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News you can use
Havre Daily News/Nikki Carlson
Auctioneer Dave Greenwood, back, gets out of the way as the wicked stepsisters — Oriah Pratt, left, and Mindy Smith, in the upcoming Montana Actors' Theatre and Havre High School's production of "Cinderella" — fight with each other during MAT's Death by Chocolate event Saturday evening in the Montana State University-Northern Student Union Building. "Cinderella" will be featured in the HHS auditorium Nov. 10-12 and Nov. 17-19.
The third time was a charm — again — for the local acting troupe, with a near-sellout crowd at its annual Death by Chocolate fundraiser Saturday.
"It was our best year, " Montana Actors' Theatre founder and executive artistic director Jay Pyette said this morning.
This was the third year MAT combined an interactive murder mystery play, directed by MAT veteran Martin Holt, with a selection of chocolate desserts made by local chefs for tasting and auction and a silent auction focused on local artwork.
It also was the third straight year with almost all seats sold.
Pyette said the audience seemed to enjoy the play — one table, after question and answer sessions were held between scenes and at the end, even successfully picked the play's murderer.
Darrin Boss and his wife, Peggy Lamb, Jim and Kelly Rowlatt, Doug and Lorraine Larson, Judy and Jim Ward, and Wayne and Karla Bolken correctly identified the murderer.
Pyette said the auctions also went well.
In the desserts part of the program, the cooks made two of each selection, one for sampling and one for bidding.
"The desserts went well, " Pyette said. "People seemed to really enjoy them; they all sold. "
The sale of primary sponsorships for MAT's season of plays also went well, with all of the sponsorships sold Saturday, he added. The production of "The Laramie Project, " which opens Friday, was not included in that part of the fundraiser, but the joint MAT-Havre High School production of "Cinderella" was sponsored by Nick Pyrak and Flynn Realty; "The Forgotten Carols" –byTilleman Motor Co. ; "In the Next Room" by Custom Collision Repair; "The Boys Next Door" by Gary and Leo's Fresh Foods; "Scotland Road" by Valley Furniture, and "Richard III" by Havre Ford.
The successful Death by Chocolate fundraiser held by Montana Actors' Theatre came less than a week before the acting troupe's first play of the season, a play examining hate crimes and their impacts on communities.
MAT will open "The Laramie Project" Friday. The play, a creation of the Tectonic Theater Project, gives the comments and responses of people from the town of Laramie, Wyo., in the year following the death of University of Wyoming gay student Matthew Sheppard.
Sheppard, who was studying political science, foreign relations and languages at the university, was tied to a split-rail fence, beaten, robbed and left to die Oct. 7, 1998 by Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson, who each are serving life sentences for the murder.
Members of the Tectonic Theater Project spent a year interviewing members of the community about the murder and its impacts, and wrote the play using the interviews.
The run dates for the play are Friday and Saturday this week, and Oct. 27 to 29 and Nov. 3 to 5. It starts in the Little Theatre in Cowan Hall at the Montana State University-Northern campus at 8 p. m. each night, with the backstage bar opening at 7:30 p. m.
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