The Brandon Valley Theatre Department starts the performance year with the Fall Play. Shows can be of any variety - dramas, comedies, and even musicals. Every three years our department has a tradition of producing our adaptation of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. This timeless tale tells the story of a miserly old man who hates Christmas. After a particularly harsh day, filled with rudeness and crankiness, Scrooge is visited by four unearthly beings whose goal is to save him from his greedy and self-serving life by teaching him the true meaning of Christmas and the spirit of giving. Auditions were held September 14. The production runs November 10-13 and will typically feature a cast and crew of students from across the district.

The One-Act Play is a competitive performance where the production (including setup and tear down) must not exceed 45 minutes. Shows compete for a Superior Play ranking, and actors can be recognized for either Superior Acting or Superior Ensemble awards. In 2022, the BV One-Act cast and crew received a Superior Play Award, five Superiors Actor Awards, and Superior Ensemble Awards for nine actors for our production of The Old Man and the Old Moon. This year, Brandon Valley will be performing The Scheme of the Driftless Shifter - a mixed up melodrama where, despite the efforts of the cast and crew, chaos ensues! The South Dakota State One-Act Festival will be held at O'Gorman High School on February 2-4. Public performances of Brandon's One-Act Play will be held January 30 and 31st at 7:00 PM in the Brandon Valley Performing Arts Center.

Closing out the Brandon Valley 2022-2023 Theatre Season is our Spring Musical: Beauty and the Beast. Based on the 1991 Disney film, Beauty and the Beast is definitely “a tale as old as time” and is a musical with music by Alan Menken, lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice and book by Linda Woolverton. The story chronicles the story of an arrogant young prince who is cured by an Enchantress because of his selfishness. As a hideous beast, the prince must learn to love another and earn their love in return before the last enchanted rose petal falls, otherwise he and all in his castle are doomed to be cured for the remainder of their time. Auditions will be held for high school students February 13-16, and the show will run April 27-30! Tickets will go on sale early April!

Anybody who is involved or interested in theatre can be part of Drama Club! We get together, watch and go to shows, dabble in improv, and just have some theatre fun! In 2018 the Theatre Department and Creative Minds (formerly known as Art Club) took a five-day trip to NYC. Our next Theatre/Creative Minds trip will be in June 2023! We are planning another New York trip, but this time, there is an option to extend the trip into Paris, France! Any student who is involved in theatre, drama club, and/or art club are welcome to see Mrs. Sittig or Mr. Nelson for more information!