“Broad Cast Theatre was born in 2019, out of a conversation with fellow co-founder Beth Olsen,” said Nancy Tapken.
The pair was groveling about how roles for female actresses in the Sioux Falls area are few and far between, when they stumbled onto the idea of starting the Broad Cast Theatre.
“We asked Jill Johnson and Julie Sauer, who had both done Calendar Girls with us at Sioux Empire Community Theatre to join us, and performed our first show, Love, Loss and What I Wore a few months later,” said Tapken. “Sue Martens, who was also in Calendar Girls, joined us shortly thereafter, and we’ve been together ever since.”
The latest show is Broadly Speaking…and Other B.S.
“We cover online dating, kickball, automatic toilets, salad, chocolate, round-a-bouts, plastic surgery, life hacks, mortifying mothers and more,” explained Tapken.
The dinner theatre production will be hosted at Chef Lance’s on Phillips on October 10, four showings at Vintage from October 22-23 and 29-30, and there will be a possible third location in the holiday season.
“There are a lot of true tales,” she said. “I challenge the audience to see if they can figure out what’s true.”
Tapken shares some true tales of her own life with 605.
“first and foremost, we want to do great theatre and have fun doing it. Certainly second is we want to create more opportunities for female actors.” – nancy tapken
CUSTOMERS COME TO SHOWS LOOKING FOR… what Jill verbalized best as “connections.” The audience comes looking to connect. I think they want to see their own experiences reflected on stage. The more personal a play is, the more universal it is.
I DON’T DO THIS ALONE… Beth, Jill, Julie, and Sue each bring their own style to the show and their unique contributions to the company. Randy Ruud is advising and helping us with sound. Multiple people read the script and offered feedback early on. Debbi Jones from Monstrous Little Theatre was very helpful at the beginning of our journey. It truly takes a village.
SOMETHING WE’RE DOING RIGHT NOW THAT I’M EXCITED ABOUT IS… Broadly Speaking… continues to evolve. That work-in-progress aspect means the show might be slightly different from night-to-night, which keeps us on our toes. We’ve also just purchased a sound system, which increases our ability to reach different audiences.
WHEN I WALK AROUND DOWNTOWN, ONE OF MY FAVORITE PLACES TO STOP BY IS… you can’t go wrong stopping in to Zandbroz Variety or Sticks and Steel.
SOMETHING THAT IS INFLUENCING MY WRITING RIGHT NOW IS… the daily wackiness all around us. But I love listening to and reading Brené Brown and Caroline Myss.
MY FAVORITE PLACE TO GO FOR INSPIRATION IS… Terrace Park. The Japanese Gardens and Covell Lake make it a beautiful thinking place.
ONE THING I LOVE ABOUT SOUTH DAKOTA IS… space to breathe. I’ve lived in New York and San Francisco, but I always missed the South Dakota horizon and sunset and craved green space right outside my door.
SOMEONE LOCAL WHO I ADMIRE IS… Luke Tatge from Good Night Theatre Collective. He has been generous sharing information and answering questions as we feel our way forward, and he excels at partnering with others.
