Arcadia

Kevin Brustuen

Beth Burroughs, Chair of the Math Department at Montana State University, recently spoke to a roomful of actors and designers working for Bozeman Actors Theatre (BAT): “Don’t be afraid of math. Most people think of mathematics as dealing…

Stories of the Land

Kevin Brustuen

The land, the earth and sky. Spending my younger years on a farm growing wheat and hay, and raising cattle in a pasture with a lazy creek running through the middle, it seemed like there was nothing more healthy and comfortable than the smell of…

Shakespeare in the Parks Summer Tour

Kevin Brustuen

Joel Jahnke, retired Artistic Director of Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (MSIP), likes to tell a story that happened to him in the early days of MSIP’s summer tour, a story that made him realize that MSIP was onto something big. It was 1980…

The Bear Necessities: Shakespearean Animal Encounters

Kevin Brustuen

Montana InSite Theatre will present Animal Encounters: Shakespeare on the Rise in Bozeman’s Story Mill Park on June 28th, and at Tippet Rise in Fishtail, Montana, on June 29th and 30th.One of the most famous stage directions in all of theatre…

Certain Death and Other Considerations

Kevin Brustuen

Headlines in the news talk constantly about disasters ready to befall us every day in the form of climate change, economic woes, perilous politics, and a threatened reshaping of world order. The continual flow of negative news about the future is…

Onstage in Bozeman

Kevin Brustuen

April presents some great opportunities to experience a wonderful mix of theater and music in Bozeman. This article gives a quick glance at The Bozeman Symphony, The Ellen Theatre, Bozeman Actors Theatre, and Intermountain Opera, all producing some…

Born With Teeth

Kevin Brustuen

Starting on February 22, Bozeman Actors Theatre (BAT) is featuring Born With Teeth, a new play by Liz Duffy Adams. This innovative play features a series of spirited conversations and debates between two young playwrights: William Shakespeare and…

Bozeman Actors USO Tour of Asia

Kevin Brustuen

The Montana College Players, part of the theatre program at what is today’s MSU, were selected by the USO (United Service Organization) to be part of its 1962 Tour of Asia. This was a special honor and testament to the high-quality theatre in…

The Montana Mikado

Kevin Brustuen

Gilbert and Sullivan Revised

Shakespeare’s Complete Works 50 Years of MSIP

Kevin Brustuen

Last summer I drove into Fishtail, Montana, an unincorporated small town located in a wide spot in the road south of Columbus. On this sweltering hot afternoon, the tiny town was still and quiet, biding its time for the sun to go down and the heat to…

Montana's Last Best Comedy

Kevin Brustuen

This September, the former Colonel Blacks nightclub in downtown Bozeman became Last Best Comedy—the very first club devoted to comedy in Montana’s history. Comedians Molly Hannan, Annie O‘Connor, and Levin O’Connor felt it was…

The Piano Tuner

Kevin Brustuen

Pianos are usually taken for granted by most of us; they sit in the neglected corners of public rooms gathering dust or against the wall in Grandma’s house serving as a repository of family photos, the ivory keys faded and slow to return. Yet…

Bozeman Symphony 2021

Kevin Brustuen

On October 30 and 31 the Bozeman Symphony presents Symphonie Fantastique at the Willson Auditorium. Symphonie Fantastique, the symphony’s second performance of this season, includes Carl Maria von Weber’s “Overture to Der…

Tinworks Art Galleries

Kevin Brustuen

At a time when the Bozeman community is filled with one new development after another, leaving the citizens breathless at the pace of new buildings, roads, subdivisions, offices, condos and townhouses, one organization is actively seeking old unused…

Shakespeare in the Parks Summer 2021

Kevin Brustuen

For 48 years, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks (MSIP) has brought free productions of Shakespeare to rural and remote communities across Montana and surrounding states. This summer, MSIP brings two more plays to stages across a five-state area…

The Montana Book Award

Kevin Brustuen

Gretchen Minton, professor of English at Montana State University, won the 2020 Montana Book of the Year Award, for her book “Shakespeare in Montana: Big Sky Country’s Love Affair with the World’s Most Famous Writer.” Honor…

Sustainable Ranching in 2021

Kevin Brustuen

photo: Chris Boyer, Kestrel AerialOne year ago, the Covid pandemic shocked most of us when we suddenly were confronted with shortages in grocery stores, restaurants were shut down, and food became a source of concern. Faced with this sudden and…

Polaroid Stories

Kevin Brustuen

In January of 2020, Bozeman Actors Theatre (BAT) began rehearsing a production of Naomi Iizuka’s Polaroid Stories, intending to stage nine performances in April of 2020. Rehearsals were well underway when Covid-19 reached Gallatin County, and…

Sonnets in the Snow

Kevin Brustuen

The desire to create is something important to humanity—a fundamental part of our very existence. The Covid19 pandemic has limited the outlets for this creative urge in everyone around the world, leaving not only frustrated audiences, but even…