The Utah Shakespeare Festival has announced its largest gift in the theater company's history. The $5 million gift from the Engelstad Family Foundation of Las Vegas will go toward the proposed construction of a new theater.
Festival executive director R. Scott Phillips says the gift puts the project closer to groundbreaking by the end of 2013. Funding for the proposed $25.5 million facility now sits at about $24 million.
The new theater will feature a retractable roof that will enable the festival to extend its season, beginning earlier and ending later than the current facilities allow.
The 51-year-old Utah Shakespeare Festival won a Tony Award in 2000 and an Emmy Award in 2011.
