Benefit show Friday for S. Utah arts center

A benefit performance of the Bumbleberry Playhouse's musical revue, "Twist the Night Away," is scheduled Friday in Springdale, with proceeds going toward the newly planned Southern Utah Arts Center.

All tickets are $50 per person, including hors d'oeuvres and two complimentary tickets to next season's production, "Lost on Route 66."

According to Rhett Thomas, producer of "Twist the Night Away," it is planned that the current Bumbleberry Playhouse site will be replaced by the new arts center, which will include a Native American Performing Arts and Cultural Center, where tribes from throughout North and South America will be represented in a musical production to be called "Through Our Eyes."

Thomas expects the new complex, which will include space for ongoing demonstrations and displays of Native American crafts and lifestyles, will be constructed over the next five to 10 years. The new theater should be in place by 2010, with the villages finished by 2012. There will also be a smaller Studio Theater where the Bumbleberry Playhouse revues will continue to be produced.

Thomas envisions Branson, Mo.-style revues augmenting the North American cultural events. "We feel that our main focus is to reflect the land that surrounds us in Zion National Park" and southern Utah, he said in a press release last week.

Following its final Springdale performance on Friday, "Twist the Night Away" will tour to venues throughout the Western states as part of the fund-raising efforts. Goals and plans for the cultural arts complex will be outlined during the Friday evening fund-raiser (435-772-3611).