Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre (UFOMT) is an opera company based in Logan, Utah. The company performs four fully staged works with orchestra in repertory every July and August at the Ellen Eccles Theatre on Logan's Main Street. The works performed range from operas to operettas to musicals. Singers, performers, technicians and orchestra come from all over the United States, including artists from Broadway and the Metropolitan Opera. Founding The company was founded in 1992 by operatic tenor Michael Ballam, a music professor at Utah State University, and a native of Logan. Besides being director of the company, he has also sung lead roles in many productions over the years. Naughty Marietta by Victor Herbert was the first work performed by the company in 1993, along with Puccini's La Bohème and a double bill of Trial By Jury and The Impresario. Up through the 2000 season, there were three works in repertory. This increased to four in 2001, with productions of The Barber of Seville, South Pacific, Naughty Marietta and Susannah. In addition to the main stage productions, Utah Festival Opera & Musical Theatre offers many concerts and educational courses to supply their patrons with the greatest festival experience possible, including performances from The American Festival Chorus, conducted by Craig Jessop. The Dansante The offices, scene and costume shops of the company are located adjacent to the Ellen Eccles Theatre in the Dansante building, a former dance hall. The Dansante also has a Recital Hall that seats 125, as well as large rehearsal rooms and practice rooms. The Utah Theatre In 2007 UFOMT purchased the 350 seat Utah Theatre, and took on a major gut-renovation of that facility, which was completed in June 2016. This addition to the company will allow an addition of 2-3 smaller works to be performed, as well as showings of classic and silent films, accompanied by the Mighty Wurlitzer Organ. The premiere performance at the Utah Theatre was Moose Charlap and Jule Styne's Peter Pan, starring Michael Ballam as Captain Hook and Adam T. Biner as Peter Pan. Opera by Children Opera by Children is an educational outreach program which has provided training for teachers and in-class mentoring for over 75,000 children to create their own operas in a classroom setting. Teachers throughout Utah and many western states are using this unique tool to increase unity, self-discovery and enthusiasm for learning in their classrooms.