Many are questioning necessity of Salt Lake theater

To build or not to build? That still seems to be the question.

With Salt Lake City's announcement that officials have chosen a location for the new 2,400 seat Broadway-style theater, the local theater heavyweights are weighing in — but not about the location on Regent and Main streets in downtown Salt Lake City.

What keeps coming up is this: Does Salt Lake City need it and can the theatergoing crowd sustain another local venue?

John Caywood, operations and facilities manager at Kingsbury Hall — one venue likely to be hit hard — jumped at the chance to comment.

"If you pull Broadway out of Kingsbury Hall and out of the Capitol Theatre, then neither will be able to operate without additional funding. If you look at last year, Kingsbury stands to lose $390,000. Eventually, you'll have three downtown theaters that are financially unstable."

With a season program that is a mix of Broadway touring shows plus those with acclaimed performing artists in music, theater and dance, Kingsbury often goes head-to-head with Capitol Theatre — the main venue for the Broadway in Utah series as well as home to Ballet West and the Utah Opera.

"Our big question would be scheduling," said John Roake, marketing director for Ballet West. "There are times we could use the theater for our bigger productions, like 'The Nutcracker.' Would we get to use the space?"

Other city ballet companies, according to Roake, have faced similar issues. "Some cities have brought the Rockettes to town to run at the same time, and that can have a serious financial impact on our 'Nutcracker,"' he said, mentioning that Salt Lake audiences have always been "very supportive" of the Christmas classic.

"There are some pretty significant impacts that aren't being taken seriously — as far as what it would do to Capitol Theatre and Kingsbury Hall," Plan-B Theatre Company producing director Jerry Rapier said.

Since Plan-B's focus is on original work, Rapier isn't concerned about the effect of his own company. "I think one good arts experience breeds another. There are so many arts-loving people here and more options isn't bad in that regard.

"But I do think that building a venue that cannot be used regularly for any other organization, only touring shows, and it sits empty the rest of the time — who bears the cost of that?"

Numbers, more than selection of a location, seem to be the focus: Number of seats, the number of patrons and the number that has a dollar sign in front.