Places, please – and . . . Curtain up!

Do you break into show tunes abruptly? Do you know who Godot is waiting for? Are you – yikes — a thespian?

Well, join the club!

There’s no shortage of venues in the greater Grand Forks area in which to indulge your passion for live theatre.

Let’s begin with the University of North Dakota campus. The Burtness Theater is the performance space for the University’s Theatre Arts Department, which offers both Bachelor’s and Masters’ degrees in theatre performance.

Burtness Theatre is made up of two performances spaces. The first is a proscenium stage that seats approximately 360 people, with a second space black box theatre space, “The Burtness Lab,” seating 150. This season, UND students and faculty performed Carrie: The Musical in November. That season opener will be followed by Unnecessary Farce by Paul Slade Smith, Feb. 28-March 4 and The Conference of the Birds, by Peter Brooks and Jean-Claude Carriere will close out the season April 18-22 (an avant garde piece this writer is particularly excited to see). To see Burtness Theatre’s full lineup or reserve tickets visit their webpage.

Also, on campus, is the towering Chester Fritz Auditorium, a regular stop for Broadway touring companies. In September, they hosted Hairspray, and in 2023 they will bring the popular musical Legally Blonde and the family-friendly Junie B.’s Essential Guide to Surviving School.

Moving off campus and heading downtown via DeMers Avenue, we come to The Empire Arts Center, home to the Empire Theatre Company (ETC), now celebrating its eleventh season in the art deco building which opened in 1919 as The Paramount, a movie house. It’s bright marquee lights up the night. Inside, you’ll find a 425- seat theatre, and downstairs there’s a black box space where smaller, edgier shows, and local bands perform.

 In October, the Empire Theatre Company closed School of Rock, the musical. In November, they produced The Holiday Show: Home for the Holidays, a variety show featuring homegrown talent that has gone on to pursue professional careers in the performing arts. ETC will launch 2023 with the timely play, The Lifespan of a Fact. This dark comedy begs the question, “Does it matter whether the details are factual if they make a better story?”

ETC closes out the season with the interactive Tony and Tina’s Wedding. The audience chooses: Are they on the bride’s side or the groom’s for this big Italian-American wedding? The hilarious nuptials take place inside the Empire’s theater, and the reception, complete with meatballs, spaghetti, and wedding cake will occur at the American Legion in EGF, across the river. www.empireartscenter.com

If you take a left off Demers onto N. 4^th Street and go two blocks, keep your eyes peeled for the charming Fire Hall Theatre on your left. It’s tucked behind Grand Forks City Hall in the now renovated first fire station in Grand Forks, built in 1905. A producing theatre since 1983, it is the home to the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre, the second oldest community theatre in North Dakota, with beginnings tracing all the way to 1947. Their season includes The Chronicles of Narnia, Puffs, Clue, and will finish with Shrek, The Musical. The Fire Hall offers both a summer camp for youth and a full production performed entirely by children during the traditional theatre season. www.ggfct.com

When summer comes, the official theatre season may be over, but lovers of musical theatre can be found zipping toward the Canadian border to catch a show at Frost Fire Theatre, nestled in an amphitheater in the beautiful Pembina Gorge. In July, they’ll gas up and head to Devils Lake, where they will take in a musical by the Fort Totten Little Theatre (no longer at the historic Ft. Totten), performed under the stars in a Roosevelt Park.

But one need not go far during July to see professional-quality productions. Grand Forks is home to Summer Performing Arts (SPA). While SPA has grown to offer one four-week summer camps for grades k-8, it is best known for filling the house for its dazzling musicals, performed by the 9-12 graders. The new performance hall seats 700, and it’s not unusual for it to sell out – and it’s not just parents and grandparents in the seats. The show quality and talent is that good. The auditorium includes state-of-the-art acoustics and a fly space. They’ve produced and flown both Mary Poppins and Peter Pan. Summer shows have not been announced yet, but if you have school-age children, or just love big, fantastic musicals, keep tabs on their website or facebook page to learn about the summer of 2023.

This brings us back around to August, when the ETC opens their season at the Empire and a new theatre season begins all over again!

Psst! Wanna know a couple secrets?

Both Fire Hall Theatre and the Empire Theatre Company invite volunteers to usher or help with concessions, and then the lucky volunteer gets to dip into the theatre to see the show for free.

And all of the theatres – with the exception of the Chester Fritz – hold auditions for their shows. There’s a call page on Facebook where auditions are posted. Backstage, tech, and new performers are encouraged to reach out. Even the UND Burtness will cast from the community for certain shows.
So. . . “Be our guest! Be our guest!”