Draper Arts Council Update

The Draper Arts Council season runs from July through June, to coincide with the Draper City budget cycle. As we approach the end of this season, your Arts Council board is busy planning for the 2013-14 season. Here’s a quick look at the rest of this season, and what we are considering for next.

Damn Yankees. The Pimpernel has now saved Marguerite, and casting is completed for Damn Yankees, under the direction of Susan DeMill, who directed last summer’s Footloose at the Draper Amphitheater. That’s where Yankees will be as well, with performances scheduled for June 21, 22, 24, 28, and 29. This promises to be a spectacular show, with something for everyone, and a little extra for Yankee-haters. Damn Yankees is based on the novel The Year the Yankees Lost the Pennant, and is a setting of a Faust-like deal between an aging baseball fan and the Devil. It features great tunes, like You Gotta Have Heart, Whatever Lola Wants, Shoeless Joe From Hannibal Mo, and “Those Were the Good Old Days.” Reliable sources say that several members of the Arts Council Board will play major roles in this production.

2013-14 Season Our plans for The Secret Garden have gone awry, so we will be moving Broadway Kidz up to the August slot. This will be the 14th Annual production of BK, under the direction of Kevin McClellan and his talented crew. Auditions for BK will be May 17 and 18 at the Draper Amphitheater, and the show will run August 16-26 in that same location.

The Big Band Tribute. For the last two years, the Arts Council has presented a tribute to the Big Band music of the 1930s, ’40s, and ’50s, under the lights and skies of the Draper Amphitheater. These recreations of the old Rainbow Randevu, from downtown Salt Lake, have featured not only the great music, but vocal stars and Lindy-Hoppin’ swing dancers. With the change in other dates, the Council is going to move the BBT up to the weekend after the 4th of July, with performances on Saturday the 6th and Monday the 8th. So dust off your dancin’ shoes, polish up your swing moves, and join is then.

Jekyll and Hyde, The Musical. The postponement of Secret Garden leaves us room for another show, and we have now scheduled the popular musical Jekyll and Hyde for October, at Summit Academy. Liz Edmiston will direct, and more detail on audition and production dates will appear here soon.

Freaky Fridays. Also in October the Arts Council will collaborate with Draper Historic Theatre and Clayton Productions to present a series of scary concerts, using Broadway and popular tunes in honor of Halloween. Clayton Productions will produce these events, and they re looking for singers and dancers already. More information can be found at Clayton’s website, or by calling 801-304-5951.

Classic Melodrama. It’s been a couple of years since we gave Draperites a chance to hiss and boo the villain and cheer the hero in an old-fashioned melodrama. Looking to make amends, we have tentatively scheduled one (probably Showdown at the Rainbow Ranch) for the February-March period of 2014, at the Draper Historic Theater. As usual, we will feature olios and sing-alongs between acts, so watch for this supremely family-friendly production. Auditions may be as early as December, so watch closely.

Broadway Family Favorites. DAC did not present a BFF this season, but we would very much like to bring it back in 2014. This Broadway review offers a marvelous opportunity for Draper’s talented families to perform in short sketches from the most appealing and popular shows of the Great White Way. The tentative schedule is for late March, with auditions some time in January.

Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. The last show of next season is tentatively the classic song-and-dance tale of frontier America, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. It will be staged at the Amphitheater in June, with auditions probably in late March or early April.

This schedule is very tentative, and much can change as time goes by. If you have a reaction to what we are planning, or (even better) a suggestion about what we ought to do, please let us know. Arts Council Board meetings are the second Monday of each month, and citizens are always welcome. There is more detailed information posted on this website prior to the meetings (check the Calendar page), or you can post suggestions via the Contact page.

Updated 2013-05-15

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Updated 2012-07-17