Alumni gather for Fort Peck’s anniversary salute
Fort Peck Summer Theatre celebrates 50 seasons this summer, and alumni from far and wide are gathering to pay homage to “The Jewel of the Prairie.”
Fort Peck alumni Neal and Karen Lewing of the Port Polson Players were asked to orchestrate the anniversary show, “50 Years of Fort Peck Summer Theatre,” 7:30 p.m. June 29. The performance includes a 45-minute version of “Oklahoma!” According to Karen, “many of the people who performed 50 years ago will be back in the saddle again.”
Andy Meyers, the theatre’s current artistic director, wanted as many of the alumni as possible from the company’s first major musical to return to the stage.
“So we’ve been researching and digging up old names,” says Lewing. “It’s truly going to be an amazing tribute.”
First of all, Dave Buness, who played Curly, the romantic lead, 50 years ago, is playing the same role again. He’s now 81. And his wife, Faye, 75, plays Laurey. “They are both from Helena and are still pitching hard on the performing arts scene,” says Lewing.
Cathy Larish who played opposite Buness as Laurey in that original production also returns to the stage as part of the ensemble.
Don and Libby Torgerson, now in their 70s, are reprising their roles too as the original Jud Fry and Aunt Eller from 50 years ago.
The first FPST artistic director Carl Darchuk will return from North Carolina to kick off the evening, with his former wife, Patti Penner Darchuk. Together, they’ll sing and run through two minutes of dialogue from the first show Fort Peck produced in 1970, the two-person musical, “I Do! I Do!” They also both appear in “Oklahoma!”
Jon Wheeler, the first president of FPST’s board of directors, returns to the stage too as Pa Carnes.
And Karen’s husband Neal, who played Peddler Ali Hakim a half-century ago, will team up with his wife “who couldn’t say no.” Karen reports that she first met her future husband at Fort Peck 40 years ago, when they played a revival of “Oklahoma!” for the 10th anniversary season. “We shared our first kiss – a stage kiss – as Ali Hakim and Ado Annie.” The couple, now in their 60s, are some of the younger performers in this celebratory extravaganza.
Several more of the old guard, from other and later seasons, will appear in “Oklahoma!” or in the audience. Former MAC director Arni Fishbaugh, who appeared in a few Fort Peck shows including “Little Mary Sunshine,” declined a role in the revival but promises to be in the audience, “cheering the team on.”
“So the old timers are returning to revive the young-uns they originally played in the show,” says Lewing. “The excitement for this thing is beyond electric. What a hunk of Montana history!”
Meyers, who plays Will Parker, has wrangled a younger batch of actors from the 2019 company to perform as well.
The anniversary season opens with “Mamma Mia!” which continues through July 7; the jukebox romantic comedy boasts an irresistible score featuring songs from the 1970s’ band ABBA.
“The Marvelous Wonderettes,” July 12-21, features pop songs from the 1950s and 1960s; and “Peter Pan,” July 26-Aug. 11, is the charming musical based on the play by Sir J.M. Barrie. The season wraps up Aug. 16-Sept. 1 with “On Golden Pond,” a classic American comedic drama that’s every bit as warm and witty today as when it debuted off Broadway in 1978.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 4 p.m. Sundays; call 406-526-9943 or visit www.fortpecktheatre.org for reservations.
(Photo): An original painting by Wolf Point artist Virginia Dusenbury portrays Dave Buness and Cathy Larish (Vickers) as the original Curly and Laurey in Fort Peck’s first production of “Oklahoma!” 50 years ago.
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