WARREN MILLER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
BIG SKY—This winter, the Warren Miller Performing Arts
Center has so far welcomed five shows and looks ahead to finishing with the
best performances of its 2020 season.
On Saturday, March 7, WMPAC brings Aquila Theatre’s
production of George Orwell’s seminal novel “1984” to its stage.
Aquila Theatre is perhaps the foremost producer of touring
classical theatre in the U.S. and visits Big Sky on this year’s national tour
as part of their mission “to bring the greatest works to the greatest number.”
In addition to their production schedule in New York, Aquila performs in over
50 cities annually.
“This is a particularly powerful time for this performance,”
said John Zirkle, WMPAC’s executive director. “The questions Orwell raises
about privacy, technology and the role of the media are uncannily pertinent
today.”
Not to mention Orwell’s eerily accurate predictions of
technological devices. Among his science fictions that are uncomfortably close
to today’s reality are the telescreens in every household capable of recording
conversations and transmitting them to Big Brother, a shadowy governmental
organization that is always watching.
The next show of the season, Lightwire Theater, will be one
of the most unique performances WMPAC has ever produced. Lightwire Theater is a
New Orleans-based group that blends theater, puppetry and dance; actors wearing
glow-in-the-dark costumes perform on a pitch-black stage.
The show chronicles the story of a mad scientist who brings
a dinosaur to life. When that dinosaur wanders away and gets lost, it
encounters all sorts of creatures that illuminate the meaning of love and home.
Zirkle first saw the group five years ago. “It was love at
first sight,” he said. “I knew this show would be absolutely perfect for a Big
Sky audience, and I’ve been trying to bring them to WMPAC ever since.”
The group will light up the WMPAC stage for two performances
on Saturday, March 14; the initial 5:00 p.m. showing sold out so quickly that a
second showing at 7:30 p.m. was added to meet demand.
“We’re proud to bring this type of world-class entertainment
to Big Sky, particularly because both of these shows are coupled with honest
meaning,” Zirkle said. “I can’t wait to hear what our audiences take away from
them.”
Rolling Stone
has called Lightwire “absolutely incredible,” and the group’s creativity
rocketed them to the semi-finals of “America’s
Got Talent.” The show is well suited for families with children, but
promises to be mesmerizing for everyone.
