SkyWords 2022: Spring Newsletter by Northern Sky Theater

Your Northern Sky News • SPRING 2022

Zap-Moo-Rah! Flower Power! Jeffrey Herbst, Artistic Director The title of this article is a Northern Sky cheer. It’s original and has multiple purposes: • Hurray for the return of a regular, repertory season • Hurray for putting people back to work, adding up to over fifty seasonal hires • Hurray for a four-show season, including two world premieres We have a few alterations to “business as usual” in comparison to 2019, the last year we could say anything was usual. This year we will have two summer shows in rep in the park while another is playing at the Gould. So, it’s three shows, like usual, but two venues. And, as was the case even last year, we will have one show running indoors in the Gould for the fall. Here’s the season lineup:

Zip–Zap–Buzz!

Love Stings by Richard Castle and Matthew Levine While planning a lavish wedding on a 1960s Door County bee farm, Bill Zapper begins to wonder if he and his reluctant fiancée are truly right for each other. Will this outrageous wedding go off without a hitch — or is this the calm before the swarm? Richard has adapted a P.G. Wodehouse short novel and set it in Door County. Matthew has completely captured the 60s and written a fantastically catchy score that embraces the vibe. Pam Kriger will return to direct. The design team includes costuming by Karen BrownLarimore, lighting by Jason Fassl, sets by Adam Stoner, and sound by Ben Werner. The cast will include many of the same people who have been reading the piece from the beginning, along with some newcomers: Corrie Beula Kovacs, Doug Clemons, Alex Campea, Molly Rhode, Lachrisa Grandberry, and one role still to be cast. We have a terrific pit for this show: Alissa Rhode (also musical director), Dennis Johnson (also arranger), and Colin O’Day.

Zap-Moo-Rah! Flower Power!, continued from page 1 Shawn Galligan will head up the stage management team in the park. We will be doing only six shows a week (like last year) instead of eight. Love Stings will play on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings at 7:30 PM. Join us for this honey of a show — it’s sure to be all the buzz. Shirley–Gary–Bo! Fishing for the Moon by Fred Alley and James Kaplan When a Southern gentleman, Peter Rutherford Hall, rides north, confusing calamities arise as he looks for a crazy Union officer who thinks his cows are soldiers. Set in rural Wisconsin after the Civil War, this comedy’s wild cast of characters makes for fun, fastpaced — yet lighthearted — musical comedy. This is the first collaboration between Fred and James, from 1992. Of course they would go on to write a number of shows together, including two of Northern Sky’s most beloved shows: Guys on Ice and Lumberjacks in Love. It’s almost impossible to believe that this will be the thirtieth anniversary of this show, which hasn’t been presented at Northern Sky since 2008. Stewart Dawson is redesigning the set this year, and Karen will update the costumes. The cast will include Corrie, Lachrisa, Alex, Hayden Hoffman, newcomer Hannah Kato (also interning), and yours truly. I originated the role of Peter Rutherford Hall and played that role again in 1999. But this time I will portray Colonel Tucker Olson, a role originally played by Doc Heide and then reprised by Doug Mancheski. Big military boots to fill, but I’m really looking forward to working on this wonderful show, both as actor and director. Doug Clemons will lend a hand as assistant director. James Kaplan will be joining us as musical director with able assistance from Karen Mal. Karen was in the original cast in 1992 and rejoins the Northern Sky team after appearing in Karl Janko and Home for the Holidays in 2021. By the way, Shirley is Tuck’s wife, Gary is their son, whom they think is lost to the war, and Bo is Tuck’s prized bull. Just in case you were wondering. Go–Pack–Go! Dad’s Season Tickets by Matt Zembrowski Which of Frank’s three daughters will inherit his treasured season tickets? The Kosinski sisters employ every trick in the playbook. From kick-off to the final Hail Mary, it’s anyone’s game. To reach the end zone, our home team must first relearn that family isn’t everything; it’s the only thing. We premiered this as the first show in the Gould when we opened the theater in the fall of 2019. It had a sold-out run and has since had a production at Milwaukee Rep this past winter. We are extremely fortunate to have our full cast returning from the 2019 production: Kelly Doherty, Anna Cline, Jamie Mercado, Ray Jivoff, Doug Mancheski, and Chase Stoeger. Lisa Schlenker’s set will be back in place, along with Amy Horst’s costumes, Dave Alley’s lighting, and Ben Werner’s sound. We are trying an experiment this year and using recorded tracks in the Gould. The recordings were made live in a studio with the arrangements from our production, and they sound fantastic. The Rep used the tracks and, with Matt’s approval, we thought we’d give them a try for our summer production. John Tanner, a long-time fan and 2

