Hale Centre Theatre has signed a sponsor for its one-of-a-kind main stage at its recently opened $100 million facility at the Mountain America Performing Arts Centre in Sandy. The venue will be known as the Young Living Essential Oils Centre Stage. The announcement took place in conjunction with opening night of the theater company’s latest production, “Newsies,” recently. As part of its sponsorship, Young Living Essential Oils will donate funds and products over the next 10 years to the theater, HCT said in a release. Mary Young, CEO of Young Living Essential Oils, will also serve on HCT’s board of directors.
Cast members from “Newsies” ran through the aisles, calling “extra, extra” and distributing newspapers to the audience that announced the Centre Stage’s new name. A ribbon-cutting took place prior to the performance with comments by Young and Mark and Sally Dietlein, co-founders of HCT.
The 900-seat state-of-the-art center stage features $20 million worth of stage automation equipment created by Tait Towers, an international live event entertainment technology company. Tait provided 47 axes of motion using more than 130 motors for hoisting, lifting, sliding and rotating the stage segments and props. The technologically advanced stage features a center column lift, four quad lifts, two large crescent lifts and two slip stages, each independently controlled. Overhead, the technology includes two crane trolleys which can lift or lower up to 16 independent performance pieces, traveling the span of the theater. The theater also features six giant LED screens that wrap the perimeter of the theater to enhance the immersive experience during show time.
“We’re grateful for the support Young Living Essential Oils has shown for our theater community and especially for our world-class Centre Stage,” said Sally Dietlein. “We’ve been waiting for the right partner to come along and have been delighted to find that partnership with Young Living. They share a similar goal with us in being a force for good, whether through theater or essential oils, and we couldn’t be happier to welcome them into the Hale family.”
“We’re thrilled to enter into this partnership with Hale Centre Theatre, an organization whose values so closely align with our own. Young Living and HCT have both been pillars of our local community for decades,” said Jared Turner, president and COO of Young.
The Mountain America Performing Arts Centre houses a second performance theater in addition to Young Living Centre Stage. The smaller venue is called the Sorenson Legacy Jewel Box Stage.