Concert Season at Casino Star Theatre

Boasting its most spectacular performance season yet, the Casino Star Theatre Foundation is proud to announce the outstanding musicians and actors who have agreed to perform at the Casino Star Theatre or Gunnison Valley High School Auditorium during the 2011-2012 season.

On Thursday, September 1, the Red Desert Ramblers, will play Bluegrass, Classic Country and Swing music on our 99-year-old stage. The Salt Lake Tribune says, "When it comes to locally produced bluegrass bands, it’s hard to do better.” This group has been honored by the International Bluegrass Music Association by being the first Utah Band (with the first hammered dulcimer player) to EVER be hired for an IBMA performance.

Singer-songwriter Mary Kaye will show us, on Thursday, October 6, why she won the enviable 2010 Outstanding Vocalist Award from the Western Music Association. Honing her songwriting and vocal skills making songs for her children, Manti resident Mary Kaye, now riding high in the professional world, is happy to have a gig close to home.

Hosted by the Casino Star, the internationally renowned Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company will perform at Gunnison Valley High School on Tuesday, November 1. During the week of their visit, the dancers will bring dance alive for South Sanpete District students. We are fortunate to have them dance for us in their 50th-anniversary year.

Friday, December 2, the Casino Star will introduce the Christmas season with a one-man show based on Charles Dickens’s magical short novel, A Christmas Carol. Kellen Baker, Las Vegas actor, will perform all 37 characters in a magical, heart-warming rendition of the perennial favorite where generosity and love win out over “Bah! Humbug!” Kellen’s father, Doug Baker, who created the role of Merlin in the Tournament of Kings at the Excalibur, will provide lighting and sound effects.

Sometime around Valentine’s Day, February 10th or 17th, 2012, Lark & Spur, whom you will remember from their brilliant concert of Christmas music last season, will sing love songs in honor of the most romantic holiday of the year. Beginning their careers singing in the subways of Paris, Jeff and Lori, along with their cadre of musical geniuses, bring love to the fore, whether requited, unrequited, frustrated or fulfilled. This will be a great date with that special someone—whether young, old, or somewhere in between.

And finally, the Utah Shakespeare Festival touring production of Shakespeare’s fanciful A Midsummer Night’s Dream, will unfold on the stage of Gunnison Valley High School on March 8, 2012. The favorite Shakespeare play of Festival Founder Fred C. Adams, this play of magic, woodland fairies, and bumbling fools is sure to delight everyone who sees it.

Suggested donations for all six of these productions are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors and students. All proceeds ensure the excellence of our offerings and the continued restoration of Gunnison’s absolutely unique historical treasure. Season prices are $55 for adults and $39 for seniors and student. For season tickets call Diana Spencer at 435-979-2798.