Zap-Moo-Rah! Flower Power!, continued from page 2 friend of the theater, is the producer of the recordings, and he has agreed to help us adapt them for our production. Heather Sopel, who first interned with us a number of years ago and then returned last year for a short stint as a stage manager, will take the helm in the booth at the Gould. She will be joined by Abby Simmons, taking on the role of wardrobe supervisor for the season, and Nina Stoneham, returning to flip the scoreboard and assistant stage manage. Matt has already had multiple inquiries from theater companies wanting to produce this very funny show. We really hope our summer audiences will find their way to the Gould to see it and make it as much of a routine theater-going habit as they have in going to the park. We’ll have seven shows a week Monday through Saturday at 7:00 PM, with an additional matinee on Saturday at 2:00 PM. Bring your pom poms!

Get–Back–Up!

Sunflowered by Lachrisa Grandberry, Aidaa Peerzada, and Alissa Rhode When a young woman faces a life-changing decision, she calls upon her inner circle to gather for an outdoor camping trip. This six-woman ensemble piece bursts with humor and song, joyously exploring the beauty and love found in family and deep friendships. We had a five-day workshop of Sunflowered last summer with a stellar cast of women, all of whom will be returning this fall for the full production. Lachrisa will be joined by Anna Cline, Eva Nimmer, Solana Ramirez-Garcia, Alexis Roston, and Ayanna Bria Bakari. Malkia Stampley, who spear-headed a Zoom workshop in 2020, will take the helm as a first-time director for Northern Sky, along with co-director Molly Rhode. Lisa Schlenker will design the set, Dave Alley the lights, and Derly Vela the sound. Derly joined us last year as an audio tech and will be in the park for the summer. Brielle Richmond will also be interning in the park and staying for the fall, taking on understudy assignments and assisting Shawn and Heather. Alissa Rhode will music direct and be joined by Dennis Johnson, John Lewis, and a new local drummer, Adam Cain. Sunflowered will play in the Gould through the end of October, Monday through Saturday at 7:00 PM with a matinee on Saturday at 2:00 PM. There will be some slight adjustments to the schedule to make our season Packer-friendly. One of the songs in Sunflowered, “Wisconsin Gal,” celebrates all things a Wisconsin gal treasures—one being watching the Packers! Can’t have them doing a show when the team is playing, right? We will be having our post-show “Afterglow” gatherings many nights of the week, hosted by performers, musicians, and our very own Doc Heide on occasion. Stick around to shoot the breeze and sing a song before heading home. Finally, hurray to you, our loyal fans for continuing to support us and coming out to see original theater, year after year. Go team go! See you in the Gould and under the stars. 3

Honey, I’m Home! Richard Castle, Playwright/Lyricist, Love Stings Bees used to scare me. Yes: I, the writer of Love Stings, the new Northern Sky musical set on a Door County bee farm, was afraid of bees. As a kid, I watched disaster movies like Irwin Allen’s The Swarm, which starred Lee Grant and Olivia De Havilland chewing the scenery as they dodged a swarm of “killer bees.” As an adult, I once tripped and fell while running away from a bee, resulting in a sprained arm, a bruised ego, and an urgent care bill that really stung. But while doing research for Love Stings, I began to see bees in a different light. Bees are wondrous creatures that do a lot of good for the world. Did you know that bee honey never spoils? It’s been found in 3000-yearold Egyptian tombs, still as fresh as the day it was made. And bees only sting when they’re threatened. They have more reason to fear me than I do them. My fear of bees didn’t come from within; it came from Irwin Allen. I guess you could say he put the bug in my ear. After Oklahoma in Wisconsin premiered in 2017, I had two ideas for the next musical I wanted to write for Northern Sky. Option A would have the playfully romantic tone of a 1960s Doris Day comedy like Pillow Talk or The Thrill of it All. Option B would be an adaptation of Uneasy Money, a lesser-known story by British writer P.G. Wodehouse. I couldn’t make up my mind between Options A or B, so I combined them both into Option “Bee”, which became the candy-colored romantic comedy Love Stings. The original Wodehouse story features a monkey, a snake, and an exotic dancer. But how could I depict a monkey and a snake onstage? (Full disclosure: I’m also scared of snakes.) I ditched the monkey and the snake. And because this is a family show, I

