{"id":929,"date":"2011-03-03T18:20:49","date_gmt":"2011-03-04T01:20:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/?page_id=929"},"modified":"2026-03-02T21:31:47","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T04:31:47","slug":"lagoon-opera-house","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/lagoonhistory.com\/project\/attractions\/lagoon-opera-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Lagoon Opera House"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Opened: 30 May 1968
Closed: Aug 1989
Location: Opera House Square<\/a>
Cost: $100,000
Seating Capacity: 300<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 19th century America, opera houses were common in the many fledgling towns that were being established as the United States grew and spread out. Most of these towns were isolated from each other and far from major cities where theater was prominent. There were very few options for entertainment, unlike today when movies can be distributed to theaters or streamed online. Instead, acting troupes, performers and lecturers would travel throughout the country, bringing exposure to the arts, philosophy, science and more. In some cases, an opera house would even be used for public meetings if no other facilities were available to house all of the citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lagoon’s Opera House was the idea of former park manager Robert (Bob) Freed as an alternative form of entertainment at a time when concerts at the park were coming to an end. The Midway expanded northward in 1965 and a spot for the Opera House was planned east of the new Bamberger Fountain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, Bob & his brother Peter considered relocating an old church they had found, but later decided it would be better to start from scratch. Bob turned the planning and design of the opera house and surrounding square over to Peter, a self-proclaimed “amateur landscape architect”. Peter later recalled the experience as one of the most fun things he had done in his life. The square was based on a typical New England town square from the turn of the 20th century. One similarly shaped opera house that could’ve provided some inspiration is the Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Goodspeed Opera House in Connecticut. Photo: Goodspeed.org<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Many authentic furnishings were collected from around the country to decorate the interior. Bronze lighting fixtures came from the old Metropolitan Club in New York City. An elevator cage was salvaged from the recently demolished Healy Hotel in Ogden and transformed into the theater\u2019s box office. The marble and molded metal ceiling in the lobby also came from the Healy. The chandelier in the lobby once hung in a mansion on 5th Avenue in New York City and the large chandelier in the theater was from the legendary Salt Lake Theatre. Seats came from many different old theaters including one in Wyoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Lobby of the Opera House. A repurposed elevator cage was used for the ticket booth in the center.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Features common in a turn of the century opera house were included inside. A small balcony, accessed by stairs in the lobby, looked over the hall and box seats were perched above a stage lined with footlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Interior of the Lagoon Opera House.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To produce the shows, Bob approached a long-time friend and former business partner. Robert Hyde Wilson was a director, playwright and drama professor at the University of Utah. Thirty years earlier, they established The Playbox – a small theater in Salt Lake City. Wilson was appointed by Bob to be impresario, or producer and together they founded the Lagoon Opera House. Wilson directed 32 plays at the Opera House over a period of 13 years, most of which (if not all) showcased University Of Utah drama students.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robert Hyde Wilson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tickets for the grand opening on 30 May 1968 were sold out for a 19th century melodrama entitled Poor Of New York<\/em>. The small venue became a popular place for theater on the Wasatch Front and generally featured three different productions for about a month at a time each season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Robert E. Freed Award, designed by Robert Hyde Wilson in 1975.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After Bob Freed’s untimely passing in 1974, Wilson created the Robert E. Freed Award in his honor. It was given each year to one or two members of the company “making the greatest contribution to the season”. One of the first awardees was Anne Rowe, who had appeared in plays at the Opera House many seasons and had become a favorite among fans. Ron Van Woerden, another awardee was also an assistant to Wilson and later became Lagoon’s entertainment director. His voice can still be heard in a recording about the Carousel that plays during the ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1978 Opera House cast members.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On Sundays, employees who were members of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints were allowed to use the Opera House for sacrament meetings. Bob, who was not a member of the church, felt they should still be able to attend their church meetings if they had to work on Sunday, so they were given a half-hour paid break to do so. J. Clark Robinson, a member of Lagoon’s management was also a bishop in Farmington and took turns leading the meetings with another area bishop. When Pioneer Village opened, the meetings were moved to the Coalville Chapel until they were discontinued.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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View from the stage inside the Opera House. Photo: Kaysville Weekly Reflex<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In 1983, the usual three-shows-per-summer format was done away with and one show was featured for the entire season. It was in that same year that an orchestra pit was added, the stage was renovated and a new sound system was installed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Robert Hyde Wilson retired in the early ’80s and Lagoon began leasing out the Opera House to outside production companies. In 1989, it was leased to JPB International Events for a toned-down version of Little Shop Of Horrors<\/em>. It was directed by Salt Lake Acting Company founder Ed Gryska. The show’s producer, Jeffry Belnap, also produced shows for Disney theme parks, Knott’s Berry Farm and others.\u00b9 Despite pleased audiences, good reviews and the work of Belnap himself talking to crowds around the park and offering discounted tickets, the show closed two weeks early. As Belnap discussed the problem with Deseret News<\/em> theater writer, Ivan M. Lincoln, he suggested that Lagoon might look into using the Opera House for the kind of musical revues that were popular in the Lagoon Music Theater at the time. He later explained that groups like Bountiful Community Theater and the Hale Family “had moved into the city, so Lagoon was not the focus that it had been during the Wilson era”. Recently, Jeffry Belnap recalled, “It was very satisfying to hear from one of the Freed brothers say this show – Little Shop<\/em> – was on par with the best ever produced there.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As Ed Gryska of the Salt Lake Acting Company once said, “You don’t go into regional or community theater to turn a profit. You do it for the love of theater, the love of art, and you work like crazy not to lose too much money.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Opera House never reopened after the 1989 season, even though the possibility of using it again has been mentioned from time to time\u00b2. The building remained in use for employee orientations and entertainment auditions, but now it’s mostly utilized for rehearsals and storage. In 2005, the lobby was used for the Madame Nitrous fortune teller attraction during Frightmares. Other than that, the building has been closed to park guests since 1989.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Opera House during Frightmares, 2005. Photo: B. Miskin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Today, the building invokes curiosity for those who were never able to watch a show inside, while reminding thousands of others of the good times had within.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Years after it closed, former Lagoon general manager J. Clark Robinson said, “While the Opera House never paid for itself in ticket sales, it and the whole square gave Lagoon an image that is still worthwhile”. Although its now been closed longer than it was open, the building still receives periodical upgrades. From fall 2016 to spring 2017, the exterior was repainted and the wooden shingles on the roof were pressure washed and re-stained. At that time the old Opera House sign on the front was removed. The front steps were torn out and rebuilt toward the end of the 2017 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Opera House, circa 1991. Photo courtesy of Lagoon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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GALLERY<\/h5>\n\n\n