Rita Case opens curtain as families fill NIC theater for free show

COEUR d’ALENE — It was a night of princess dresses and magical memories Monday at Boswell Hall at North Idaho College. There was more than just the magic of the theater at play, however. 

Foster mother Kaylee Wright took three of her girls to see a special performance of Disney’s "Frozen" at a free event hosted by Rita Case. 

“I have several girls and they’re very excited to go to see 'Frozen,'” Wright said. “We have three foster kids and I have four biological kids, so right now, we have a very full house.” 

The family night out marks the second year she’s been able to take members of her household to see a musical through her connections to Fostering Idaho. 

“We went last year to see 'Anastasia' and it was really wonderful. It was a great time and it’s such a good show, I almost couldn’t believe it,” Wright said. “I thought, ‘How is somebody paying for all of us?’” 

Rita Case, president and CEO of Rick Case Automotive Group, bought out the nearly 1,110 seats at the NIC campus theater for a one-night-only free event. Vouchers were given to local organizations to create a night of family fun.

In their own grand gesture, Disney Theatricals and Music Theatre International waived the royalty fees for the performance.      

Wright said foster families receive stipends to offset the costs of raising children, but the money stretches for necessities and doesn’t cover all of a child’s needs.  

“Any time someone in the community helps foster parents; it just lightens the burden a little bit to have that normalcy,” Wright said. “It's a great thing when people in the community can contribute in that way because it does just help the kids have more of a normal childhood and that they’re not just there to survive.” 

With three of her daughters dressed in sparkling princess dresses, Wright said it was truly a blessing.

“They're able to create memories and have new experiences,” Wright said. 

Christina Ethridge, Coeur d’Alene Summer Theatre Director of Marketing and Development, said the event held meaning for her and her husband, Artistic Director Chuck Ethridge. 

“We had fostered before and we came here to see 'Cinderella,'” Christina said. “It was so great because the kids got to see something they wouldn’t normally get to see.” 

Case said she was excited about another way to give back and inspire children through theater.

“This was to expose kids to the theater that would normally not have the opportunity,” Case said. “We reached out to the many organizations that support our community's youth to offer the free theater experience for them and their families to see 'Frozen,' a perfect play to excite their interest.” 

Creating the opportunity to watch a professional-level performance for the first time is a memory the children can treasure, and something Case hopes sparks kids' interest in getting involved in theatrical performances. 

“It's just a wonderful cultural experience as well as it may pique interest in their involvement to join theater,” Case said. “Exposure to the arts is important to me, it has proven to develop imagination, curiosity, creativity and motor skills that are fun to learn.”