sent the exotic dancer packing, too. However, Uneasy Money also featured a beekeeper, and I thought it would be fun to set a musical on a bee farm. Besides, I’m a sucker for bee puns. Bee-lieve me. The main character of Uneasy Money is Lord Dawlish, a British royal living in 1915. Love Stings updates the story to 1963 and centers on Bill Zapper, the reluctant heir to Milwaukee’s Zapper Pesticide dynasty. And because the show involves a romantic love triangle, I invented a lavish wedding as a centerpiece. I wrote for a cast of thousands, most of them bees. In fact, Love Stings is abuzz with bees. There’s even a character who once starred in B-movies. As I was writing Love Stings, I began to worry about the practical aspect of portraying insects in a musical. For instance, how do you train honeybees to sing backup and dance like the Pips? Fortunately, director Pam Kriger encouraged me to let my imagination run wild. She said it was my job to put it on the page, her job to put it on the stage. I can’t wait for you to see the whimsical world that Pam and the fabulous Northern Sky designers have created. They truly have been busy little bees. (No bees were harmed in this production. I wish I could say the same for the bee puppets.) I had the joy of writing Love Stings with specific Northern Sky actors in mind, tailoring the characters to their unique talents. And what fun to have the chance to work with Pam Kriger, Molly Rhode, Jeff Herbst and the entire creative team at Northern Sky again! We had a honey of a workshop in 2019, and Love Stings was set to premiere in June of 2020. But like an Irwin Allen disaster flick, 2019 was the calm before the swarm. The opening line of Love Stings turned out to be prophetic: “Have you heard the buzz? A bug is going around!” 4

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Honey, I’m Home!, continued

Listen to your heart; don’t let Irwin Allen put a bug in your ear. The last two years have made me incredibly grateful for live theater. I don’t think I’ll ever take for granted the privilege of sitting in an audience and watching a troupe of actors magically bring great stories to life. I hope you’ll make a beeline to Peninsula State Park this summer to see Love Stings. The 1960s-inspired score is sure to leave you buzzing—er, humming. In fact, this entire show is the bee’s knees!

Nevertheless, Northern Sky remained a hive of activity during the pandemic. In addition to their wonderful online programming, they produced a reading of Love Stings in July 2020, with the entire cast Zooming in from their own homes. (The bees buzzed in as well.) I can’t express how incredible it was to create theater with my Northern Sky family at a time when we were all feeling so isolated. The theme of Love Stings coincidentally relates to how I overcame my fear of bees:

World Premiere Wisconsin Molly Rhode, Associate Artistic Director Big news! We are thrilled to announce plans for a new festival, Wo r l d Premiere Wisconsin (WPW), in 2023. Northern Sky has been collaborating for months with theaters across Wisconsin to create WPW, a brand-new, statewide festival of world premieres. We are so glad to finally announce that it will take place next year! WPW was conceived in 2019 with three primary goals in mind: to build relationships between theater-makers across our state; to raise awareness nationwide that Wisconsin has a thriving and diverse theater ecosystem, which includes the frequent creation of new work; and to encourage and facilitate the production of new plays, by providing marketing, fundraising and dramaturgical support to participating companies. An additional goal was added in light of the challenges posed by COVID-19: to communicate a positive story about Wisconsin’s theaters that will engage and excite statewide audiences during our recovery and rebuilding.

Lead Producers are Forward Theater Company (Madison), Milwaukee Repertory Theater, and Northern Sky Theater (Door County). The festival will run from March 1 to June 30, 2023. You probably know that Northern Sky produces all original work all the time, so we are especially excited by this initiative. And we are delighted that our fellow Door County theaters Third Avenue PlayWorks, Door Shakespeare, and Peninsula Players Theatre are taking part in the festival as well. We are so proud of the vibrant theater community on this peninsula, and it will be just grand to celebrate new theatrical work with our colleagues across Wisconsin. This festival is for everyone who wants to create new works of theater, so help us spread the word to theatermakers of all ages and levels–professional, semiprofessional, community, or educational theater spaces throughout the state of Wisconsin. For more information on World Premiere Wisconsin, please visit www.worldpremierewisconsin.com.

