Versatile actor a mainstay with Whitefish Theatre Co.

Those who have pursued or are in the midst of pursuing a career in the arts, whether it be singing, dancing, acting or some other form, will find Mikey Winn’s story all too relatable.

It’s a story that is full of trials and tribulations. It’s one about early mornings and long nights, side gigs that pay the bills and how a person who has always preferred the arts to academics continued finding ways to satisfy his creative itch.

“I would definitely say this is not for the faint of heart,” said the Whitefish-based actor.

But Winn says his journey has largely been a rewarding one and eventually brought him to Whitefish, where his larger-than-life personality both off and on stage continues to leave a memorable impression on his friends and his community.

“I believe deeply in the power of theater, especially in smaller communities. It’s a form of storytelling at its finest and I think everyone at some point should experience what it’s like being on stage and being part of a theater family,” Winn said.

The Denver native can be found bartending at Spotted Bear Spirits or working at the Harlow and Harlette boutiques. But most recognize him as a mainstay actor with the Whitefish Theatre Company where he has played countless roles throughout the years, ranging from his most recent as the wolf in the company’s production of “Into the Woods,” to a deaf character in a show called “Tribes.”

“I spent months learning sign language and training to essentially be a deaf person so I would feel confident when it was time to perform. I didn’t want to be offensive, I didn’t want to be funny. I wanted to get it right,” Winn said.

He said playing a deaf character has been his most challenging role to date and is one he couldn’t have done without the encouragement and support from his performing family. And it’s that camaraderie and familial aspect that first attracted Winn to the acting scene.

It can be traced back to when he was cast as an Oompa Loompa in a production of “Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” at the age of 10. Although he said the role itself and the purple tights and orange body paint that came with it was “fun” - his favorite word - he was more drawn to the friends he made during rehearsals and the moments between sets.

“I fell in love with the theater family first and then the love of actually performing came a little bit later. It was the first time I fell into something that I really enjoyed every part of,” Winn said.

After that first role, he said he knew acting would assume a permanent spot in his life, but in more of a hobby-sense. It wasn’t until he landed a paid role in “The King and I” a year later at the age of 11 that he first thought, “maybe I should do this for the rest of my life.”

But Winn found the idea of pursuing a long-term career in the arts to be intimidating, and throughout his middle school and high school years he would continue treating acting as more of a hobby while simultaneously attempting to gain a similar level of interest in school subjects.

“There’s always a bit of hesitation when you’re growing up. I was always wondering, should I follow my passion or should I really try and go the academic route?” Winn said.

After high school, when many of Winn’s friends left for big colleges in Colorado and out-of-state, he found himself “sort of wandering aimlessly” - an ambiguous path that would take him in and out of several community college across a handful of states over the next few years of his life.

IN 2012, Winn found himself in Tempe, Arizona, after following his best friend to the desert state where he said finding his place and purpose among the community and its people was a challenge. And when he no longer wanted to stay in Arizona, but felt he couldn’t return to his hometown, Winn’s parents suggested he move to Montana and stay at his family’s place on Lake Blaine until he figured out life’s next move - a place where, unlike Arizona, he knew he already loved dearly. He describes the Flathead Valley not as his place of residence, but as his “best friend.”

Winn’s fondness for the area first surfaced in the summer of 2001 when a series of events turned what should have been a family vacation in Mexico into a weeks-long Fourth of July adventure at a rented cabin on Lake Blaine instead.

Winn, the youngest of three siblings, recalls he and his family loved the trip so much, his parents put in an offer on a house down the street from the cabin they rented mere months after their vacation.

“It was magical,” Winn recalls. “I haven’t spent a Fourth of July anywhere else since.”

After moving into his family’s home on Lake Blaine in 2012, Winn admits he wasn’t sure if he had made the right choice. He fell into different jobs at a coffee shop and then a crepe restaurant and enrolled at the Flathead Valley Community College.

But then he found the Whitefish Theatre Company, which had advertised they were auditioning for the musical “Oliver.” The audition and eventual performance introduced Winn to the world of community theater, which made Whitefish - where Winn eventually moved to - feel like more of a home, and challenged his acting in ways he says “you just can’t experience elsewhere.

“The community of actors here is definitely growing and is wildly talented, but it’s still small, which means you have the opportunity to audition for all these different roles,” Winn said. “We are always encouraging anyone and everyone in the area to come and find out what it’s like to perform as well. There is a different inclusive attitude with community theater that you wouldn’t find on Broadway in New York, you know?”

Although Broadway is the dream for most in acting, Winn included, he says he currently has no plans to return to a big-city grind.

“It’s the dream. I’ll admit that. But I’m super happy here and I get to perform all the time,” Winn said. “Broadway would be great, but the main dream is just being able to achieve theater in my everyday life, for as long as I can, and encourage others to do the same.”

And come this spring, Winn says community theater will challenge him in a new way as he moves from being an actor to a director for part of the Whitefish Theatre Company’s Black Curtain series.

He was nudged to do so by his artistic director Kim Krueger. She told Winn - who admits he’s a bit nervous be a director - that his constant encouragement of others and his willingness to help out fellow actors and actresses will make him a fine director.

“She told me to give it a shot. So here we are,” Winn said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun.”