When can you actually buy a ticket and sit inside the Dimon Legacy Theatre? For most of this fall, the expected answer was "sometime in November." A St. George News sponsored feature said the first public performance was planned for November as a soft opening, with a grand opening production in mid-January.
The ticket calendar now tells a more specific story. St. George Musical Theater is letting people into its $17 million building at 950 S. Main St. in a set order. Students come first, then donors, then concert audiences. The first full musical waits until January. Across the street, the company's converted cinema is carrying the November shows. For the rest of this year, the block around 900 South Main works as one two-building theater campus.
The Order the Doors Open
The listings on SGMT's ticket portal set out the sequence for the new building:
- Backstage Bootcamp, Nov. 2 to 14, 4 to 6 p.m., $150. This is a class, not a show. The first week covers costumes, set building, props, set dressing, sound and lighting. In the second week, students 14 and older get more hands-on time with professional sound and lighting equipment. All sessions are held inside the new theater.
- Founders Premeire, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 5 p.m., $250. A black-tie evening with hors d'oeuvres, a program inside the theater and a live auction. December 1 is Giving Tuesday, and the event supports the company's final $1 million fundraising goal.
- Toast – The Best of Bread, Dec. 3 to 5, $18 to $50. A tribute band playing the hits of Bread and the solo work of founders David Gates and James Griffin, listed at the Dimon.
- Beach Boys Christmas, Dec. 17 to 19, $18 to $50. Five local male singers with a preshow featuring younger performers. SGMT's listing welcomes audiences "to our NEW Dimon Theatre for this exciting Holiday Experience."
- Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jan. 16 to Feb. 13, 2027, $18 to $50. The first full production on the Dimon's 2027 calendar.
There is one scheduling conflict. SGMT's season page still lists Toast for Nov. 19 to 21. The ticket listing puts it at the Dimon on Dec. 3 to 5, and Nov. 19 to 21 now belongs to a different act across the street. Check the date and venue printed on the ticket before you plan the evening.
A Room With No Back Row
This new room is built differently from the stage SGMT has used for years. The company has performed at the historic St. George Opera House, which seats about 120. The Dimon seats up to 350, with the stage in the center and seating on every side. Dimon McFerson, the board member and largest private donor the building is named for, described it to St. George News:
"This is a theater-in-the-round. In the round, we're going to have seven rows of seats, that's all. But it's 360 degrees, so everybody is looking down."
With only seven rows, nearly three times as many people fit in the room without anyone sitting much farther from the stage. Actors can enter through four ground-level passageways and along walkways above the stage. Three balconies above the seating give directors more places to stage scenes and can add seats for some performances. Four lighted LED walls run a combined 144 feet, and the lighting, sound and LED equipment alone is expected to cost at least $1 million. A trap space roughly 10 feet below the center of the stage is planned for later, so performers and props will be able to come up from beneath the floor.
There are also smaller comforts. Every seat has a cup holder, the restrooms are larger, and there is a full concession area. Parking is onsite, with more across the street at the Performing Arts Campus. Jason Joy, project manager for the architecture and design firm Method Studio, told St. George News that "'Versatility' is the keyword I want to emphasize."
The order of the opening makes sense alongside that $1 million goal. The bootcamp trains a crew on the new sound and lighting rigs before any audience arrives. The founders' night on Dec. 1 asks the theater's supporters to help finish paying for the building. The fundraising also covers the stage's planned electrical, speaker and smoke-effect upgrades.
The 2027 Season Fills the Room Almost Year-Round
Once Joseph opens, the Dimon's calendar barely pauses. SGMT has listed seven productions for 2027, all at 950 S. Main:
| Production | Dates | Listed ticket range |
|---|---|---|
| Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat | Jan. 16 – Feb. 13 | $18 – $50 |
| Cinderella | Mar. 6 – Apr. 3 | $18 – $50 |
| Fiddler on the Roof | Apr. 24 – May 22 | $18 – $48 |
| School of Rock | June 12 – July 10 | $18 – $48 |
| Singin' in the Rain | Aug. 7 – Sept. 4 | $18 – $50 |
| Come From Away | Sept. 25 – Oct. 23 | $18 – $50 |
| Anastasia The Musical | Nov. 13 – Dec. 18 | $18 – $50 |
Most runs last about four weeks, with roughly three weeks between closing night and the next opening. Anastasia runs about five weeks, through Dec. 18, 2027. From mid-January to mid-December, that keeps a 350-seat room busy almost all year. The company's leaders have said that is the point. Board leadership told St. George News the goal was to grow from a small community theater into an organization with a $2 million operating budget that earns enough to sustain itself.
Joseph auditions were held in October, with children's auditions on Oct. 12 and general auditions on Oct. 19 and 20.
November Belongs to the Old Cinema Across the Street
The Dimon is not hosting public shows in November, but SGMT still is. They are at the Performing Arts Campus, or PAC, at 905 S. Main, the former Cinema 6 building. SGMT holds it on a 20-year lease. Five of its six auditoriums were leveled to make room for rehearsal space and classrooms for children and adults. The sixth remains a performance hall for tribute shows and smaller productions, and the building is also home to CenterStage Academy.
Two PAC shows fill the rest of November:
- ALO Presents Phantoms and Sopranos of the Opera!, Nov. 11 to 14, $42 to $44. Vocalists Tennile Coello, Rachel Cox, Greg Knell and Nate Myers perform with the Angel's Landing Orchestra. The program includes songs from Phantom of the Opera along with crossover pieces such as Flower Duet, O Mio Babbino, Nella Fantasia, Time to Say Goodbye and Nessun Dorma. It is listed as four performances only.
- Nic Chamberlain Presents: Rock and Soul of the 70's, Nov. 19 to 21, $38. The songs come from Stevie Wonder, Elton John, The Eagles, Steely Dan and others.
On a November show night, the PAC is where the audience goes. Through Nov. 14, the Dimon across the street will be lit for students learning the light board. In December, the order flips. The tribute concerts move into the new room, and the PAC goes back to rehearsals and classes for the January cast.
What the Two Buildings Add Up To
Two buildings facing each other on Main Street came out of a long search. SGMT has been part of St. George for 25 years. It performed in an old downtown high school gymnasium, went dark for several years and relaunched in 2014. One earlier plan would have put a theater on Tabernacle Street after Washington County vacated an administration building there, but it did not materialize. The current project gained momentum after a 2020 city resident survey. Residents said they wanted more venues and restaurants downtown along St. George Boulevard and Main Street.
The city leased the land at 950 S. Main to the theater company. Community donations paid for the building itself. McFerson is a retired Nationwide Insurance CEO who began attending SGMT productions after moving to the area. He gave $5 million and spent almost a decade on the effort. He has said he expects the theater to anchor an arts and entertainment district that draws more restaurants, retail and activity venues to this part of downtown in the coming years. That is a forecast, and no additional venue has been announced yet.
The building SGMT is leaving still has a public role. The City of St. George describes the historic Opera House and Social Hall as a place for parties, weddings and events. The Social Hall can be rented, but the Opera House itself cannot. Inside the Dimon, SGMT is planning a legacy wall of photos and memorabilia from past productions, so its seasons at the Opera House will be on display in the new lobby. Engraved seat plaques and commemorative bricks are available through sgmusicaltheater.com for anyone who wants their name in the building too.
At The Red Rock Collective, we keep track of what is changing along Main Street between the PAC and the Dimon as downtown St. George grows. If being near that stretch matters for your next move, Let's Connect.
