Montana Western Announces 2022-23 Bank Of Commerce Performing Arts Series

The Fine Arts Department of the University of Montana Western is pleased to announce the 2022-23 Performing Arts Series, sponsored by the Bank of Commerce. Each exciting performance will take place on the Montana Western campus.

The opening event of the series, the 20th annual “10 Minute Play Festival,” will be held October 6-10 in Montana Western’s Small Auditorium located in Main Hall 314. Evening shows will start at 7:30 p.m Thursday-Saturday with matinee showings starting at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. This popular event shines the spotlight on students, faculty, staff, and community members and features a variety of exciting and emotional performances. This year’s production will be facilitated by Daniel Chapman, UMW’s Associate Professor of Theatre and Technical Director, and is a showcase of the talent at Montana Western and the Dillon Community.

On November 2, the Bank of Commerce Performing Arts Series will host Shakespeare in the Schools’ production of “Macbeth” during a 1:00 p.m. matinee and a 7:30 p.m. evening performance. This production will be accompanied by a lively post-show talk-back and acting workshops.

Closing out the fall semester, the whimsical and light-hearted musical, “The Marvelous Wonderettes” will be performed December 1-4. This musical is fun for all ages and features over 30 smash hits from the 50s and 60s.

In the spring semester, the much-loved Missoula Children’s Theatre will be back in residency to perform their adaptation of “Aladdin” on January 28, 2023. This enormously fun musical adaptation will feature children of all ages from the Dillon Community.

In February, Rosie Seitz Ayers and Ryan Eggensperger will perform two variations of “Every Brilliant Thing,” an emotional and deeply significant one-person show that explores the importance of mental health awareness.

The end of March will feature “Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.” This fast-paced comedy recounts all seven books of the popular franchise and condenses them into an uproarious two-hour farce from the perspective of the bewildered ‘Puffs.’

The Bank of Commerce series will conclude the academic year with the third installation of the virtual theatre production, “MythFest” (directed again by the talented Miranda Zent), and a special “Sketch Comedy and Improv Cabaret” hosted by Erik Escobar of Buzzfeed, Last Comic Standing, and TEDx fame.

UMW’s Theater Department is also excited to announce, for the first time ever, online ticket sales are now available! Tickets for all performances and season passes can now be purchased online at https://www.umwestern.edu/bank-of-commerce-performing-arts-series/box-office/.

The Bank of Commerce Performing Arts Series provides exceptional, exciting, and thought-provoking theatre work to the UMW and Dillon community. It is their mission to provide students and youth with a professional space to express themselves, explore the theatre arts, and bring laughter and excitement to their lives. Please join us this year by attending any of the exciting performances. Thank you for your continued support of local theatre!

For more information and show times, please visit https://www.umwestern.edu/bank-of-commerce-performing-arts-series/ or contact Assistant Professor of Theatre, Stephen Seder: stephen.seder@umwestern.edu or 406-683-7038.