Prayer Seats

Support for our HCTO's new seat initiative continues to be strong with individuals and companies generously donating to help make this change happen. We express a heartfelt thank you to all who have contributed in some way to help make this a possibility. As we prepare for the big change-over of theater seats we can't help but think of the story behind our old seats. It really is quite a charming one, and something we decided to share. The following is the account, written by Anne Swenson.

In 1990, we had found a building, renovated it, planned a season, and rehearsed up a show. What we didn’t have were theater seats! We needed 304. New ones were very expensive and way out of our budget. We could only afford used.

Where do you find used theater seats?

Movie theaters going out of business? Nope, we tried that.

School auditoriums? Nope, we tried that too.

Choir seats out of LDS chapels? Lots of these available, but not enough in the same style and color.

LDS Temples being renovated? We didn’t really think this was an option, but the seats would have been really clean.

We were really down to the wire and didn’t know what we were going to do. Grandma Hale (Ruth) wasn’t too concerned. She just said, “I’m going to pray for some seats.” So she did. It was within the week that she got a call from a fellow from Richfield, Utah who asked her if she wanted to buy some theater seats that they were taking out of their chapel.

Thinking that they were just more choir seats, she asked how many of them they had to sell.

“Oh, almost 300 or so,” he replied. She was speechless. It turned out, that a ward in Richfield had saved and saved so that their congregation could have theater seats to sit in instead of pews. Not just the choir section, the whole chapel was filled with theater style seats. They had enjoyed them for many years, but when their building was being renovated, they were told by the “higher ups” that they needed to have pews. We felt kind of bad buying those seats from those good folks, they were really sad to see them go. However, we knew they were going to a good home.

Once we had installed the seats in the theater, we realized that we were about 40 seats short. So, we ended up buying the choir seats from an old chapel anyway. That is why the Southwest section has never matched the rest of the seats in the theater.

I’m a little sad to see the old grey seats go. They have had a good life. But, after sitting in them every night for the last two weeks while we opened “The Marvelous Wonderettes,” my backside says that I won’t miss them that much.

Anne Swenson

If you would like to contribute to this cause, please visit our website and download a "Name Your Seat" form by clicking on the new seat image. You can also visit or call our Box Office (801.226.8600) to have a form filled out.

[This article was originally published in the Hale Center Theater Orem's e-mail newsletter, The Jester's Journal, 18 October 2011.]