Plan would revive old Utah Theatre

If this were a stage production, the title might be "A Tale of Two Theaters."

The Utah Theatre sits at 148 S. Main, a neglected waif. Once a showcase theater, the 82-year-old facility has been closed down and boarded up for years.

Around the corner, at 50 W. 200 South, the 91-year-old Capitol Theatre is continually filled with a variety of performing arts — Ballet West, Utah Opera and national touring Broadway shows. Filled to capacity — which it often is — the Capitol seats 1,881 patrons.

Owners of the Utah Theatre hope to rescue the once palatial site of theater and vaudeville. But a grand future will come at a grand price of somewhere between $30 million and $50 million. Clear Channel, the huge communication/entertainment company that has a national theater management division, won't underwrite the renovation but has announced it would pay to help operate the new theater. Exactly how the remodeling would be paid for and whether it's even a good idea is subject to debate.

The Capitol Theatre, Abravanel Hall and Rose Wagner Center are all county facilities, and some county leaders fear a new venue would wind up cannibalizing attendance from them.

The county's involvement at this point "is one of watching and waiting and seeing," Ted Phillips, Mayor Nancy Workman's spokesman, said Thursday. "At this time it's all in the discussion stages, and some serious impact and budget studies need to be conducted."

Workman has concentrated on keeping tax rates flat, and the venue's price tag would obviously have an impact on that. If the theater is in fact renovated, the plan would be to eventually turn it over to the county as another county arts facility.

County Councilman Randy Horiuchi, however, the Utah Theatre's biggest champion within the county, believes its time has come. While he concedes attendance at county arts facilities has been declining, the Utah Theatre would attract a different audience — with Broadway shows — than the ongoing symphony/opera/drama fare.

"It's a huge economic development tool, and it's great fun, too," he said. "It's hard for me to believe that people would not want something so outstanding. Yeah, it is a lot of money, but I look at it as an investment."

Horiuchi noted that touring productions of "Mamma Mia," "Les Miserables" and "Phantom of the Opera," among others, have been completely sold out, with almost half of the tickets being sold to people living outside of the Salt Lake Valley.

"This is something that people come to who don't usually come to the arts things," he said. "It has such broad appeal. They are two separate audiences."