Pickleville Playhouse facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Pickleville Playhouse

Address	2049 South Bear Lake Blvd Garden City, Utah USA
Owner	Andrea Davis
Type	Proscenium
Capacity	310
Construction
Opened	1977
Years active	34 years
Architect	LeGrande and Betty Larsen
Website
www.picklevilleplayhouse.com

The Pickleville Playhouse is a fun musical theater located right by Bear Lake in Garden City, Utah, United States. It was started by LeGrande and Betty Larsen. They wanted to create a friendly theater where families could enjoy shows together.

Before Pickleville, the Larsens lived in Driggs, Idaho. LeGrande was a doctor there. They found an old melodrama theater called "Pierre's Playhouse" nearby. This gave them the idea to build their own! In 1976, they moved to Logan, Utah and started planning their theater.

The Pickleville Playhouse got its name from the small town it was once in, Pickelville. Soon after the theater was built, Pickelville became part of Garden City.

Building the Playhouse

Building the theater started in June 1977. LeGrande and Betty Larsen had never built a big building before. But with help from their six sons and one daughter, they got advice from experts and did the rest themselves. They peeled white pine logs by hand and mixed concrete in wheelbarrows.

The seats came from the old Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City, which was being fixed up. The Larsens could only get the seats after the workers went home. So, the family drove two hours in the middle of the night to Salt Lake. They loaded as many chairs as they could into a truck, drove back to Bear Lake, and repeated this until all 320 chairs were moved. Those same seats are still used today!

The family built the theater during the day and rehearsed shows on stage at night. There was no place for the actors and crew to stay. So, they slept in sleeping bags and tents. The Larsens had to work very fast. Their first show was set to open in August, just two and a half months after building began.

Growing the Audience

At first, not many people came to the shows. But as the theater's good reputation spread, more and more people started to visit. Now, the Playhouse performs for full houses from mid-June to early September. They can have up to 13 shows each week!

Pickleville has added more than just summer melodramas. They also perform popular Broadway shows. In December, the cast travels to Logan and Salt Lake City, Utah. There, they put on a special original Pickleville Christmas show. These traveling shows are often called "Pickleville On Tour."

Family Management

The Larsens passed the theater and its operations to their youngest child, Andrea Larsen Davis. Andrea's oldest son, TJ Davis, grew up at the theater. After studying, he joined his mother as a full-time partner. TJ now writes the stories and music for both the summer melodramas and the yearly Christmas shows. His younger brother, Derek, has also written some recent summer productions.

Juanito Bandito Character

The Playhouse has become well-known recently because of a character named Juanito Bandito. He is a funny, Spanglish-speaking, and likable bad guy. TJ Davis created and plays Juanito Bandito. This character, who calls himself "the baddest Spanish villain in history," first appeared in "Chuck Wagon's Wild West Showdown" in 2008.

Juanito Bandito then became the main character in the next seven summer shows. These included "The Hanging of El Bandito" (2009), "Bandito Rides Again" (2010), and "Who Shot Juanito Bandito?" (2011). TJ Davis wrote all these shows, including "Ready, Fire, Aim starring Juanito Bandito."

Past Performances

The Playhouse put on its first melodrama, "The Faithful Footman," in August 1977. Each summer, it performs two main shows: one melodrama and one Broadway show.