As the final curtain closes on Orem's Hale theater, the show goes on anew in Pleasant Grove

By Cassidy Wixom, KSL.com

PLEASANT GROVE — Actors and theatergoers will soon bid farewell as the curtains close on the beloved Hale Center Theater Orem ,and the overture begins for the debut performance at The Ruth at doTERRA in Pleasant Grove.

"A Christmas Carol" will be the final show ever performed at the Hale Center Theater Orem, on Dec. 28.

"For this to be the swan song, the final curtain call if you will, for the theater, I think is very fitting," Daniel Hess said.

Hess said it's an honor to be playing the infamous Ebenezer Scrooge in the production, which has original music and lyrics written by the Orem theater's founder Cody Hale.

Since first getting cast in "A Christmas Carol" 15 years ago in Orem, Hess, his wife and five daughters have played various roles in the show, but this year is his first time being Scrooge. Playing Scrooge is "daunting" but also rewarding, he said.

After performing hundreds of times in the Orem theater, Hess is sad to see it go.

"There's certain places that just have that smell and that lighting, and you walk in, and it just floods over you — all the memories, all the people. That's never changed in my experience," he said.

With the new theater, there is "the potential and the possibility of blessing more than twice as many people than we could here," Hess said. "The same vision and mindset and love of live theater" that people love about Orem will translate onto the two stages at The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater.

The Orem theater is so small that "backstage" is actually just the lobby where patrons can buy snacks before finding their seats. The building will become a support system, storage and a costume shop as the company more than doubles its production with the new venue.

Read the full story here.

 

Photo Credit:

SuzyOPhotography (Christmas Carol)

BrightonSloanPhotography (Ragtime)