Landmark Auditorium at Old South High Will Have a Regal Reopening with 'Camelot'

Salt Lake Community College has carefully restored the 61-year-old South High School and transformed it into the South City Campus.

The centerpiece is the 1,700-seat auditorium, "with its intricate tilework, delicately carved moldings and craftsmanship that was prevalent during the 1930s." Improvements include "air conditioning, state-of-the-art computerized lighting and new sound equipment, especially designed to take advantage of the theater's excellent acoustics." Backstage are enlarged dressing rooms and a newly expanded area for costume storage and scenery construction. The two-story-high walls of a little storage area just off the south side of the stage remained untouched because of the autographs from South High students who performed there in years past.

Pat Davis, coordinator and artistic director for the college's Salt Lake Community Arts Center activities, explained how the theater received it's name. "Someone was visiting the auditorium recently and commented, 'What a grand theater!'"

Artists carefully restored the hand-painted floral designs over the doorways leading into the auditorium from the marble-floored foyer. A new box office has been installed for convenient ticket sales.

The curtain-raiser grand production will be two weeks of Robert Peterson and Carol Nelson in Lerner & Loewe's "Camelot."