Director’s Note

Dear Odyssey Patron,

Welcome to Odyssey’s 26th and final year of Thriller. And what an odyssey it’s been!

In 1994, I saw that there was this huge pool of talented dancers here who could do everything – ballet, jazz, tap, hip-hop, ballroom – and would be working regularly if they had decided to move to New York or L.A. I thought it was a shame to see that talent go to waste. And Odyssey Dance Theatre was born.

My concept was to start small and then build up as we could afford. Since we were the new kids on the block, funding was pretty much nonexistent. We relied on ticket sales to make our way. I knew we needed a large show that would be like a ‘Nutcracker’ for ballet companies, something that would bring a large audience in, and significant income. That’s where Thriller came in; we created an amazing show from a series of Halloween-themed vignettes, and it has become a smash hit.

I believe the thing that has made Thriller unique is that we have taken all of your favorite Halloween characters and placed them into different tongue-in-cheek settings and contexts. There is a lot of humor in the show, and nothing is left out, from Jason impersonations, to skeletons, to the use of chain saws.

When we first produced this show, we had sold only 50 tickets for four mere performances four days away from opening. So I decided if I was going to go down—I was going to go down in flames! I knew there was something special about what we were doing—and felt word of mouth might be good—and it was! Within two years we were selling out!

For years now, we have performed the show in five or more Utah locations with more than 45,000 patrons in attendance; for several years, we even had two companies simultaneously performing in multiple locations. Although we have done new pieces in the show every year, it is amazing how many of the original pieces we put together still remain the staples of the production.

It has supplied the funding for the rest of the season which, in addition to Thriller, included Joy to the World, The ReduxNut-Cracker and It’s a Wonderful Life. The Spring Repertory Season Shut Up and Dance has been a dance lover’s buffet with something for everyone.

After a 28-year mission of providing a space for talented dancers to stay in our home state of Utah, as well as attracting talent from all over the world to Utah and creating new and innovative works, Cheryl and I will be onto the next ‘mission’ in our lives, serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Thank you for making our dream a reality and supporting us all of these years. Read on to find out what’s next for Odyssey.

Derryl