Q&A with VPA Executive Director discussing “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and the return to live theater

WASILLA— Valley Performing Arts Executive Director Garry Forrester recently participated in a question and answer interview to discuss their current show, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” and the return to live theater.

How have things been going since the opening weekend?

“People are really really enjoying it. We had less than 30 seats left on opening night. So, it was a really good opening. People are really enjoying the show. Tickets are selling very quickly. It’s just a good show with people walking saying it’s one of the best shows they’ve seen in the last 10 years. That’s high praise from a lot of people.”

What about the play do you really like?

“I like the strong sense of family that’s in the play, and the young people in the play really seem to understand what it means to try to be accepting of people that you might not normally like and giving them the opportunity to surprise you. That’s probably the overarching theme of the show, looking past the exterior and seeing what people have inside, which is a really strong message, especially these days.”

What’s it like getting back up and running and doing live theater again?

“It’s been great. The people have been really accepting of us being back, providing quality live theater to the community. A lot of people are saying, ‘thank you,’ ‘we’re glad you’re back,’ ‘we’re encouraged,’ and ‘we missed you.’ There’s no better feeling than walking into the theater and seeing all happy faces again. That’s probably the most important thing to us about community theater, that sense of community. It’s people coming together and seeing all the hard work of our volunteers to do what needs to be done to get us up and running again.”

What’s the plan for the rest of the season?

“We’re just hoping to continue to do what we do. We’re hoping that each show gives a booster shot to the next show. The next show out of the gate is going to be a comedy called, ‘The Game’s Afoot.’ After that, we have a small group effort called the ‘Wild Women of Winedale.’ which will also be our dinner theater presentation; and we’ll wind up the season with a musical called “Aida.” We started off with a soft opening so to speak with the Shakespeare play, which people really enjoyed. It’s getting people back in the habit of coming back to the theater. I guess that’s the most important thing for people to realize, that live theater is back in the Valley and the community… Theater is a large part of so many lives here in the Valley. There was such a void for 18 months. People were just excited and knew that there was something that was missing and theater fills that spot.”

What do you think of all the members coming back with gusto and putting on a good show for everyone?

“VPA lives because of the strength of our volunteers. Our shows are built upon the strength and the hard work of the volunteers to help us show after show. Without their commitment and dedication and their joy for theater, we could not do what we do, period.”

What are some of your goals from here?

“Just getting back to normal operations. This is only a five-show season. We’d like to be able to get back six, possibly seven shows for next season, and get back up to a full slate.”

For more information about VPA and upcoming shows, call 907-373-0195 or visit valleyperformingarts.org.

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” opened Nov. 26 and the final show is Dec. 19.

Performances run Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman reporter Jacob Mann at jacob.mann@frontiersman.com