Cache Arts in Logan is holding a centennial celebration for the Ellen Eccles Theatre. The event will highlight the theatre's history and importance to the community.
Wendi Hassan is the executive director of the Cache Valley Center for the Arts, which serves as the management entity for three arts facilities in Logan including the Ellen Eccles Theater.
“So the celebration is a three-day celebration, on the actual three days that the theatre first opened in 1923," Hassan said. "It opened over Easter weekend in 1923 — March 29, 30 and 31 in a three-day celebration that had film, local performances and touring performances."
The first day of the celebration will have local groups such as Cache Valley's American Festival Chorus and Orchestra, Cache Theatre Company, Music Theatre West, Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theatre, Valley Dance Ensemble and Cache Valley Civic Ballet, among others.
In order to celebrate the time that the theatre was strictly a movie house, March 30 will be a movie night. This event will feature the cartoon The Rabbit of Seville, a newsreel and Back to the Future.
The last night of the celebration on March 31 will feature two touring performers, Marc Cohn and Shawn Colvin.
“So you kind of have the beginning with the vaudeville and movies. And then you have the return to live performance element and you have pieces of opera and then pieces of the return," Hassan explained. "So, it's got a bit of a narrative, even within that Wednesday night."
Hassan shared how this theatre has been an important part of the community for years. After the original theatre burnt down, the community came together to build the Ellen Eccles Theatre which opened in 1923.
“So you have a representation of how important the arts are to this community. Specifically with the Ellen Eccles Theatre, the fact that so many people came together to make it happen, that the Thatcher family invested in it, that then the community saved and restored it and that now the community fills it to capacity — that's what makes it so special," Hassan said.
More information about the celebration and the Ellen Eccles Theatre can be found https://www.cachearts.org/centennial.
