This raucous romp through the most memorable R&B, rock n roll and do wop tunes of the 50s and 60s it’s just what the doctor ordered to get happy! Bigfork Summer Playhouse kicks off their 50^th season with Broadway’s longest running musical revue. Showcasing 39 pop standards written by songwriters Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the exciting revue format is a non-stop whirl of song, dance and sketches and grants the performers freedom to ham it up, pratfall, flirt with the audience, and have as much fun in the doing as you will in the watching. With riffs on Elvis Presley, the Coasters, the Drifters, Peggy Lee and more, Smokey Joe’s Cafe is a walk down memory lane for many – and lets you play tour guide, taking your children and grandchildren through some of the best music of the era. Undoubtedly, this production will get your toes tapping and head bobbing, and provoke a twist in your hip and a shimmy in your walk. So get your tickets for Smokey Joe’s Cafe now – it’ll fix whatever ails you.

Songs include:

     beside the lonely

And sunlit stone, peace bloomed

     all afternoon.

Robert Penn Warren

And it is indeed an afternoon blooming with peace. Sunshine wraps us all in tentative warmth, and we have actual, verifable crocuses blossoming in the beds in front of Twin Birch Square. People are happy today, out working in their gardens, clearing away traces of winter debris and readying beds to receive tender seedlings in a few weeks time. A day such as this makes me think that it is a good day to be a chicken.

Click through to the Shopping pages, or Read the rest here!

May 15 marks opening night for the 2009 season of Bigfork Summer Playhouse. Come early and enjoy a casual, all-comers reception and open house to unveil the newly expanded and renovated lobby at the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts. Cookies and punch served from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm. The curtain lifts on the exciting musical Smokey Joe’s Cafe promptly at 8:00 pm.

Bigfork, Montana, April 6, 2009 After 6 months of construction, the brand new $1.1 million lobby at the Bigfork Center for Performing Arts opens with a public reception and open house on Friday, May 15th from 5-8 pm. The new lobby boasts a beautifully open curved glass facade facing Electric Avenue, richly shimmering aurora borealis tiles on the pillars, and Tiffany style lighting throughout, all of which add new elegance and set the tone for the entire theatre experience. At slightly over 2,500 square feet, the new lobby is now perfect for hosting community events such as fund raisers, seminars and luncheons. The project was funded by donations from individuals and businesses in the Bigfork community, including many of the contractors who participated. Additional funding was donated in a matching funds grant from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The project created more than 35 jobs between October 2008 and March 2009.

Bigfork Summer Playhouse’s 2009 season opens that same Friday night with Smokey Joe’s Cafe ,Broadway’s longest running musical revue which highlights the best-known songs by legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Even if their names don’t jog your memory, their music will- they are best known for writing for others including Elvis Presley (Jail House Rock, Hound Dog, Treat Me Nice), The Drifters (On Broadway), Ben E. King (Stand by Me), The Clovers (Love Potion No. 9), and many more.

The open house in free to all. Tickets for Smokey Joe’s Cafe are available at the Theater beginning May 13 or on line at http://www.bigforksummerplayhouse.com and are $19 for adults, $18 for seniors and $14 for children under 10.

Whether you stop in for refreshments and a casual tour, or make an evening of it and welcome back the Bigfork Summer Playhouse repertory company for their first show of the season, you won’t want to miss this summer’s kick-off event.

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This is a fabulous opportunity – we talked about everything from pricing (must be affordable even for a small, independent business – that is, afterall, what we all are!) to design (must be something people will want to hang on to – even those famous actors of ours living in places like LA, NYC, Chicago – wherever). We chatted about editorial coverage to advertising ratios (50/50), we talked about keeping articles intact rather than wrapping them with ads. We talked about getting a staff writer to the theater to meet with the Rigging inspection crew iported from Denver – and the paper sent someone Friday.

As a merchant, I am very excited – I’d LOVE to support Bigfork Center for Performing Arts and the Bigfork Summer Playhouse by purchasing ad space in this piece – and I think it will make good business sense and result in additional visitors to my stores, as well. I hope to see fantastic participation on the street, and have made my commitment to the Bigfork Eagle to help in any way possible.

So let’s do it, Bigfork! I – or Kristin or Tom- will be around in the coming week to secure your participation!

Henry David Thoreau

Yesterday and today finally feel like spring. Low 60s, blue sky, waking to birdsong. The crocuses and daffodils, hyacinth and tulips cannot be far behind.

It is with great pride and honor that Bigfork celebrates the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse in a season-long street party complete with entertainment, food, special events and special travel bargains.

Under the direction of Don and Jude Thomson, the Bigfork Summer Playhouse (BSP), also known by many as the “theatre by the bay,” has grown from a small professional group into the most respected repertory theatre company in the Northwest and is a past recipient of the Montana Governor’s Award for the Arts (1997). All members of the cast, crew and orchestra are hand picked by the Thomsons after a relentless audition process that takes The Thomsons to University drama departments and regional auditions quite literally from coast to coast over an eight week period.

The Thomsons put as much care into selecting the shows as they do in selecting the players, and this year they worked extra hard to choose jaw dropping programs befitting a spectacular celebratory 50^th season. This year’s shows bring Broadway musical magic to the Flathead Valley.  The summer season opens May 15 with Smokey Joe’s Cafe ,Broadway’s longest running musical revue which highlights the best-known songs by legendary songwriting duo Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Even if their names don’t jog your memory, their music will- they are best known for writing for others including Elvis Presley (Jail House Rock, Hound Dog, Treat Me Nice), The Drifters (On Broadway), Ben E. King (Stand by Me), The Clovers (Love Potion No. 9),  and many more. Added to the rotation in June are Seussical The Musical, based on the books by Dr. Seuss, and The Wiz, a modern musical stage adaptation of the much loved classic based on The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum. These two plays are a great way to introduce live theater to families with children. Rounding out the summer schedule are the modern classics Singin’ in the Rain and The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.

Spectacular shows and a spectacular cast and crew deserve a spectacular facility. Summer 2009 marks the unveiling of the newly expanded and renovated lobby. The curved glass facade facing Electric Avenue, richly shimmering aurora borealis tiles on the pillars, and Tiffany style lighting add new elegance and set the tone for the entire theatre experience. At slightly over 2,500 square feet, the new lobby is now perfect for hosting community events such as fund raisers, seminars and luncheons. The $1.1 million dollar project was funded by donations from individuals and businesses in the Bigfork community, including many of the contractors who participated, and also received a matching funds grant from the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust. The project created more than 35 jobs between October 2008 and March 2009.

August is reunion month, bringing alumni from the first fifty years of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse back to Bigfork for a weekend of reminiscence and parties. Since its inception in 1969, cast and crew members total 982, many of whom have gone on to perform on Broadway, on television and in Hollywood blockbuster films. At least one has his own action figure!

The entire Bigfork community is celebrating this Golden Anniversary – 50 years of continuous live theater- with an array of events, specials and deals, making Bigfork an ideal summer destination full of fun, excitement and value. Whether you come for a Sunday matinee or make a long weekend out of it, the shops, art galleries, restaurants, hotels and inns will keep you entertained, inspired and sated. Laugh, cry and applaud with 435 of your newest friends in perhaps the most unique repertory theater in the country. Enjoy the elegant setting and the state of the art stage production, and mix and mingle with cast and crew after the show. It is very likely you will be shaking hands with the Broadway and Hollywood stars of tomorrow!

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