Celebrating 30 Years James Kaplan, Composer, Fishing for the Moon I’ve spent a great deal of my life contemplating numbers. There is a through line from my love and study of music theory to my interest in accounting. Organizing numbers so that the surrounding area makes sense. So as I contemplated Fishing for the Moon being a part of this summer season at Peninsula State Park, I couldn’t help but notice some numbers of significance. This summer is the 30th anniversary of the premiere of Fishing for the Moon, the first show I created with Fred Alley. The premiere happened in June 1992, when I had just turned 30 years old. Even if you don’t have such a great flair for numbers, you might have done some math and determined that it was half a lifetime ago. Fred and I had met a bit earlier, in Berkeley, California, and we had a bit of a Mutual Admiration Society going based on demo tapes of recent music we had each created and shared with the other. When he returned to Berkeley after the summer of 1991, he told me that he wanted to write an all-new original musical comedy for AFT, and he wanted me to work on the music with him. He outlined the main plot points that he had in mind, and we wrote in various spots around California through the winter and early spring. I continued to work at Circuit City, and handed off my lead sheets to Fred. I’d never been to Wisconsin before, so there was quite a bit to take in when I visited early in the summer. The spot in the park was quite stunning, and all at once I saw the show, heard my music, and had my first exposure to several performers that would be extremely significant during the next 30

years of my life, including Karen Mal, Fred Heide, Jeff Herbst, and Fred himself. It is especially wonderful that I will get to play piano for this year’s production with a couple other veterans of the original production–Jeff Herbst will portray Colonel T. Riley Olson, and Karen Mal will be joining me in our small but determined orchestra. Revisiting the play now, I hear quite a bit of Fred’s dad, George, in the humor, some of which can only be described as “Dad jokes.” There are tongue twisters and riddles, slapstick and silliness, beauty beheld and bargains made. It is a very funny show with quite a few delightful surprises! From the 1992 AFT Playbill: “The years following the Civil War were not particularly humorous…did we choose the post war era for its bittersweet atmosphere or the natural release of hysterical energy that follows great loss? Perhaps the sweetness of lovers’ tender reunions and the abiding l oya l t y of friendships forged under fire? No. We already had the costumes.”

Tomorrow’s Northern Sky Dave Maier, Managing Director Holly Feldman, Associate Managing Director We’re always thinking around here. Thinking about all the ways we can continue producing new great stories and great memories. This past March we conducted another one of our periodic long-range planning sessions, again hosted by Lawrence University’s Björklunden. The board, senior staff and esteemed guests gathered to free-associate, imagine, and determine our next big-picture goals and action steps. A lot of preparation goes into these meetings. The resulting plans have consistently shaped our organization’s longterm vision and destiny. Where we are now is very much the result of the commitments that came out of these strategy meetings. The first agenda priority was to share a momentous recent succession-related board resolution: “Continuity of great leadership is essential to the long-term success of all successful organizations, including Northern Sky Theater. To support Northern Sky’s continuity of great leadership, the human resource committee recognizes our good fortune to have within the Northern Sky family two rising leaders for our future. Holly Feldman and Molly Rhode are those two leaders. To set them up for success, the HR committee will continue to work with Dave and Jeff to support both Holly and Molly as they further develop the skills necessary for future roles as Managing Director and Artistic Director, respectively, when the time comes. Many of these supportive professional development efforts are already underway.”

Holly’s new title is Associate Managing Director. Current plans have Holly assuming the Managing Director role upon my retirement at the end of 2023. If you know Holly, you know how lucky the company will be to have her at the administrative helm. Also, Northern Sky’s Artistic Director, Jeff Herbst, and the board are delighted to announce the company’s intention to see the brilliant Molly Rhode assume the company’s artistic leadership when the time comes. Our forever Technical Director Wizard, Dave Alley, has also announced his intention to retire at the end of 2023. We’re hoping we can soon identify someone to groom into this critical role. Other long-range priority topics will be revealed over time, but for now we simply wanted you to know that the future of this organization you love is in capable hands. And here is where I let Holly take over: “It is deeply humbling and gratifying to be named the Associate Managing Director of a company I have loved since I could ride a two-wheeler from my campsite to the amphitheater. It has been an honor to be part of shaping the company over the past decade and working side by side with so many of you to secure our future. To our board, our supporters, our volunteers, our patrons, I simply say, ‘Thank you’.” 7

