Dakota Stage has been entertaining and enriching area audiences for 31 seasons. The community theatre organization brings numerous productions to the stage each year, including a summer season of children’s theatre with Shade Tree Players.

For their first ten years of existence, Dakota Stage did not have a place to call home. They hauled costumes and stage sets around to whomever and wherever would take them. They have been in their current location, the old Capitol Theatre on Main in Bismarck, for 21 years.

Marcie Simpson, Executive Director, explains the importance of Dakota Stage to the community. “When I discovered my passion, which is theatre, Dakota Stage was an outlet for me (as an older teen) to start the journey,” she said. “I soaked in as much knowledge as possible went out into the real world and when I came back and had the chance to come back in this position, how could I pass it up? Giving back in any way I can to help this organization move forward is so important. There are other children and adults in the community that need this as their outlet. I know, because it helped me.”

Dakota Stage has an artistic committee that chooses the productions and draws up the seasons’ schedule. “When it comes to picking shows, we want to make people think, maybe watch a relationship on stage and relate it to their own lives,” explained Simpson. “We also try to give a mix, we can’t do just one genre.”

The rest of the 2009-2010 season does offer a wide variety of productions. “The Cemetery Club is more dramatic,” said Simpson. “It’s a very strong story about female relationships. Crimes of the Heart is “dramedy”, so there is drama, but a little more humor. Married Alive is the second musical of the season. It is newer and I have read nothing but good things about it. It’s going to be a hoot!”

Finding people to act in the shows does not seem to be a problem. “I am really impressed with the fact that every show, since I have been here, has had at least one new face,” said Simpson. “That is important, because patrons don’t want to see the same faces on the stage all the time.
We have an incredibly talented pool of people in this area.”

Shade Tree, the children’s division of Dakota Stage, runs most of their productions in the summer. “The interest is growing, which is a great problem to have,” Simpson said. “We have a lot of kids from Mandan, so we’re looking at doing something over there, having a Mandan-based production.”

Shade Tree’s mission is to make sure every child who wants a theatre experience, gets it. “It doesn’t mean they’re going to be the lead, but they will get to be in the production,” explained Simpson. “We have a couple kids who have grown up in Shade Tree. Through that experience they gained self-esteem, friendships and learned they are suited to stage manage. It takes everybody, every part to make a production come together. It’s fun to watch their development.”

Simpson compared Shade Tree to a baseball farm team, cultivating the people that act, do the props, to the people who do the costumes. “They learn communication, organization – great tools that will always be a benefit,” she said. “How many of those kids might end up on our stage, or doing the same thing in another community?

Dakota Stage is funded by grants, corporate funding and of course, ticket sales. “Our bread and butter is season ticket holders and ticket sales,” said Simpson. “They always say ‘get the butts in the seats’ – it’s true! You need those people – the community keeps the community theatre going.”

“I’m always impressed with the patrons that support us,” Simpson said. “It is a testament to what is being produced onstage. It is a unique form of entertainment. There is nothing that compares with live theatre – you never know what’s going to happen.”

For more information on Dakota Stage, to buy tickets or donate, visit dakotastageltd.com or phone 258.4998.