The Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center contains four performance spaces three of them in high demand and is home to six high-profile Utah arts organizations. So leaders of those organizations were startled to learn that most Salt Lakers seem to know the facility only as "that building across the street from Squatter's Pub."
The resident companies are staging a daylong celebration, "The Rose Exposed," in an effort to raise The Rose's profile. They hope it will become an annual event. The Gina Bachauer International Piano Foundation, Plan-B Theatre Company, Pygmalion Theatre Company, Repertory Dance Theatre, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and SB Dance will offer free performances, classes and other activities all day, interspersed with screenings of short films made by young participants in frequent Rose renter Spy Hop Productions. The day will culminate in a variety show.
"It will be so chock-full of activity," said Utah arts maven Crystal Young-Otterstrom, a regular patron of all six companies, who is helping promote the event. "There's something for everyone. You can practice sport yoga, learn to do modern dance, take your children to a parent-child class, watch 'Peter and the Wolf' then in the evening you can see snippets from 'Erica' by Plan-B, hear Billie Holiday songs [featured in Pygmalion's 'Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill'], see not one but three pieces of modern dance and hear some solo piano pieces."
Jerry Rapier, Plan-B's producing director, said he's excited about the collaborations that will be part of "The Rose Exposed." "We've all been in this building a very long time, side by side, but rarely together," he said. Through planning the event, "we've gotten a really good sense of what each other does, not just peripherally."
Rapier called The Rose a jewel in the community. "It's unique to have a facility like the Rose anywhere in the country," he said. "It's a home base for the resident companies and an affordable space for rentals for other community groups. That's essential not only for the survival of the groups but for the health of the city in general."
The 501-seat Jeanné Wagner Theatre, the 200-seat Leona Wagner Black Box Theatre and the 75-seat Studio Theatre are housed under The Rose's roof. There's also open space downstairs where performances can be held, and it isn't unusual for all of those spaces to be in use on the same evening.
"There's nothing like the energy that's palpable in the building on evenings when all three [theaters] are in use simultaneously," Rapier said. "The creativity surging through the building is intoxicating."
Rapier hopes that atmosphere will get more than a few patrons hooked on the offerings of the Rose. "Even if you think you know any one of these companies, we can surprise you," he promised.
In full bloom
"The Rose Exposed," a day celebrating the resident companies of the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, will culminate with an hourlong variety show.
Where • Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center, 138 W. 300 South, Salt Lake City
When • Saturday, Sept. 1, 7 and 9 p.m.
Tickets • $10; www.RoseXposed.org, ArtTix offices or 801-355-ARTS
Also • Patrons at the event can purchase a special "six-pack" pass, granting admission to one show from each of the Rose Wagner's resident companies, for $66 a 60 percent savings.
A day at the Rose
Here's a schedule of Saturday's free events; tickets are required and can be obtained at www.RoseXposed.org, ArtTix offices or 801-355-ARTS
9 a.m.
Spy Hop film • "River's End," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Spy Hop films • Animation Showcase, "Even Handed," "My Muslim Eyes," "Sunday," Black Box Theatre
RDT • Adult movement, West Studio
SB Dance • Sport yoga class, Mezzanine
Gina Bachauer and Plan-B Theatre • "Peter and the Wolf," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Spy Hop film • "Trashed," Black Box Theatre
10 a.m.
Gina Bachauer and Plan-B Theatre • "Peter and the Wolf," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Pygmalion Theatre • "The Mysterious, Happy Life of Brown Bag," Black Box Theatre
R-W • Parent/child workshop, West Studio
R-W • Movement experience, Mezzanine
Spy Hop film • "River's End," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Spy Hop films • Animation Showcase, "Even Handed," Black Box Theatre
Gina Bachauer and SB Dance • Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 (first movement) and "Swimming" by SB Dance, Black Box Theatre
11 a.m.
RDT • Ring Around the Rose, Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Pygmalion Theatre • "The Mysterious, Happy Life of Brown Bag," Black Box Theatre
RDT • African movement, West Studio
Gina Bachauer and SB Dance • Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 (first movement) and "Swimming" by SB Dance, Black Box Theatre
Spy Hop films • "My Muslim Eyes," "Sunday," "Trashed," Black Box Theatre
noon
Gina Bachauer and Plan-B Theatre • "Peter and the Wolf," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
R-W • Lecture demonstration, Black Box Theatre
Spy Hop film • "River's End," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
1 p.m.
RDT • open rehearsal of Merce Cunningham's "How to Pass, Kick, Fall and Run," Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Plan-B Theatre • Reading of "#mormoninchief," Black Box Theatre
RDT • Kids movement, West Studio
SB Dance • Sport yoga class, Mezzanine
2:30 p.m.
Pygmalion Theatre • "The Mysterious, Happy Life of Brown Bag," Black Box Theatre
Gina Bachauer and SB Dance • Mozart's Piano Sonata No. 16 (first movement) and "Swimming" by SB Dance, Black Box Theatre
3 p.m.
R-W • lecture demonstration, Jeanné Wagner Theatre
Pygmalion Theatre • Reading of "The Photographer," Black Box Theatre