STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

A couple months ago an enrapt audience watched guitar virtuoso Marcus Eaton’s fingers turn into a blur as he played his guitar in the small intimate venue of the Bailey Family Studios in The Argyros.

A few nights later, 45 people crowded into the studio to hear hometown mystery author Ridley Pearson recount how some of his stories came to be. And tickets to jazz pianist Kate Reid’s show honoring Black History Month were quickly snapped up as the artist was able to offer free tickets with the help of a grant.

This coming Thursday The Argyros will present the first of a new play reading series in the second-floor theater. It will follow that up on Friday with a performance by Ken Waldman and his “Now Entering Alaska Time” show of fiddle tunes, poetry and stories about Alaska.

A group of actors, including local actor David Janeski, read Max Posner’s “The Treasurer,” about a man who is trying to rein in his mother’s excessive spending, at the Bailey Family Studio.

The Bailey Family Studios at The Argyros Center for Performing Arts in Ketchum is now basking in its own spotlight after years of playing a very second fiddle to the larger Tierney Theater.

“It’s something we’ve talked about that we wanted to do since it opened,” said Casey Mott, the artistic director for the theater. “We always intended to use it for programming in addition to serving as Green Room and hospitality for various events. But we only had five to six staff the first couple years. Now, we’re up to 10, which is the right size for the volume of business we do. And I have more time to devote to programming since I’m not doing administration anymore.”

The Bailey Family Studio is named for John Bailey, one of The Argyros’ major benefactors. Pressing it into service offers The Argyros more flexibility.

For instance, the Marcus Eaton show sold out immediately so The Argyros added a second show. Mott even has the flexibility to take a show out into the 300-plus seat Tierney Theater if he thinks the audience’s enthusiasm warrants it.

Ridley Pearson discussed how one of his detective novels provided fodder for an attorney in a Seattle murder case while speaking in the Bailey Family Studio.

“People were really interested in seeing Marcus Eaton in such a novel space. It was really intimate—they were an arm’s away from the artist. It felt like you were watching him perform in your living room as you watched the amazing things he was doing with his hands and fingers up close,” Mott said.

Utilizing the Bailey Family Space allows The Argyros to bring in artists that The Argyros would have to say “No” to if it only had the Tierney Theater available, said Mott.

“There are a lot of programs appropriate for that size audience. In the case of Marcus Eaton, he is a musician from Boise who has spent time in the community so he had  lot of friends and family in the audience.”

The Tierney Theater was lauded for its state-of-the-art lighting and sound capabilities when The Argyros opened.

Idaho native and MacArthur “Genius” Samuel Hunter talks with Max Posner, who was brought to Sun Valley in 2024 as part of the Sun Valley Playwrights Residency program.

Mott has been working with Samuel Mollner to program the Bailey Family Studio. The Argyros also is investing in equipment upgrades for that space.

Jon Kane says his Sawtooth Productions can’t wait to produce a staged play reading of Martin McDonagh’s gothic dark comedy “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” in the theater at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 24. He will follow that up with a second play reading in early June.

“It’s a fantastic room, and we are so excited to start up the play readings again,” he said.

Learn more about “The Queen of Leenane” in today’s Eye on Sun Valley story “Award Winning Irish Play to Kick Off New Play Reading Series.”

The Bailey Family Studios offers great views of Baldy and Griffin Butte.