MAT sees biggest Death by Chocolate yet

Montana Actors' Theatre had a "wonderful" weekend with the return of its Death By Chocolate, Executive Artistic Director Jay Pyette said this morning.

"There really is no other word to explain it," he said.

The fundraiser, the acting troupe's biggest annual fundraiser including auctioning off sponsorship of its plays, was the most successful fundraiser so far, raising nearly $90,000.

The event was canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and Pyette said some adjustments were made this year due to the pandemic, but it was a smashing success.

"We weren't sure, given the events of the world, but it was fantastic," he said. "It was a sold-out house ... everybody loved it."

He said part of the success came from one source for two special projects - MAT putting on the sole theater production this year at Havre High School and a push to create a top-end system for streaming MAT plays.

Northern Montana Health Care came in in a big way for both special projects.

Pyette said the high school does not have a theater director this year, and MAT is stepping up to help produce and direct "Anastasia," based on the musical, in March.

Northern Montana Health Care sponsored that show for $6,000, Pyette said.

Then the other project, intended to allow MAT to do high-quality streaming for people who want to see the shows but can't come to the theater, such as at Northern Montana Care Center and Sweet Home in Chinook, came up and Northern Montana Health Care CEO and President Dave Henry donated another $6,000 on behalf of the care center, Pyette said.

With other audience donations and pledges the funds for that came to about $18,000, just short of the goal of a little more than $20,000.

"What a great, awesome way to kick off both of those projects," Pyette said.

He added that the projects are targeting slightly different audiences than are the norm for MAT.

The production also had a slightly different way of auctioning off the sponsorship of shows with great success, Pyette said. For example, Crissy Bauman of Shelby talked about the traveling dinner theater MAT puts on in towns in the region and how it fills a bit of a void in Shelby, while Havre Public Schools Superintendent Craig Mueller spoke about the high school production of "Anastastia."

Charlie's Heating and Air Conditioning ended up sponsoring the dinner theater, which Artistic Director Grant Olson said is a modern update, courtesy of MAT's Martin Holt, of the play "Charlie's Aunt" from the 19th century.

"It's a flipping hilarious play ... it's going to be a laugh-out-loud dinner theater," he said.

The dinner theater will travel in the region starting in April, the same month "Anastasia" will be produced at the high school.

MAT's season opens in two weeks with a bit of horror for October with "Kiss of Death and Other Tales of Horror," a play from a horror genre popular in Paris in the turn of the 20th century. Olson said the genre is the forerunner of modern horror and slasher films.

"It's not for the faint of heart," he said.

In November MAT will hold its 24-hour playfest, in which writers start working on a play at 8 p.m. Friday, turn it over to actors and directors at 8 a.m. Saturday for production starting at 8 that night.

At the end of November, MAT is partnering with Montana State University-Northern's KNMC radio for two days of production based on the album and movie "The Last Waltz," the farewell effort of The Band.

Then MAT is producing "A Christmas Carol" in December but with a twist. Olson said they will use the Japanese puppet theater bunraku to produce the play, using the large puppets requiring several actors to manipulate each.

In January, MAT is producing "Spamalot."

"'The Holy Grail' set to bad music," Olson said.

"It's ridiculous, it's campy, it's irreverent. It's Monty Python."

Then MAT will again hold a speakeasy event, with a Mardi Gras theme, for its Valentine's Day February event.

In March, MAT's Audrey Barger will direct the world premiere of a new play by Pyette, "Harvest."

After the high school production and the start of the dinner theater, MAT will produce the sardonic play "Blue/Orange" by Joe Pehnall starting in mid-April, followed by Shakespeare's "Macbeth."