Our History
What arose from the impassioned and insightful quest of a handful of volunteers in 1956 flourishes still today. Bainbridge Performing Arts has emerged as a community theater in the very best sense of the phrase – serving as a fulcrum for the artistic heart of the island and offering a growing/gathering space for the creative collaborations of actors, musicians, singers, writers, poets, dancers, and designers. We wouldn’t exist without the generous support of our friends, neighbors, community organizations, and local businesses. You have our enduring gratitude.
1966 – “Singing on the Island,” Seattle Post Intelligencer – Myra Lenington reviews BPA’s early days as Bainbridge Light Opera Association and sets the stage for the company’s 10th Anniversary production, The King and I. Read the full article here.
1985 – “An Island in the Artistic Stream,” Seattle Times – In this fun and informative account of our history, Times Drama Critic Wayne Johnson writes, “BPA knows a lot about temporary homes. Since it never has had its own theater, it uses space in the schools, community centers, churches and even a parking lot (where for two summers it erected a tent to house its summer musical).” Read the full article here.
BPA has entertained Bainbridge Island and beyond for more than six magic-filled decades.
2008 Macbeth
2008 Once Upon a Mattress
2008 The Secret Garden
2009 Peter Pan
2009 Noises Off
2009 The Producers
2009 ‘Art’
2009 One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest
2010 The Grapes of Wrath
2010 Man of La Mancha
2010 Annie
2010 Sylvia
2011 Twelve Angry Men
2011 True West
2011 Cats
2011 Chicago
2012 The Who’s Tommy
2012 Hansel & Gretel
2012 Private Eyes
2012 The Women
2012 The Outsiders
2012 The Full Monty
2013 Shrek, The Musical
2013 Distracted
2013 The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
2013 A Chorus Line
2013 The Tempest
2013 Another Letter to Father Christmas
2014 Avenue Q
2014 The Kentucky Cycle
2014 Twelfe Night
2015 Hair
2015 Mary Poppins
2015 The Drowsy Chaperone
2015 A Midsummer Night's Dream
2016 Picasso at the Lapin Agile
2016 A Christmas Story
2016 Love Letters
2016 Amadeus
2016 The Little Mermaid
2017 August: Osage County
2017 [title of show]
2017 Big Fish
2017 The Merry Wives of Windsor
2017 Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
2018 Xanadu
2018 Return to the Forbidden Planet
2018 The Wizard of Oz
2018 Building the Wall
2018 Romeo & Juliet
2019 Matilda The Musical
2019 The Revolutionists
2019 Mamma Mia!
2019 As You Like It
2020 The COVID Monologues
2020 The Bainbridge Stay at Home Companion
2020 The Bainbridge Pod Accomplice
2021 Live on the Lawn!
2021 All Together Now
2022 Hedwig
2023 Kate Hamill’s Pride & Prejudice
2023 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
2023 The Tempest
1956 Down in the Valley
1957 Song of Norway
1958 Merry Widow
1959 Brigadoon
1960 Naughty Marietta
1962 Kismet
1964 The Vagabond King
1965 Little Mary Sunshine
1965 Amahl & The Night Visitors
1966 The King and I
1967 The Gondoliers
1968 Kiss Me Kate
1969 South Pacific
1970 Die Fledermaus
1972 The Sound of Music
1974 The Gypsy Baron
1975 Mame
1976 The Most Happy Fella
1977 Hansel & Gretel
1978 Dear World
1979 Anything Goes
1980 The Curious Savage
1980 The Music Man
1980 Harvey
1981 Never-Never Land - A Tale of Peter Pan
1981 Bus Stop
1981 Tom Sawyer
1981 The Pajama Game
1981 Company
1981 Arsenic & Old Lace
1982 H.M.S. Pinafore
1982 Plaza Suite
1982 Pinocchio
1982 Godspell
1982 The Glass Menagerie
1983 Story Theatre
1983 The Secret Affairs of Mildred Wild
1983 Oliver
1983 Oklahoma!
1983 Alice in Wonderland
1984 Klaus Rascal & The Squivetts
1984 Critical Mass
1984 Dirty Work at the Crossroads
1984 Fiddler on the Roof
1985 The Legends of Robin Hood
1985 Girl Crazy
1985 Quirk in Progress
1985 Scrooge - The Stingiest Man in Town
1985 Dawgpatch, USA
1985 The Butler Did It
1986 Inherit the Wind
1986 Scrooge
1986 The Jungle Book Adventure
1986 You Can't Take It with You
1986 Guys & Dolls
1986 A Midsummer Night's Dream
1987 Mame
1987 We Won't Pay, We Won't Pay
1987 Charlotte’s Web
1987 Winnie the Pooh
1987 And Miss Reardon Drinks a Little
1987 A Chorus Line
1988 Grease
1988 West Side Story
1988 Godspell
1988 The Velveteen Rabbit
1989 Lullaby for Tomorrow
1989 Deathtrap
1989 Snow White
1990 Cinderella
1990 Fame
1991 Puss ‘n Boots
1992 It's Alive . . .
1992 The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe
1992 Into the Woods
1993 Issei-The First Generation
1993 Big River
1993 Cats on The Rocks
1993 A Play Called the Neverending Story
1994 Dr. Dolittle
1994 The Wizard of Oz
1994 Something’s Afoot
1994 Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
1994 The Three Musketeers
1994 Once Upon a Mattress
1995 - 2001 On the Air - The Golden Age of Radio
1995 Noises Off
1995 Peter Pan
1995 The Threepenny Opera
1995 Playing for Time
1996 The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
1996 Sweet Charity
1996 Marvin’s Room
1996 The Comedy of Errors
1997 The Music Man
1997 This Day and Age
1998 Lend Me a Tenor
1998 Oliver
1998 The Little Prince
1999 Annie
1999 A Christmas Carol
1999 Foxfire
1999 Our Town
2000 Deathtrap
2000 Born Yesterday
2000 A Christmas Carol
2000 My Fair Lady
2000 Tartuffe
2001 The Snow Queen
2001 You Can't Take It with You
2001 Guys & Dolls
2002 Dancing at Lughnasa
2002 Crazy for You
2003 The Man Who Came to Dinner
2003 The Fantasticks
2003 The Sound of Music
2004 The Magic Flute
2004 Rashomon
2004 Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
2004 Cabaret
2004 Harry Tracy, a Bainbridge Bandit
2005 Kiss Me, Kate
2005 The Recollection of Flight
2005 Into the Woods, Jr.
2005 A Midsummer Night's Dream
2006 Picasso at the Lapin Agile
2006 The Wizard of Oz
2006 Arcadia
2006 Gypsy
2007 Jekyll & Hyde, The Musical
2007 As You Like It