-
February 2024 by Aaron Burgemeister
High quality musicals and plays. We have loved going to HCTO for many years, and now we take kids to a few shows too. They continue to amaze us with the quality of their productions. Next year they plan to open in Pleasant Grove in a new building which is also something new to anticipate.
-
February 2024 by Wendy O
The Foreigner was so great!! Great cast!!
-
February 2024 by Nadine-Gary Turner
Great acting, good plays. A bit snug, but they're getting a new theater later this year. Good family night out or even a date.
-
February 2024 by Stephen Graham
Saw the foreigner with friends. Very well done. All the actors were excellent.
-
February 2024 by Amy Leue (AmyL)
We’ve gone to A Christmas Carol play at the Orem Hale Center Theater for many years. It’s usually amazing, though the last few years haven’t been as good as in the past, they’ve been decent. 2023’s Christmas Carol was so bad! We are usually brought to tears several times throughout the play and definitely by the end, but this year we didn’t shed a tear. The play was so busy you couldn’t connect with the characters and the self narration was distracting and cringey. I wish they’d go back to Christmas Carols of the past. You guys have so many amazing props and effects that you can use (the floor opening, the fog & snow, the food, etc) and none of them were used. Sound effects from the sides are distracting and not as good as when they come from the actual person in the scene (Marley’s chains). Too many people walking/singing/narrating through scenes made it so you couldn’t focus on what was actually going on. Definitely the worst rendition yet. I will say it’s not the actors’ fault. They did a great job with what they were given. We’re considering going to the Hale in Sandy for 2024 because we’re afraid to waste our money again.
-
February 2024 by Jean Marshall
I love the cozy, intimate seating in the round and the quality of the productions is top notch.
-
January 2024 by Chase Watkins
The shows here are always incredible. The cast, effects, music, acting, etc is ALWAYS on-point. The shows are emotionally moving, and offer a window into the human soul.The snack selection bites, but—really—since when does someone go to a high-quality theater performance for food? Never, haha.The only real disappointment of Hale are their prices, especially in an economy where affording groceries is sometimes difficult. But, ultimately, purchasing a ticket to Hale truly is for a quality show, which makes the price bearable.Go see a show at Hale, you won’t regret it!
-
January 2024 by Savannah Williams
Third person narrative was awful…. Marley was boring, and so much missing! I’ve missed the snow falling on tiny Tim’s grave for the past two years. I miss the old show!! Please bring it back!
-
January 2024 by Suzanne Bunker
Our family has been going to Christmas Carol for a long time. I agree with the other comments in that this year was not good. The narration and the actors talking in third person were so distracting and took from the story. We couldn’t figure out what was going on. Some parts were definitely worse than others. The dinner scene was especially bad. I believe the actors were good but unfortunately they never got to act.So much was going on stage we never connected with the actors. Not to mention they took out scenes and songs. We have always walked out of this feeling the spirit of Christmas. We did not this year. I sure hope the company sees these reviews and they go back to the original script. I would hate to see something so good go away.
-
January 2024 by Burke Watkins
We have been going to Christmas Carol at Hale in Orem for over 20 years. This year was terrible and we will be calling next year to see if it is the same play before buying tickets. The narration made no sense and just when the play started to flow they threw in more narration and made it so hard to follow. It was so bad. They have also removed all the best songs. The actors were great as usual but wow! So bad whoever choose to do it this way should not be invited back. We would have left at intermission if it wouldn't have been disrespectful to the actors.
-
January 2024 by Todd Bachler
We’ve been going to the Christmas Carol at the Orem Hale Center for 20 years, in addition to a couple other shows a year. We have not seen a single show we haven’t loved until last night. That production was terrible! It’s too bad the director did what she did. The cast was great, and I feel they could have made the production its usual greatness, but the director destroyed it. They cut out the great songs of the show and the “script reading” during the show was lame and insulting. Do you think I, as an audience member, can’t see that Scrooge was horrified, or do you not think the actor can act well enough to show us? (Which they did.) After the show, we were not the only ones that thought it was terrible. Every conversation you heard from fellow audience members was the same. We were excited for the upcoming Hale Center year, because it looked like there were going to be some really good shows. We are rethinking that now if they are going to put out garbage like this!
-
January 2024 by Breckel Thompson
I love this place it really is magical.
-
January 2024 by Megan Carpenter
Been going to The Christmas Carol since I was a kid and since covid, I’m extremely disappointed. I think the third person narration is absolutely terrible and they took out all the songs. it is not worth it for $60 a ticket at all. I will not be encouraging people to see it unless they get back to the old way of doing things.
-
January 2024 by Sabrina Reyes
My family has been going to a Christmas Carol for YEARS. I loved this show and enjoy it each year and have been looking forward to the day I could bring my own kids. However after the last few years, this show is no longer a tradition for us. This year was the worst offender. They took out almost all the music, and did some weird style where they narrated everything they did, and it was SO boring. Husband and I left at intermission because it was so awful. The cast was amazing given what they were directed to do, so I absolutely do not blame them and appreciate their talent. But they seriously need to reevaluate and go back to what the show was.
-
January 2024 by Johnn Sterzer
We attended the Tuesday December 12th “A Christmas Carol” performance and loved it! We especially loved the music - the violin and cello were amazing, and the singing was excellent. Thank you all for putting on such a great show!