Bringing a New Old Friend Home (Again) Matt Zembrowski, Playwright, Dad’s Season Tickets

the opening number, but it wasn’t until Dan Devine’s name came up that we were all able to lighten up and let the waves of laughter wash over us, night after sold out night. We were all so excited to remount the show the following summer and let a whole new legion of theater-goers experience the show that had brought us so much joy. And then ... well, ya know. In some respects, it doesn’t feel like it was that long ago. But then there are days when it feels like the fall of 2019 was a distant memory. And of course, back in 2020 we had no idea what the world was going to look like when we came out on the other side of this. Would audiences even be interested in seeing a goofy show about Packer tickets? Thankfully, the answer appears to be a resounding “yes!” Thanks to a record-breaking run at Milwaukee Repertory Theater this past winter, the Kosinski family was able to deliver peals of laughter to a whole new audience. And after what feels like half a lifetime, Dad’s Season Tickets is finally coming back home to the Gould, and with the entire original cast! I truly couldn’t be happier. Northern Sky will always feel like home to me. It’s where I first discovered my love of theater. It’s where I got my first taste of what it feels like to hear an audience laugh at a joke I wrote. It is where we all first got to know Frank and Cordy, Rhonda and Ralph, Edgar and Gabby. Here’s hoping for a lot more fun and laughter this summer.

For me, there is no feeling more wo n d e r f u l than making someone laugh. So it should come as no surprise that one of my greatest joys is visiting a theater– especially Northern Sky!–and listening to an audience laugh at a joke or a lyric that I wrote. Not to take anything away from the performers delivering those lines and lyrics, because without them, those funny lyrics or lines would just be words in my head. I remember vividly the preview performance of my first show, Doctor! Doctor!, which premiered at Northern Sky in 2016. I was pretty certain that the beginning of the show was hilarious. But for the first five or six minutes, the audience didn’t laugh once. Or if they did, I was too busy being terrified to notice. I turned to my then-girlfriend (now wife) Lori and, in a whispered panic, said, “It’s been five minutes! No one is laughing! They hate it! Northern Sky is never going to do another one of my shows!” And she patiently said, “Would you calm down? They’re getting to know the characters!” And sure enough, a few moments later a big laugh broke the concentrated silence, and the rest of the show was filled with warm and, occasionally, boisterous laughter. Naturally, I was in a panic when there were no laughs during the first 30-40 seconds of the premiere of Dad’s Season Tickets in the fall of 2019. There was a lot riding on this show. I mean, it was the first show in the brand new Gould Theater for crying outside! There were a few token chuckles when Curly Lambeau was mentioned in 8

Songs Satisfy the Soul Doc Heide, Co-founder of Northern Sky, Playwright, Artistic Advisor During my senior year at University of Wisconsin’s Green Bay campus (back around the time Julius Caesar was planning to conquer Gaul), I was told I had to create a “senior honors distinction project” to be eligible to graduate summa cum laude. After initial confusion about what in the heck to do, I decided to write a show for the Heritage Ensemble, which I’d joined the previous summer in Peninsula State Park (1973). I had no illusions that such a show would ever reach the stage. But I just loved the format: authentic folk songs and tales woven together with narration. It put flesh on the bones of history while showcasing gorgeous yet largely forgotten melodies. The show wound up being a people’s history of Wisconsin. There were segments on the Underground Railroad, the Progressive movement, and the push to get women the right to vote. And because I couldn’t locate an appropriate opening number in any of the dusty folk song books I found in the library’s dark nooks, I wrote new lyrics to an old Wisconsin lumberjack tune, Driving Saw Logs on the Plover. To my surprise, the woman running the Ensemble left her post the following year. She was replaced by Trish Sheridan, who approached me about being in the cast for 1975 and asked if I had any ideas about shows to do. Voila! The show (which had been tweaked by an English professor at UWGB and a college friend) got onstage as The People’s Song to Sing. And the opening number became my first song to receive a professional production.

