About Bigfork Summer Playhouse

The Bigfork Summer Playhouse was founded in 1960 by Dr. Firman ‘Bo’ Brown and his wife Margery Hunter Brown as a place for University of Montana theatre students to perform in the summer.  In 1964, Brown hired Don Thomson who is now, along with wife, Jude Thomson, and son, Brach Thomson, the producer.

In the early days of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse, the company ate group meals, rehearsed, and lived in the same place.  There were no facilities to build scenery, nor extra storage of any kind. As a matter of fact, the building didn’t even belong to the Bigfork Summer Playhouse — it was a Community Hall owned by the Masons and the Eastern Star.  The summer group would rent the facility and bring in the stage, risers, and seats for the audience.

We’re pleased to say that, although the Bigfork Summer Playhouse still doesn’t own the building, it is now housed in a 435 seat air-conditioned theater with great fly space, a spacious lobby that contains a concession area, and wonderful comfortable continental style seating for hundreds of guests.