Pageant reaction isn't all pretty

Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Jun 30, 2003 by Sharon Haddock Deseret Morning News

Reaction to operational changes at this year's Miss Utah Scholarship Pageant is as varied as the spangled dresses worn onstage by the graceful contestants.

A decision by a new pageant director to move the annual beauty, talent and poise contest from its longtime home at a Utah County high school to Abravanel Hall was one of the most-talked-about changes.

And then there was the extra hit to the wallet: Increased admission prices to pageant events also rankled some contestants and their supporters.

"Everyone I talked to was so unhappy with how expensive it was this year," said Salem's Holly Isaman.

Isaman said many families, already stretched thin because of the investment in gowns and other costs of a state pageant, felt the sting of the higher ticket prices.

"For people like me and families like mine, it was a real strain. I had a lot of family and friends who said, 'We love you, but . . .' "

Traditionally, tickets for the Miss Utah preliminary events have cost between $5 and $7. Final-night tickets were $15.

This year, a ticket to the Wednesday through Friday preliminary competitions costs between $19 and $23. Final night tickets cost $45, and a gala afterward costs an additional $50 a person.

Last Saturday at Abravanel Hall, Miss Provo Stacy Johnson was crowned Miss Utah 2003.

"It ended up about $175 a person for everything," Isaman said. "As a contestant, I loved the change. It was more professional and elegant, but the girls whose families had money had huge cheering sections. Then other girls had no one there."

Spanish Fork's Carly Tooke said the costs for attending were higher -- but it was worth it.

"I have competed in both settings -- the high school and Abravanel Hall -- and I would not go back (to the high school)," she said. "I felt like I was at Miss America."

Tooke, who was the pageant's first runner-up, said most of her supporters couldn't afford tickets on the main floor. But most of her immediate family was in the building.

Pageant director David Haws, who took over the pageant this year, said he thought most of the parents were supportive.

"I was very, very pleased with the move," Haws said. "I was concerned that we would lose some support because the pageant had been in Orem for so many years, but we did fine with ticket sales."

Haws said it appears the pageant is in "better shape financially" than previous years.

Haws said the preliminary night crowds did not fill the 2,300- seat hall, but on the final night, nearly every seat was sold.

Haws said the pageant paid about $3,000 more for Abravanel Hall than it costs to hold the pageant at the Orem school.

As for another change to the pageant, Haws said it worked out better to put the contestants in a hotel rather than house them in private homes.

"Our expectations on several levels were exceeded," he said, "especially for our first year."

E-MAIL: haddoc@desnews.com