For an actor to act, he or she must possess passion, drive, talent and the need to express the words and thoughts in the script.
While it’s theoretically possible to act anywhere and in any situation, it’s helpful for the actor to have a stage on which to perform for an audience. At the Whitefish Theatre Company, the talent is burgeoning, but space is not.
“We are so out of room,” Gayle MacLaren, managing director at WTC, said. “We’re planning an expansion.”
The expansion is expected to cost $1.25 million, and the theater company began a five-year capital campaign in 2012 to reach that goal. Last week, the company announced a huge step forward: a $250,000 challenge grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust.
A challenge grant means that in order to receive the quarter-million-dollar donation, the WTC must get matching donations, McLaren said.
“Getting the Murdock grant was just huge, and we have to match that,” she said.
WTC has been performing in the Flathead for decades, and moved into its space at the O’Shaughnessy Center in downtown Whitefish when the building was made possible through a major community fundraising effort in 1998; a large donation from the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Foundation was key in laying the foundation.
That was also a $250,000 matching grant, and McLaren said it took about nine months to earn the matching funds from donations.
Now, 16 years later, the O’Shaughn-essy Center serves as one of the most popular and most used arts facilities in the valley. Not only does the theater company take root and practice there, but the community also rents out the facility for several events throughout the year.
“There are so many nonprofits that want to rent the building,” MacLaren said. “There’s just a demand for space.”
One of the biggest draws to the center is the high-definition projector, she said, which brings in groups wanting to show films and documentaries.
And such is the demand for the O’Shaughnessy Center that at times, when the space is rented out for a fundraiser or a party, the theater company has to leave its home and find another place to rehearse.
“When we rent the main space, we have to go rehearse off site,” she said. “But we try really hard to be available for the community, because the community built it.”
With the demand for performance and rental space, the WTC began a new fundraising effort in 2012 with its $1.25 million goal.
Called “Raise the Curtain on Act 2,” the capital campaign has received 74 percent of the goal in the last two years. It’s been encouraging, McLaren said, because it shows the community is dedicated to having a space for the arts.
In 2013, WTC completed Phase 1 of the campaign, fully upgrading the main stage space at the center. Phase 2 will mean the construction of the Carolyn Pitman Community Room, a new conference room, two additional restrooms and a second-floor storage room.
Costume storage is precious, MacLaren said, especially during intricate plays, such as the current production of “The King and I.”
“The upstairs on the second story would be more costume storage, which is just fabulous,” MacLaren said. “With ‘The King and I,’ we have used every square inch.”
The third phase of the building expansion would be to push out the lobby, which hits its narrowest point in front of the concession stand.
“Right now if we have a full house, it’s really crowded,” she said.
WTC leases the O’Shaughnessy Center building from the city for $1 each year, she said, and the company pays all the bills and for general upkeep. The city owning the building makes it easier on the theater company for insurance purposes, MacLaren said.
The O’Shaughnessy Center is busy year round, whether that’s with top-notch performances from the WTC or hosting a group or organization. It’s this use that has McLaren confident that fundraising goals will be met.
“We really do have good supporters, and the community does step up, and the staff and the board really stepped up as well,” she said.
For more information or to make a donation, visit www.whitefishtheatreco.org or call 406-862-5371.