After The 39 Steps and Much Ado about Nothing but before Pride and Prejudice and The Greenshow, Jill and I toured the Randall L. Jones Theatre backstage. The building was built completely with private funds. It was named after a former Southern Utah University shop professor whose family donated funds for the theater.
The Festival website states:
The Randall L. Jones Theatre, dedicated in 1989, was designed by the firm of Fowler, Ferguson, Kingston, and Ruben, with theatrical design by the California firm of Landry and Bogan, as well as Cameron Harvey, Festival producing artistic director. It was built at a cost of $5.5 million, to expand the Festival’s offerings, especially in the area of world classics, and was featured in the August 1990 edition of Architecture magazine. The theatre is named after a Cedar City native known as the father of tourism in southern Utah. It seats 769.
On the Backstage Tour we got to see what it really takes to produce a major dramatic production. We learned about theatre sets, costumes, and lighting and the designers and technicians who bring it all to life. Our tour guide was one of the costume technicians and she was able to knowledgeably answer our questions.
Jill asked for permission to take a few photographs and it was granted. Click on the images to enlarge.
Randall Theatre backstage. In the far corner is the set for Great Expectations.
The set for Great Expectations
Randall Theatre trapdoor
Wigs ready for showtime
Leave a Reply