MAT puts on 'The Queen of Blaine County'

The local acting troupe is putting on some localized - right down to what county the performance is in - dinner theater over the next few weeks, written by local playwright, and Montana Actors' Theatre executive director, Jay Pyette.

The "Queen of Blaine County" will premiere at the Eagles Club in Chinook Friday and Saturday. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will begin at 6 p.m. with the show to follow. Tickets are available online or at the Eagles in Chinook.

The actors are Andi Daniel, Bonnie Ortner, Mark Cischoz, and T.J. Schwartzkopf, and it is directed by Anjanett Hawk.

The stage manager is Caroline Tuss and the technical operator is Dever Everingham.

Pyette invited people to "join us on this crazy journey as five local citizens all compete to become Queen of the county fair. It's up to the all-powerful fair board to choose the winner and the stakes couldn't be higher."

He added that the farce marks MAT's fifth appearance in the Chinook Eagles.

"The show features the talents of four MAT actors who portray 60 characters including the mayor, the sheriff, the basketball coach, the town drunk, some cows, Elvis, and seven women, well, maybe six women and one dude, determined to become queen," Pyette said. "It's a love story and a murder mystery and a reality TV show all rolled up into one. Did we mention it has cows? It does."

The show will also be in Havre, at the Eagles Club, for two weekends, March 22, 23, 29 and 30, but this time as the "Queen of Hill County."

The MAT actors return to Blaine County with a production of "The Queen of Blaine County" in Turner April 6. 

After that, the crew will head to Shelby to fight for the title of "Queen of Toole County" April 12, followed by the race to become "Queen of Cascade County" in Great Falls April 13.

Tickets for the shows are $35 each or two for $65, with $300 reserving a table for eight. Tickets are available for all the shows at https://mtactors.com/shows-events .