Panida_Theater,_Sandpoint,_Idaho_(50082770273)

The Panida (pronunciation: "rhymes with Canada") Theater is a small community theater in

Sandpoint Sandpoint ( Kutenai language: kamanqukuⱡ) is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Bonner County, Idaho. Its population was 8,639 at the 2020 census. Sandpoint's major economic contributors include forest products, light manufacturing, ...

Northern Idaho The Idaho Panhandle—locally known as North Idaho—is a salient region of the U.S. state of Idaho encompassing the state's 10 northernmost counties: Benewah, Bonner, Boundary, Clearwater, Idaho, Kootenai, Latah, Lewis, Nez Perce, and Shosho ...

in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. The theater was built as a vaudeville and movie house by F.C. Weskil in 1927. Deriving its name from "the ''PAN''handle of ''IDA''ho", The Panida opened as a

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

and movie house in 1927, and is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

. Past performers have included

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

, Arlo Guthrie, Wynton Marsalis, and Mitch Miller. Actor

Viggo Mortensen Viggo Peter Mortensen Jr. R (; born October 20, 1958) is an American actor, writer, director, producer, musician, and multimedia artist. Born and raised in the State of New York to a Danish father and American mother, he also lived in Argentin ...

began his acting career at The Panida. They play host to art house films, current movies and past classics. They host concerts, business workshops, dance performances, comedy (including Gallagher on his final tour), live theatre and much more. They have an active film club and feature many film festivals. After fading into disrepair from lack of maintenance and interest, a group of community members formed a nonprofit organization which bought the theater in 1985. The Panida Theater is operated through a nonprofit corporation under the direction of a

board of trustees A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...

, elected at an annual meeting of theater members (persons who donate time or money to the theater and/or attend events). Day-to-day operations are overseen by an executive director, hired by the board of trustees and very small part-time staff. In addition to performance events, including some locally produced, the theater is also a film venue, showing award-winning films such as '' Me and You and Everyone We Know'' and '' Paradise Now'' in a film series entitled "the Global Cinema Café," as well as selections from the Banff Mountain Film Festival.

References

External links

The Panida Theater
{{DEFAULTSORT:Panida Theater Theatres completed in 1927 Buildings and structures in Bonner County, Idaho Cinemas and movie theaters in Idaho Theatres on the National Register of Historic Places in Idaho Tourist attractions in Bonner County, Idaho National Register of Historic Places in Bonner County, Idaho