Patti Finley stepped into the spotlight at only eight years old, and in many ways, she’s remained the star of the show ever since—a fact that she’ll blush away every chance she gets. In the role of flower girl in “Abie’s Irish Rose,” she didn’t have a single line, but something about the theater just clicked. By age ten, she was a card-carrying member of Actors’ Equity, performing in summer tours across the East Coast, playing daughters and dramatic children in theater-in-the-round productions.
Through her high school years, summer circuits, and major life shifts—including marriage, motherhood, and even temporarily stepping away from the theater altogether—her love for the stage never dimmed, reigniting when she met her late husband Greg in a community theater production.
“We volunteered wherever we could, and the fact that we could do it together was such a joy,” Finley said.
When she moved to Boise in 2015 to be closer to her sons and grandchildren, she and Greg were looking for a theater home where they could continue acting, directing, mentoring, and even fundraising for the arts. Their new home, as it turned out, was just up the hill from Boise Little Theater, and Finley said that she remembers thinking that it couldn’t be more perfect.
Boise Little Theater quickly became her theater home. Now in its 77th season, the mostly volunteer-run theater recently converted a rehearsal room to an adaptable black box theater to attract different audiences—“Drunk Shakespeare” sold out every performance.
Backstage, Finley pointed out reusable painted wood flats (instead of traditional muslin) used to build more sustainable sets. The theater utilizes every inch of space—costumes stacked in plastic totes, a washer here, the dryer a few rooms over. “Don’t go down those spooky stairs,” Finley laughed. “The teenagers told me they see ghosts.”
Between the main theater and the black box theater, Boise Little Theater produces 11 shows, including “Suessical Jr,” a summer show in partnership with Boise Parks and Recreation.
At Boise Little Theater, Finley has been a business manager, secretary of the board, tour guide, fundraiser, director, and everything in between. Now, she’s directing a production of “Fiddler on the Roof” at the Morrison Center, which will show for free during Boise Music Week.
“I just love being involved—I love the people I meet in the theater. They become another family. I hated leaving that family in California, but I’ve built another one here,” said Finley, who credits her sons and theater family for getting her through the first year without her husband, who passed away in February of 2024. Fittingly, the theater was also where they held his Idaho celebration of life.
Though she has yet to be involved in a show that doesn’t speak to her in some way, Finley said that “Fiddler” is among those with special significance. “My husband and I were in ‘Fiddler’—I didn’t think I could get pregnant, and, playing Grandmother Tzeitel, I learned I was going to have a baby,” she said. “And when my son got married, he played ‘Sunrise, Sunset’ for the mother-son dance, and I cried through the entire thing,” she laughed.
Now, her older son will play Lazar Wolf, a role filled by Finley’s husband the last time she did “Fiddler.” “He’s doing it for dad,” said Finley. “Theater is an addiction. I always say professionals do it for money and amateurs do it for love.”