I soon scooted off to psychology grad school in the mountains of Pennsylvania but returned each summer to Wisconsin to be in the Ensemble. And when I started writing Ensemble shows regularly a few years later, there was often a need to create a song to fit a specific moment where the folk tradition had left a gap. There’s an old joke about a lumberjack cook who’s asked what his recipe is for hash. “Recipe?”, he responds incredulously. “There’s no recipe. It just accumulates.” That’s a good description of how I wound up with close to 60 original songs in the decades since. Some began in Ensemble shows (e.g., Dream Away Downriver, The Mountains Call My Name), and others sprang forth to bring clarity to complex personal experiences (e.g., The World As I Found It). Many were shaped by my close friendship with Fred Alley, an aspiring songwriter and fellow Ensemble member who co-founded American Folklore Theater (now called Northern Sky) with me in 1990. Together we honed our craft, inspired by a folk tradition of melodies resilient enough to be remembered for centuries without being put on paper. I don’t know why some of us feel a need to write songs. But I do know it satisfies one’s soul in a way that writing a psychology article cannot. A good song doesn’t just describe an experience, or quantify it the way psychologists do–it reaches inside to reveal its beating heart. This summer those songs will appear in a new book, tentatively titled Tangled in Wonder: The Songs of Doc Heide. Included will be lead sheets, chords, lyrics, and explanations of what inspired each offering. A few will be from Ensemble or 9

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The Most Wonderful Firsts Lachrisa Grandberry, Playwright/Lyricist/Composer/Actress, Sunflowered Kaye Christman Jeffwere Herbst, Director we stuck,Artistic so these friends gathered to read and give us the gas we needed to get to a completed first draft. The first reading hosted by Northern Sky that August felt like holding my breath and going under water for a really, really, really long time. Just nervous and anxious. I didn’t know what to expect and had never done anything like this before. Even more, the story we were writing was different in many ways from other stories that Northern Sky produced. So you can only imagine how relieved I was when the people clapped at the end and asked all the rich questions that inspired us to work even harder on the piece. By reading number two, in February of 2020, there was music added, and I was flabbergasted. It was the first time the show truly began to take shape as an actual musical, because there was singing. I was in shock and once again left that reading just as anxious to perfect this piece as I was before. During our first workshop of the show, in August of 2020, we were in the midst of the world wide pandemic, which meant it was the first-ever Northern Sky workshop over Zoom! And even with all its technology challenges, it was a successful one. So successful that by the time we were able to gather in person for our second workshop

Being cast as Rita in Dairy Heirs in 2018 brought me to Northern Sky and to Door County for the first time ever. I picked strawberries and cherries for the first time, performed on a stage in the middle of the woods for the first time, professionally played the upright bass, kazoo, and several other fun percussion instruments for the first time. It was an experience of many “firsts.” But I never expected, or even imagined, that I’d be able to add becoming a playwright, composer, and lyricist to that list. Yet here we are, fours years later, and my best “first” yet. My very first play, a new musical co-written with Aidaa Peerzada and co-composed with Alissa Rhode, is premiering at Northern Sky Theater. This fall you will be able to see Sunflowered, and I can hardly believe it! I think back to the poem I wrote that prompted Molly Rhode to encourage me to write a musical. Soon, there were the first scenes we sent to Jeff Herbst, who then challenged us to write a first draft. I remember being in the rehearsal hallway at the start of the 2019 season with Neen Rock as she placed updated calendars in each of our mailbox stations. She shared excitement with me as we acknowledged that my name was written, for the first time ever, as a playwright for the first scheduled reading of Sunflowered, which didn’t even have that title, yet. It was mid-summer of 2019 when a group of friends from Northern Sky, Door Shakespeare and Peninsula Players met up in the living room of Shady Nook (my summer housing) to read the piece aloud for the first time. It was unfinished and 10

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The Most Wonderful Firsts, continued from previous page in the fall of 2021, that process was full of ease. We were able to simply dig deeper into the story and focus on really learning the music. Every person and moment that has been a part of this journey has made it an astounding one. My life is surrounded, I believe, by some of the most amazing women in the world. Women who challenge me, inspire me, teach me, and push me. I admire the strength and resilience of the many women I know. So when I began writing this story, I knew it had to be a group of women who took on the challenge of figuring out how to make moments count while navigating the whirlwind of life. From the first reading to the final reading, the women in this story resonated with every listener. When you watch these six women come into the Wisconsin woods, you’ll find yourself rooting for all of them. We all know these

women, and, because we do, every person involved in the development process has been so invested in helping us get to the best possible version of this story. Now, I look forward to the first design team meeting, the first costume fitting, the first rehearsal, and the very first opening night of my first musical. Northern Sky has given me more than a handful of some of the most wonderful firsts of my life. And I’m proud that Sunflowered can give Northern Sky some firsts in return. This show brings Northern Sky its first exclusively female writing team, first allfemale cast, and first production to hold space for several BIPOC creatives. So much to celebrate. I hope that Sunflowered can offer even a little bit of the goodness and happiness to you all that Northern Sky Theater has given to me.

