William Shakespeare, world-renowned dramatist of the Renaissance, once penned, “It is in the theatre that the public soul is formed.” Centuries later, another famous playwright, Oscar Wilde, echoed Shakespeare’s sentiment when he wrote, “I regard the theatre as the greatest of all art forms, the most immediate way in which a human being can share with another the sense of what it is to be a human being.” Creating and sharing powerful theatre experiences that humanize people one by one and transform society as a whole is what CenterPoint Theatre is all about.

The story of the theatre organization now called CenterPoint began in 1990, when Joan and Ralph Rodgers, Beverly and Blaine Olsen, and Margo and David Beecher established a live theater in Centerville, Utah, which they named Pages Lane Theatre because of its location at 292 East Pages Lane, on the southern edge of the community. The renovation of the space in that location, which had once been a fabric store in a small strip mall, resulted in a 287-seat theater-in-the-round, with a 24-by-24 foot stage in the center where live performances began with the first production, Cheaper by the Dozen, which opened on Friday, November 16, 1990. Commencing with that show, people across Davis County and beyond began enjoying valuable ongoing opportunities at Pages Lane as actors, production staff, technicians, administrative staff, and audience members.

After operating as Pages Lane Theatre and School of Performing Arts for six years, the theater was renamed Rodgers Memorial Theatre in honor of Ralph Rodgers, one of the original founders, who died in 1996. The Davis County Performing Arts Corporation, under the leadership of Bill Davies and Cliff Cole, took over operation of the theatre organization and led the impressive expansion and changes that followed, from increased numbers of audience members, actors, and staff to renovations to the theater space itself, with a proscenium stage space created to replace the original theater in the round.

With the growing success of Rodgers Memorial Theatre in the decade that followed, plans were made for a regional performing arts center with highly improved and much larger space to house the theatre and performing arts school that was part of the organization. Those plans were led by then Centerville Mayor, Ronald G. Russell, assisted by other Centerville City leaders, and theatre leaders Glenn McKay, Scott VanDyke, Alan Mortensen, Kevin Ellis, and Bill Davies. In June 2009, ground was broken for the Davis Center for the Performing Arts located at 525 North 400 West in Centerville, where the resident theatre organization, which was renamed CenterPoint Legacy Theatre, began operation in a beautiful, state-of-the-art facility in January 2011.

A short time later, Jansen Davis was named the first Executive Director of the CenterPoint organization, which continued to operate successfully during the years of his service. With his move out of state in 2023, Danny Inkley was selected as the current CenterPoint Executive Director who now leads the organization forward into ever-expanding influence and success as a live theatre that entertains, sustains, lifts, teaches, changes, connects, empowers, civilized people and communities in the unique and potent way that theatre, “the greatest of all art forms,” has the power to do.

Our community is comprised of people who come from many different cultures, backgrounds, lifestyles and beliefs. It is our differences that create the rich tapestry and flavor of our community. These differences in culture and ideas are celebrated in the myriad of stories produced on CenterPoint Theatre’s stages, and in the programs we offer.

We strive to hear and tell a range of stories that represent the unique mix of diversity in our culture. We welcome community members, who desire to be included, to join with us as participants, patrons and supporters in our efforts to tell stories of our human experience through the art of live performance.