Theatre History
When Ruth and Nathan Hale moved to Glendale from Salt Lake City in 1943 with aspirations of beginning a career as actors, they quickly realized that the only way to pursue their dream was to open their own theatre. As such, they rented a small building at 418 East Colorado Street in 1947and the Glendale Centre Theatre was born! Although their opening night had an audience of just six, their new 110 seat theatre began to grow quite rapidly in popularity.

In order to accommodate the theatre’s burgeoning number of patrons, a site at 411 West Doran Street in Glendale was purchased on which a new 220 seat theatre was built in 1959. Joined by their daughter Sandra and their son-in-law Allan Dietlein, the family began to focus their energy and creativity on further expansion of the theatre.

As such, a 440 seat New Orleans style theatre designed by Allan was opened at 324 N. Orange Street in Glendale in 1965. The theatre continued to blossom with the introduction of musicals and children’s shows in the late 70’s. In 1994, the theatre was turned over to the Dietlein’s sons, Tim and Dave. They, along with Tim’s wife Brenda, have continued to break new ground in every area of production at the G.C.T. while initiating innovative programs in educational theatre and community outreach!

With Dave’s departure in 2000 to open another live theatre in the growing family chain of Hale/Dietlein theatres, Tim and Brenda now run the G.C.T. with the same vision that drove Ruth and Nathan in 1947. As Ruth once said, “It’s an exciting life, full of stress and strain. Yet, there’s never a dull moment when you’re in this business!”