A Blast from the way past

Atomic Lobsters From the Center of the Earth is a throwback play meant to invoke the giant animal movies of the 1950’s, where large mutated monsters wreak havoc on military bases as manly scientists find ways of stopping them. Of course, this show throws a bit of a winking twist on the formula where at least one character realizes how ridiculous the premise is. An arctic research base is under siege and only the brilliant Dr. Felix Tanner can save the day, with his friend Doug and two young nieces. Well, unless you talk to the actually brilliant and not insane Dr. Elise Savage who can’t stand his antics or his crazy and dangerous ideas.

Richard Nixon Saves the Earth reimagines the original JFK/Nixon debate as a backdrop as a possible alien invasion and the only person who can save the Earth is Richard Nixon, so of course the Earth is in a lot of trouble. This hilarious tale had a lot to say about the power of the press, the power of perception, and of course a karate-chopping Frank Sinatra. The important things of course.

Lastly there was the one-act musical, Terror at Rock and Roll Beach, a send-up of the beach musicals and creature features of the era. A group of teens have to survive a dangerous gang of Leather Stallions, a military cover-up of an experiment gone wrong, and parents just not understanding about the power of rock and roll. This ridiculous show had beach parties, gang fights, monster kills and songs, and the number one hit, Pulled a Hammy! This show was a fun capper to a hilarious night of absurd comedies.

Sci-Fi Triple Feature: A Night of One-Act Plays Cast

Sci-Fi Triple Feature: A Night of One-Act Plays Creative

BFCT’s First Musical

Although we would have many more and much larger musicals on the Belle Fourche stage, Community Theater’s first musical was a very intimate two-person show. The Last Five Years is such a unique and personal musical about the struggles relationships can go through brought to life by two incredibly talented performers we were so lucky to have come in for this show. This production showed the level of theater quality we could bring to the area and it was only in our second year of existence.

The Last Five Years Cast

The Last Five Years Creative

The Last Five Years Credits

Originally Produced for the New York stage by Arielle Tepper and Marty Bell
Originally Produced by Northlight Theatre Chicago, IL

THE LAST FIVE YEARS is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).
All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI.
421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019 • Phone: 212-541-4685 Fax: 212-397-4684 • www.MTIShows.com

A Romantic Comedy in BFCT’s Second Year

After a show at Community Hall to kick off BFCT’s second season, we were back on our regular stage at the BF Rec Center Auditorium with the romantic comedy Prelude to a Kiss. This was a fantastic show to expand our group of volunteers after a smaller scale show to kick off our season as we brought in many actors and a large production crew to make this show happen. At this point it really felt like Community Theater in Belle Fourche wasn’t going to be a flash in the pan, it was sustainable and people really wanted to be a part of it, as evidenced by how many volunteers we had clamoring to be in the show but also by the wonderful audience who came to all three performances of this hilarious and heartfelt show. This thing we called Community Theater, was truly going to work for the long haul.

Prelude to a Kiss Cast

Prelude to a Kiss Creative

Prelude to a Kiss Credits

Prelude to a Kiss is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.

Our Second Show Gets a Little Adult

So after the success of Is He Dead? as our first show we decided to go a completely different direction for our second show the following year! Well, kind of, Don’t Dress For Dinner was never meant to be the kick-off to our ambitious second season. It wasn’t supposed to happen until the fall of 2011 originally but some things had to be moved around and the show got moved way up to June and four weeks of rehearsal. That wasn’t ideal for sure, but the cast and crew were amazing and brought this hilarious adult comedy to life! This show ended up kicking off our second season and was the first show we ever performed and Belle Fourche Community Hall, which was a fun experience and space we have been going back to ever since. Again after the more family friendly kick-off to community theater in Belle Fourche, having the very next show we did being a comedic sex romp was not conventional, but that just set the tone for BFACT never being one for conventions. The show was also incredibly well received and a favorite amongst many of our patrons and volunteers to this day.

Don’t Dress for Dinner Cast

Don’t Dress for Dinner Creative

Don’t Dress for Dinner Credits

Don’t Dress for Dinner is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
www.concordtheatricals.com

BFACT’s first production!

This is where it all started! In 2009 a group of dedicated people came together because there was a need for community theater in Belle Fourche. They approached the Belle Fourche Arts Council and a partnership was formed and Belle Fourche Community Theater was formed, it was named this until we became a non-profit in 2019 and became Belle Fourche Area Community Theater. It took some time to get everything in place for our first show and in 2010 Is He Dead? was performed on the Belle Fourche Rec Center stage, the first community theater production in at least 60 years.

With a lot of hope and dedication, the show made it across the finish line and when opening night came all the cast and crew could do was hold their breath, hoping people cared and would come. Come they did, the show was a huge hit and people kept asking, when was the next show going to be! Is He Dead? laid the foundation for everything that came after it, its success is what allowed community theater to continue and to grow and become what it is today.

Is He Dead? Cast

Is He Dead? Creative

Is He Dead? Credits

Produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.
(www.playscripts.com)