Songs Satisfy the Soul, continued from page 9 AFT shows, but the majority will be singersongwriter material. A bunch of Northern Sky Theater friends and I will be presenting a selection of these songs at my 70th Birthday Bash at the Door Community Auditorium (DCA) on Sunday, July 24. (Yes, I know it doesn’t seem possible that I’ll be turning 70. But fortunately, I don’t feel a day over 69…). The show will follow the format of our sold-out DCA event in 2013. Plus, there will be free cupcakes for everyone! Although we just nailed down the date

as this goes to press, we already have Lee Becker, Amy Chaffee, Deb Fett, Laurie Flanigan-Hegge, Lachrisa Grandberry, Jeff Herbst, Jimmy Kaplan, Dan Klarer, Steve Koehler, Craig Konowalski, Eric Lewis, Karen Mal, Tim McNurlen, Paul Sowinski, James Valcq, and Matt Zembrowski, with more to follow. Watch the DCA website for info. Thanks to all of you for supporting our artistic yearnings all these years. We couldn’t do it without you. See you under the stars.

Want to Share in the Applause? Become a Volunteer! Do you love theatre? Do you enjoy sharing that experience with others? If your answers are “yes!” then we have the perfect opportunity for you! Northern Sky relies on, and is always looking for, fans ready to step up and lend a hand! No experience is necessary – just a willingness to help and a desire to be part of something original in Door County. Please call the Northern Sky office at (920) 854-6117 or e-mail volunteer@northernskytheater.com.

Out of the Woods Sutter, he has diligently been working on renovating both costume shops at Northern Sky and Third Avenue PlayWorks in Sturgeon Bay. This summer look for him in the tech booth at TAP and swashbuckling onstage at Door Shakespeare.” Last year CLAUDIA RUSSELL and her husband BRUCE KAPLAN performed many Zoom concerts from their basement. In late summer they drove from California to Wisconsin, performing along the way (welcome back, live music!), ending with a fun concert at the Gould Theater. Claudia says she “made Pfeffernusse at Christmas, mostly ate it all and looks forward to doing that again!” DENNIS JOHNSON “released some original bass-centric instrumentals under Dennis Keith Johnson and Tasty Tunes on iTunes, Spotify, etc. that I had recorded in the late 1970s.” BILL THEISEN just completed his final semester as Director of Opera at the University of Iowa (!) and, as of this fall, will be a full-time resident of Sturgeon Bay. This summer Bill will direct The Last Five Years at TAP. Set designer JIM MARONEK says that “the better part of my time was spent purchasing books on how to de-clutter which I intend to read. When a plan is in place I hope to reorganize. Stand by.” After 10 years in Sturgeon Bay, JAMES VALCQ and Bob Boles have relocated to the Milwaukee area. Since James has a number of Northern Sky projects in the pipeline, expect to see him in Door County from time to time. RICHARD CASTLE tells us that “I’ve been excitedly preparing Love Stings for its premiere at Northern Sky this summer. I’m also working on a commission for a mini-musical about a Korean War veteran.” KAREN BROWN-LARIMORE is excited to have been back in the theater designing new costumes for Madison’s Ballet’s Nutcracker as well as costumes for Madison Opera’s production of She Loves Me. Most importantly, she was able to travel

