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REXBURG, Idaho
- The lives of early Rexburg pioneers will be featured next week during
several presentations at Brigham Young University-Idaho.
Hyrum
Conrad, a BYU-Idaho theatre faculty member, will direct a self-written
production called “Founder’s Day” in the Kirkham Arena Theatre Wednesday to Friday, Nov. 10-12,
at 7:30 p.m.
He
will also be the University Forum speaker on Thursday, Nov. 11, at 2 p.m. in the Kirkham
Auditorium where he will present a segment of “Founder’s
Day” called “Noble, Grand, and True” with others from the
production. This segment honoring Rexburg pioneers focuses on three of
BYU-Idaho’s founding fathers -- Thomas E. Ricks, William F. Rigby and
Jacob Spori.
Conrad
was commissioned by BYU-Idaho to create the production to honor the lives
and testimonies of Rexburg pioneers.
“I’m
hoping audience members are educated and entertained because that’s
the purpose of the production. It’s a dramatic reenactment of what
happened 98 years ago,” said Conrad.
“Founders
Day” depicts a celebration on November 12, 1906, called
Founder’s Day, when Elder John Henry Smith of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles came to dedicate the Ricks Academy
building.
Some
events are simply reenacted in the production, while others bring viewers
through the history of the school up to modern times. There will be choir
numbers, quartets and speeches throughout the production.
The
cast includes 10 students and three faculty members including Conrad. It
will take place in the Kirkham Arena Theatre,
which has been arranged to give viewers a similar feel of what it might
have been like 98 years ago.
“We
hope that everybody will be strengthened by the example of these great
men,” he said.
Conrad
has taught and directed plays at BYU-Idaho for the past 20 years. He
received his undergraduate degree in acting and a master’s degree in
directing and dance from BYU in Provo.
His Ph.D. specialized in movement for actors and musical theatre, which he
received from the University
of Minnesota.
Tickets
to “Founder’s Day” are still available at the BYU-Idaho
Ticket Office. They are $1 for BYU-Idaho students and $6 for the general
public. To order tickets, call 496-2230 or online at http://www.byui.edu/tickets.
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