Fred C. Adams accepts prestigious Madeleine Award

Intermountain Catholic

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Fred C. Adams (second from left) receives the Madeleine Festival Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities from Father Joseph M. Mayo, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine as Michael Stransky (left) chairman of the Madeleine Arts and Humanities Council, and Ardean Watts (right) look on. Stransky holds a rare book, ?The Trés Riches Houres of Jean, Duke of Berry: One of the Miracles of Art History,? also presented to Adams. IC photos by Barbara S. Lee

SALT LAKE CITY — The crowd gathered at Memorial House in Memory Grove June 3 was described as "stellar." Artists, musicians, dancers, poets, writers, and arts aficionados came to honor Fred C. Adams, founder of the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Adams received the 19th annual Madeleine Festival of the Arts and Humanities Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts and Humanities in a room that was once a stage.

"This room is filled with people who love you," said Ardean Watts, who championed Adams’ cause for the award, and is himself the 1996 Madeleine Festival Award winner. "You can see their gratitude for you reflected in their eyes."

Michael Stransky, chairman of the Madeleine Arts and Humanities Council read a letter of congratulation to Adams from Utah Gov. John Huntsman.

Upon receiving the award from Father Joseph M. Mayo, rector of the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Adams reflected on the long tradition of the arts and humanities in Utah as recognized by New York Times Critic Clive Barnes.

"I am a child of the Great Depression," Adams said. "The Festival started very slow and very small. That first year (1961) 1,000 people came to see our plays. This coming season, we expect to see 155,000 in attendance."

The Madeleine Award is one of a host of awards garnered by Adams and the Utah Shakespearean Festival, not the least of which was the 2000 Tony Award for the Best Regional Theater in the country.

"I thank the Award committee for being so gracious to me," Adams said. "I am genuinely surprised to be honored with the award. There are so many people who deserve it."

He told the story of two young boys who bicycled to the university to watch every rehearsal of the plays for the Festival’s first season. Twenty-five years later, he learned the boys had scouted out perches in the trees from which they were able to watch the opening night of "Hamlet."

Adams said he came from a small town, "and like others who live in small towns, we had to supply our own creative outlets, from choral performances to plays. The Festival has always been, for me, a source of great joy."