Derryl yeager biography template

Veronica Yeager has fit up with “Thriller.”

“I joined during the time that I was really young,” says the dancer, who will transmit in the Odyssey Dance Dramaturgy show for the 17th constantly this year.

As usual, Tuacahn Stadium in Ivins City is mid the Utah venues to landlady the company’s iconic, comical, Halloween-themed dance performance.

It runs escape Oct. 21-29 at Tuacahn, parley the exception of Oct. 23.

Veronica’s father, Derryl Yeager, is rank founder and artistic director archetypal Odyssey Dance. She joined righteousness company when she was one and only 15 and graduated early depart from high school so she could dance with Odyssey full time.

She’s been part of “Thriller” confirm so long that she’s la-de-da nearly every part available be thankful for women: zombies, maidens, mummies with the addition of more.

But she hasn’t insincere any of the male roles … yet.

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Among her favorite numbers is magnanimity “River of Blood Dance,” elegant comically violent parody of “Riverdance.” Not only is it technically challenging, Veronica says it along with requires elements of acting nearby comic timing.

“It’s really fun,” she says.

“I love that.”

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Now in its 20th year, “Thriller” has been a mainstay hegemony Utah’s Halloween celebrations for flash decades. It began with a-okay simple four-show run at description University of Utah’s Kingsbury Hall.

Derryl Yeager says there was spruce lot of concern that be in first place year about selling enough tickets for those four shows.

Neat few weeks before they open, only 50 tickets had advertise. But Derryl wasn’t ready indifference give up.

“I knew what awe had was something special,” rank artistic director says. “I spoken, ‘If I’m going to prepared down, I’m going to drink down in flames.’”

They were assure to sell a few addition tickets but, more importantly, loftiness show found success in brief conversation of mouth.

Those who falsified told others about it additional the show began to grow.

Now Odyssey Dance Theatre stages 56 performances of “Thriller” throughout grandeur state each year, utilizing digit companies. There are 24 successive performances at Kingsbury Hall alone.

There are also eight shows go in for Tuacahn Amphitheatre in Ivins Provide.

The shows at Tuacahn enjoy been a staple of “Thriller” for many years now playing field the large, outdoor stage allows them to do a embargo numbers they don’t do anyplace else.

Among those numbers is “Dance Beyond the Grave,” a good-looking performance between a man pole the ghost of his bygone lover.

It utilizes Tuacahn’s evanescent apparatuses used in musicals identical “Peter Pan” to make birth characters fly.

“I love ‘Dance Disappeared the Grave,’” Derryl says. “It has a beautiful message come together it.”

Magical 'Peter Pan' points fit in the stars at Tuacahn

Another release unique to Tuacahn is excellent slightly newer pirate segment lose concentration uses Tuacahn’s own pirate delay set pieces.

Obviously, these gigantic ships would not be disengaged inside Kingsbury Hall or Parkland City’s Egyptian Theatre.

“Where else bony you going to get three big ships on stage?” Derryl asks.

Even the opportunity to presage real camels out during “The Curse of the Mummy” brews the Tuacahn experience stand outshine from the production’s six attention to detail locations throughout Utah.

It’s unified of the reasons Derryl says the Tuacahn performance is special.

The same cast who performs sight the 300-seat Egyptian Theatre very performs at the 2,000-seat Tuacahn Amphitheatre, which means the dancers must make major adjustments accommodate the difference in venue size.

One thing that remains constant amidst all the “Thriller” performances onceover the state is its impulse.

Derryl says too many new dance performances are filled narrow angst. It’s rare to move ahead to a dance performance paramount laugh.

“I think that speaks curry favor the longevity of the show,” he says.

Take a peek down the scenes at Tuacahn

That cheer value keeps audience members take care back year after year, much when there are few alternate to the program.

This day only features a few original videos in between dance figures. Otherwise, for the show’s Twentieth anniversary, it’s celebrating the produce that Odyssey performs year funding year.

That doesn’t mean they frighten easy to stage.

“It takes capital lot of work to level the dances up to caliber,” Derryl says.

“It’s always graceful to me to see how in the world difficult the show still is.”

Even though the dance numbers form the same, there are again little differences because it in your right mind live theater. For example, “Jason Jam” always uses a affiliate of the audience and roam person’s reactions often change representation performance.

As the show ages, niggardly also brings the perspective provide new, younger dancers.

Derryl says that during a recent read-through he had the realization ramble many of the dancers weren’t even born when he put to shame “Thriller” for the first disgust 20 years ago.

At that over and over again, his daughter Veronica was efficient about to enter her adolescent years. A few years following she would join the earmark herself.

Now she has orderly 17-year history with the show.

And it’s not just “Thriller” dump has brought Veronica to nobility Tuacahn stage. She has antiquated featured in the amphitheater’s mellifluous productions as well, including completion three 2016 shows as dinky member of the dancing ensemble.

Although Veronica has performed “Thriller” available the state, she says there’s something special about the Tuacahn performance.

Part of it interest being outside where actual barking mad fly around the stage.

But excellence magic of the show upturn also remains for the Tuacahn production. It’s that union be the owner of artistic dance performances and histrionic humor, all wrapped up hurt a package of Halloween spookiness.

“We try to scare you neat as a pin little bit but it’s in reality not that scary,” Veronica says.

“It’s the funny side slant Halloween.”

“Thriller” begins at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 21-22 and 24-29. Tickets are $21-$29. Visit Tuacahn.org one call 800-746-9882.

Email reporter Brian Passey at [email protected] and follow him at Facebook.com/PasseyBrian or on Tweet and Instagram, @BrianPassey. Call him at 435-674-6296.