The Shows Will Go On at Park City Institute

Bluegrass and country music royalty Marty Stuart Photo: Photo: David McClister

Park City Institute, a non-profit arts organization dedicated to enriching the community through ‘experiences that entertain, educate and illuminate,’ just announced its 2021 lineup of dance, music, and film – and new Covid protocols to go with it. 

As the Institute has done since its founding in 1998, it will serve up programming that runs the gamut of musical and artistic genres. From an intense rock-and-roll brother-sister band and a Grammy-winning country artist to a documentary with a decades-long backstory and a contemporary ballet tribute to David Bowie’s music, the institute has done some heavy lifting in an impossible year for the arts to plan for a brighter stage in 2021. 

See the complete 2021 schedule here.

The scheduled acts:

• Jocelyn and Chris Arndt
• Gretchen Wilson
• Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
• Marty Stuart
• Author Stephanie Land
• Filmmakers Louis Pepe and Keith Fulton
• Complexions Dance Ballet

Shows, which will be held at the Eccles Center at Park City High School, are scheduled to begin in April – contingent on public health realities, said Park City Institute Executive Director Ari Ioannides.

“We don’t know what 2021 will bring us,” Ioannides said. But, he said, the institute has been hard at work planning for all sorts of contingencies, potential postponements, and varying governmental regulations on gathering.

“The biggest challenge is with contracts,” he said. “We want the ability to cancel a show if state or local government restrictions make it so we can’t have a show. In that case, we don’t want to be financially liable. All agreements have a clause that allows us to cancel 30 days prior to the show date with no penalty.”

He said the institute has cut costs 94 % due to lack of revenue resulting from the Covid shutdown this year. The Utah Division of Arts and Museums contributed funds to cover some expenses, but “reduced staff means less time for me to devote to programming,” Ioannides said. “It also means the technical crew is not here to review artists riders and create show budgets. Without budgets, it is hard to set ticket pricing and make sure the show can be financially viable.”

New next year will be touchless e-tickets, to be read by scanners. And anyone holding tickets for postponed or canceled shows will receive refunds or rescheduled tickets as needed.

Tickets for each event or performance will go on sale 30 days before its scheduled date, and past tickets for canceled events will be honored. For more information visit parkcityinstitute.org.

Gretchen Wilson’s Redneck Woman has 54 million views on YouTube: