Sold-out arts event, no seats
The first-ever show in the new Bonners Ferry High School auditorium had nearly sold out its seats when the arts group bringing Ballet Idaho’s production of “The Nutcracker” to Bonners Ferry received some surprising news: There are no seats.
The school district received word last week that the comfy movie theater-style seats won’t be delivered in time for Monday’s opening of Becker Community Auditorium. Superintendent Don Bartling said Tuesday that the seats, which were ordered in June, haven’t even been built because the manufacturer is running behind schedule.
The show, however, will go on.
“We’re going to have to go with some portable seating,” Bartling said. The chair manufacturer is covering the cost.
Originally, seats were scheduled to arrive Monday and be installed by this Friday, just three days before curtain. Barb Russell of Bonners Ferry’s Friends of the Arts said she was a little relieved to find out the seats weren’t going to arrive. At least now, Russell said, she won’t be stressed over whether they’ll be installed in time for the show.
As soon as she heard the seats weren’t going to be on time, Russell got on the phone with rental companies to find some seats. She originally asked for padded seats, but said two different companies told her the padded chairs were actually less comfortable than plastic. They told her the plastic chairs would “have more flex to them.”
All but a few of the tickets sold for Monday’s show were for reserved seats. Russell said the portable seats will be arranged the same as the permanent seats were meant to be so people will get to sit in the locations they chose.
Her husband and three others will wear tuxedos and usher people to their seats – each numbered with a sticky note and the ticket holder’s name.
“They’re not going to be the auditorium seats, but they’ll be nice seats,” Russell said. “They’ll all look the same and we’ll be able to have our show and not have to round up chairs from church basements.”
Judging from the community’s enthusiasm, the seats might not even be a concern. Tickets for the show sold quickly.
People were excited for the opportunity to see “The Nutcracker.” It’ll be the first time a professional troupe has performed the holiday favorite in Bonners Ferry. Local dance students will perform alongside professional dancers in an auditorium that’s a huge improvement over the town’s old Fry Auditorium.
The century-old auditorium was expensive to heat and maintain and performances were often drowned out by the rumbling of passing trains.
Community boosters Marty and Teresa Becker donated $50,000 to upgrade the new auditorium. It’s part of the district’s first new school construction project in more than 30 years.
Students will begin moving into the new school in mid-December and classes will begin Dec. 17.
The school district plans to take possession of most of the new school and the auditorium on Monday, just in time for the evening’s performance. A formal dedication of the auditorium and school and a community open house is planned for Jan. 6.