ABOUT THE SHOW ROOM
The ZACC Show Room is located in the heart of downtown Missoula in the beautiful, historic Studebaker Building, and can house a maximum of 150 seated and 350 standing. Adjacent to the Show Room is the Blackfoot Gallery & Lounge, which can be booked in addition to the theatre for events requiring extra, separate space.
The name of our event center harkens back to the building's original use as an automobile garage and showroom. The Studebaker Building is listed on the National Historic Registry, and served a growing automobile industry from the 1920s through the 1950s, when its owner Louis Nybo sold and repaired Studebakers here — the then vehicle of choice for Missoula's police force.
SHOW ROOM AMENITIES
Our event center boasts 150 chairs, 20 rectangular 72" banquet tables, twelve 30" round wooden-top cocktail tables (which adjust in height), an adjustable theatre lighting system, a state-of-the-art sound system, backdrop and blackout curtains, a 5,000-lumen projector and 9' by 16' mechanical screen, a removable stage, a backstage area with access to the kitchen and upstairs bathrooms, with public access bathrooms and an interactive play space just outside the entrance. The Show Room holds a beer, wine, and cider non-profit service license, and events in the Show Room serving alcohol are catered to by trained and certified ZACC bartenders.
The Show Room is available to rent for private events, for use by non-profits, and for festival events requiring passes.
Performances in the Show Room are exclusively booked by the ZACC. To inquire about booking a show in the ZACC Show Room, please go to Book a Show.
The ZACC does not stock linens. If your event requires tablecloths or other linens we recommend renting from Missoula Textile Services.
The ZACC's kitchen is not commercial, and foods served to the public must be prepared offsite (though our kitchen is perfect for discreet food service prep/set-up and for keeping foods hot or cold). For great local catering, we recommend Biga Pizza, Masala, Bravo! Catering, and Burns St. Bistro.
If you have questions, please email Gallery and Venue Director Mikyla Veis, at mikyla@zootownarts.org.
Below are some examples of room layout, but they are by no means exhaustive. We work with you to arrange the space in the way best suited to your event.
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THRUST
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THEATER IN THE ROUND
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CENTER DANCE FLOOR
Izaak Opatz + Maddie Alpert
Live in the ZACC Show Room // Saturday, September 11 // 7:30 PM (Doors open at 7 PM) // $10 per ticket, in advance or at the door
IZAAK OPATZ
Izaak Opatz’s 2018 debut Mariachi Static (Mama Bird Recording Co.) packed confessional and inventive storytelling into musically surprising garage pop tunes he’d describe as dirtwave, a genre Woody Guthrie might’ve fallen into had he surfed and danced with his hips.
Although he resists being slopped into the alt-country/Americana trough, Montana-born Opatz appreciates the country genre for its love of wordplay, Wranglers, and the indulgent sad bastard angle. But he’d rather tweak and sidestep its predictable musical architecture and adornments to create something new and surprising.
2020’s Hot & Heavy-Handed does just that, remaking a collection of two Opatz originals and nine country covers (ranging from Tom T. Hall to Dierks Bentley) in the dirtwave mold. Made with significant help from collaborators and co-producers Malachi DeLorenzo and Dylan Rodrigue, the record deconstructs the radio-ready production of many of the songs to reframe their emotional fragility with the trio’s loose-handed and good-humoured homemade musical jubilance. Additionally, Opatz’s feels-heavy delivery can’t help but humble many of these songs’ charging swagger to a more vulnerable lope.
The two originals on the record (‘Lubbock For Love’ and ‘You Made A Country Singer Out Of Me’) were plucked from Opatz’s college-days outfit, The Best Westerns. ‘Lubbock’ has the bones of pop country hit from the 90s, while the cowpunk ‘Country Singer’ celebrates and lampoons the genre, gives credit to his heartbreaker for the songs she caused him to write, and predicts a future (now real) label head expressing gratitude at the profitability (haha) of his sorrow.
MADDIE ALPERT
Maddie Alpert is a singer songwriter with a knack for soft and clear-cut introspection of the alt/indie folk persuasion.
Masks are required for attendees for all Show Room events at this time. Masks may be removed for beverage consumption, but we ask that they please be worn at any time when not actively drinking.
For further information, accessibility, and inquiries please visit https://www.zootownarts.org/meet-the-zacc/about/.
