By Tom Weber

Post-Bulletin, Rochester MN 

STOCKHOLM, Wis. -- There's nothing narrow about what's planned at the new WideSpot Performing Arts Center in Stockholm.

"I love the variety of bringing different things to the community," said Kelli Tatum, executive director of the WideSpot, which is located in the former Stockholm Opera House. "It's fun to experiment a little and see what people like, and what they'd like to see more of."

Last weekend, it was a film festival. This weekend, there's a Vaudeville-type show. On Nov. 3, Igor Stravinsky's World War I piece, "The Soldier's Tale," will be presented. Come January, there'll be a blues festival and movie singalongs.

"We have a lot of dreams," Tatum said.

They might be achievable in a small village in an arts-rich region on the Wisconsin side of the Mississippi River. "We have ended up finding a lot of people who are interested in getting performing arts into Stockholm and this part of the river valley," Tatum said.

The building is owned by Alan Nugent, a former college classmate and theatrical colleague of Tatum. After nearly two decades of work in Twin Cities theater, and a short sojourn in the corporate world, Tatum signed on for the WideSpot gig when Nugent said he was the proud owner of a century-old opera house.

"After all those years in theater, I thought I had some idea of what would be involved," she said. "But now I wonder, 'How did I ever think this would be a piece of cake?'"

For starters, the opera hall itself needed a lot of work. Over the years, the building has been everything from a movie house to a high school basketball court. "The markings are still on the floor," Tatum said.

To get the hall ready for hosting performances, a new stage was built, a large movie screen was erected, and a donated piano and donated sound equipment were put in place. "We still have a long way to go," Tatum said. "But it really does look like a theater when you walk in here."

That, at least, is a start. The new WideSpot offers a venue for local, as well as regional, artists to perform. "There's never been a place here to showcase them," Tatum said.

In keeping with Stockholm's rural, artsy vibe, Tatum said she plans to stick close to the roots when scheduling events.

"Simple pleasures," she said. "We're going back to that. People seem to appreciate that."

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