A newsletter from Northern Sky Theater • SPRING 2015

With the transition to our new name, Northern Sky Theater,and our 25th season upon us, we have doubled down

and are doing something we’ve never done before by premieringtwo book musicals in one summer season. No Bones About Itand When Butter Churns to Gold will join last year’s hit, StringsAttached, for what promises to be a rollicking repertory line-upunder the stars. And, for the first time, Lumberjacks in Love willplay indoors at the DCA, giving many who have never seen itin our summer line-up a chance to enjoy it along with thespectacular fall colors in one fell swoop.

Sizzle!No Bones About It, by Paul Libman and Dave Hudson,makes its world premiere at Northern Sky. With six book musicalsnow written specifically for Northern Sky, this makes theLibman/Hudson team the most prolific writing team in our 25-year history. With a loose spoof on Romeo and Juliet, Bones playsfast and loose with the current phenomenon of barbecue cook-offs.You’ll certainly recognize the nod to the bard as the warringfamilies of the Cappies and the Monties have to come to gripswith the youngest members of their clans, Ronnie and Julie,falling in love as the “char-crossed” lovers. Witnessing all of this

Barbeque, Blackguards, Banjoes & Birlers Jeffrey Herbst, Artistic Director

is a trio of colorful characters: Larry Friar, of Friars Spices, and a couple of food bloggers,Kelly and Ken, who have every modern technology use on display to get the word out

about the competition and the sizzling love affair.Doug Mancheski and Rhonda Rae Buschwill play thepatriarch/matriarch of the barbecue dynasties, withChase Stoeger and Eva Nimmer as their love-fatedscions. Bill Theisen returns for his second season toplay Larry, and newcomers Alex Campea and KellyDoherty will delight as super-connected, blogging foodcritics. Pam Kriger and I will co-direct. Our trio ofdesigners for the season will be Lisa Schlenker (set),

Karen Brown-Larimore (costumes), and Dave Alley (lights). Nic Trapani will return asour Audio Director and Bryce Foster will join us for his first year as lighting/electricalassistant. Our pit will be chaired by Northern Sky returnees, Tim Lenihan, CraigMcClelland and Bruce Newbern. Neen Rock will again be Production Stage Managerand prop designer for the season. She will be aided again this year by fellow StageManager, Lisa Mion, and assistant, Shawn Galligan.

Hiss! When Butter Churns to Gold, by Ron Barnett, Peter Welkin, and Randi Wolfe,takes the old theatrical melodrama form and inserts modern-day tongue in cheek to create

a delightful, interactive musical complete with a villain,hero, heroine and trusty sidekicks. Will Constance Goodwin(aww!) find the money to pay the mortgage before themustache-twirling Friederich von Fouler (boo!) expropriatesher dairy empire? Will Jack Strongfellow (yay!) save the daywith his brave and strong ways? What’s up with those grave-robbing sidekicks, Helena and Simon Dewannabe? And,most importantly, will the vat of beer play a crucial role inany of this? Displaying plenty of slapstick, our cast of sixwill be Molly Rhode (aww!), Doug Mancheski (boo!),

Chad Luberger (yay!), Chase Stoeger and Kelly Doherty (hah!), and myself as the multiplehat-wearing Narrator/Bank Teller/Justice/Sheriff/Telegraph Operator/Bartender. This isnow our second collaboration with New Musicals, Inc. (NMI), which is based in LosAngeles. Our trio of writers started out the writing process on the West Coast, with myfirst visit to LA to view the initial material being at the end of 2013. The three of them thenvisited Wisconsin last summer when we did an initial reading. That was followed by aworkshop in Milwaukee in January. Peter, who grew up in Milwaukee and still has familyin Wisconsin, first came to see us in the summer of 2013 and proposed the idea of amusical melodrama as being a perfect fit for our theater and audience. I’ve no doubt hisinstinct will prove prophetic, much like the golden sapphire in our story (hmm . . .)!

Strum! Strings Attached, by Dave Hudson and Colin Welford, delighted audiences

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Barbeque, Blackguards, Banjoes, and Birlers, continued from the front page

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last year in its world premiere on our stage. With its return in an immediate subsequentyear, it joins the pantheon of hit musicals that our audiences just can’t get enough

of. Strings Attached tells of twins separated in childhood,only to be reunited after much mistaken identityhijinks. Last summer, I had as much fun watchingour audience watch this show as I’ve ever had. As thecharacters got more and more confused about whowas who, the laughter that erupted in waves wascompletely infectious. The cast will again include:Chad Luberger and Chase Stoeger as the two twins,both named Hal: Molly Rhode and Eva Nimmer asthe requisite love interests; Doc Heide as Bob; and

the hotel trio of innkeepers rounded out with Doug Mancheski, Rhonda Rae Busch,and Alex Campea. Janet Anderson will again join the pit on second keyboard. Ifyou missed this one last year, you’re in for a real treat. If you didn’t, come backand “double” your fun.

