Woodland Theatre Celebrates 50 Years of Community Performance

“Theater is frustrating and wonderful, just like life,” Nancy Christopher, operational manager of Woodland Productions, explained while leading a tour through the historic Woodland Theatre recently. Christopher said she has been involved with the theater for 37 years and is celebrating its 50^th anniversary by collecting memories from community members who have either been on the stage or in the audience. She added that she plans to read these memories at the beginning of upcoming shows of this year’s musical, Little Women, which runs from March 6-22. “I don’t plan to hold them there forever, but we have videos that go back 30 years. We plan on doing a 10-minute presentation on our beautiful movie screen beforehand of our past shows,” Christopher said.

Built in 1940, Christopher said the building has served many roles, including being a movie house and a Volkswagen dealership. She said, “Way back in the 1970s Helen Acorn wanted to do something with the community. She put ads in the paper and said, ‘Let's get together, and let's have a band.’ She was playing drums and that’s where we started. They were the Old Mission Art Gallery.” The first show they did was He Ain’t Done Right by Nell in May 1976, Christopher said.  

“She (Acorn) was very determined to get something started, and what she got was a huge thing started. She got a group of artists to come there and they had pottery wheels in the basement and were teaching pottery. They had artwork all through the building. Their goal was to restore the building, but they were aging out,” Christopher explained.

Since they couldn’t fix the building themselves, Christopher said they gifted it to Woodland Productions, as one nonprofit to another nonprofit. She continued, “We started working on the building and putting on productions in 1976. We skipped a year to 1978 because they were working on the building and getting things organized.”

According to Christopher, the Woodland Theatre continued to grow, beginning with laid-back productions, then getting bigger, adding a full orchestra, choir, and band. She mentioned that last year was a year of finding violins, with many people coming out for Fiddler on the Roof and other productions. Christopher cited that, ironically Fiddler on the Roof also helped fund their roof repairs, as it did also when they presented it 20 years ago. She said Fiddler on the Roof sold out every night last year, equating to 171 seats filled per night.

“Right now, we’re putting $20,000 into the roof,” she reported, acknowledging board member Peggy Townley for writing the grants which helped secure the funds for the roof repairs. She said they have done a lot of historic renovations to the building over the last 50 years, often receiving generous donations to help fund those efforts.

“It’s been piecemeal for so many years, and we put a whole new addition about five years ago on the back of the building which was funded by a Washington state grant. “The newest thing we’re going to put up is a tower in the front that says ‘Woodland Theatre’ which is historically accurate to the original theater,” Christopher said, adding that she planned to go to the Colville City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 24, to request funding for a new LED light board for controlling stage lighting, which would enable them to lower their electricity cost and enhance safety for staff and volunteers. “Right now, we have people having to climb up and down ladders, or set up scaffolding [to adjust the lighting],” Christopher explained. She emphasized that the theater is a volunteer organization, with only two employees who receive stipends.

Christopher said the theater has received support from the community and local businesses, and highlighted the talent of those who have participated; from acting in plays, singing, or playing instruments, to building sets, and creating costumes. “The bottom line, the dollar thing is not always important. The most important things are the people and the community; that's what it's about,” she declared. With the support of local businesses advertising in their programs they are able to also keep live theater ticket prices affordable “for the average Joe,” she said. Tickets prices are $12-15 for their musicals.

Discussing why they decided to do the memory collection to honor the theatre’s 50^th anniversary, Christopher said, “I started thinking about it and I’ve heard, personally, so many stories of people saying, ‘I came that night – it was our first date. We got married’… I hear these wonderful stories about people that come to Woodland [Theatre], and it's been a special part of their lives. I want to hear these stories again. And I want not just my ears to hear it, but I want the community to know how important something like community theater can be, for everyone. It’s not just, ‘Oh we’re having a good time; we are telling stories’ – we are impacting people’s lives.”

She continued, “It’s the power of the story – that's what I come back to, why I want to hear people's stories, because the power of the story is so immense. These are real people, real lives, and real feelings, and I think we lose context with that, especially with the internet. It’s been 50 years and I am so glad to have you as an audience. You guys have made such a difference. They might know that, but it’s the power of the story, the power of the word. It is something we need to not forget how powerful it is.” 

Christopher described the life skills learned from acting, “Drama teaches you understanding, it teaches you to observe things, to question things, to reach out past yourself,” she said. “It teaches you to turn off that internal editor inside of you that tells you, ‘Don’t do that’ or ‘That’s stupid.’ You learn to trust yourself. The dramatic arts teach you about humanity and empathy.”

Christopher highlighted a story of a woman who had lost her voice and was able to get back on stage and perform at Woodland Theatre. She emphasized the power of theater, stating, “Maybe along the way, we’ll learn how to get along… because one thing about theater, it’s open to all kinds… It’s a place for people that feel that they don’t belong in society; theater opens doors for everyone in the community. We really feel solid as a family. When we’re there in a group, we’re learning to get along – to not just tolerate each other but to actually know each other. It’s a very important thing that we’re doing, and we’ve been doing it for a lot of years.”

According to Christopher, Woodland Theatre has also been used for community events such as upcoming performances in May by the Kettle Falls Strings (a group of homeschool kids) and the Kettle Falls High School band. She said, “They use our facility because it’s magical. There’s something different about performing in the high school cafeteria as opposed to performing on a stage with real lights and a spotlight. Also, the grade school is going to be performing Peter Pan. We’re also having a fundraiser for the Kettle Falls Auxiliary to fix their roof. That’s just the month of May; it’s just exploding.”

Along with the performances in May, Christopher said they also host concerts, storytelling events, radio shows and poetry readings throughout the year, as well as a children’s play in the summer. This year, the Children’s Theater Group will be performing Matilda. Christopher discussed the program’s founder, Linette Richie, who led the children’s group for five years and passed away in 2023. “She started it with the belief that she could have not only the children on stage, but that the children would be learning all the skills: directing, lighting, costuming, production and performing. Last year we did Frozen. The reason we’re able to do it is because we got a wonderful grant from the Vinson Fund. Years ago Carl Vinson passed away and he was known as ‘Mr. TV.’ He had grown up here and he left quite a bit of money to Stevens County on the condition that it be used for the arts. So, the city has put it in an interest-bearing account. Every year, they use their interest to help budding artists.”

Christopher said they had scalpers for the first time ever last year. “We sell our tickets online now. (Although people can still purchase them in person with cash at the Colville Chamber of Commerce). We take credit cards now…I mean, there’s been so many things that we’ve done that have improved as we go.” She cited installing handicap access as another example of their progress over the years. They also have a full-size movie screen that they use for presentations and to show movies. “We might do that again in the future. For a long time, I was presenting free public domain movies, because otherwise to show a movie is $300/day,” she explained.  

In the fall, she said, they do a drama/comedy performance, which hasn’t been booked yet this year. She said deciding performances depends on how much energy someone has to put it together. Christopher said the Woodland Theatre also bought the property next door for a parking lot and they have a huge storage area to store furniture, props, overflow costumes, sets, and building materials to make sets with.  

“All we can do is improve. I’m excited about doing more for the kids. Hopefully, we’ll have a summer school – that’s in the plans too – but again, you have to find the legs under it,” she said.

For more information, call  Christopher at 509-680-6146 or email woodlandstp@gmail.com.