Behind the scenes with Matt Boyle, Darrion McCracken, Layne McKay

The packed house at the Fox Theatre was silent and very nervous as King Kong picked up Jessica Lang and brought her toward his face.

You could cut the tension with a knife. What was the great ape going to do with her?

It was late 1976 or early 1977, and I was in my terrible 2s, which lasted well into my 30s. At the tipping point of the dramatic scene, I yelled out, at the top of my lungs, “Eat her up, King Kong.”

I don’t remember that at all, but my dad swears that every person in the old building laughed. What can I say? I’m just a natural entertainer.

The Fox Theatre is also where I first saw ET, Top Gun and The Silence of the Lambs. It is where some friends and I got banned for the summer for messing with the stuffed shirt who used to run the Fox the summer before sixth or seventh grade.

The Fox is now called the Mother Lode Theatre, and it still holds a very special place in my heart. I got to watch my daughter act in a couple of plays on that stage. I saw both my daughters dance there, and I got to open the show when Pete Buttigieg came to town to promote the Montana Plan initiative last month.

During the planning for that event, I got to learn a lot more about the theatre from Matt Boyle. I learned that there is a ball room above the theatre. I learned about some of the famous acts, like Charlie Chaplin, who performed there. I got to see the “green room” where the stars of those shoes relaxed before taking the stage.

So, I wanted to take the listeners of the ButteCast behind the scenes to see what goes into a show and to find out what the theatre has coming up.

This morning I met with Matt, the executive director of the Mother Lode, his top assistant Darrion McCracken and the Mother Lode’s big-time sound guy, Layne McKay, for a fun conversation in that green room.

Listen in as they talk about some of those big shows and events the Mother Lode has hosted and the behind-the-scenes work that goes into them. Listen as they talk about some of the fun events that are coming up this summer and fall.

Go to buttearts.org to check out the lineup and to get your tickets. Make sure you go to that site so you do not get scammed by secondary market swindlers.

Listen in to hear about LeRoy, the friendly ghost of the Mother Lode. Listen in to learn that the “green room” isn’t even green.

Today’s episode is presented by Casagranda’s Steakhouse. Eat where the locals eat.