BART’S BLOG – MARCH 2022


It’s time for Spring Cleaning, or as I like to call it, Season Planning. Every spring, I sift through the marketing materials cluttering my office and Swiffer up dusty ideas in my mind searching for just the right things to present next season.

But it’s not like I have time set aside to get these tasks done. Instead, any planning for tomorrow gets accomplished in spits and spurts around the PAC activities of today.

This March, for example, sandwiched between the returns of the Church Basement Ladies and Missoula Children’s Theatre, the PAC has also got about a half dozen other organizations visiting to put on their own great productions.

So, on any given day, I bounce from artist negotiations, grant writing, and production meetings for future events to searching for props, hanging drops, attending meetings, and coaching students in the present. Whew!

Truth be told – I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’ve spent the last two years rescheduling events due to COVID, researching protocols to combat the spread of COVID, sanitizing every surface imaginable to prevent contamination by COVID, and taking everyone’s temperature to avert the further infection of COVID. COVID, COVID, COVID!

Yeah, so if I’m going to be busy, I’d sure rather be busy making extraordinary arts experiences happen in the present and the future than dealing with a world that seemed determined to keep anything from happening. COVID felt like two years of spring cleaning with a dirty rag – No matter how hard I scrubbed, I just couldn’t polish away the problem. The spring cleaning I do today clears away the cobwebs of that past and makes room for a present full of joy and a future full of promise. Company’s coming – it’s time to clean up!

Speaking of Spring Cleaning, please welcome our new PAC custodian Jacob Martin the next time you visit.
Learn more about Jacob and the rest of the PAC staff.

February Audience Survey Winners

Congratulations to LATASHA LAPP, BONNIE LINSCOTT, WENDY BOEGLEN & ANNETTA MARTIN – each a lucky winner of a $20 PAC gift certificate for completing a February Audience Survey.

PAC Spotlight

This month The PAC Spotlight shines on NHHS student Anaya Ellis who is appearing as “The Genie” in Allegro Dance Theatre’s production of Disney’s Aladdin at the PAC this month.

What do you want to do when you grow up?
I want to become a white coder and computer security analyst. 

What have you participated in at the PAC?
Thoroughly Modern Millie, Peter Pan Jr., Frozen Jr., Matilda Jr., Lion King Jr.Seussical, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Mulan Jr., and The Addams Family 

What have been your most rewarding PAC experiences?
When I went to see my first musical, which was Lion King, that kick-started my love for musical theater. Without coming to the PAC to see that musical when I was younger, I wouldn’t have the love for performing so deep in my soul. 

What did you learn from your PAC experiences?
I learned how to be more confident and just live in the moment. I used to cry whenever I had to do solos or perform anywhere. But when I started doing shows with the PAC and Allegro Dance Theater, it made me a much more confident and humble person. If you’re always just thinking about how bad things might turn out for you, then you won’t get anywhere in life. My PAC experiences have taught me how to perform as if it’s my last moment and work for what I want. 

How have you benefited from the PAC?
I’ve benefited from the PAC because it’s given me so many friends and opportunities that I wouldn’t have known about or gotten if I hadn’t been to the PAC shows or performed with them. It’s given me so much happiness and joy from the people I’ve met to the performances I’ve been in. It’s benefited me by pushing me out of my shell. 

Why is the PAC important to you?
The PAC is important to me because not a lot of schools or counties have the same facilities as the PAC does. It’s a place where I can perform, and it feels like what you see on TV. It’s important to me because without the PAC, I wouldn’t have the same look at performances that I do now. 

Why should the PAC be important to others?
It should be important to others because it provides a place where all types of arts can collide. It lets kids experience the theater and have a nice place to show off their talents. It should be important because now you can sit on padded seats and not bleachers. It is a great place for all art forms to perform, no matter if they’re professionals or amateurs. 

Learn more about Anaya and all the other PAC Spotlight Ambassadors we’ve recognized over the years.