What were folks at Northern Sky up to since last summer, you ask? In the order in which they responded, JAMES KAPLAN tells us he “relocated to Sturgeon Bay and isn’t sure why he ever left. He is also delighted to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his first collaboration with Fred Alley, Fishing for the Moon.” PAM KRIGER visited her grandchildren last spring, and they were here from Boston over Thanksgiving which she says was a total joy. SHAWN GALLIGAN did two ballets with Madison Ballet, including bringing Act 2 of The Nutcracker to Fort McCoy for the Afghan refugees. And he worked at Blue Horse. ALEX CAMPEA spent his off-season in Chicago but made his way to Wisconsin Dells to make his Guys on Ice debut as Ernie the Moocher. Outside of acting, Alex says he has “been pursuing an advanced degree in crochet and cat cuddling. It’s been a very successful venture.” Composer PAUL LIBMAN writes that “it’s been a busy offseason. Having secured an option to make a musical of the 1989 Paul Newman movie, Blaze, my NY and LA collaborators and I are hard at work, aiming for our first reading early this summer. Also, I’m completing a commission from choreographer Chase Brock (Be More Chill, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Hercules) for his dance company, the Chase Brock Experience. It’s a 70-minute suite of original pop songs I composed with several lyricists and will run in New York this December.” DOUG CLEMONS says that “onstage I was in Joseph ... Dreamcoat at Fireside and regularly appeared with Bosom Buddies Cabaret in Milwaukee. Offstage, I assistant directed Something Rotten at Sunset Playhouse, participated in two rounds of Northern Sky’s Writer’s Circle, and continued my virtual Dance Jam fitness classes.” Meanwhile, DAN KLARER writes that “after a career-defining production of Tongue ‘n Cheek last summer as George 12

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a new album in Oakland, California, this April. JAMIE MERCADO writes that she “was lucky enough to perform in Dad’s Season Tickets at the Milwaukee Rep this past fall. Besides performing, I’ve spent my time indulging in my hobbies of sewing clothes and reading as much as I can.” Finally, DOC HEIDE has been supervising thesis students, publishing research, compiling a book of original songs, recording an instrumental lullaby album of American folk melodies, getting ready for a summer workshop of Hell’s Belgians with LEE BECKER, and planning a 70th birthday concert with talented friends at the Door Community Auditorium on July 24. And he appeared in Home for the Holidays 2021 with KAREN MAL and MATT ZEMBROWSKI.

to Florida last October for Disney World’s 50th Anniversary celebration! CORRIE BEULA KOVACS was a featured soloist and tap dancer at the Weidner Center with the AVB Band for their Christmas with our Friends program. In January, she was cast as Adult Allison in Fun Home, which will be produced at the end of April at Fox Theatre in Menasha. And she’s working as a Business Technical Assistant Associate for First American Capital Corporation, Wisconsin’s oldest and largest Native Certified CDFI. Meanwhile, her husband STEVE KOVACS is considering what story he might write next and has lots of ideas. KATIE DAHL has been working on writing two new shows and getting ready to record

in the question, ‘Are you going to come back?’ And when I would respond ‘Yes,’ there was a sense of relief in knowing I was comfortable here.“ “And I’ll be honest, I was hesitant about coming at first. But I have now completely fallen in love with the beauty and the community of the county. And I love spreading the message that Door County is for everyone.” During its first year, Door County Amplify created 314 posts, amplifying 101 artists and 18 ensembles affiliated with 22 different Door County institutions. When publishing Amplify posts, Grandberry and Rhode tag the Door County organization, business, or gallery with which each artist is working. This social networking further celebrates community and acknowledges our collective progress. To follow the page, “like” it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/DoorCountyAmplify. Followers can join in the amplifying by sharing Amplify’s posts and inviting friends to follow the page. If you’d like to help support the page financially, or if you have suggestions for content, please contact Lachrisa and Molly at doorcountyamplify@gmail.com.

Have you heard about Door County Amplify yet? We love it, and we want you to know about it! It’s a social-media endeavor begun by Lachrisa Grandberry and Molly Rhode (both known in the county for their work onstage at Northern Sky, of course). In January of 2021, the pair launched a community Facebook page to celebrate the work of BIPOC artists who work in Door County. BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color. The page’s impact is twofold: It brings more visibility to the diverse artistry found on the peninsula, and it fosters positive relationships between the community and the artists featured on the page. “People I encounter often wonder what it’s like for me to be a Black artist in Door County,” Grandberry said. “They didn’t directly say it that way my first year. Instead, it was masked

2022 Summer Schedule Season Sponsor: Door County Medical Center

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Begins Wednesday, June 15, at 7:30 pm Shows on Wednesdays & Saturdays Sponsored by: The Cordon Family

Foundation, Anonymous Donor in honor or Door County Land Trust, Harbor Fish Market & Grille, Parkwood Lodge

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World Premiere!

Sponsored by: Door County Candle Company, Tony & Judy Licata, Main Street Market, On Deck Clothing Company, Nicolet National Bank, The White Gull Inn

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