May 8, 2000

One of Utah's premiere arts organizations has received a pretigious honor in the world of theater-- "Most outstanding regional theater in America."

Arts Specialst Carole Mikita reports on what this means for the Utah Shakespearean Festival.

Whether comedy or tragedy, every summer fans of the Bard flocked to Southern Utah to breathe the air of Elizabethan England at the Utah Shakespearean Festival. And now it has received the theatre world's highest honor-- a Tony Award.

Fred C. Adams, founder, Utah Shakespearean Festival: "IT'S KIND OF A SEAL OF APPROVAL. IT SAYS TO THE NATION AND LITERALLY TO THE WORLD THAT WHAT WE'RE DOING IS RIGHT, IS GOOD, IS AWARD-WORTHY AND THAT'S VERY, VERY EXCITING."

It all began in 1962, when then theater professor Fred Adams decided he wanted to do Shakespeare on the lawn for a couple of weeks each summer. Audiences sat in folding chairs.

Then the open-air theatre was built section by section, and in less than 40 years, the festival welcomes 150,000 visitors from around the world to a season that has expanded into the fall.

The award will help that, too. It's a coming of age for this festival.

Adams: "WE HAD A PHONE CALL THIS MORNING FROM A THEATRE ORGANIZATION THAT HAD WON THE TONY SEVERAL SEASONS AGO, AND THEY SAID, 'YOU'RE LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME.'"

Adams and company say they plan to capitalize on the impact with promotion and advertising.

Adams: "EVERYONE LIKES TO BE PART OF A WINNING TEAM. AND WE JUST GOT THE TROPHY."

And now members of that team-- actors, costumers, designers and technicians-- will be able to say they work for the Tony award-winning Utah Shakespearean Festival.