Until five years ago, third-generation Californian Maggie Logan envisioned Montana as a “hilly area with some cowboys riding around.” Then she and her husband visited the Flathead Valley and found its pristine landscape and abundant wildlife absolutely irresistible. Their home is now a six-acre spread on the Swan River just outside Bigfork, population 2,000. She watches deer graze in the yard while telecommuting to her job as a technical writer for the San Diego-based Qualcomm telecommunications company.

“My husband says that trip was the most expensive vacation we ever took,” Logan laughed. “Semi-retirement was sort of on his radar but we had no intention of moving anywhere anytime soon. We were on vacation. We rented a car in Boise and headed north. Somebody in a little diner in Salmon, Idaho said we should check out Bigfork, Montana. We drove up here and just fell in love. Then we went on to Glacier Park. That sealed the deal. It was the most magnificent place I’d ever seen. We got a real estate agent within three hours.”

Their experience is not unusual. Urban dwellers have been flocking to Big Sky Country for more than a decade. Most come for outdoor adventure and spectacular scenery. In the Flathead Valley, they find all that and something more. Cultural amenities—ranging from classical music to Broadway-caliber theater to fine art galleries—rival those found in the cities they’ve left.

A chance to play with the acclaimed Glacier Symphony and Chorale was a major factor when violinist Deborah Ward and her husband, John, a medical oncologist, relocated to the valley from Riverside, California ten years ago. John instigated the move. He wanted to practice in a place where managed care organizations did not dictate treatment; a doctor needed a partner in Kalispell, Montana—the Flathead’s largest city, population approximately 43,000.  Deborah, a life-long musician, was initially hesitant. “We are both third-generation Riversiders. I had a strong family and musical heritage. My mother was the lead singer with the Riverside Opera. I began learning violin at age 9 and never looked back. When my husband seemed ready to leave the state, leave our birthplace, I wanted to know very specifically what musical outlets were available to me.

“I’ve got to tell you Kalispell has been totally delightful from day one,” she continued. “We had heard that Montanans were shy of Californians coming up here. That’s not true at all. People are absolutely friendly. I found a church and with it wonderful opportunities to serve in the community, and I was able to get involved with the symphony right away. I had the joy of playing many of the same works I’d played in the community symphony in Riverside.

“There are so many opportunities up here. I have been able to do exactly what I’d hoped to do in California,” Ward said, lauding the symphony’s commitment to excellence. She credits Music Director John Zoltek with much of its progress. “The way John grows this program year after year is very impressive. He always tries to sharpen us and challenge us with music that’s increasingly difficult.”

As a member of the symphony’s string quartet, Ward will play a special part in the Glacier Symphony’s Festival Amadeus, debuting August 4 through 9 in Whitefish, a quaint railroad town-turned-ski resort 15 miles north of Kalispell on the shore of Whitefish Lake. The event will take place in the tiny community’s new middle school auditorium.

The cutting-edge facility reflects Whitefish’s own commitment to the arts, according to Nick Spear, marketing director of another stellar arts organization, the Alpine Theatre Project. “The school was redoing its auditorium and our theater was looking for a facility that could house the professional productions we do with appropriate technology. We were able to collaborate. The result is a school performing arts space with an amazing fly system, a totally digital sound system. I can’t think of another instance where a public school joined forces with a professional theater company to accomplish something like this.”

Spear understands the theater world. A graduate of San Diego State’s Master’s program in theater, he’s been a card-carrying member of the Actors Equity Association since 1999. He and his wife, Rebecca, are veterans of the New York City theater scene and toured extensively with I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, prior to moving to Whitefish. He explained that they spent “four years acting full-time, not waiting tables and acting, but actually working at our craft. Still, we sort of felt like we were floating. We wanted to dig in and get involved and be in a community.”

