Celebrate four season programming with the Warren Miller
Performing Arts Center
By Timothy Behuniak EBS ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR
Warren Miller once said, “Every person’s intuition is their
constant search for freedom.” For Warren Miller Performing Arts Center’s
Executive and Creative Director John Zirkle, this quotation could not be more
relevant, especially for an arts theatre in a small ski town.
“I feel emboldened [by this phrase],” Zirkle said. “What does it mean to feel
free as an arts programmer and potential audience member? I want to be unrestricted
in what I can explore—I want to go off in that unknown area despite dangers
that lie ahead.”
Since March 12, 2013, when the theatre first opened its
doors, the WMPAC has been doing exactly this—foraging ahead into the unknown,
despite the risks. “There’s risky programming and safe programming … I know
what will sell well,” Zirkle said. “But we would be doing Warren Miller a
disservice if we just gave people what they wanted all the time. We want to present
things that are new experiences for audience members, even if some think
they’re horrible.”
Although this winter season’s schedule had a national
personality and “safe programming,” such as NPR’s Ira Glass, WMPAC also hosted
shows like The Last Five Years, an off-Broadway musical. “I’d say that most
people have probably never heard of the show before,” Zirkle said. “But it
brought the most people to the theatre in our history. We brought nearly 750
people [over three nights] to our little theatre of 280, in a town of 2,800
residents. That to me is a huge success.”
For Zirkle, no matter how safe or risky a scheduled show is,
every WMPAC stage performance is a testament to the theatre’s mission: To grow
a community of confident performers and inspired audiences. No matter the
season, WMPAC aims to produce quality over quantity. Although there may be just
a handful of shows in one winter, every performance is of the highest possible
quality, all vetted by Zirkle, the WMPAC team and other professionals in the
industry.
“What I hope to achieve is that we create a diverse,
theatre-going community,” Zirkle said. “I want to help facilitate, amplify and
foster an environment where people like to ski and do fun things with the
community every week.”
And although WMPAC’s main focus is the winter season, it
also provides year-round opportunities to participate in and view performances.
December through March marks the theatre’s winter season, while the summer
conservatory is from July to August. During shoulder seasons, there is a focus
on local and regional artists.
In May there is a community theatre production, while in
June there is an annual Big Sky Broadway with local kids, usually ranging from
fifth to ninth grade. This year the students will present Matilda, a musical.
“We’re showing this route which is anchored in pro artists
in the summer making and refining work, then coming back in the winter season
to present in the fullest form,” Zirkle said. “During that process, we’re
working alongside the local community, too.”
Zirkle tries to keep a few things in mind when scheduling
future performances, such as the diversity in media and style. “We want shows
to feel different and rich each time, not just present theatre and dance,”
Zirkle said. “We have people that come to every show, and others that come to
just a few. So, we want to aim for the diversity of a ski day: a couple of
groomers, something intense, going up the tram and a nice hot chocolate at the
end of the day.”
Another important aspect when thinking of scheduling is to
maintain the spirit of Warren Miller because, after all, he is whom the theatre
is named after. While the creative director refrains from the direct approach
of presenting Warren Miller films, he keeps Miller’s adventurous legacy in
mind.
“That typically takes place in the form of a new music piece,”
Zirkle said. “I want people to walk in and have no idea of what to expect.”
While WMPAC has operated for seven successful seasons, each
year brings its own set of challenges, ticket sales being the most obvious.
Because there is programming that people may not be familiar with, such as The
Last Five Years or The Wonderheads, potential audience members may shy away
from shows at the theatre.
But, art is a terrible and abstract word, according to
Zirkle. “I’m both a ski bum and an arts person. When I don’t have to teach, I
go to the tram as often as possible,” Zirkle said. “I would love for it to feel
less abstract and only reserved for people who have a lot of experiences [in
the art world].”
To help combat the fear of the unknown, Zirkle and the WMPAC
team do their best to focus on the words “diversity” and “inclusion.” Although
it takes two to three years to program each season, the WMPAC staff is
constantly thinking of ways to make sure there is a show for everyone at the
theatre.
“We’re working to bridge the urban and rural divide by
bringing big-city artists to small-town Montana, and ask them to work with our
audiences as well as the local and regional community,” Zirkle said. “We want
to make sure that people come to WMPAC, and want to come back.”
Visit
warrenmillerpac.org for more information about the theatre and to purchase
tickets for upcoming shows, such as the Big Sky Community show, “A Streetcar
Named Desire,” on May 16.
