Ague plays leading role in local theatre

Orson Dwayne Ague can be seen all around the community of Bigfork, though in the summer, you’re almost sure to find him at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse.

Ague has acted as stage manager on and off for the Bigfork Summer Playhouse since 1989. However, he has been with the company since 1977, when he began as a performer. Through the years, he has performed many jobs for the theater, including scene designer, lighting designer, prop master, carpenter, and, his current job, stage manager.

“What I try to do is, if a director gives me a pencil, I keep it sharp,” Ague said.

As stage manager, Ague is responsible for keeping the shows up through the entire summer season. The directors take one week to put together a show. After that, Ague finishes everything that couldn’t be done in that week and continues to maintain the show.

“Once it’s to a certain point, I try to keep it there, which is the toughest part,” Ague said. “Actors and actresses try to push outside their bubbles, and I try to keep it there where the directors and producers want it to be.”

Ague cares about the big picture of the show more than anything else.

“I want (the actors) to be the best they can be every day,” he said.

This summer, Ague completed his 12th season with the Bigfork Summer Playhouse.

Though Ague loves many things about the theatre, the unpredictability of it is one of his favorites. Just one example of this was this summer’s “blackout night” when the power went out in the middle of an evening performance of “The Wedding Singer.”

Through collective efforts, the company members were able to make a success of the evening.

The company managed to write some of the songs down and performed the main musical numbers, while one of the actors narrated the show during the Cabaret evening, a benefit for the BSP scholarship fund.

“It turned out really good,” Ague said. “We had fun. The people enjoyed it and our company enjoyed it.”

According to Ague, blackouts such as this one happen approximately every other year.

“It’s one of the things I love about live theatre,” Ague said. “Things just happen. You can’t choose. You just watch it and enjoy it. Whatever happens, happens. We can try to keep things the same, but it will always be different no matter what.”

Ague grew up in Great Falls and attended C.M. Russell High School, where he first met Don Thomson, producer of the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. At the time, Thomson was a teacher at CMR, along with Jack Upshaw.

“My mom said they saved my life,” Ague said. “They probably did.  In fact, I’m pretty sure they did.”

Ague began acting and performing in fifth grade, where he fell in love with the theatre.

In 1977, Ague attended college at The University of Montana for a B.A. in technical theatre with an emphasis in directing. He later returned in 2005 to complete his degree, which he never had the chance to finish.

“One of my goals was to finish what I started, and I did,” Ague said.

Previously, Ague lived in Portland, Ore., and later, Seattle, Wash., where he ran nightclubs, restaurants and sports bars for 30 years.

“That’s where I learned to understand and deal with people, which is what business is all about,” Ague said. “It helps a lot with stage management, because you have to deal with all kinds of people.”

Through his life, Ague has seen and experienced many things.

“I’m actually amazed I’m still hopping,” Ague said.

He has been struck by lightning, fallen down a mountain, been in two car accidents, had a knife pulled on him and almost been shot.

“I’m still here and I’m looking for a reason to still be here,” Ague said. “I just love life. There’s so much going on you just have to open yourself up and look at it. There’s no reason not to.”

Ague made Bigfork his permanent residence in 2010, though he used to visit every summer.

“I like to think I’ve lived here since I’ve been here,” Ague said. “It’s the place I love to be. Besides the community and the landscape, this theater keeps me here.”

During the theatre’s offseason, Ague fills his time with plenty of other jobs and projects, including set design and construction for the Bigfork Playhouse Children’s Theatre, and writing his own musicals.

Ague also spends a lot of his time lending a hand at the Garden Bar, where he helps owner Mark “Mister” Langlois with tasks ranging from security to management advice.

“I keep an eye on things when he’s not there and do what I can to help him,” Ague said. “It’s not a ton of money, but I don’t care about that. It’s not what you got, but what you do with what you’ve got.”

Ague has also been working on starting his own theatre employment resource website called breakaleg.net. The website will serve as an online agent for actors, technicians and anyone else involved in the theatre business, allowing them to network themselves.

“I hope it will do something that hasn’t been done before,” Ague said.

The site is set to open in January 2012.

This October, Ague will also jump into the film making industry, opening Orson Adventures. The project, which Ague has been working on for four years, will start small with hopes of future growth.

“My goal for this company is to bring film to the northwest,” Ague said.

In addition to these projects, Ague hopes to pursue more acting roles on stage and in film and television.

As Ague jumps into these ventures, he hopes for the best and knows that what happens, happens.

“Dreams will happen if you let them,” Ague said.