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"Utah!" is a musical written for the Tuacahn Center for the Arts and was performed for 5 years in the "Tuacahn" Amphitheatre. The music was written by Kurt Bestor and Sam Cardon. The lyrics were written by Doug Stewart but were rewritten in 2008 by Marvin Payne.
Synopsis
The story told in Utah! didn't happen anywhere, it happened everywhere. So says the Mapmaker, whose job is to chart not only the rivers and mountains in the new land, but the spiritual landscape as well. It begins with and impending birth. Newly arrived in 1850's Salt Lake are Mormon pioneers Catherine and Joe Sanderson who are expecting a baby brother or sister for their little Norma. Clara Jennings comes to the rescue as non-Mormon midwife who promises life to the Sandersons, just as she promisises civilization to the frontier. But she is swept beyond the frontier into the wilderness, as Elijiah and Sarah Lathrop, charged by Mormon leader "Brigham Yound" tp establish a colony among the Ute Indians, invite the Sandersons to come along.
The settlers meet the Utes, whose visionary chief, Sowiet, discerning that both groups are here for spiritual reasons, allow the Mormons to stay. He is passionately oppoesd by Parker, a "Transcendentalist" who has forsaken the shams of civilization to live among the "Utes".
A severe winter stirs both hatred and heroism among the Settlers, hatred as Joe Sanderson shoots Parker for supposedly stealing food and heroism as Clara, coming to heal Parker, stays to help the starving "Ute" children. Suspicions deepen as the "Mormons" build a fort. And Clara, distraught over the sudden loss of the Sanderson's baby, stumbles off and collapses in a late snowstorm.
The Ute hunter, Cotoan, finds Clara and bring her to Parker's cabin. Her compassion has led Parker to love her. He cares for her and tells her that she can't try to blind the forces of life with her promises.