Creating Since its Creation: Kingsbury Hall Brings Arts and Culture to Salt Lake City

What stories would be told if the walls of Kingsbury Hall could talk? Situated in the University of Utah’s President’s Circle, beside Gardner Hall and across the street from the Widstoe Building, Kingsbury Hall was designed by architects Edward O. Anderson and Laurence Snow Young. Modeled in the Egyptian revival art deco style that was popular in the 1920s, the hall is glazed by a sandy-colored terra cotta and decorated with finials, cornices and bas-reliefs. It is fronted by four portico columns that stand guard over the broad, regal front steps. Steps, which after a show, are littered by patrons catching up, smoking and discussing the evenings performances. It is a building of beauty and character, as much a piece of art as that found inside.

The Story Behind Kingsbury Hall

During the Great Depression, the U created a community drive to raise funds for a student union, according to the Kingsbury Hall archives. The drive was such a success that there was enough money left over to finance the construction of Kingsbury Hall.

The hall is named after Joseph T. Kingsbury, the third president of the U. Kingsbury Hall was dedicated on May 22, 1930 in a ceremony which, according to a contemporaneous article by the Daily Utah Chronicle, was “one of the most impressive ceremonies in the history of the institution.” The opening production in the theatre hall was Maurice Maeterlinck’s “The Blue Bird,” performed by the thespian fraternity Theta Alpha Phi.

It seems as though the managers of Kingsbury Hall understood the cultural and artistic responsibility of their position and rose to the occasion with the goal of providing quality productions of high artistic value. In a program for the gala, celebrating the renovation and reopening of Kingsbury Hall, many people share memories of seeing their first Shakespeare production on the building’s stage.

Stars of the Show

Before Capitol Theatre was renovated and reopened in 1984 and Abravanel Hall held its first performance, Kingsbury Hall was home to the Utah Civic Ballet (later renamed Ballet West), the Utah Opera Company, the Utah Symphony, Tanner Dance Company, Ririe-Woodbury Dance Company and Repertory Dance Theatre. In 1955, Utah Civic Ballet’s premiere of “The Nutcracker,” the first production of the ballet in the Utah, was performed at Kingsbury Hall.

KUER broadcasts came from the basement of Kingsbury Hall from the time they first went on air in 1960 until March 1, 1993 when they moved to the Eccles Broadcast Center. The hall was home to the University Theatre from its beginning until 1969, when Pioneer Theatre was constructed, and in 1984 the University Theatre changed its name to Pioneer Theatre Company. Most of the significant artistic programs in Utah have crossed the doors of Kingsbury Hall, from concert to opera, ballet to modern dance, plays to poetry readings to radio. There is a seemingly endless list of artists and public figures who have appeared on the stage of Kingsbury Hall. This impressive list includes the likes of Ella Fitzgerald, Robert Frost, Adam Sandler and now-President Joe Biden.

A Cultural Incubator

According to Sheri Jardine, the communications manager for Kingsbury Hall and content manager for Utah Presents, the Utah Arts Scene has changed over the past years.

“I feel like in some smaller cities you might get a fair representation of some ‘quote, unquote’ commercial acts,” Jardine said. “You might get some of the bigger names coming through and stuff like that, but I think here you have a breadth and depth. So many more small companies have come up, like theatre companies, even dance companies, that are doing interesting work that weren’t around even 10 years ago. I feel like we have almost an incubator culture where if somebody has an idea they can figure out a way to make it happen. They can find support and a venue.”

For so long, Kingsbury Hall has been one of the incubators that Jardine referenced. The building was built with money from the community. Kingsbury Hall is for Utah communities by Utah communities and is a piece of the foundation upon which Utah’s arts culture is built. It provides a space for Mozart to be performed and vice presidential hopefuls to debate.

In a 1928 article from the Daily Utah Chronicle announcing the construction of Kingsbury Hall, the writer ended with, “This remarkable auditorium will fill a long felt need and will do a lot to further Utah spirit.” I, for one, believe that prophecy has come true.

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@abovemegan