Our Story

The Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater is proudly named for two of our original founders, and is part of a multi-generational theatrical legacy that includes six theaters across three states. 

The Legacy of Ruth and Nathan Hale

Hale Center Theater Orem

In 1990 Ruth Hale got a “bee in her bonnet” and decided that she wanted to open her next theater in Orem Utah.  Nathan, who was always there to make her unique ideas a reality, agreed and the Hale Center Theater Orem had begun.  Ruth and Nate asked their youngest son Cody Hale and his wife Linda and their grandson Cody Swenson and his (almost) wife Anne to join them take this new theater into the next in making dream a reality   They located a building at 225 W 400 N in Orem which they purchased by assuming its mortgage and trading the remainder for an apartment building that they owned in Provo.  Amazingly, that odd building would house over 3 million theater patrons in its 35 year life as the Hale Center Theater Orem. 

Upstairs, the building would also house the newly married Swensons for three years and downstairs it would house “Grandma” and “Grandpa” Hale.  When the theater began, Ruth and Nate lived in Taylorsville with their daughter Sally Hale Swenson’s family but whenever they were in a show, they stayed in their studio apartment in the theater’s basement.   It was normal to hear Ruth tossing her bags down he back stairs (with little regard to the fact that to others, it sounded like SHE was tumbling down the back stairs) and to smell Nate’s bacon in the morning. 

During these early years, the theater mostly produced Ruth and Nate’s original comedies starring Hale family members joined by remarkably talented local actors.   It wasn’t long before the shows were selling out and patrons were buying season tickets.   When the theater opened tickets cost $3.50 on Mondays, $4.50 on Thursdays and $5.00 on weekends! 

The years that followed were filled with pockets that were always tight, increasingly phenomenal productions and hundreds and hundreds of talented performers, artists and employees who quickly became friends and eventually became “family.” The tiny 300 seat theater eventually grew a loyal patron base that welcomed 100,000 visitors each year who were enchanted by the intimate and heartfelt storytelling that took place on the cozy center stage. 

In it was over 30 years before a new home was finally found for the space, located on the doTERRA campus is Pleasant Grove, Utah. Ground was broken in November of 2022, launching a rapid two year construction period, culminating in the completion of the beautiful Ruth and Nathan Hale Theater, which proudly opened it's doors on January 4, 2025.