The Mystery Birthday Trip...to Tuacahn!

Ever since Ken had asked me to reserve some time for the first weekend in June for a surprise birthday excursion, I had hoped it might have something to do with the "The Little Mermaid" and "Grease" beginning that weekend at Tuacahn Theater down in Saint George, Utah.  Ever since I was fourteen years old, Tuacahn Theater has been one of my two most favorite spots to visit in Utah (the other one being BYU, of course).  Grandma Mickey and Grandpa Bud first took us to Tuacahn to see a play about Utah when we visited them in 1997 after they moved there from Seattle to escape the rain.  Their mission in San Diego had been so wonderfully sunny and gorgeous that returning to the perennially green and rainy Northwest was too much for Grandpa, so they relocated and we trooped to Utah to see them for Grandma and Jim's birthdays that October.

Megan and I loved Tuacahn so much that when we went to visit Grandma Mickey and Grandpa Bud down in Saint George after EFY in the summer of 1999, they took us to two more plays, "Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" and "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers."  We were completely entranced with the creativity and utter beauty of the musicals, as well as the tour we took of the new performing arts high school on the site that gave me dreams of majoring in Music Dance Theater at BYU the following year.  (Visiting BYU campus as a guest later made me change my mind, but that was for the best.)  While visiting Tuacahn, we even got to ride a camel!  The camel was part of the "Joseph" show and was outside the "Seven Brides" performance the next evening for children to ride.  Even though we were big sixteen-year-old girls, the chance to ride a camel did not present itself very often, so Megan and I begged Grandpa for $5.00 to ride the camel and got our wish.  And thanked our grandparents over and over again for such a wonderful time with them.



Ken was as quiet as ever about where we were going for my birthday treat, so I didn't hint, beg, or sneak online to see where we might be headed for our weekend. When we pulled out onto I-15 south, I smiled but didn't say a word.  Nor did I comment when we checked into our hotel in Saint George - I just jumped for a chance to go swimming and we planned non-surprise activities like checking out the outlets, visiting the Saint George Harley Davidson store, and seeing the Saint George temple.  We even lucked out on a HD lunch sponsoring a local military outfit deploying to Afghanistan and happily contributed to the effort and enjoyed some great hotdogs, friendly chat with the local bikers, and ogling some great bikes.  But ah, then it came time to head out for the evening.  And lo and behold, I recognized right away where we were going!

When we headed into the canyon where the theater was located, Ken grinned at me and I let out a squeal of excitement.  I told him, "Oh, I had so hoped that this was going to be my birthday treat!"  "How did you guess that was what we were going to do?" he asked in surprise.  "Well," I said, "the billboards were up since about March, and Saint George is about as far away as we would want to drive, and ohhh, how much I have been wanting to see a play here!  It's been eleven years!"  But what play were we seeing?  "The Little Mermaid" or "Grease"?  Either way was a win.  We took some time for pictures of the front entrance and high school and then, with my stomach growling, we went to the main entrance for our tickets to.... "The Little Mermaid" and a catered pre-show dinner!  The first to arrive for the buffet (in true Hughes-Moore style), we enjoyed al-fresco dining beneath the red rocks and the setting sun while tropical music played and the warmth of the evening breeze rustled the trees and made managing extra napkins an exercise in creativity.  Then we checked out some seriously adorable "LM" gifts and views of the stage before we were finally able to get seated.

The show was incredible.  The undersea performers had sneaker/rollerskate shoes on that created a floating/dancing feeling, while the undersea scenes were created by projecting images of jellyfish, schools of fish, sharks, and even patterns of water onto a curtain of rain just behind the performers.  While "Under The Sea" has never been my favorite song, despite winning Grammys, it was the highlight of the show.  The actor who played Sebastian outdid himself, and Ariel, Eric, and Scuttle were fabulous.  Flounder was played by a kid actor who was positively adorable.  I admit it - there were a couple places in the play where I cried - especially the part where Ariel rescues Eric from his burning ship.  It was done so beautifully (and in the air as though it were under sea) that I was overwhelmed.  Although we were forbidden from taking pictures or video, I snuck in a pic after the end to demonstrate how incredible the stage is.  The one thing that cannot be captured is the brilliant night sky arching over the red rock stage - but it is something I have remembered ever since my first visit at age fourteen.

Getting to attend a musical at my favorite Utah theater - and one of my favorite musicals of my whole life (I have seen "The Little Mermaid" movie six times in the theater) - and getting to share one of my greatest loves, musical theater, with my husband, is one of the best birthday presents I have ever had.  Kenny has a knack of discovering just what I love and making it a reality, and I couldn't imagine up a better husband.

The view from our hotel room - the Saint George Temple



A cool Harley

Check out the windshield!

Tuacahn Theater entrance

Tuacahn High School

Dining al fresco

Gift shop goodies

The stage, pre-show

Waiting to be seated - I'm so excited!

Entr'acte, perusing my programme

A shot of the stage post-show