‘Grease’ director reminisces about his years with Tuacahn

By Lisa Larson
When Aaron De Jesus considers his theater career, there is a red-rock-colored strand weaving in and out of the tapestry of his life; a notable through-line that leaves him feeling both excited and grateful for the intermittent experiences that span roughly 23 years at Tuacahn.

Whether working as an actor, director, or as part of the construction crew backstage, De Jesus’ time at Tuacahn has played a pivotal part in his story on more than one occasion. It’s the place where he dated the woman who would eventually become his wife. It’s the place he found solace and steady work when it seemed every other theater in the world was dark following the covid-19 pandemic. And it’s the place where he first tried his hand at directing — the latter of which he is excited to be doing once again for this season’s production of Grease.

“Tuacahn is such a special place,” De Jesus said. “I remember walking in my first year here and seeing the potential. It’s truly a world class facility.”

De Jesus’ first year was back in 2003 when he was hired as an actor in The King and I. Even that experience served as a full-circle kind of moment, since it was a production of The King and I when De Jesus was in middle school that first turned him on to the notion that theater might be a world he’d want to explore.

“They needed kids for the high school production, and I was cast as (Prince Chulalongkorn) which was more of a lead role for the kids,” De Jesus said. Then with a laugh he added, “When I came to Tuacahn in 2003, I was too old to play the prince again.”

Instead, his time in 2003 gave him a chance to see Tuacahn for the jewel it is, complete with the storied history of Padre Canyon, and the natural beauty of the area.

“People sometimes compare it to Red Rocks Amphitheatre (in Colorado), but it has a very different feel. Tuacahn was designed for storytelling and all the beauty around the theater helps to focus our attention to what is happening on stage,” De Jesus said.

It’s that sort of focus De Jesus is once again excited to create in this summer’s production of Grease.

“My concept is pretty simple,” he said of the highly requested production set to open July 10. “I want to focus on the important things: friendship, love, loyalty, and being true to yourself… It’s a really fun show!”

Featuring a combination of songs from the film version, as well as the stage play, De Jesus said he can’t wait for audiences to see all the special treatment Tuacahn has in store for the beloved story of two people from different worlds who fall in love one summer and have to navigate their way back to each other through the gauntlet of high school.

“It will be exciting and fun, and it will be within the parameters of what we do at Tuacahn,” De Jesus said in regard to questions about some of Grease’s spicier content. “It doesn’t mean we’re not going to see mistakes and misbehaving on stage, but it’ll be spoken in a language our audience can understand, similar to how Tuacahn handled Jersey Boys.”

Working in such a unique place — with its 80-foot stage, and exposure to the outdoor elements — certainly presents its own set of challenges. But it is the challenge that makes this line of work so fulfilling for De Jesus.

“I’m a problem solver by nature, so I enjoy that aspect of theater, and of directing especially,” he said. “I really thrive coming up with solutions.”

As it turns out, De Jesus’ ability to deal with challenges not only equips him well as a director it has allowed him to flourish in a career that is notoriously riddled with rejection.

“You have to truly love this art form to stay in the business,” De Jesus said, recalling his first year living in New York City when he auditioned for more than 75 parts in the course of five months, and only received two or three callbacks.

“That’s par for the course for someone who is starting out,” he said. “It can take years to establish yourself.”

For De Jesus, it’s an interesting irony that, as an actor, one has to be very in touch with their emotions when acting but must also develop extremely thick skin in order to deal with the rejection in a healthy way. It’s a dichotomy that not everyone is ready to handle.

“You have to love it, or you won’t last,” he said.

Fortunately for De Jesus, he loves it — and has loved it for many years.

“From the time we could talk, my mom had us singing and performing,” De Jesus said. “Music was a huge part of my upbringing, singing in church, school choirs and all kinds of performing groups.”

Later, after his Prince Chulalongkorn role in middle school, he continued to pursue theater in high school, but he was practical enough to realize it might not make a full-time career. Instead, he opted to pursue education — a world he might have continued in if the college he was attending had offered the secondary education degree he needed.

“They were still working on developing their secondary ed program, and in the meantime, my sister convinced me to get involved in the college’s theater,” he said.

The rest, with several blips and bumps along the way, is history.

Some of the more notable bullets on his theatrical resume include performing in Spamelot in Las Vegas for more than 10 years and playing the roles of both Joey Pesci and Frankie Valli in the Broadway production of Jersey Boys, up until the Covid-19 pandemic ended the show’s run.

After that, he came out to Southern Utah to spend time with his wife, Gail Bennet, during her 2022 role in ‘Mary Poppins’ at Tuacahn and ended up filling in for an ensemble actor during a six-week leave. But his entire experience that summer actually started with something even more impromptu.

“My first day of rehearsal I got a call from Shari Jordan (associate artistic producer at Tuacahn) asking if I could be in ‘Joseph (and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat)’ that night, in the role of Pharoah,” De Jesus recalls. “This was not something I was hired to do, but luckily, I’d done theater in Utah for years and so I’d been part of several ‘Joseph’ productions, and I was able to jump in as the ‘emergency Pharoah’.”

And while he and his wife, Gail Bennet, did not actually meet at Tuacahn — a common misconception — they did date one another during the 2006 season. Bennet had been cast as Nellie in South Pacific and as the understudy for Mrs. Darling in Peter Pan. De Jesus had auditioned for the season, hoping he and Gail could work together while they were dating, but when he wasn’t initially cast in the shows, he took a position in the scene shop. It was during that time the actor hired to play the lead role in Peter Pan was unable to fill the contract, and De Jesus was brought in for the role.

“We both ended up sacrificing some things in our schedule in order to spend time together that summer, and ultimately our sacrifices for each other created something even better,” De Jesus said.

It was during the 2006 season that audiences were first introduced the flying element at Tuacahn, giving De Jesus the distinction of being the first actor to fly out over the Tuacahn audience, and across the stage as Peter Pan. Years later, his wife would fly those same patterns in her role as Mary Poppins. Yet another example of De Jesus carving out a history between himself and Tuacahn — something he is so happy to be continuing this season.

“This cast is insanely talented, and I just can’t wait to see how it all comes together,” De Jesus said of Grease. “Utah audiences are some of the most generous audiences I’ve ever performed for. To make them happy with a show like this… it’s a special gift for me.”

Grease is part of the Tuacahn Outdoor Amphitheatre season beginning July 10, joining Les Misérables and Disney & Pixar’s Finding Nemo: A Family Musical already in rotation. For ticket and information for all of this year’s remarkable season at www.tuacahn.org or call the box office at 435-652-3300.