Desert Star Theater facts for kids
Quick facts for kids |
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Iris Theater, Apartments and Commercial Building
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Desert Star Playhouse resides in the historic Iris Theatre
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 Location in Utah
Location in the United States
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| Location | 4861 South State Street. Murray, Utah |
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| Area | 1.31 acres (0.53 ha) |
| Built | 1930 |
| Architectural style | Art Deco |
| NRHP reference No. | 01000959 |
| Added to NRHP | September 7, 2001 |
The Desert Star Theater is a fun dinner theater in Murray, Utah. It's a place where you can watch funny plays while enjoying a meal. This theater has a long and interesting history, starting as a small silent movie house and growing into the popular place it is today.
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The Theater's Early Days
The story of Desert Star Theater began with a small movie theater called the Gem. This theater showed silent movies, which means there was no talking in the films. Instead, a piano player would play music to go along with the action on screen.
Later, the Gem theater was closed down and taken apart. But a new, bigger theater was built in its place by an owner named Tony Duvall. He called this new theater the Iris Theater. After Tony Duvall retired, the Iris Theater was owned by different people over the years and was eventually renamed the Vista.
A Special Historic Building
The building where the Iris Theater was located, built in 1930, is very important to the history of Murray City. It was special because it combined three things in one place:
- An entertainment spot (the theater)
- Shops for people to buy things
- Apartments where people could live
This kind of building, with many uses, was common as cities grew in the early 1900s. The Duvall family, who owned the Iris Theater, even lived in the apartments above the shops!
The Iris building is also unique because it's the only commercial building in Murray built in the Art Deco style. Art Deco is a cool design style from the 1920s and 1930s, known for its geometric shapes and sleek look. Even though it's not super fancy, the building stands out on State Street in the Murray Downtown Historic District. It's still in good shape and is considered an important historic landmark for the city.
The Iris Theater: A Community Hub
Back in its day, the Iris Theater was considered very modern and advanced. It showed all kinds of movies, from big hits like "Gone with the Wind" to more unusual films. For example, some Thursday nights were set aside for Swedish films, especially for Swedish immigrants who had moved to Murray to work in the smelters (factories that melt metal).
The theater also had a stage where local groups could put on plays. It was truly a community gathering place. Murray firefighters sometimes held their meetings there. Many young people from Murray, including Tony Duvall's own children, worked at the theater. During the Great Depression, a tough economic time, Tony Duvall would sometimes let children watch a movie for free, or in exchange for scrap metal.
Tony Duvall, along with his partner Joe Lawrence, later built another theater called the Murray Theater. In the 1940s, the Iris Theater would close during the summer. People would go to the larger and cooler Murray Theater to watch movies instead.
How Desert Star Theater Began
The Desert Star Theater we know today started when Mike and Alyce Todd decided to put on a play near This Is The Place Heritage Park. This play was the first to show the funny, unique style that Desert Star plays are known for.
After that summer, Mike and Alyce wanted to find an indoor place for their shows. They looked at the closed-down Vista theater (which used to be the Iris). They decided to take it over and renamed it the Desert Star Playhouse.
Renovating for the Future
In 2000, after putting on several successful plays, the city of Murray told the owners that the building needed major repairs to meet safety rules, or it would have to be torn down. The owner at the time wanted to tear it down, but the Todds decided to buy the theater themselves and fix it up.
Today, the Desert Star Playhouse offers both dinner and Cabaret shows. They even perform two different shows in two different theaters at the same time!
What Makes Desert Star Special
Desert Star is famous for its parody plays. These are funny spoofs of classic movies and stories, where they make fun of them in a lighthearted way. They also include funny jokes about politics and often focus on themes related to Utah.
Each show at Desert Star ends with a musical "olio." This is a fun part where the performers dress up in different costumes and sing a mix of songs. It's a lively and entertaining way to end the show!
See also
