Old Comedy Hall

Frontier Parowan was barely a year old when it started staging plays. The Parowan Dramatic Association formed in 1851, one of the earliest theatrical companies in the territory, and put on its shows first in the log Council House and the Rock Church. In 1870 the players got a home of their own, Comedy Hall. And when the town wanted something grander in 1897, it did a curious thing: it built the brick walls of a new Opera House right around the old hall, so the plays could go on inside while the new theater rose over them.

What the plaque says

The Parowan Dramatic Association was organized in 1851 with Edward Dalton president, Jessie V. Smith, Joseph, Jane and Annie Fish, David and Wm. Cluff, Wm. C. McGregor and Ed Ward, members. Plays were produced in Log Council House and Rock Church until in 1870, when Comedy Hall was erected. In 1897 the Parowan Dramatic Association built a brick Opera House on the site of Comedy Hall. Plays were given in the old building while the new walls were built around it. Some of the outstanding plays of the day were presented.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Parowan Gap Petroglyphs — 10 mi
  An ancient rock art gallery hidden in a desert canyon
• Brian Head — 10 mi
  Utah's highest town — a ski-and-bike base camp at the top of Parowan Canyon
• Panguitch Lake — 13 mi
  A Blue Ribbon trout lake at 8,400 feet on the Patchwork Parkway
• Cedar Breaks National Monument — 14 mi
  A 2,000-foot-deep amphitheater of vivid orange and red rock

More markers nearby

• Parowan Cotton Factory — 0.2 mi
• Pioneer Rock Church — 0.2 mi
• Pioneer Sundial — 0.3 mi
• John C. Fremont — 0.3 mi