Performing arts center opens in Davis

CENTERVILLE — Located in a strip mall, somewhere between Dick's market and an old Deseret Industries, sat an unassuming community theater known, most recently, as Rodgers Memorial Theatre.

Despite its low ceilings, uncomfortable chairs and lack of much-needed space, the theater became a mainstay of family-friendly community theater.

But what a difference a couple of decades make.

Saturday night Rodgers opened its first show as the resident company of a brand new, 60,000-square-foot state-of-the-art theater complex: Davis Center for the Performing Arts.

"Coming into the old Rodgers, people would walk into the old strip mall and think, 'Oh gosh,' but they'd leave saying, 'For being a tiny hole-in-the-wall, that was a pretty darned good production,' " said Scott VanDyke, a longtime board member and DCPA designer. "This new facility has everything we wanted. People are going to walk in and go, 'This is a beautiful facility; I expect Broadway levels,' " he said. "Our patrons expectations have gone up with the facility, and so have ours."

Construction took a bit longer than expected, but thanks to countless staff and volunteers, the theater began hosting open houses and tours for the public, with last night's ribbon cutting — more a musical song and dance homage to theater — happening right on schedule.

The theater has a 500-seat main stage, plus a smaller black-box theater that can be configured differently, seating up to 200.

"People really loved the intimacy of our old space, so we wanted to make sure we kept that," VanDyke said. "We've doubled our seating, but the back wall is only about 10 feet further back from Rodgers; it's about the same depth."

Where patrons will notice a difference is in the theater's layout. Gone are the sideways seating, outdated sound system and inadequate restrooms. DCPA boasts double the seating capacity (from 250 to 516 seats), new sound system and plenty of bathroom stalls.

"There are restrooms on both floors. We designed it so that the men are one side and the women are on the other," VanDyke said. "That was if there really is a rush, the ladies have a place to line up."

The added stage space will allow the company to do bigger musicals. "We finally have the fly system we always wanted," VanDyke said of the added overhead room rigged with the system allowing the theater to fly in scenery, even people.