Landmark season for Bigfork theater
The cast of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" rehearses the song "On Broadway." The musical opens the 50th season at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse on Friday evening. From left are Jaclyn Stapp, Tim Joyce, Annie Jansen, Andy Meyers and Rebecca Myers. Nate Chute/Daily Inter Lake
Cliff Haven watches his grandchildren Alexa and Theron Wilton play in the lobby of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts while his wife, Karen, buys tickets for Friday's musical. The Havens were buying tickets for their daughter and son-in-law's anniversary. The lobby was renovated for $1.1 million. Nate Chute/Daily Inter Lake
Jaclyn Stapp sings "Baby, That is Rock and Roll" during a rehearsal Wednesday of "Smokey Joe's Cafe," which opens Friday at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. Nate Chute/Daily Inter Lake
Playhouse celebrates new lobby plus its 50th anniversary
Three members of this year's Bigfork Summer Playhouse cast had more than enough reasons to come back for their third season.
For Rebecca Myers, Andy Meyers and Jaclyn Stapp, the company's professionalism, the friendships they've developed and the supportive Bigfork community all played into their decision to return.
But add on the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts' $1.1 million lobby renovation and this year's 50th-anniversary playhouse season, and the lure was impossible to resist.
"Quite honestly after my second year I felt that I needed to try another theater, but then I couldn't imagine not coming back for another summer," Myers said. "The 50th is such a huge deal. It's hard to imagine not being a part of it."
The public is invited to a free open house showcasing the new lobby on Friday from 5 to 8 p.m., before the season kicks off with the musical revue "Smokey Joe's Cafe."
Though the repertory theater is starting off its 50th season nontraditionally, with a musical instead of the usual comedic farce, the Bigfork Summer Playhouse will serve up its usual summer of family-friendly classic theater.
This year's lineup includes "Seussical The Musical," based on books by Dr. Seuss, and "The Wiz," a modern musical stage adaptation of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz." Rounding out the season are "Singin' in the Rain" and "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas."
"It's a real departure for us," Bigfork Summer Playhouse director Don Thomson said of starting out with "Smokey Joe's Cafe." The production is an award-winning showcase of the music of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller from the 1950s and '60s, including standards made famous by Elvis Presley, the Drifters and many more.
"We haven't ever done a musical-style production at the beginning of the year," he said. "We chose to do it because it's different and an upbeat kind of show."
The lineup alteration is a small change compared to what people will see on their first visit to the venue since the lobby renovation. The formerly cramped and charmless entry is now an airy 2,500-foot space filled with old-fashioned touches, such as Tiffany-style lamps and embossed tin ceilings, and modern looks such as tiled pillars and expansive curved windows.
"I felt like a kid in a candy shop when we first saw the lobby," Stapp said of the actors' first introduction to the new space.
The lobby project was spearheaded by Walter Kuhn, a member of the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation.
"Now it really feels like the town is showcasing the theater the way it's supposed to be," said Myers, of Knoxville, Tenn. "Everyone seems really proud if it. It's kind of a gift."
"The design is perfect," said Meyers, a Missoula native who also is the "Smokey Joe's Cafe" choreographer. "With all the wood and glass, it feels like Montana."
Bigfork Center foundation member Mary Jo Naive said the curved and ample window space should draw people from the street into the theater.
"The windows merge the outside life with the interior of the theater nicely," she said.
The foundation is still $200,000 short of the goal for the lobby project, but board members have been very impressed by the generosity of the small community.
Naive expects the residents of Bigfork to share in the 50th anniversary celebrations as they did the construction of the new space.
"The whole town is trying to rally to celebrate this significant event," Naive said.
Shops will offer signature anniversary items and a treasure hunt with theater trivia is planned. In August, the company is holding a reunion weekend of theater alumni, with 948 past company members invited.
"The theater has always been such a special part of the town," Naive said. "It's a time to focus on the uniqueness of having this in such a small town for 50 years."
Tickets for "Smokey Joe's Cafe" are $19 for adults, $18 for seniors and $14 for children under 10. They are available at the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts box office, open 10 a.m. to showtime, Monday through Saturday, or online at www.bigforksummerplayhouse.com
"Smokey Joe's Cafe" runs May 15-16, 22-23, 29-30 and June 8, 11, 17 and 20.
Reporter Heidi Gaiser may be reached at 758-4431 or by e-mail at hgaiser@dailyinterlake.com