Work flies before fairy’s dance
Soon the Dance of the Construction workers will be replaced by Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy. The whine of power tools and rhythmic hammering will be silenced and the music of Tchaikovsky will echo throughout Becker Memorial Auditorium.
And the seats – if they’re installed in time – may be filled as the curtains open for the first performance at the new auditorium at Bonners Ferry High School.
Nov. 22 is slated to be a day of firsts for Bonners Ferry residents.
It will be the first performance in the new auditorium of the first new school the town’s had in more than 30 years.
It also will be the first time a professional ballet company has performed “The Nutcracker” in their hometown.
Nearly a month before students are set to move into the new school, Bonners Ferry’s Friends of the Arts will sponsor a performance of “The Nutcracker.”
About 40 local ballet students will take the stage with professional dancers from Ballet Idaho.
Dance teacher Barbara Russell, also a member of Friends of the Arts, said the ballet master from Ballet Idaho made a point of telling each group of students who auditioned about the importance of opening night.
“He said he was in an opening performance once,” Russell said.
“He said, ‘You’ll never forget you were in the opening of a theater.’ “
The high school was built with funds from a $10.6 million plant facilities levy that voters passed in 2002.
The auditorium is being upgraded from original plans because of a $50,000 donation from Marty and Teresa Becker.
Marty Becker is a local veterinarian, author, syndicated columnist and community activist.
Teresa Becker is a Bonners Ferry native and 1973 graduate of Bonners Ferry High.
The auditorium is named in their honor.
It’s an upgrade, and then some, from the town’s old Fry Auditorium thanks to the Becker’s donation.
The old auditorium had small seats. Performances were interrupted by the rumble of passing trains, and the building was expensive to heat and maintain.
Becker Auditorium will have state-of-the-art sound and lighting.
The seats will be even bigger and cushier than originally planned, in part because of the district’s “Mark Your Spot” fund-raiser.
Already, 360 people have paid $100 to have an engraved, personalized plaque placed on a seat in the new auditorium.
The Beckers won’t be at the first performance in the auditorium named in their honor. They’ll be on vacation.
But Marty Becker said he plans to attend a grand opening ceremony in early January.
The governor and state superintendent of schools have been invited to attend.
As soon as tickets for “The Nutcracker” went on sale, people began reserving seats.
“I’ve already bought my tickets,” Superintendent Don Bartling said.
“I’ll have a good seat. Any seat in that auditorium will be great.”
Bartling said the auditorium was originally going to be one of the final areas of the school to be finished, but the contractor and architect accelerated construction so it could be done in time for “The Nutcracker.”
Still, it’s going to be a close call.
The seats have been ordered and are set to arrive by Nov. 15.
They should be installed by Nov. 19, Bartling said – just two days before “The Nutcracker.”
“Everybody wants to know, ‘Where’s the best seat?’ ” Russell said.
“We don’t know. They’re not in there yet.”
She’s optimistic that the auditorium will be done in time and the show will sell out.
“We’ve never had anything like this in our community before,” she said.
“This is double exciting because it’s our new school and auditorium and it’s a grand performance.”