The Retort

Coming Fun for All

Wed September 30th, 2009 by Lou Donaldson Of The Retort Staff

The Full Monty can now be seen at Venture Theater. (Photo by Matt Langman)

When one mentions Evil Dead the usual progression of thought is corny 1980’s cult classic, Bruce Campbell, and so forth. Most likely nobody would relate Evil Dead to a musical play, until now.

Over the summer the Venture Theater “brought to life” Evil Dead: the Musical. Imagining this corny movie as a musical provoked an eye roll and sad chuckle.

However, many in the audience seemed pleasantly surprised while laughing at the absurdity of it. It was well worth the 16 dollar ticket price and hopefully Venture will bring it “back from the dead” for Halloween.

For anyone who missed seeing the Evil Dead rise again, Venture Theatre has more shows in the making. The Full Monty (yes that The Full Monty) is now showing at Venture Theatre until October 10.

If you are more interested in participating, Venture Theatre is currently working on putting together a flash mob event (For more information on flash mob events go to Flash Mob on YouTube). The Venture flash mob will be dancing to “Woman’s World” from The Full Monty.

Sorry guys, this one is only for women and girls over 12 years of age. If you are interested, the first meeting will be at the Venture Theatre (located at 2317 Montana Avenue) on September 27 at 7pm. Call (406) 591-9535 for more information about the flash mob.

The show "Curious Finds" is now up at the Yellowstone Art Museum. Appraisals will be given by Timothy Gordon on September 26th. (Photo by Steven Pittenger)

For those amongst the masses to whom watching the living dead tear apart hapless college students isn’t enticing, there is always the Yellowstone Art Museum (YAM). With a wide array of things to see and do the YAM has much to offer for people who enjoy any art form.

Currently up and soon to come down is a an art show called “Raided from the Vault.” This exhibition is definitely worth paying an admission price to see.

Within the show are over 7300 pieces, including the first piece to become part of the museum’s permanent collection. This piece was gifted to the museum in 1964 by sisters Alberta and Marguerite Bair.

Along with being able to see pieces ranging from Goya to the art of the Americas, this show’s viewers also get a sneak peek at the “Visible Vault.” The vault is a state-of-the-art storage area for the museum’s pieces.

Also currently up on display is “Curious Finds,” a show of selections from private individuals around Billings. This presents an excellent chance to snoop around and see what kind of art other Billings residents have been collecting without fear of getting into trouble with the law. This show will be up until January 10.

On Saturday, September 26, a very interesting event will be taking place at the YAM. Appraiser Timothy Gordon will be available to take a look at odds and ends, antiques, and things of interest. The fee is ten dollars per piece. Admission into the museum is included in this feel, along with ten dollars off of the Yellowstone Art Museum membership fee if you would like to join the musuem.

Gordon will be available from 10am to 3pm on that Saturday. Even if you only bring something small to be appraised, it would be worth going to see what other people bring and to get into see “Raided from the Vault” and “Curious Finds.”