Chop! Lumberjacks in Love, written by Fred Alley with music by James Kaplan,makes its fall debut. Nineteen years ago the burly boys from Haywire lumber campfirst stomped and romped on the old Northern Sky stage. And now, for the first timein Door County, we will present this delightful show indoors for a fall run in Septemberand October. I’ll never forget that crazy day in March of 1996 when Fred called me and

said that he and James had a new show thatthey wanted to do that summer. The craziestthing of all is that it needed to be ready byMay. We got it open and everyone delightedin getting to know Slim, Moonlight, Muskrat,Dirty Bob, the Kid, and of course the Mail

Order Bride. A few years later, Milwaukee Rep expressed an interest in the show andwanted an expanded version. Fred and James went back to the drawing board and reviseda fair amount of Lumberjacks, adding songs and scenes and fleshing out more of thecharacters’ stories. This revised version of Lumberjacks played at Northern Sky in 2000,and this is the version we’ve been doing ever since. The stalwart Birlers returning to theshow are Chase Stoeger as Moonlight, Doug Mancheski as Dirty Bob, and myself as Slim.Craig McClelland will spring from the pit to make his onstage debut with Northern Skyas Muskrat. Molly Rhode will reprise her role of Rosemary, and Eva Nimmer will makeher mark as the Kid. Every year we get more requests for Lumberjacks in Love than for anyother Northern Sky show, so we’re delighted to bring it to our fall season followers.

Barbeque, Blackguards, Banjoes, and Birlers, continued from page 2

We look forward to seeing you under the Northern Sky.

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For the past 25 yearswe’ve been entertainingthousands of folks with

our special brand of musicaltheatre at the Northern Sky Amphitheaterin Peninsula State Park. As we celebratethis anniversary, we have special cause tolook forward to what the next 25 years“under the stars” will bring. Yes… prepare to be teased. Our success and survival depend on

satisfying an ever-increasing public demandfor original musical theater. Creating thesemusicals requires a ton of preparatory workthat mostly happens offsite. But what mostfolks don’t realize is that our organizationhas never had a central base of its own.While the park will always be our summer

performance venue, our behind-the-scenesoperations take place in a host of rentedfacilities spread all over the county. We rentoffices in Ephraim, shop and costumespace in Baileys Harbor, rehearsal space inEgg Harbor, storage space in Fish Creek,and various town halls and the DCA forfall performances. The rehearsal space weused for years (a converted barn room we

only half-lovingly referred to as the“chicken coop!”) was not climate-controlledand had no dedicated restrooms. We stilloften find ourselves not knowing if a venuewill be available to rent for our purposes,making it difficult to map out long-termplans for development of the new worksthat are vital to our future. The consensus at our recent long-range

planning meeting is that the primary toolwe’re missing is a place to create - a placethat is customized for doing what we, andonly we, do: create musicals especiallywritten for our Door County audience. Weneed a facility that stimulates and supportscreative experimentation - a professionalfacility that we control. We need a home—a place to nurture all

the great things that need to happen beforewe get to the park. And the big news is,we’re finally ready to make that happen!What will this new integrated campus

look like? We’re busy figuring that out, andto help us define that vision we’ve partneredwith the renowned architectural firmStrang, Inc. out of Madison, WI. Strang

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A Place to Create With a Little Help From Our Friends

Dave Maier, Managing Director

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Northern Sky relies on, and is always lookingfor, fans ready to step up and lend a hand! Tomake a show go, we need volunteers to usher,sell merchandise and concessions, assist withtraffic flow in the parking lot, assist patronsto our handicapped seating area, and to drivethe golf cart shuttle. All told, there are morethan 80 opportunities to volunteer at our showseach week – that means you have about 1000chances to volunteer over the course of thesummer!

What type of commitment are we looking for?We love to have volunteers who can commit tohelping out once a week through the summerseason, volunteers who we can call at the lastminute in case someone else cancels, volunteers

who camp at Peninsula State Park for a week andwant to volunteer at every show during their stay,and volunteers who help at just one or two shows.In other words, we’re looking for you!

What qualifications do we require? The mainrequirement is enthusiasm about Northern Sky!As a show volunteer, you’re almost alwaysthe first representative of NorthernSky that a patron sees. Weneed you to be a friendlyface for our guests and to beable to stand for about anhour and a half – those areabout the only tools you need,we’ll train you on any task wegive you.

If you’d like to volunteer orjust to get more information,we want to hear from you! Justtell us, “I want to volunteer at Northern Sky!” in person at the office, over the phone at (920) 854-6117 x104, or emailann@NorthernSkyTheater.com.

Want to Share in the Applause?Become a Northern Sky Volunteer!

designed the beautiful Touchstone Theaterfor American Players in Spring Green, WIand has a reputation for incorporating aspecial reverence for the local ecology andhistory of the land into their design work.One thing we’re certain of, the campus wecreate will include a rehearsal space capableof converting, with relative ease, into aprofessional, yet warm and intimate, 200-seat flexible performance space. This willgive us the option of hosting our own fallperformance season and other events goingforward. The campus will include other“Door County” design elements that willrepresent Northern Sky with style - aplace where anyone that has been to ouramphitheater in the park will feel right athome. Perhaps most exciting of all, this new-

works super “incubator” will also give us,for the first time really, the opportunity toshare our creative process with our fans.

