For one festive week only, Small Batch Arts presents stage production A Montana Radio Holiday 1955 at Reynolds Recital Hall on the Montana State University campus. Performances will take place December 18th–22nd at 7pm each night. Two matinee performances will also take place on Dec. 21st and 23rd at 3pm.
In 2019, “A Bozeman Radio Christmas 1939” looked at the year Bozeman got its first commercial radio station. It featured stories of pioneer holidays in the Gallatin Valley and popular holiday swing tunes as sung by the fabulous Gallatin Gals (The GGs). Following the success of that program, the decision was made to research and develop additional holiday programs set in a time significant to Montana history.
Like tree rings, holidays provide a telling record of the good years, the lean years, and the years marked by significant events. In their 2021 production, “A Montana Radio Holiday 1944,” the performances looked back at the years when gas was rationed and car tires were impossible to find. Audiences traveled the rails of the Jawbone Line through the heart of Montana on the Milwaukee Railroad’s magnificent passenger train, the Olympian. This year, the talented troupe of storytellers brings us forward to 1955 with more stories, jingles and holiday swing tunes from the era sung by the fabulous Gallatin Gals. Directed by Joel Jahnke, the production features a script by M. Douglas MacIntyre and Maggie Petersen, Music Director Jake Fleming and composed/arranged by Erik Pearson.
General admission for A Montana Radio Holdiay 1955 is $19. Advance tickets may be purchased through www.smallbatcharts.org. Reynolds is located in Howard Hall off of S 11th Ave., just across from the MSU Duck Pond. Seating is limited.
An arm of the Children’s Shakespeare Society, Small Batch Arts produces pre-professional and professional art, educational, dance and theatrical events which harken to a time gone by. •
