Bay College is proud to announce a partnership with local community theater group Players de Noc to support the performing arts community in the wake of the May 15, 2025, fire that damaged the Bonifas Arts Center and its historic theater.
Through this collaboration, upcoming productions by Players de Noc and the Missoula Children's Theater will be hosted at Bay College's Besse Theater. The state-of-the-art performance space on Bay College's Escanaba campus will provide a welcoming stage for the community to continue enjoying high-quality, local theater productions.
Players de Noc has shared the following announcement:
“Players de Noc is happy to announce that we will be performing our 2025-2026 season of plays at the Besse Theater stage at Bay College! After the lightning-strike fire at the Bonifas Arts Center earlier this month rendered our traditional performance space unusable and our equipment inoperative, Bay College has generously given us the use of their Besse Theater space for the performance of our shows while we get back on our feet. We cannot fully express just how much this support from Bay means to us both as individual members and as an organization as a whole. Bay College has our heartfelt thanks. We aim to put on productions worthy of the space they have given us, as good or better than anything Players has done previously.
“Our forthcoming season at Bay’s Besse Theater will include the comedy Don’t Mention My Name, premiering the last weekend in September; a special one night performance of Ten November in honor of the 50th anniversary of the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald; a Christmas season brace of one-acts The Best Christmas Pageant Ever and The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-Off!, premiering the first weekend in December; a radio show production of It’s a Wonderful Life on Dec. 19th; and Mel Brooks’s comedic musical The Producers in March of 2026.
“While Players de Noc performs at Bay College this season, we will also be working hand-in-hand with the Bonifas Arts Center and licensed contractors to rehabilitate the Bonifas theater. With a little luck and a lot of hard work, we hope to be performing for you all at our home theater in our 2026-2027 season.
“Those eager to support us after this disaster can donate to both Players de Noc and the Bonifas Arts Center (keep an eye out for announcements of joint fundraising events we will be hosting!), participate in workbees announced on our Facebook page, and most of all, come see our plays at the Bay College Besse Theater this season!”
Bay College President Dr. Nerita Hughes said of the partnership, “Bay College is honored to provide a temporary home to Players de Noc. As the community’s college, we are proud to be a part of the effort to sustain and celebrate the rich heritage of local performing arts. We look forward to an inspiring season of resilience, collaboration, and outstanding theater together.”
Further details about performance schedules and tickets for upcoming events at the Besse Theater will be announced in the coming weeks on the Players de Noc website at playersdenoc.org , Bay College website and on social media channels.
For additional questions, contact the Bay College Event Services at events@baycollege.edu or (906) 217-4040.