Flat Hat Productions launches 2nd season
It requires a lot to start your own theater production company. A lot of talent, a lot of ambition, the ability to dream big, and overall, a powerful love of music and theater; Rob Kincaid meets all the requirements – and then some.
A Sandpoint native, Kincaid formed Flat Hat Productions to offer high quality classical music and theater performances at affordable prices. Based on the overwhelming success of Flat Hat’s 2005 inaugural season, he’s clearly surpassed his goal.
“I didn’t know what to expect,” says Kincaid. “My goal was to bring good quality music to our area whether it was for a small or large audience. It was fantastic that it went over so well.”
Last year’s concluding concert was a performance by the University of Idaho’s 150-voice jazz choir accompanied by Dancers, Drummers and Dreamers. The evening was filled with unrelenting, sizzling rhythms and rich harmonies that resulted in spontaneous shouts of joy and applause by the packed audience.
Flat Hat’s earlier offerings included Marilyn Barnes’ beautiful soprano, the brilliant singing and eclectic programming of Amy Craven, and the sold-out performance of the popular play “Nunsense,” directed by Shauna Lyman.
Flat Hat’s success isn’t that much of a surprise when you consider its founder’s qualifications. Kincaid has been involved in the music and theater business for more than 30 years. He has a degree from the University of Idaho in vocal performance with teaching credentials and a master’s degree in vocal performance and conducting from the University of Redlands in California. He also has extensive experience in choral conducting, musical theater acting and directing and singing the classical vocal repertoire, including art songs and opera.
Of course, the average ticket buyer isn’t overly concerned with the founder’s qualifications. What most of us want is to be shown a good time at an affordable price, and that’s what sets Flat Hat Productions in a class of its own. In a world where concert tickets are often priced between $30 to $50 – automatically excluding many local families from attending – the average ticket price of a Flat Hat performance is $10, with tickets for seniors and children costing a little less.
“There’s more money in Bonner County than there was five years ago,” notes Kincaid. “But there are still a ton of people earning $7 an hour who would like to enjoy good, quality music. I want them to be able to hear it, too.”
Even with affordable ticket prices, Flat Hat Productions was able to make a $500 donation to The Festival at Sandpoint, most of which was used to buy and repair instruments for Sandpoint music students.
Just as last season met and exceeded all expectations, the 2006-07 season promises to be no different. The first performance took place Oct. 7, when renowned mezzo soprano Lorraine DiSimone filled Sandpoint’s First Lutheran Church sanctuary with beautiful pieces from Verdi, Vivaldi, Wagner, Debussy and Victorian parlor songs – music seldom heard in Bonner County.
“It went very nicely,” says Kincaid. “It was beautiful. She’s a wonderful singer. No one else is bringing this type of music here.”
If you missed that concert, don’t despair, there’s plenty of time to plan for Flat Hat’s later offerings. “A Christmas Memory by Truman Capote,” will be presented Dec. 14 and 15. It’s a one-man play directed and performed by Robert Shampain with music performed by Craven and Kincaid. It’s based on Capote’s recollection of his youth in the rural South during the Depression and also examines the theme of friendship between social outcasts. “A Christmas Memory” was made into an Emmy Award-winning television movie starring Geraldine Page in 1968, and continues to be performed in theaters around the United States.
Additional Flat Hat performances are planned for later in the season but have not yet been finalized. “We’re in the process of planning a theater,” says Kincaid. “Probably a music theater. We’ll have it nailed down soon and then it will be announced.”
Even if you’re not sure you’d enjoy classical or opera music, Kincaid encourages people to give it a try.
“I really believe we don’t get to see and hear this kind of quality in Bonner County very often,” Kincaid says. “(The performances) don’t cost a lot. So give it a shot and see.”