Paul Bunyan Playhouse returns for 75th season in Bemidji

The Paul Bunyan Playhouse’s return to Bemidji this summer was more than a curtain rising. After a half-season in 2024 and no season in 2025, the 75th year of summer stock theater became a test of whether the city’s audiences, donors and performers can keep a historic downtown institution alive after disruption. The comeback followed a board decision to suspend the 2025 season so leaders could preserve and restore the Historic Chief Theater, where repair problems had included a leaky roof and outdated plumbing.

That work set the stage for the 2026 season, which opened Thursday, June 4, with Songs for a New World. It was the first of five productions scheduled for the summer at the Historic Chief Theater at 314 Beltrami Avenue in Bemidji, and KAXE reported it was the first full professional theater season there since 2023. Board members had asked for urgent donations in May to move forward, underscoring that the season’s return depended not only on artistic planning but on whether the community would step up financially.

The playhouse’s reopening matters well beyond the stage. The Historic Chief Theater once served as a year-round movie house before the Amigo Theater was built west of town, and the building remains one of downtown Bemidji’s most recognizable cultural anchors. A working summer season brings people into Downtown Bemidji, supports local performers and staff, and gives residents and visitors a reason to spend time in the city center during the summer tourism months.

The season’s opening production reflected the summer stock model the playhouse has long relied on, with multiple performances across several days. Songs for a New World played at 7:30 p.m. on June 4 and continued June 5-7 and June 11-13, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, June 10. The rest of the announced lineup included Over a Barrel, Church Basement Ladies, On the Verge and Avenue Q.

The same building also houses Bemidji Community Theater, the nonprofit founded in December 1981 that has long shared the space with the playhouse. That makes the return at 314 Beltrami Avenue a broader statement about Bemidji’s cultural infrastructure, not just one theater company’s schedule. After the pause and the repairs, the 75th season suggested that the community’s appetite for live performance is still strong, but its long-term stability will depend on whether that support continues.