Shakespearean lovers flock to Utah for festival

Friday, June 14, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

It took more than challenge and charm to bring the Utah Shakespearean Festival to its 35th year.

Founder Fred Adams remembers all too well that first summer in 1961 when wooden crates served as balconies.

Then the skeptics said Shakespeare wouldn't sell with the Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon and Zion national parks in the back yard.

Here it is 35 years later and Shakespeare lovers flock to Cedar City, Utah, each summer.

"It's always challenging," said Laurie Birmingham, a six-season veteran of the festival and a Cedar City resident. "It's always amazing -- and it always works."

This year's festival offers four Shakespeare plays -- "Henry IV, Part I," "The Comedy of Errors," "The Winter's Tale" and "Macbeth."

Also in this summer's lineup is Alexandre Dumas' "The Three Musketeers" and Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Mikado."

Opening night comes June 24. Ordering tickets is as easy as calling the box office at (800) PLAYTIX. Or write to the Box Office, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Cedar City, UT 84720. Please include alternate dates and an alternate seating request. Personal checks and Visa or Mastercard is accepted. All phone and mail orders must include a $5 postage and handling fee.

The bard has also jumped into cyberspace. The festival's World Wide Web page is: http://www.bard.org. Only Visa and MasterCard are accepted for Internet orders.

Portland, Ore., actor David Ivers, a festival regular for three years, plays swashbuckling swordsman Aramis in "The Three Musketeer."

"It's exhilarating to see new faces and the old faces of highly respected actors from all over the world," he said in the midst of daily rehearsals for the six weeks before the festival opens.

New York City actress Maryann Towne decided to come back for her second year because the festival is anything but routine.

"It's more than just a job, it's a celebration," Towne said.

Before anyone steps into the outdoor Adams Shakespearean Theatre or the Randall L. Jones Theatre, festival officials will unveil a new life-size statue of Shakespeare on the campus of Southern Utah University at 11 a.m. June 24. The statue was donated by the festival.

"The Three Musketeers" opens the festival that same day in a new translation directed by Michael Addison, former California Shakespeare Festival artistic director and a University of San Francisco alumnus. The chandeliers will swing in the Randall Jones for the 2 p.m. matinee.

Moving to the open-air Adams Shakespearean Theatre at 8:30 p.m., "Macbeth" explores the powers gone mad, directed by Robert Cohen and including Birmingham as Lady MacDuff, Francois Giraday as MacDuff and Robert Martini as Macbeth.

"The Mikado" and its tongue-in-cheek peek at bureaucracy takes center stage in the Randall Jones Theatre for the 2 p.m. matinee on June 25, with director Roger Bean following last year's hilarious "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

That night, "Henry IV, Part I," directed by Paul Barnes with Brian Vaughn in the lead as Prince Hal, opens at 8:30 p.m. in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre.

"The Winter's Tale," on a set created by George Maxwell, comes to the Randall Jones Theatre stage at 2 p.m. June 26.

Rounding out the six plays, "The Comedy of Errors" debuts at 8:30 p.m. June 26 in the Adams Shakespearean Theatre, directed by D. Scott Glasser, who directed "Richard III" in 1994.

Glasser has promised to push beyond slapstick in this year's version.

"Henry IV" plays Tuesday and Friday evenings; "Macbeth" on Wednesday and Saturday evenings; "Comedy of Errors" Monday and Thursday evenings and Wednesday and Saturday matinees; "Mikado" Monday and Thursday matinees and Tuesday and Friday indoors at night; "Musketeers" Wednesday and Saturday matinees and Monday and Thursday indoors evenings; "Winter's Tale" Tuesday and Friday matinees and Saturday evenings indoors.

The festival runs until Aug. 31 on and around the campus of Southern Utah University.

To reach Cedar City in three hours, drive north on Interstate 15 from Las Vegas.