Oh, the drama: Midvale’s two theatres aim to cease duplicate plays

Those in charge of Midvale’s two theatres have resolved to eradicate a bit of a dramatic situation: both theatres have had the same plays running within weeks of one another twice during the past year.

Theater leaders say the duplicate plays were not a deliberate attempt to thwart the other theatre’s business: the double bookings were simply a bizarre coincidence.

The issue is simply a lack of communication -- which hopefully has now been fixedtheatre. Theater leaders have decided to have better communication with one another regarding future production schedules. “Having an open dialogue with Main Street Theater will alleviate us duplicating productions,” said Stephanie Johnson, a producer with the Midvale Arts Council which holds productions in the Midvale Performing Arts Center. The arts council also has performances in the Midvale Outdoor Stage in the Park during the summer.

 “It was never done out of spite,” she added.

Midvale Main Street Theater owner Tammy Ross agreed. “It’s always wise to talk to your neighbor and see what’s going on,” she said.

The two theatres are located almost across the street from one another. In fact, sometimes patrons show up at the “wrong theatre” to see productions.

The Midvale Performing Arts Center, used by the Midvale Arts Council, is at 695 West Center St. (7720 South), Midvale.

Midvale Main Street Theater is at 7711 Main Street, Midvale.

The Midvale Arts Council had “Curious Savage” running in January at the Midvale Performing Arts Center; Midvale Main Street Theater opened “Curious Savage” the week after the other theatre’s play closed.

Midvale Main Street Theater had “All Shook Up” in May. Midvale Arts Council put on “All Shook Up” in July at the Midvale Performing Arts Center.

Ross said she knew Draper City’s theatre was doing “All Shook Up” but had no idea the other theatre in Midvale was doing it.

Johnson said they announced their summer show would be “All Shook Up” and then heard the Midvale Main Street Theater had announced auditions for “All Shook Up.”

“We didn’t know they were producing it and they didn’t know we were producing it,” Johnson said. “But we had already announced it and they had already announced it.”

Ross said Titus Productions, a theatre company that rents out space in her theatre, put on “Curious Savage.”

“We let them (Titus) know another theatre company across the street was doing the same production,” Ross said.

Duplicate plays are actually a common occurrence around the Wasatch Front. For example, Draper City and Hale Center Theater are running “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat” around the same time.

Recently several local communities produced “Hairspray” close to one another. It also happened with “Seussical: the Musical.”

“It’s going to happen,” Johnson said. “These are productions the community is interested in. And our goal, in the Midvale Arts Council, is to provide quality art events for the entire community to enjoy.”

Midvale Arts Council does two theatrical productions per year at the Midvale Performing Arts Center: a spring play and a fall children’s theatre. The summer musical has rehearsals at the center but performs in the park. Pinnacle Acting Company rents the theatre and does up to four theatrical productions annually.

Midvale Main Street Theater has about five productions per year. The theater also rents space to different companies, including Quick Wits comedy on Friday and Saturday nights, directly following the theatre productions.