They found their new hometown in Whitefish during a visit with Maggie Logan, who is Nick Spear’s mother. “We came up here to visit, liked it and thought maybe we could get teaching jobs or something. Then we met David Ackroyd, artistic development director at the Alpine Theater, and went to see a production of Camelot. I have to be honest. We were expecting mediocre talent, cardboard sets, something that was representative of a theater in a town with a tiny population.” (Whitefish is home to approximately 7,000.) “At intermission we looked at each other and said ‘how is this possible?’ Top-shelf talent, amazing production values, it was on a par with Broadway or the La Jolla Playhouse. The following summer we came up to do Godspell. We stayed, bought a condo and couldn’t be happier. The winters aren’t as severe as New York’s. The snow is so dry; it’s beautiful. You know they’ve done studies of people in metro areas and their perceptions of the West. They think there’s no culture here. They’re wrong.”

The Flathead Valley’s love affair with the arts is no surprise to Alpine Theatre co-founder Betsi Morrison. The Broadway veteran is a Montana native who spent much of her childhood in Whitefish. “The first time I sang in public I was three-years-old at the Viking Lounge in Whitefish. I had a tambourine and I sang Delta Dawn. I was bit with the entertainment bug from then on.”

At age 14, she convinced her parents to enroll her in a Michigan boarding school for the performing arts. After flirting with an operatic emphasis in college, she realized musical theater was her niche. She headed to New York where she said she was “lucky enough to have a nice career. I got my first Broadway show after a year and a half.” Her resume includes touring with the late Robert Goulet in South Pacific and appearing in the Broadway revival of The Sound of Music with Richard Chamberlain. That’s where she met her husband, Luke Wal rath, and her whole world changed. “I had been so career driven. I didn’t see anything but my goals. Then I fell in love and there was this whole new dimension to life.” Luke was successful too, but he never loved the city. He’s from Milwaukee and after three years or so, he said why don’t we take a break, go to Whitefish for six months and regroup. My parents have a little cabin on Whitefish Lake. Our intention was not to stay. But it is so magical here. Our hearts wanted to stay. As entertainers we wondered how we could make a living. Then we met David Ackroyd. We didn’t know him until we got here, but we became fast friends and we got together and thought maybe we can make this theater project happen.”

Their endeavor quickly gained the support of big names in the entertainment industry. Robert Goulet became a board member. Oscar-winner Olympia Dukakis currently serves as an advisor as do Henry Winkler, John Lithgow and Jim Nabors. Dukakis will premier her version of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, entitled The Other Side of the Island, at the Alpine this summer. It runs August 26 through September 7. The summer season also features The Full Monty and Pete and Keely.

Morrison said that the goal is to become a year-round company. “I think it will happen within five years. We just feel so fortunate. You know even though I was a Montana girl at heart I grew up to be a fairly urban person. I lived in Manhattan for 10 years and I wondered if I could be content in a town of 7,000. But, Whitefish is so cosmopolitan now. We’ve got nice restaurants, plenty of culture and all the things you long for if you’re from a city.”

Art galleries contribute much to the cultural mix. Nationally recognized painter Mark Ogle has operated a downtown Kalispell gallery since 1980. His award-winning work is in collections across the globe. The native Montanan understands the strong connection between the Flathead Valley’s natural beauty and creative expression. “This has always been a very art-friendly community. I’ve lived here since I was in grade school and one of the main reasons I stay is the park. We’re surrounded by lakes and trees and mountains. Everything that I enjoy about outdoor painting I can find within five minutes of my studio. Our Hockaday Museum under the direction of Linda Engh-Grady is an incredible atmosphere for artists in the area. It focuses on the art of Glacier Park and reflects who we are. There is such a sense of community in this valley. They’ll bury me in Montana. I just don’t desire to go anywhere else for very long. In summer you couldn’t knock me out of here if you tried.”

Kalispell transplant Deborah Ward agreed. “Our lives have been so enriched in so many ways since we came to this area. You know, we see a lot of Baby Boomers looking to retire here. We also see a lot of people of all ages coming from all over the world. They all appreciate the state-of-the-art medical community here. There is really very little need for people to leave the valley even to receive care. My husband is so happy to be part of it. He’s fallen in love with medicine all over again. This is a very rejuvenating place,” she said.

           

 

 

 

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