|
History:
In September 1986, the Bigfork Center for the Performing Arts Foundation announced a commitment to build a new home for the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. The existing 50-year old wooden structure had been condemned by fire officials and would have terminated a 28-year history of musical theatre that had grown to be a mainstay of tourist activity in the Flathead Valley as well as an opportunity for hundreds of professional and aspiring performers, designers, and technicians to enrich their experience.
As the Foundation began its campaign to raise $750,000 to build a new 450-seat, year-round facility that would house the playhouse, as well as other cultural activities, there had never been a philanthropic effort of this type in the Flathead Valley . And additional amounts would be needed to pay for equipping the theatre. With the Bigfork community numbering less than 3,000 at that time, it was a tremendously optimistic project. In the end over 800 people or organizations donated to this cause. Donations of $1,000 were given by over 240 people and donations from $2 to $50 came from some 400 individuals. Pledges covered 23 states and 4 foreign countries with local high school students and faculty committing to $1,500. Donations in land, art, and services were a major factor in the project's success.
The new theatre opened June 18, 1988.
The theater has entry rows on each side with unbroken rows of seats [there is a name for this I think]; each row having ample legroom. The lobby has a ticket counter; refreshment counter and recently renovated rest rooms.
The theater has entry rows on each side with unbroken rows of seats [there is a name for this I think]; each row having ample legroom.
The lobby has a ticket counter; refreshment counter and recently renovated rest rooms.
The Center is used by the Bigfork community 220 days each year by the Summer Playhouse [see following] children's theater, amateur theater groups. professional touring groups and Bigfork high school presentations.
The main tenant is the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, now in its 47th year. Its summer season begins in May and ends in August. During the summer season the shows play to over 30,000 paying theatergoers.
Located on Electric Avenue, the main street of Bigfork, the Center is the cultural hub of the town, which features numerous galleries, stores and fine restaurants. There was a Bigfork before the Center, but with the Center as the artistic core of Bigfork, the town has gained an international reputation for the arts.
|
