The Pickleville Playhouse is a musical theater on the banks of Bear Lake in Garden City, Utah, United States.
History When the Larsens moved to Driggs, Idaho where LeGrande Larsen began his practice as a physician, they discovered an old melodrama theater, "Pierre's Playhouse", in nearby Victor, Idaho. After moving to Logan, Utah in 1976, the Larsens built their own melodrama theater.Pickleville Playhouse history
LeGrande and his wife, Betty Larsen, founded the Playhouse with the aim to create a family-friendly theater.
The Pickleville Playhouse was named for the town in which it once resided, Pickelville. Shortly after the construction of the Playhouse, the town Pickelville was annexed as part of Garden City.
Construction Playhouse construction began in June 1977. Despite never having constructed a large building before, LeGrande and Betty Larsen, with the help of their six sons and one daughter, acquired as much help as they could from experts and did the rest on their own. They peeled white pine logs by hand and mixed concrete in wheelbarrows. The seats were brought from the old Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake City which was undergoing renovation at the time. Because the Larsens weren't allowed to collect the seats until the workers at the Capitol had gone home, the family drove two hours in the middle of the night to the theater in Salt Lake, loaded up as many chairs as would fit in a truck, returned to Bear Lake, and repeated the process until all 320 chairs were moved. The seats are still in use today.
The family built by day and rehearsed on stage at night. There was no place for the cast and crew to stay, so they spent nights in sleeping bags and tents. The Larsens had to work quickly as they were scheduled to open their first show in August, two-and-a-half months after construction began.
Growth and expansion Early audiences were meager. As the theater's reputation grew, however, so did the audiences. The Playhouse now performs for sold-out audiences from mid-June to early September with up to 13 shows per week. Pickleville has expanded its repertoire of summer melodramas to include favorite Broadway shows and in December, its sister company, Pickleville On Tour, takes to Logan and Salt Lake City, Utah, where they perform an original Pickleville Christmas production. You can often see Pickleville On Tour perform a springtime show as well.
Management The Larsens transferred ownership of the theater and its operations to their youngest child and only daughter, Andrea Larsen Davis. Andrea's oldest son, TJ Davis, eventually joined her as a full-time partner and writer for the Playhouse. The entire Davis family is involved in producing and supporting shows at Pickleville Playhouse. TJ Davis has taken his character "Juanito Banditio" touring through Utah, while Derek Davis writes and produces the productions at Pickleville Playhouse in Garden City.
Juanito Bandito The Playhouse has gained notability in recent years for the creation of a character, Juanito Bandito, an "unabashed, Spanglish-speaking, likeable crook". Both created and played by T.J. Davis, the self-proclaimed "baddest Spanish villain in history" appeared first in "Chuck Wagon's Wild West Showdown" in the summer of 2008 at the Pickleville Playhouse. The character became the subject of the next seven consecutive summers' shows including: "The Hanging of El Bandito" (2009), "Bandito Rides Again" (2010), and "Who Shot Juanito Bandito?" (2011), "Ready, Fire, Aim starring Juanito Bandito" all of which were written by T.J. Davis.
Performances In August 1977, the Playhouse performed its first melodrama, "The Faithful Footman". It performs two shows each summer, one melodrama, and one Broadway show. + Shows by YearYearMelodramaBroadway show 1977 The Faithful Footman -- 1978–2001 (coming soon...) (coming soon...)2002TumbleweedsCalamity Jane2003The Saloon Keeper's DaughterForever Plaid 2004 Chuck Wagon's Wild West Showdown You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 2005 Finding the Fickle Fortune Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 2006 Tied to the Tracks A Pirate's Life 2007 Little Shop of Horrors Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 2008 Chuck Wagon's Wild West Showdown Thoroughly Modern Millie 2009 The Hanging of El Bandito Annie Get Your Gun 2010 Bandito Rides Again Crazy for You 2011 Who Shot Juanito Bandito? Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 2012 The hanging of el Bandito REIMAGINED Forever Plaid 2013 Bandito Rides Again Seven Brides for Seven Brothers 2014 Who Shot Juanito Bandito? REIMAGINED Beauty and the Beast (musical) 2015 (Juanito Bandito) The One With the Monkey (previously A Town Called Danger) The Drowsy Chaperone 2016 Ready, Fire! Aim Hairspray 2017 Love and Death vs El Bandito Shrek: The Musical 2018 Who Shot Juanito Bandito? Tarzan: The Broadway Adventure 2019 Shootout at Shadow Mountain The Addams Family: A Musical Comedy 2020 Finding The Fickle Fortune N/A 2021 Becoming a Bona Fide Bad Guy Peter Pan 2022 New Sheriff in Town Beauty and the Beast 2023 Thick as Thieves The Little Mermaid 2024 Welcome to Dangerville Newsies 2025 Trouble in Hunky Dory Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
References
External links Pickleville Playhouse Homepage Pickleville On Tour Homepage www.juanitobandito.com