About OLRC
The Old Lyric Repertory Company (OLRC) is a professional theatre group founded in 1967 by Cache Valley theatre patron W. Vosco Call. The company is one of the only remaining regional theatre companies that produces four shows in repertory through the summer months of June, July and August. Productions consist of a farce, a musical, a drama and a mystery.
Besides being a professional theatre company, the OLRC is also a training ground for advanced theatre students of Utah State University, which maintains a close tie with the company. The OLRC traditionally imports professional actors from California, Utah, New York, among other locations, and provides opportunities for Utah State Theatre students to hone skills under a fast-paced theatre atmosphere.
The Salt Lake Tribune calls the Old Lyric Repertory Company "one of the best-kept secrets of Utah's theater scene."
The Old Lyric Repertory Company performs in the historic Caine Lyric Theatre in downtown Logan. It is headed by Artistic Director Colin Johnson.
About the Caine Lyric Theatre
The Thatcher family built and opened the Lyric Theatre following the Thatcher Opera House fire in 1913. The opera house was located on the second floor of the bank building on the corner of Center Street and Main Street a few doors to the east. It burned on the same day as the sinking of the Titanic.
Newly restored and expanded in the summer of 2000, "The Crown Jewel of Center Street," opened to the public with a performance of
Peg O' My Heart, and was renamed the Caine Lyric Theatre. The restoration and expansion included a new lobby/reception area, restrooms, storage space, green room, dressing rooms and gallery. The theatre celebrates a history of more than 150 productions and more than 1200 performances since the original opening of the theatre.
Fast Facts about the Caine Lyric
The Caine Lyric is a jewel-box proscenium theatre seating 364, and is billed as "The Showplace" of northern Utah.
The proscenium arch coat-of-arms includes England, Holland, Denmark, Spain, Germany and Sweden. The top of the arch is crowned with the heraldic shield of the United States.
In the years following WWII, the theatre fell on hard times, was closed and fell into disrepair. From the late 1940s to 1961, the theatre was used as a movie house, a venue for art shows, a warehouse and was briefly considered for demolition to allow for the construction of a bowling alley.
The theatre is thought to be haunted by a ghost named Everett. Everett played the second gravedigger in the original production of
Hamlet and was getting more laughs in the famous clown scene than the first gravedigger, who reportedly became wildly jealous, as his was the larger part. It was later reported that Everett did not show for subsequent performances and the first gravedigger had a fresh, new skull for the grave scene. Everett now haunts the theatre, and is known to prowl the catwalks late at night, calling out to actors as they rehearse or to technicians as they hang lights. He is also fond of sitting in the house right loge seat. If you're quiet, his presence is made known by watching the house right rear chandelier. It sways, continually reminding patrons he was wronged by a lousy actor.
The theatre contains one of the last original rope, clue, and sandbag fly systems in the region.
The green room. Theatres used to burn gaslights on stage; when actors walked off stage, a room that was painted in all green helped soften the effect on their eyes. At least, that is one story.