Billings Studio Theatre is a not-for-profit community theatre company located at 1500 Rimrock Road in Billings, Montana. [1]
The first performance by the company was There's Always Juliet in 1953. In 1963, the company decided it needed a home and moved into a church in downtown Billings. Five years later, the church became condemned and effort to build a new home began. In 1971, Billings Studio Theatre opened its doors to a new theatre located in the now central part of Billings located next to the Rocky Mountain College campus. Billings Studio Theatre is NOT operated by RMC but is a 501 (c)(3) stand alone nonprofit organization. . [2]
Currently, the company produces four plays and four musicals each year in addition to an age restricted childrens production. Some more recent productions have included The Descendants , Beauty and the Beast , Frozen , ELF , Shrek , and Murder on the Orient Express .
In 2013, BST became the first community theater company in Montana to stage a "full version of the musical "Les Misérables"." [3]
About 500 people a year volunteer at the theater. BST presents 8 Main Stage productions. Additional shows presented at the BST include one or two Rocky Mountain College productions annually. BST also "operates a children's theatre, The Growing Stage." [4]
Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, which had a population of 184,167 in the 2020 census. It has a trade area of over 500,000.
Les Misérables, colloquially known as Les Mis or Les Miz, is a sung-through musical and an adaptation of Victor Hugo's 1862 novel of the same name, by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel and Herbert Kretzmer. The original French musical premiered in Paris in 1980 with direction by Robert Hossein. Its English-language adaptation by producer Cameron Mackintosh has been running in London since October 1985, making it the longest-running musical in the West End and the second longest-running musical in the world after the original Off-Broadway run of The Fantasticks.
Alain Boublil is a French musical theatre lyricist and librettist, best known for his collaborations with the composer Claude-Michel Schönberg for musicals on Broadway and London's West End. These include La Révolution Française (1973), Les Misérables (1980), Miss Saigon (1989), Martin Guerre (1996), The Pirate Queen (2006), and Marguerite (2008).
Michael Ashley Ball is an English singer, presenter and actor. He made his West End debut in 1985 playing Marius Pontmercy in the original London production of Les Misérables, and went on to star in 1987 as Raoul in The Phantom of the Opera. In 1989, he reached number two in the UK Singles Chart with "Love Changes Everything", a song taken from the musical Aspects of Love, where he played Alex. He played the role in London and on Broadway. His album Coming Home To You reached number one in the UK making it his 4th number one album to date. On 24 April 2020, Ball and Captain Tom Moore entered the UK Singles Chart at number one with a cover of "You'll Never Walk Alone", with combined chart sales of 82,000 making it the fastest-selling single of 2020.
Judy Kuhn is an American actress, singer and activist, known for her work in musical theatre. A four-time Tony Award nominee, she has released four studio albums and sang the title role in the 1995 film Pocahontas, including her rendition of the song "Colors of the Wind", which won its composers the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Philip Mark Quast is an Australian actor and singer. He has won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical three times, making him the first actor to have three wins in that category.
Rocky Mountain College is a private college in Billings, Montana. It offers 50 liberal arts and professional majors in 24 undergraduate disciplines. In fall 2013, the college had 1069 enrolled students. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church (USA), and the United Church of Christ.
Frances Ruffelle is an English musical theatre actress and singer. She won a Tony Award in 1987, and represented the United Kingdom in the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Lonely Symphony ", finishing 10th. The song became a UK Top 30 hit.
London School of Musical Theatre (LSMT) is an academy of performing arts that was founded by Glenn Lee in 1995. The school is located on Borough Road, near Elephant and Castle.
Rimrock Mall is an indoor shopping mall located in Billings, Montana, United States. It is managed by Starwood Capital Group. The mall is anchored by two Dillard's stores and J. C. Penney.
Alice Ripley is an American actress, singer, songwriter and mixed media artist. She is known, in particular, for her various roles on Broadway in musicals, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning Next to Normal and Side Show. She most recently played three roles in the short-lived Broadway musical, American Psycho. Alice Ripley has released albums with her band, RIPLEY, including the single, "Beautiful Eyes", released in February 2012. She also performs as a solo artist, while in February 2011 she released Alice Ripley Daily Practice, Volume 1, a stripped-down collection of acoustic rock covers.
The Gaslight Theatre is a nonprofit theatre troupe and venue in Enid, Oklahoma. Founded in 1966 as the Enid Community Theatre, the group stages productions of ten plays per year, including Shakespeare in the Park, musicals, and dinner theatre. Since 1989 Gaslight has called the historic Billings Theatre its home. It is located in the Enid Downtown Historic District.
The Grand Theatre is a professional theatre located at 471 Richmond Street just south of Dufferin Avenue in London, Ontario, Canada.
Jerzy Jeszke is a Polish theatre actor and singer, whose considered as one of Poland's most successful theatre actors. From August 28, 2020, Jeszke is serving a three-year jail sentence for the rape of his ex-girlfriend.
The Pioneer Theatre Company (PTC) is one of four professional theatre companies in Utah, and the only fully professional theatre in Salt Lake City, contracting with union members belonging to Actors' Equity Association (AEA), Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and United Scenic Artists (USA829). PTC was formed in 1962 and performs at the Simmons Pioneer Memorial Theatre on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City. The non-profit company produces seven plays each season, running from September to May, including classics, musicals, dramas, and comedies. The company creates its own productions on site, including costumes and scenery, while sometimes using actors and directors from out-of-state. Among a number of premieres, the company produced the nation's first regional premiere of Les Misérables in 2007, giving 82 sold out performances.
Daniel Diges García is a Spanish singer, pianist, composer and actor. Although born in Madrid proper, he has spent all his youth in the neighbouring city of Alcalá de Henares.
Folketeateret is a theatre in Oslo, Norway. The building has been used as a movie theatre and as an opera house. The theatre has 1,400 seats.
Stage Right! is a professional theatre company and performing arts school located in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. Established in 1998 as an organization for young people to take classes in musical theatre by Chris Rizk, Stage Right! also became a professional theatre company in 1999, established by artistic director Anthony Marino, Rizk's brother. The company produces a full season of musicals, utilizing professional actors from the Pittsburgh theatre scene as well as students from their classes.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Billings, Montana, USA.
Sierra Repertory Theatre is a regional theatre company producing dramas, musicals and comedies located in Sonora, California, United States. Founded in 1980 by David and Kathryn Kahn, Doug Brennan, and Sara and Dennis Jones who met as university students at the Fallon House Theatre in Columbia while doing summer stock performances with the University of the Pacific drama program.
Coordinates: 45°47′55″N108°33′14″W / 45.79861°N 108.55389°W