Lyric Repertory’s holiday show slated to move to Ellen Eccles Theatre

Due to concerns about the weight of snow pack on the roof of the historic Caine Lyric Theatre in downtown Logan, the Lyric Repertory Company's holiday production of 'A Christmas Carol' has been moved to the nearby Ellen Eccles Theatre.

LOGAN — The Lyric Repertory Company’s holiday presentation of A Christmas Carol will be staged in the Ellen Eccles Theatre in downtown Logan rather than around the corner as usual in the Caine Lyric Theatre.

That change of venue isn’t because the repertory company wanted a bigger theater, just a safer one.

“Essentially, the roof (of the Caine Lyric Theatre) is no longer rated as safe enough to hold a snow pack,” explains Richie Call, an associate professor of acting at Utah State University and artistic director of the Lyric Repertory Company.

We’ve been told we can’t use the building during any month we expect snow fall,” he adds. “So far, we’re cleared to use it through the summer months.”

Prior to 2021, the repertory company only performed during the summer months of June and July, so the theater’s structural integrity posed no problems. But last year the Lyric folks began to move toward their long-cherished dream of performing year-round by staging their first holiday show ever.

That show was a local adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic A Christmas Carol penned by the late USU theater professor and Lyric legend Sid Perkes.

The revival of that show, created in 1991, was so warmly received by local audiences that the Lyric Rep folks decided to make it an annual event.

That’s when the roof caved in, figuratively speaking.

The Caine Lyric Theatre has been a landmark in downtown Logan since 1913. Located at 28 West Center Street, the theater has hosted more than 200 productions and half a million patrons in the past 109 years.

Originally intended for vaudeville shows and live plays, the Lyric eventually became a movie theater and fell into disrepair following World War II.

After the Thatcher family donated the theater to USU in 1959, it was restored and reopened in 1961 under the USU Theatre Arts Department.

In 1967, the Caine Lyric Theatre became the home of the Lyric Repertory Company, founded by Perkes and the late Vosco Call, the fathers of USU’s modern theatre program.

Another remodel of the auditorium section of the theater was undertaken in the late 1990s, but the backstage area was still a relic of the original 1913 construction project.

When the USU Facilities Department began looking into renovating the backstage area earlier this year, they determined that it would not be safe to operate out of the theater during the winter season.

The Theatre Arts Department at USU is now erring on the side of caution by closing the Caine Lyric Theatre during the winter months, according to Nicholas Morrison, the interim dean of the Caine College of the Arts.

Luckily, Call says, the Ellen Eccles Theatre was able to accommodate the movement of the Lyric Rep’s production of A Christmas Carol to that venue.

Perkes’ acclaimed adaptation of A Christmas Carol will be performed from Monday, Dec. 12 to through Friday, Dec. 16 at 7:00 pm.

Tickets can be purchased online at https://www.cachearts.org

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