Bigfork Summer Playhouse: After 50 years, “it’s still a joy”
Published: April 30, 2009
When the Bigfork Summer Playhouse opens its doors May 15 for the 50th season, owners Don and Jude Thomson are apt to be too busy to reflect back on the past five decades.
So we cornered Don well before the curtains went up and asked him about the high points in a career that brought him to the theatre in 1964 as a set designer (Jude arrived the same year, hired as musical director), for a company launched by the University of Montana in 1960 to give drama students a taste of professional theatre. The couple was hired to manage the playhouse in 1968 and bought it in 1971.
Hundreds of shows later, “it’s still a joy,” says Thomson. “It’s fun working with those young people, seeing that energy, and seeing those shows come to life.”
Of all the actors who have come and gone, “some have done very well,” says Thomson (most notable, perhaps, is film actor J.K. Simmons). “We call ourselves a stepping-stone theatre that’s somewhere between an education and the goal you set for yourself. If you want to go on to Broadway, this is the place to come to see if you can do it.”
and Don Thomson
(Photo courtesy of UM School of Fine Arts)
Each year, for an eight-week period in mid-winter, the Thomsons (including son Brach) scour the U.S. for talent. Auditions start in January at the University of Montana. “If I could hire every kid from Montana, it would make my entire summer,” Don says. However, students in the Midwest and South tend to be better schooled in musical theatre – the blend of acting, singing and dancing that’s the playhouse’s specialty.
Thomson especially appreciates the Midwest Theatre Auditions in St. Louis. “The kids are screened before auditioning for 65 theatres from around the country,” he says. “If anyone is any good, we all call ‘em back.”
The Bigfork Playhouse’s location on the shores of Flathead Lake helps entice young thespians, as does the prospect of having private dormitory rooms for the summer. “That’s a huge recruitment tool,” says Thomson.
The theatre typically employs 45-50 people during the summer months, including 20 actors and six musicians. The rest are directors, choreographers, music directors and set and costume designers.
Most actors they recruit range from 20-24 years old. This year’s cast includes about 10 returnees from last year, “so we didn’t have to find a lot of new people.”
When the Thomson family hits the road in January, “we know exactly what shows we’re doing, who’s coming back and who we’re looking for,” says Don. “It’s just a matter of putting all the pieces of the puzzle together.”
Over the years, some shows stand out, he says. His favorites include a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” in which the young man who played Tevya “didn’t look anything like a Tevya we’d ever seen, but he put his own stamp on the role.” In one version of “Paint Your Wagon,” the youngster playing the old prospector Ben Rumson “had a feel and sense of what the character needed and made it happen.” And a production of “Cabaret” starred a 19-year old from Minnesota “who had a great set of singing pipes and just blew people away.”
Serious drama and edgy contemporary pieces have never been part of the playhouse repertoire. “We have to make it work and pay, and finally, what people pay for is musicals,” says Thomson. “What Jude and I have done over the years is built an audience that likes, respects and goes to see musical shows.”
Usually the season opens in May with a comedy, and then continues with a rotating group of four musicals. This year, however, the season launches with “Smokey Joe’s Café,” the longest-running Broadway revue, which is brimming with “songs from the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s that people recognize, sang and danced to.”
Switching from comedy to a musical for the first show “is an interesting experiment,” Thomson adds. “We’ll see what kind of reaction we get.”
In June, four more plays join the repertory line-up: “Seussical The Musical,” based on the books by Dr. Seuss; “The Wiz,” a modern musical adaptation of the much loved classic, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum; the perennial song-and-dance favorite, “Singin' in the Rain”; and the saucy “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
Although his wife and son, who each play keyboards, take their place in the orchestra pit for each show, Don seldom gets to work in the design shop. “I’d love to, but I can’t do it anymore,” he says. “There’s just not enough time.”
Instead, he’s earned the honorary title of “Jacques Custodian.” “I make sure everything is clean and ready to go, answer the phone and pay the bills.”
He doesn’t seem to mind. After all, the theatre that was born 50 years ago continues to thrive. The first playhouse (which was originally a community center) was torn down and rebuilt in 1988 (“We didn’t even skip a season,” says Thomson). And this year marks the opening of an expansive, elegant new lobby with a curved-glass façade, a stamped tin ceiling and Tiffany-style chandeliers. “It’s amazing,” says Thomson.
When the house lights go down and curtain rises, audiences will still find a theatre where, “No matter where you sit, you’re only 55 feet away from the stage. You feel like you can reach out and touch someone, and that’s a good thing, for the actors and the audience.”
And fans will still be greeted by a cast of vibrant young talent “that’s rarin’ to go.”
For more information, go to www.bigforksummerplayhouse.com.
– Kristi Niemeyer
