Flathead Valley Live on Stage takes a final bow
Flathead Valley Live on Stage, which had operated for more than 70 years as Community Concerts, will promote its final show later this month, the group’s board of directors has decided.
Cherish the Ladies, a Celtic music and dance group, will perform at the 78-year-old, volunteer-run organization’s last concert, Wednesday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m. at Flathead High School.
Community Concerts was founded in 1939 to bring musical acts to the region, which at the time was largely inaccessible and bereft of entertainment options. In recent years, however, a number of music and theater venues and promoters have emerged throughout the valley, and in 2013 the group rebranded as Flathead Valley Live on Stage in an attempt to stimulate ticket sales and volunteer interest.
Past board president and longtime board member Betsy Wood said a variety of factors were to blame for the 78-year-old organization’s demise.
“In the first place, the niche that our group was created to fill — in 1939 — it doesn’t exist in the Flathead Valley anymore,” she said. “The Flathead was just a little tiny place and it was hard to get good entertainment here and that’s no longer true.”
In its eight decades of operation, the group has booked a variety of acts, including the original Von Trapp Family Singers and the Gothard Sisters. Shows have featured musicians from around the world, covering a multitude of genres. Flathead Valley Live on Stage’s most recent show, on March 23, was a recital by Ukranian pianist Alina Kiryayeva.
Throughout its history, the group has been an all-volunteer organization, relying on members of the community to handle all aspects of the operation. FVLOS partnered with Nashville’s Live on Stage, Inc. in recent years to help book performers and dates but has nonetheless been unable to survive dwindling volunteer support, according to Wood.
“People don’t volunteer like they used to, or if they do they volunteer for different things,” Wood said. “We don’t have any paid budget, it’s always been done completely by volunteers.
“I guess there’s a significant number of people but their interests apparently lie in other places. We have tried for many years to get more people involved and it just hasn’t materialized.”
Wood called the board’s decision to shut down “bittersweet” and claimed the lack of volunteer support was the most significant blow.
“There truly weren’t enough people to run it; not enough volunteers rather than not enough money,” she said. “You can usually come up with some money but coming up with people is a lot harder.”
In a letter announcing the decision to local sponsors, including the Daily Inter Lake, Board President Chris Amyes wrote “We did not take this decision lightly, nor did it come easily. In the end, we all realized that the demographics are against us and that ‘Kalispell just outgrew us.’”
Single tickets to the final Flathead Valley Live on Stage show, Cherish the Ladies, are on sale online at www.flatheadvalleyliveonstage.org.
Entertainment editor Andy Viano can be reached at (406) 758-4439 or aviano@dailyinterlake.com.