THEATER TO REOPEN WITH A VARIETY OF CONCERTS, DRAMA

The Broadway Stage Theatre, closed earlier this year by former proprietor William Sargent, will come back to life next week as the Broadway Family Theatre.

The theater, located at 272 S. Main, will be used for a variety of performance events - concerts, recitals and drama - as well as a recording studio and classroom space for Dan Whitley's School of Music, based in Sandy.Whitley's partners in the new endeavor, which he sees as another alternative for those seeking wholesome, LDS Church-oriented entertainment, are local playwright J. Omar Hansen, lighting/

sound technician Morey Day and executive producer Gary Evans.

The 16-track, 24-channel recording and sound system from Studio B of Whitley's music school will be moved into the theater, which will become a full-service facility for audio and video recording.

The theater will reopen with a "homecoming" concert by the Whitley school's Pacesetters, a group of nine youngsters who recently returned from a concert tour to Disneyland and Knott's Berry Farm.

Other events scheduled during the next few weeks include hypnotist Don Spencer, three nights of concerts by Rocky Mountain Thunder, a Labor Day concert by blind pianist Mark Seamons (whose new age jazz is reminiscent of the sounds of George Shearing and Earl Garner), two religious cantatas and an original Christmas production.

The theater's general policy will be: all seats $10 each (except for the opening show), with group rate discounts for those ordering tickets in advance. All performances will begin at 7:30 p.m.

For reservations or further information, call the theater at 364-2705 or Bonwhit Studios at 561-7377.

Dates for these shows are:

- Thursday, Aug. 26: Pacesetters in concert. (Music student recital at 7:30 p.m. followed by the Pacesetters at 8:30.) All seats $5, tickets available at the door.

- Wednesday, Sept. 1: Don Spencer, hypnotist.

- Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 2-4: Rocky Mountain Thunder, Whitley's bluegrass-country group. All seats $10 (discount group rates available in advance).

- Monday, Sept. 6: Mark Seamons in concert.

- Friday-Saturday, Sept. 24-25: Michael Webb in concert.

- Weekends, Oct. 1-Nov. 27: "And When We Gather," a cantata based on the lives of Joseph and Emma Smith, alternating with "Jesus Is the Christ," based on the four Gospels and written by Craig McDougal. (The Saturday performance during LDS Church general conference weekend will start at 8:30 instead of 7:30 p.m.)

- Nightly, Dec. 1-31: "The Christmas Stranger," a musical production inspired by Dan and Bonnie's son Daniel Clarke Whitley, who died of cancer. First performed last season at the Draper Theater and featuring the Goodman Family, it will be presented Mondays-Saturdays with two alternating casts - the Goodmans some nights and a second cast on others.