“Dream a Dream” at Tuacahn’s Red Rock Amphitheatre
I have frequently told my wife that any art form you think about for multiple days is achieving its intended purpose.
My wife and I recently drove down to Southern Utah for a Juneteenth getaway and I could not stop telling her that I thought the red cliffs looked like a live painting (not to mention my frequent references to Radiator Springs from Cars). She was probably sick of my repetitive requests to take a selfie with the sun setting behind the solid red giants.
The ultimate irony—however—was that in one of our many conversations while driving, I told Brooklynn that St. George city was fun and all, but I thought it was dry and somewhat boring to look at… Perhaps it was because I was only focusing on what the red rocks were containing—and don’t get me wrong, St. George really is fascinating and historically sound in almost every way, but I had pessimistically seen it as just another city. That was, until I realized that this unprecedented landmark was more than just a desert full of settlements—it was a settlement embracing the desert beauty. But what opened my eyes? Two words: Tuacahn Amphitheatre.
Nestled comfortably between Ivins City and Snow Canyon State Park, there stands an impressive (and I mean REALLY impressive) outdoor theatre showing cutting edge performances and welcoming its guests with open arms—and I mean: literally.
As young parents, we were naturally struggling to find a babysitter so far away from home, but we soon learned about the “Showcare” Tuacahn offers its audience. Of course, we were hesitant at first to leave our baby with strangers for three hours, but our fears soon melted away as the careworkers asked us exactly what they could do for our son to help him before he went down for bed in their baby-cam monitored room. They gave us clear instructions on where to find a private monitor in the plaza where we could check on him at any time and walked us through what they would do if they needed to contact us for any reason.
I hadn’t even seen the performance yet and I was already blown away by the careful planning and smooth operations of the establishment. In fact, as we walked through the anti-heat misters in the plaza and found our seats a few feet from the outdoor stage, my expectations had only grown higher, and I must say: they were more than exceeded.
Before we knew it, the much-anticipated show, Les Misérables, had begun.
As the back wall of the stage opened up (like the lid of a treasure chest revealing its valuables), and the massive red cliff loomed over the cast pickaxing other red mounds of rock, I could not help but picture the first time I had ever watched Les Misérables. I vividly remember watching it on tv as my swollen leg rested on a chair off to the side of the couch. I had just undergone a surgery and a film wasn’t enough to take my mind off the pain. The entire experience was quite off-putting—to say the least.
So, flash forward to Captain Javert riding a real warhorse and a few slaves getting crushed by toppling wagons, and even if I just had surgery, I would not have been able to sulk about it.
For, to my amazement, the show continued to one-up itself. With a live orchestra literally nestled in the heart of the red rocks, other livestock parading the stage, gunshots, live explosions, and cast members appearing out of thin air, I was easily persuaded that I was “dreaming a dream” (as Fantine would put it).
I was continually astonished by the vocal range of the cast, the breathtaking set, and the careful blocking on the stage. In fact, during the song “Drink With Me,” my detail-oriented brain decided to focus on the bottle being passed around the barricades. After a lead singer handed it off to a supporting roll, I watched the actors make different choices with the prop and pass to another actor, then to another—and so on until it had reached another lead actor who held it towards the audience and started singing his part. I was fascinated at how casually the bottle was directed to him in a timely manner so that it could perfectly land in his hands when it was his time. Now, this may seem like an odd detail for me to focus on, but I chose to highlight it in order to demonstrate just how professionally minded Tuacahn Theatre really is.
But alas, perhaps my favorite part of sitting in that outdoor theatre and watching art take shape, was the use of the space. I got the immense feeling that Tuacahn doesn’t take their location for granted. In fact, whether it be the projections of gunpowder fire on the cliffside, twinkling stars across the rocky surface, or just the symbolism the mountain portrayed as many characters fell “dead” at its feet, I gleaned that Tuacahn knew what they were doing and would stop at nothing to give their audience exactly what they came for.
Yet, in the midst of this stunning experience, I was somehow granted the inkling that each of these actors was fulfilling a life dream of theirs and they were on their way to greatness. At the same time, I couldn’t stop thinking about how knowing that my baby was safe while my wife and I enjoyed breathtaking entertainment outside in Southern Utah (minus the heat), was in almost every sense of the term: “living the dream.”
There’s no doubt about it, watching a show at Tuacahn Theatre is worth the drive and the money. But most importantly, if you are anything like me, it’s worth it for the humbling confirmation that St. George embraces God’s creation. In fact, come and let Tuacahn pamper you as they did me and you will see that natural art will always make you ponder the beauty of this life—which, I guess you could say, proves my philosophy that this particular theatrical art achieved its intended purpose.
- Cale K. Montoya
(If you are interested in watching Les Misérables, it runs from now until October 23rd!)
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