Back in Time - Drama Festivals

Setting stage lights
Missoula, Montana
Winter 1978

In the mid to late 1970s, I travelled to several states for the International Thespian Society, as I was the Regional Director. Previous to serving in this capacity, I was the Wyoming State Director. I wrote about a memorable trip to Muncie, IN with the students in this earlier post.

The photo above shows a Montana drama student setting the lights on the stage at the Missoula High School. I was impressed with the facilities and how much the Missoula community supported the arts. Today, the area still has a strong drama community and a traveling children's theater group.

The trip to North Dakota's State Drama Festival was memorable because the last day of the event, a severe winter storm was bearing down on the state. I had flown into Bismark, and the festival was about an hour drive north in McClusky. I was certainly glad that I had a driver and that I did not have to attempt to find my way in the storm, as the snow was thick driven by the wind, making the road difficult to see.

During the two years that I served as the Regional Director, I saw many talented young people perform and some extremely dedicated directors.

Comments

  1. I remember those shirts and those Pants!!!

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  2. You have had an amazing and interesting life! that must have been very rewarding and just plain fun. Our granddaughter was in a traveling children's theater group for years and loved it. The director was surrogate mom to them.

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  3. My grand-kids have been doing drama in school and love it. Love the boots and pants.

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  4. That must have been exhausting work, but so much fun!

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  5. Seeing that kid's shirt, pants, and high-heeled shoes brought back a lot of memories for me! I had several kids that looked just like him! Those were great days - and the arts in the schools were valued! You did so much for aspiring actors and thespians; they were so lucky to have someone willing to take them all over the country!!

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  6. Missoula Children's Theater!! Our children took part in that when we lived in the Davis Mountains. It was over an hour to Ft. Davis, but every summer we made the trip daily when the Missoula Children's Theater pulled into town! Such fun memories!!

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  7. You have done so many interesting things, Nancy!

    But I am so distracted by the kid's outfit in that photo. awesome.

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  8. Our community brought in the Missoula Children's Theater every spring for many years. Always a great experience for the kids and great entertainment for the whole community.

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