Odyssey Dance Theatre’s Thriller Returns With New and Old Haunts

Derryl and Cheryl Yeager have built a Halloween tradition that transcends any single genre, theater or audience. After an impressive career as a professional dancer and actor, Derryl founded Odyssey Dance Theatre with his wife Cheryl in 1994. Derryl was quick to realize a lack of true Halloween dance tradition in Utah. “We knew from a business standpoint, we had to create a seasonal show that would be a good money maker, kind of like The Nutcracker,” Derryl says.

“We wanted to bring it back, make it bigger and better, and prepare it in such a way that it could go on without us, if needed.”

Thriller had humble beginnings: The first show only sold 50 tickets. Derryl proceeded anyway, and the next Kingsbury Hall show attracted a crowd of 300 through word of mouth. “I knew there was something special about what we were doing,” he says. Derryl’s passion and belief in the show is clear, considering he built it from scratch.

Since 1994, the show has toured a variety of theaters across Utah, including the Egyptian Theater in Park City and the Tuacahn Amphitheatre in St. George. These changing stages meant the show had to adapt to its venue, making for unique surprises catered to each location — including a pirate ship scene on the large Tuacahn stage. “In a way, the company is my mission in life,” Derryl says. The couple shut the company down in 2022 to serve an LDS mission but “left the door open” on Odyssey Dance Theatre. During his mission, Derryl felt a strong need for Thriller and Odyssey in the Utah community, for both dancers and audiences. “We wanted to bring it back, make it bigger and better, and prepare it in such a way that it could go on without us, if needed,” Derryl says.

“[If] you go to a normal dance concert, they might be amazing, but you tend to get tired after a while. I really think it’s the humor of the show people are really drawn to.”

Thriller begins with the classic Michael Jackson zombie jam. From there, the show pulls the audience through a dark, winding haunted house with plenty of laughs, screams and unexpected dark corners. “It really did become our Nutcracker,” Derryl says. The show features dance vignettes of all styles, far bloodier than the ones featured in The Nutcracker. In fact, the show features a newly added sugar plum fairy act with a twist. For Derryl, the sky’s the limit in terms of creating pieces for the show. He started choreographing Halloween favorites, including dances like “Frankenstein,” “The Curse of the Mummy” and “Jason Jam” to create a Halloween spectacular. He says these OG pieces have “stood the test of time” and continue to be crowd favorites.

In addition to these timeless classics, Derryl creates new pieces that are frightening and comedically relevant. “The COVID Cotillion” is a recent example of Derryl’s humor that he successfully translates through dance. “[If] you go to a normal dance concert, they might be amazing, but you tend to get tired after a while,” he says. “I really think it’s the humor of the show people are really drawn to. There’s always one kid in the audience during ‘Jason Jam’ who just brings the audience with him and laughs at all the jokes.”

“It’s a very powerful piece … The girls love doing it, but it takes a lot out of them.”

The show isn’t all laughs, however. Derryl references “Lost Boys,” a piece based on the cult classic vampire film from the ‘80s, as being one of the hardest to technically coordinate. “There’s all these lifts that are really technical, and could be pretty dangerous,” Derryl says. “That’s always the most difficult one, because what I choreographed in it is pretty hard!” He also mentions a Salem witch trials dance, which tells the story of three young women who are accused of witchcraft, executed and come back to life to haunt the preacher who sent them to their deaths. “It’s a very powerful piece … The girls love doing it, but it takes a lot out of them,” Derryl says.

Without giving away any spoilers, Derryl speaks with enthusiasm and passion about new changes to the show this year. Get your tickets at odysseydance.com/thriller and create a new Halloween tradition the whole family can enjoy.

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