It's a busy summer at Cloquet's theater

The Encore Performing Arts Center has been a space of nonstop action this summer, from theater camps, performances and musical events to a building project and hosting a statewide theater festival.

The County Seat Theater Company just wrapped up its final week of summer children's theater camp.

"Registration for all of our camps filled up by March," said Joel Soukkala, director and general manager for the theater company. "We couldn't be more pleased to offer this opportunity for our youth in the Carlton County area."

Camp was on for four weeks, where children learned the ins and outs of theater while producing and performing a show each week. This year's show was "Pirates! The Musical." In total, more than 130 children performed. There will be a chance to see some of the participants singing their favorite pirate songs in Cloquet's Labor Day parade.

CST has its weeklong young adult theater camp this week, with two dozen participants rehearsing a production of "An Outlaws Tale," a story about a sheriff of New Town who has become bored and downright lazy. Townspeople come together and ask the three most notorious outlaws to come back to town to cause a raucous.

Actors, tech and stage crew will put on a public show at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 9.

The Encore will host guitarist Spencer Walton in concert at 2 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11. Walton is a music educator based in Moose Lake.

Tickets for all Encore shows can be purchased online at countyseattheater.com or by calling the box office at 218-878-0071.

Festival

On Aug. 17, County Seat Theater will host the Minnesota Association of Community Theatres' FastFest, a biennial festival of 20-minute plays.

"We are thrilled to announce that we have 15 shows registered," said co-chair Larry Pint. "This is the highest number we've had in quite a while. With that many shows, this should be a very fun and entertaining festival."

The festival will have three blocks of show sessions, five shows in each session, beginning at 9 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Actors and directors of the County Seat Theater will be participating in shows in each session. The event is open to the public and tickets can be purchased online at mn-act.net or at the door. Register for a full festival package, which includes dinner and an afterglow party, or single sessions. There is a discounted price before Aug. 10. Find more information at

mn-act.net.

Storage

The theater broke ground on its long-awaited building project recently.

"We began fundraising and planning for this project before the pandemic," Soukkala said. "Now here we finally are, and we couldn't be more excited to start construction."

The theater raised most of the funds for Phase 1 of the project, which consists of a detached garage that will be used for storing a plow truck as well as many set pieces. It should be completed in September. Phase 2 will consist of an attached scenic workshop and rehearsal space, and is scheduled for completion in the summer of 2025. "We still need to raise over $100,000 to complete Phase 2, so we have a long way to go, but being able to bring plans to life with the garage is very exciting, " Soukkala said. "We welcome any volunteers to help with the construction and we are always open to accepting donations of any size. We wouldn't be this far without the support of our community and patrons, we are continually humbled by their generosity."