Kids' theater out to purchase perfect practice space
<p>Artistic Director and Producer of the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Brach Thomson plays as cast members sing pieces from "Much Ado About Murder."</p>
<p>Exterior of the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Performing Arts Center on Grand Avenue.</p>
<p>Artistic Director and Producer of the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Brach Thomson plays as cast members sing pieces from "Much Ado About Murder," which will open with a special preview performance on Thursday, Nov. 8, and continue with two performances Nov. 9 and 10. Cast members are, from left, Michael Christensen, Wyatt Dykhuizen, Eli Brown, Camas Garnett, Emma Christensen, Caleb Karow, Olivia Witt, Alexa Lamers and Taylor Diehl.</p>
<p>Michael Christensen and Olivia Witt rehearse a scene from "Much Ado About Murder" Oct. 24 at the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Performing Arts Center. In the background are Eli Brown, left, and Taylor Diehl, right.</p>
<p>Camas Garnett, center, and other members of the cast of Much Ado About Murder rehearse Oct. 24 at the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Performing Arts Center.</p>
<p>Cast members of "Much Ado About Murder" work on the song "What Do You Do When You Know The Killer" Oct. 24 at the Bigfork Playhouse Children's Theatre Performing Arts Center.</p>
Brach Thomson knows if he could just get you in the door, you’d fall in love with Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre.
The program attracts hundreds of children from all over the valley — even from as far as Charlo — to put on high-quality productions throughout the school year. They perform for their peers and for adults, the latter of whom are harder to convince they’re in for something more than the typical youth performance experience.
“If I could just get you in the door, you’d be a believer. This is not typical children’s theater,” said Thomson, the theater group’s artistic director. “I promise you’ll love it more than you think you will.”
The children usually perform downtown in the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts, but their rehearsals for the last few years have taken place in the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre Performing Arts Center on Grand Avenue, conveniently located within walking distance of Bigfork schools.
It is an ideal space, Thomson said, but the nonprofit group is only guaranteed the use of the space through the end of 2014. The children’s theater has launched a fundraising campaign the group hopes will cover about half the building’s cost.
The children’s theater has been using the building for workshops and rehearsals for about three years, Thomson said.
“We were out looking, and this building had come available. It was perfect walking distance to the school, had adequate space — everything about it seemed to be the right thing,” he said.
The one potential stumbling block was the cost, but a donor, who has asked to remain anonymous, and the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork chipped in enough money to allow the children’s theater to move in worry-free for five years.
Now, with about two years left before that stress-free time runs out, the group is planning ahead and trying to raise money to cover about half the cost of purchasing the building.
The children’s theater had to wait a few years before beginning a fundraising campaign, just to make sure it could justify using the space, Thomson said.
The verdict?
“We use the bejeepers out of it, with rehearsals, workshops and dance classes,” he said, adding that Bigfork ACES, the district’s new after-school program, uses the space as well.
“It’s a building we find functional and useful,” Thomson said. “It’s time to make the push.”
Volunteers have stepped up to lead the fundraising campaign, much to Thomson’s relief. As he puts it, “My strengths are ... music and directing, not putting my hand out to ask for money.”
The goal is to raise enough money to buy out the private donor and co-own the building with the community foundation, Thomson said.
“We want to raise $100,000 to at least get part of it in our court,” he said.
The building’s total cost is about $179,000, but by the time the five years is up, the theater group will also have to look at replacing the roof.
It’s a lot of money, but Thomson believes it’s a good investment.
“It’s a program for kids; every program for kids is good,” he said. “Where this one is different is it puts a whole different set of life skills in front of the kids. They feel really good about themselves when they’re done with this.”
The children’s theater does more than teach memorization, reading and performance skills, he added. The group encourages youths of all ages to work together without older students looking down on younger kids, and the process of putting on a show teaches them responsibility, cooperation and problem solving.
“When I do the show, there’s not an adult on stage or in the booth. The kids are actors, performers and do lights and sound. They work together to cooperate,” Thomson said.
“They learn to adjust on the fly if something goes wrong, which it frequently does in live theater. It’s a great, great set of skills for the kids to have. They have to think for themselves.”
Thomson said he has heard from other adults about the positive changes the children’s theater has made in youths’ lives.
“My favorite stories are when I hear from the teacher in school about the kids who maybe were not athletic or had not much going on who got involved in our program and now walk down the hall with their heads head high,” he said.
“They have a home. They feel good about themselves. We’re cultivating the arts — it’s music and theater — but we’re also helping raise kids’ self-esteem.”
Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.