BOTTINEAU - Tim Davis has had his name in the credits of about 150 productions over a theatrical career of nearly 43 years.
The Bottineau theater director has worked with high school, college and community groups in Bottineau and lent his talents to plays in Maxbass, Newburg, Westhope and Canada. He has co-authored centennial productions and helped start Sawmill Playhouse at Lake Metigoshe.
"He's established such a legacy," said Bob Baumann, a member of Bottineau Community Theatre. "You say 'Bottineau Community Theatre' and everybody knows who he is and what he does. We put on good productions and it's all because of Tim."
Back in 1968, fresh out of Minot State University with a speech/theater degree, Davis wasn't sure he'd landed in the right spot when he came to Bottineau to teach high school speech, drama and German. He recalls that he was a tiny, skinny young man who was nervous, scared and just wanted out of there.
"But community theater saved me," he said. "Actually that's the reason I stayed here is I got involved in community theater and I right away met the most wonderful people."
Bottineau Community Theatre has grown from a small organization looking to get its bearings into a staple of the town's arts community with its own playhouse, named after Davis. Its members perform a musical each winter and a dessert theater in the summer to full houses. The group's first musical, "Fiddler on the Roof," is Davis' favorite and one of the plays that the group has reprised over the years.
"It's a wonderful musical plus it has a good story. I prefer that whatever I direct have a really good story," Davis said.
His earliest memory of theater is doing the hula as a 4- or 5-year-old in one of the backyard plays that he participated in as a kid. In his first play in high school in Devils Lake, he was the cue guy.
"I hid behind the sofa the entire play and gave lines, and I said if I ever go beyond this point in theater, I will never coach behind the sofa. I won't allow that there will be a cue person. Lines will be learned, sink or swim," he said.
Another thing he learned from his early years on stage is that he prefers to be behind the scenes.
"As far as I am concerned, the best part of any play production is from try-outs to opening night," he said. "I like the technical aspects of it so I really like the journey and I like the creativity."
Davis attended Lake Region Junior College in Devils Lake and later MSU, where he was impressed by the directing talents of instructor Tom Turner. Davis was involved in MSU's theater, including the summer performances in the outdoor tent in the parking lot. He took his turn sleeping in the tent to keep guard overnight.
"I remember having to lay prone on the top of the tent in the middle of the night to keep it from blowing away," he said of one particular storm. "I have wonderful, wonderful memories of Minot State. I loved it. Their theater was great."
He also has been impressed with the musical, theatrical and artistical talent in Bottineau.
"One of the things I like about community theater is it helps draw out some of those talents." Davis said. "It provides an outlet for creativity in many ways, whether it be the costumes and the makeup, those who can act and those who can't. We want everybody."
Members of the theater group say no one understands the varied tasks associated with community theater better than Davis. He has handled publicity, turned plain stages into believable scenes, created ambiance with theater decor and made sure no details were overlooked.
"They like being on stage," Baumann said of theater members, "but they sometimes forget what it takes to keep an organization like this going. Tim has been the foundation of that, and he's done so much. We kind of take it for granted."
"Even though you never see him on stage, he's just involved in every aspect of it," added the Rev. Paul Schuster, another member of the theater group. "His shows are all put together so well."
In 2000, Davis retired from full-time teaching, turning more of his focus to community theater. He still teaches a speech class at Dakota College at Bottineau.
His wife, Lana, is treasurer for Bottineau Community Theatre. It was through community theater that the couple met. Lana showed up for an audition and Tim cast her. Bringing a wife and two stepsons into his home 23 years ago meant finding a new home for all the theater props and costumes that had taken over his house.
After hopping from the Presbyterian Church to the high school to the armory, the theater found a permanent home in a former church building more than 20 years ago. Davis Playhouse, used for summer performances, seats about 100 people.
As a director, Davis has worked with cast members as varied as a 3-year-old scene-stealer with Down syndrome to a veteran actress in her 80s. He has seen the excitement of beginners who have gone on to immerse themselves in theater and shared the disappointment of those who failed to win parts when it was necessary to make casting choices. He's stepped in as understudy, including in the difficult time following the sudden death of a cast member.
Theater member Dianne Bullinger said Davis sometimes made surprising cast selections or engaged in creative casting with the actors available for the script. Yet he can bring the character out of any actor, she said.
"He just has such a knack for pulling everything together," Bullinger said.
Even when the directing was difficult, his positive attitude never left an actor feeling inadequate, she said. The only time he let himself get a little ruffled with a cast member's character interpretation, she recalled, was when an actor intentionally set his own pants on fire.
"He directs and he consoles and he teaches and he threatens," laughed Baumann. But he added Davis is effective in getting actors to understand not just what he wants but why. He puts the actors through a lot of hard work and makes it seem like fun, he said.
"When people come to our plays," Davis said, "I hope it looks like we are having a lot of fun. We are having fun."
If people sense the enjoyment, they'll want to get involved, too, said Davis, who believes there's a bright future for Bottineau Community Theatre. With him, or someday without him, he said, the show will go on.
