Under the night sky in the small town of Garden Valley, Idaho, Starlight Mountain Theatre draws in hundreds of visitors each year to watch timeless stories unfold on stage.
The theatre, just a little over an hour drive away from campus, showcased a variety of star-studded musicals this summer, including ‘Charlie Brown,’ ‘Frozen,’ ‘Sugar’ and ‘Legally Blonde.’
Starlight Mountain Theatre’s rich history in theatrical storytelling began in the summer of 2000.
“It had always been his dream to start his own summer stock theatre company,” Artistic Director Skye Davis said of his father, Eddy Davis, who moved from Georgia back to his hometown of Garden Valley to build the theatre. Before opening Starlight, Eddy taught theatre classes at Middle Georgia State University.
Inspired by former students who expressed feeling boxed-in while performing and working at other summer stock theatres throughout the country, Starlight quickly became the space his students yearned for.
“It kind of gave him the push that he needed to make his dream, to actually start it and make it happen,” Davis explained.
Brooke Reed, an actress at Starlight this season, expressed how different Starlight is to other theatres she’s performed in.
“Starlight is the best theatre environment I’ve ever had the privilege to work in,” Reed said. “I have never felt so cared about as an actor as I do here, and that’s incredible.”
Reed said Starlight gives the actor the opportunity to remain true to themselves. “They really give us freedom to push creative boundaries in certain ways,” she said.
While some Idahoans drive hours to see shows at the theatre, the town of Garden Valley, with a population of just under 500, plays a huge role in supporting and caring for the cast of Starlight.
“We invited the town to come see our final dress rehearsal of Frozen, like just people in the community, and they literally made this incredible barbecue for us,” Reed said while reminiscing on her favorite memories at Starlight.
With a cast this year of 25 full-time actors, some of which come from different parts of the country, missing home can come easily.
“We have our Starlight mom, like the people who give us the best hugs if we’re missing home, ” Reed said. “I’m lucky because I’m from Boise, but you know, there’s people from Texas, from New York City, who can’t just drive home easily.”
The core cast lives together over the summer in a dedicated actor house to help build community amongst the crew.
“We would have a whole day of rehearsals starting at 9 o’clock in the morning, and we won’t finish cleaning up the theatre after the show until like 11:30 p.m., ” Reed explained. “Yet we still all sit together at the theatre and talk for like an hour, because we just all love spending that time together so much.”
Hunter Adams, an actor who has been with Starlight for two years, highlighted the unique feeling of rehearsing a show for just two weeks before opening night.
“Starlight has really shown me that you can put together a show in like three seconds because we’re such a small time constraint,” Adams said.
As Starlight Mountain Theatres’ summer season comes to a close in the next few weeks, their season closer, ‘Into the Woods,’ looks to grab the hearts of the audience while reflecting on the cast’s experience at Starlight.
“‘Into the Woods’ is a really good allegory for this whole experience with the other Starlight actors, and it’s just ‘oh, we come from different places and different stories, but we’re mixing and interweaving together,’” Adams said.
Davis preserves his father’s memory, mentioning the core of starlight that actors should not forget.
“Dad used to say that when people come and watch you perform five years later, they’re not going to remember if you messed up a line, if you stumbled in your choreography or if your voice cracked in the big note of your song,” Davis said. “But what they will remember is how you make them feel.”
‘Into the Woods’ will run at Starlight Mountain Theatre from Aug. 26 to Sept. 7., with tickets ranging from $38 to $45.
