In 2017, the Kodiak Community Foundation (KCF) provided grant funds to the Kodiak Arts Council (KAC) for a community theater production. According to Kodiak Arts Council Director, Katie Oliver, the Kodiak Arts Council’s Community Theatre program provides arts opportunities for the people of Kodiak that are both direct and indirect. Oliver said direct opportunities to engage in the arts include performing as actors, singers, dancers, designing, fabricating, painting sets and props, lighting and sound design. Indirect opportunities include audience members experiencing the performance.
Because of funds from the Kodiak Community Foundation, KAC was able to host a fall production in 2017, It Happens Every Summer. This romantic comedy was set in 1960s Manhattan, and Oliver said it was an opportunity to showcase comedic talent on the island, and a chance to experiment with new approaches to theater set design. The show included 25 actors, 32 production team members, and more than 620 audience members over the three performances held in November.
It was a busy fall for KAC, as in In September 2017 they also hosted a set design artist residency with Brian Saylor and Anda Saylor of Anchorage Community Theatre. According to Oliver, the Saylors led a four-hour workshop on the principals and processes of set design and worked 8 hours a day with various teams of volunteers designing and constructing the set for the fall production.
“In doing so, KAC significantly increased its human resource capacity for set design and fabrication,” said Oliver.
Those skills were also put to use in building elaborate sets for KAC’s spring musical, Mary Poppins! Kodiak community members can check out those set designs and experience the magic of local theater at the Gerald C. Wilson Auditorium during the final weekend of performances for Mary Poppins!
Show times:
Friday, March 9 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 10 at 7 p.m.
Sunday, March 11 at 2 p.m.
