The Ellen Eccles Theatre is an entertainment venue located in

Logan, Utah Logan is a city in Cache County, Utah, United States. The 2020 census recorded the population was 52,778. Logan is the county seat of Cache County and the principal city of the Logan metropolitan area, which includes Cache County and Franklin ...

. The theatre, which seats approximately 1100, is used for concerts, community theatre, ballet performances, and film showings. It has also become a stop for many national touring acts each year. It also hosts performances by the Utah Festival Opera Company during summers and year-round performances by the Cache Valley Civic Ballet, Music Theatre West, Valley Dance Ensemble, Cache Theatre Company, and Utah State University performing groups.

History

The theatre was built in 1923. Then known as the Capitol Theatre, hosted

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

performance. As vaudeville became less popular, the theatre became used primarily for community events and, increasingly, movies. By the 1980s, the Capitol had fallen into disrepair and become a run-down home for second-run movies. In 1988, it seemed likely that the Capitol would be demolished and turned into a parking lot.

Michael Ballam Michael Lynn Ballam (born August 21, 1951) is an American opera singer, educator, and arts administrator. He is the founding general director of Utah Festival Opera and a professor of music at Utah State University. He has served on the faculty ...

, an opera singer and professor at

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

, led the charge to save and restore the theatre. His efforts led to the city of Logan receiving the theatre as a gift from S. Eugene Needham, and a not-for-profit organization was formed to renovate and operate it, now known as the Cache Valley Center for the Arts. This restoration effort was delayed in 1990 when fire destroyed much of the theater's annex. However, work continued, and the house, christened the Ellen Eccles Theatre after the family member of one of the principal philanthropists, opened to a gala performance on January 8, 1993.

References

External links

Cache Valley Center for the ArtsCache Theatre Company
{{Authority control Theatres in Utah Buildings and structures in Logan, Utah Theatres completed in 1923 Tourist attractions in Cache County, Utah 1923 establishments in Utah