More than 200 singers, dancers and musicians will entertain at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Wednesday, Mar. 29 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the crown jewel of Cache Valley’s performing arts community.
LOGAN – The first night of the 100th Anniversary Celebration of the Ellen Eccles Theatre will lead off with a cavalcade of local talent unlike any ever seen before in Cache Valley.
The local arts organizations are lined up to perform at the “crown jewel of Cache Valley” on Mar. 29, according to Alek Nelson, marketing director for the Cache Valley Center for the Arts.
Those groups include Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre, Music Theatre West and the Cache Theatre Company.
Choral artistry will also be on display by the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, the Cache Children’s Choir and the Westminster Bell Choir.
In addition to all that singing, the dancers of the Cache Valley Civic Ballet, the Valley Dance Ensemble and the Dance Source will also perform.
For a little variety, the Hatch Academy of Music & Magic is also on the schedule for Wednesday evening, featuring Richard, Rosemary and Jonathan Hatch.
Musical directors for the varied show will include the incomparable Jay Richards, of Music Theatre West fame; the renowned Craig Jessop from the American Festival Chorus and Orchestra; James M. Bankhead, former head of the Music Department at Utah State University; and Jaron Putnam, the conductor of the Cache Children’s Choir.
Soloists on the first night of the three-night celebration will be led by the grand old man of Cache Valley theater community, none other than Michael Ballam.
Logan McKenna and Cameron Gleed will also perform. They were last seen as the sensational singing and dancing sidekicks in the MTW production of “Singin’ in the Rain.”
Not to be left out, performers from USU will include pianist Cahill Smith; Dallas Aksoy, head of the USU opera program; and, Venecia Wilson, a vocal instructor at USU.
The cast for the first night of the 100th Anniversary Celebration will include more than 200 performers, dancers and musicians, Nelson adds.
The three-night celebration of the 100 anniversary of the Ellen Eccles Theatre will commemorate all of the roles that the theater has performed during its rich history, according to Wendi Hassan, the executive director of the Cache Valley Center for the Arts.
Those roles included hosting community theatrical performances, movie premiers and national touring shows.
The second night of the celebration will find the Eccles Theatre remembering its good old days as a movie palace by featuring the Looney Tunes cartoon classic “Rabbit of Seville,” a vintage newsreel and the feature film Back to the Future, Part 1.
While admission to the theater’s Movie Night will be free, Nelson said, tickets are still required. Movie-goers can reserve tickets at www.cachearts.org/centennial
Finally, as part of the CacheARTS 2022-23 touring season, a joint performance by celebrated singer-songwriters Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin will close out the theater’s anniversary celebration on Friday, Mar. 31.
CacheARTS is an independent, non-profit organization.
Its purpose to manage and operate properties owned by Logan City, including the Ellen Eccles Theatre, the Bullen Center and the Thatcher-Young Mansion.