Random Acts shows set to light up local holidays

The Major Family Ranch Hands Band will be among the featured performers in a new round of Random Acts shows at the Ellen Eccles Theatre from Dec. 2 through Dec. 23.

LOGAN – The Cache Valley Center for the Arts has announced the line up for a second round of live productions in its successful Random Acts Community Performance Series.

Over the summer months, CacheARTS teamed with local artists to stage low-key events at the Ellen Eccles Theatre that kept Cache Valley’s performing arts culture alive during the coronavirus pandemic.

CacheARTS director Wendi Hassan says that a similar initiative is needed now because so many traditional holiday season events have been cancelled under the current threat of heightened COVID-19 infection rates.

“These COVID-compliant, bootstrapped performances,” Hassan explains, “will support local and regional artists while mastering safe gathering protocols and building audience confidence in returning to live performances.

The new Random Acts series will lead off with on Dec. 2 with an “Evening of Christmas Music” performed by Danielle Dee Smith, Lisa Benson, Jon Martinez and Benjamin Gate. This show will feature varied arrangements of Christmas tunes performed by vocalists and on piano and violin.

On Dec. 4 and 5, talented vocalists from Music Theatre West will perform a concert version of the bluegrass musical “Bright Star.” This show will highlight the refreshingly down-home score of the Broadway hit by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell.

The “Cache Valley Good Times Marching Band” will make its Eccles Theatre debut on Dec. 11. This show promises energetic, wholesome, toe-tapping fun as the band performs traditional American marches with a twist.

On Dec. 12, local student thespians will offer “Logan High School Presents,” showcasing performances from their musical theater productions past and present.

A “Cowboy Christmas” will come to the Eccles stage on Dec. 14, with the Major Family Ranch Hands Band performing old and new Christmas tunes with a western flavor.

On Dec. 17, the high school alternate rock band “Mjolk” will perform music ranging stylistically from rock to indie.

An evening of nostalgia is slated for Dec. 18, when the Benson Sisters offer “A 1940’s Holiday.” This show will recapture the Big Band sounds of high-spirited USO entertainers of the World War II era.

Finally, on Dec. 23, New York City performers Katie Fay Francis and Scott Fuss will celebrate “Our First Christmas” as husband and wife with lively versions of beloved Christmas melodies. Ms. Francis is well known locally as a leading lady in previous Lyric Repertory Theatre productions.

All of the Random Acts performances are scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m., with ticket prices ranging from $7 to $12.

Hassan says that the Random Acts performances will fully comply with current state guidelines for organized public gatherings.

“We’re requiring masks, screening temperatures, spacing households six-feet apart, providing hand sanitizer, cleaning high-touch surfaces and disinfecting the air,” she adds.

This second round of events in the Random Acts Community Performance Series, Hassan explains, is being subsized by grants from the “Create in Utah” program are provided through the federal CARES Act by the Utah Legislature and administered by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums.

That funding is intended to help Utahns return to enjoying a high quality of life by providing access to culturally enriching events in the midst of the ongoing pandemic.

 

 

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