15th Season

In the spring of 2009 Belle Fourche Community Theater was formed by a group of dedicated individuals as part of the Belle Fourche Arts Council. We didn’t really know what we are doing, but what we lacked in knowledge we made up for in enthusiasm. There was a loose committee formed that reported to the Arts Council and had its first meeting at the Stadium in Belle Fourche which became its unofficial meeting place for many years, as well as the go-to place for after shows. Many a show tune was sang after hours as the staff can attest to.

We had an amazing run as part of the Belle Fourche Arts Council. Seven amazing productions were put on and community theater would never have gotten off of the ground without their generous support. At the end of the 2012 Season it made sense to make a change though and BFCT moved from the Arts Council to be a part of the City of Belle Fourche Rec Center Programming. Our last show we put on was another night of original one-acts, this time in the horror vein with Curse of the Vampyre Host, a retelling of the original Dracula story that included Buffalo Bill Cody and The Curious Case of Spring-Heeled Jack about an American horror legend. The show included an ambitious two story moving grand staircase and began our tradition of bigger and bolder sets.

We were very lucky to become an activity of the Belle Fourche Rec Center run by Michelle Deyo-Amende from 2013 – 2018. Our first season under this new arrangement we did the original slapstick comedy Honeymoon on the Rusted Rail, which had a gigantic moving train set that took multiple people to move each scene.

The 2013 season ended with the comedic classic Bus Stop. This was a much smaller show coming off of the grand undertaking of Honeymoon on the Rusted Rail but was a welcome change that included many of the same cast. Very often in a season, the same actors would do the entire season, it took a lot out of everyone but was always rewarding and an enjoyable experience.

By 2017 nights of one-acts were becoming a regular thing for BFCT and in 2017 we went back to the past and did shows inspired by our favorite decade, the ’80s with Rewind to the ’80s – A Night of Comedic Plays. This night consisted of three plays that started with Hero of Eternity, a send-up of everyone’s favorite hero, He-Man. Then there was Frightmare at Butcher Lake III: The New Class, a spoof of ’80s slashers with a meta twist. Check out any BFACT activity today and you might still see people rocking their Butcher Lake t-shirts. The night ended with a musical mash-up of Mad Max and Escape from New York with Johnny Wayward and the Sirens of Nuketown.

If you talk to many long-time volunteers they will point to these shows as some of their favorites like Kelsey Gronlund, our Treasurer, who has said that the character of Skelemancer from Hero of Eternity was her absolute favorite character to play. Our Executive Director, Derek Olson’s first words were He-Man and he got the chance to write a play where he played a version of He-Man on stage. Albeit an awful and narcissistic one, but still. When we talk about BFACT being a little weird, this show is exactly what we talk about, not many theaters would take on something so strange, but for everyone involved it was such a wonderful time where they got to play types of characters they will never get to play again. Not many shows have characters fighting with six arms sewn to their shirts with a man in a loin cloth, or get killed with marshmallow skewers to the eyes, or sing a love ballad in full ghoul makeup. BFACT may be weird, but there is no place like it.

After months of work behind the scenes of many people there was a meeting at the Leaky Pot in Belle Fourche of many past volunteers of BFCT to decide what the future of community theater in town would look like. There were over 40 people packed into a room and many ideas were thrown around and amongst that group an original Board of Directors was picked for a new 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, Belle Fourche Area Community Theater. That original BOD was entrusted with getting the organization fleshed out and moving forward. There was  a lot to do because the organization was starting from scratch, and we mean that. There was nothing and no money. Thanks to many dedicated and generous people that changed very quickly and by-laws were quickly created, funds were raised and an Executive Director was hired. The foundation was laid and the organization hit the ground running before the end of the year.

The original BOD: Robert Soderstrom President; Toi Lyn Flick Vice-President; Becky Tinsley Secretary; Kelsey Gronlund Treasurer; Jonathan Tinsley Member-at-large; Heather Pittman Member-at-large; Nathan Schreier Member-at-large

Our first show as a nonprofit was a huge success with a great audience and great group of volunteers full of past participants and new people who wanted to see what all the fuss was about. We were firing all cylinders and planning out our full 2020 Season with a selection of classic theater productions and a night of original one-acts written by various local authors and then the whole world shut down. As a new organization we were worried about what it would mean for the the long-term effects not having a season would have, but we decided we wanted to err on the side of caution because the safety of our volunteers has always been paramount to us. We scrapped the season as planned but that didn’t mean we were done. There had been theater of some kind every year since 2010 and 2020 would be no different, we just had to get creative.

Getting creative meant creating an online show called Jupiter & Mars. This was originally conceived as a nine episode series, all done online. Although we only finished three, it was a blast for every involved. The show was written by a group of BFACT alum, some local and some that had moved on. Zoom was used to audition and record episodes. Premieres were streamed out for free and it was a great experiment and kept theater going in a hard time. Beyond that, we partnered with the Belle Fourche library to fill in for their missing Summer reading season and even did an in-person, outdoor Halloween Storytime Reading. Lastly we held a Virtual Christmas Carol to end the year where we had a small cast and crew in the theater and streamed it out live to our patrons. 2020 wasn’t easy for anyone, BFACT was definitely not exempt, but with some creativity we didn’t let that end us as an organization.

We were able to have a couple of shows back after COVID but in 2022 we were able to have a full season back and we didn’t waste it. BFACT had six stage productions in 2022 which was pretty insane looking back on. We started the year off with another night of one-acts, Take a Bow that was a combination of original and classic one-acts. We also had a children’s show, Don Q and His Squire Sancho and started a collaboration with other local Northern Hills Theaters called Getting Our Acts Together. We had our first in a long line of live radio dramas called Vintage Hitchcock that was a night of old Hitchcock radio plays, did the wonderful You Can’t Take It With You with a large cast and crew and then finished the year off with a traditional retelling of A Christmas Carol. After a long period of uncertainty it was great to be back with everyone for a diverse season of shows.

BFACT had done musicals before but never one like Rock of Ages! Big hair, big songs and big attitudes were brought to the Belle Fourche stage as a whole slew of classic ’80s song were belted to delighted audiences from all across the region who came to see this hilarious rock-fueled odyssey.

This show was such a draw it had cast members from Rapid City, Lead, Sturgis, Spearfish and even into Wyoming. Everyone wanted to be a part of it, and why wouldn’t they? Rock of Ages was such a fun show to be a part of for all of our volunteers, one that people won’t forget for a very long time!

If you talk to many volunteers who have been with us for the last 15 Seasons you would probably get two thoughts, one that it has been a long incredible run full of amazing productions and people. You might also hear that it has felt like an absolute blur that has sped through. Both are absolutely true, which is why we are so excited for what we have planned for our future because 15 years just hasn’t been enough with all of the amazing people that have been a part of BFACT. So keep an eye out on everything we have coming up, because it is a lot, and it will be a lot of fun!