secret elf outpost on Christmas Eve, he sees the perfect opportunity for the ultimate holiday robbery.
But standing in his way are a trio of Santa’s elves who refuse to let Christmas go down without a fight. It’s the Bandito gang vs. the North Pole in a showdown of epic – and hilarious – proportions.
While the Pickleville Playhouse in Garden City is on its seasonal hiatus in spring of 2026, Davis will also mount another original musical entitled Blood is Thicker Than Saltwater, playing on the myth that Juanito Bandito is the child of pirates.
The spring show will be performed during March and April in Logan, Salt Lake City and Idaho Falls.