Exciting stuff!First things first. Our immediate quest is

to secure the perfect piece of land for thisnew creative campus. Our goal is to remain asclose to the park as is practical and affordable.We’re searching for a commercial propertythat has the potential to be a place ofserenity, reflection and artistic inspiration.And as I write this, we’re hopeful that we’velocated just such an ideal location.Our board is fully committed to this

project and assuming we can secure theappropriate piece of property in a timelymanner, we hope to break ground in thespring of 2017. We trust this is great news for those who

love Northern Sky’s “can do” spirit. We’llobviously need your help as we embark onmaking it all happen. This will certainly beone of our biggest “new works” ever, andwe look forward to bringing you manymore exciting details in the very near future.

A Place to Create, continued

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Last fall our communitylost an amazing man most ofyou never met. He didn’tperform on our stage, andfor the last 25 years visitedDoor County only once ina blue moon. But without

him, there’d never have been an AFT orNorthern Sky Theater. Dave Peterson was his name. While camping

in 1969, he stumbled upon our beautifulamphitheater in the pines and decided it wouldbe a perfect place for shows. Then he gave birthto our predecessor troupe, the Heritage Ensemble,and hired folks like Fred Alley, Jeff Herbst andme to perform in it. It’s hard to write about Dave without getting

personal. We were never close friends, yet nobodyoutside my family had a bigger influence on mylife. Although I was just a psychology studentwhen we met, he gave me a performing career,invited me to manage his troupe and writeshows, and then when he retired in 1990, giftedGerald Pelrine and me with the theater. Withouthim I wouldn’t be living in Door County,wouldn’t have so many fine friends, would nevereven have met my darling wife Jody.I suspect all who knew Dave saw him as larger

than life. Physically, he resembled one of thosecolorful lumberjacks or Great Lakes sailorswhose songs he devoted himself to preserving.He smoked constantly, drank hard, laughedoften. And every time I visited his UW officebursting with old tomes, he had some fine newidea that sounded like a show you wanted to see.He’d bring obscure folktales to the stage with

original book and lyrics. He packaged traditionalfolksongs into shows that sensitized you to thestruggles of our progenitors, and lifted yourheart in the telling. Shows about farmers, riverpilots, Woody Guthrie, Wisconsin Indians, CarlSandburg, Kentucky settlers in the Wolf RiverValley. Even into his late 70’s he was unbelievablyprolific. He wrote a children’s musical featuring

a woodchuck and helped his granddaughterdirect it. He created and performed a one-manshow, Folklore Fights the Nazis. He arranged songsfor the Madison Norwegian Grieg Chorus. Theman never let up. Who would have thunk you could write an

entertaining musical about the RhinelanderHodag – a mythical beast half elephant and halfdinosaur? Dave not only thought so – he wroteit, toured Europe with it, and presented acommand performance of it for Lady BirdJohnson. Could you actually divert battle-hardened US troops in the Far East with historicAmerican railroad songs? Dave thought youcould, and it worked. There were many keys to Dave’s success. He

could spot talent. He had a nose for greatmelodies. He had a sterling intellect andunlimited creative drive. His arrangements wereexhilarating. Part of his accomplishment was takingsongs you’d never heard of and giving them sucha luster of Broadway polish that you’d swear youlearned them at your mother’s breast. But another part of what Dave did was even

bigger. He not only converted the content of thefolk tradition into musical theater – he lived thefolk process with us. With Dave there was nevera hierarchy. Any good idea was welcome. If youwanted to add a song you’d unearthed in theappendix of a moldy library book in Packwaukeeto one of his shows, he’d be delighted. If youwanted to weave three songs together, he’d bethrilled. I can’t tell you how empowering thatwas. We were all in this together. On the afternoon of Sunday, June 28 in the

Amphitheater there’ll be an all-star celebrationof Dave’s life, spearheaded by our old friendAmy Chaffee. Many former Ensemble memberswill be there singing and reminiscing. We hopeyou can make it. It will honor the indispensableman who offered the healing balm of America’smusic and tales to untold thousands in thegoodness of Nature. And by that gift, became thegodfather of Northern Sky Theater.

The Godfather of Northern Sky TheaterDoc Heide, Co-founder of Northern Sky, Playwright, Artistic Advisor

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Out of the WoodsWondering what folks at Northern SkyTheater were doing during the off-season?Here’s some news from those we heardfrom. PAUL LIBMAN wrote music for aPentax commercial as well as for thissummer’s Northern Sky world premiere NoBones About It. He also created scores for TheGood Knight for Actor’s Garden, After They'veGone with Chicago bookwriter and lyricistLauren Taslitz, and Going Once with NewYork librettist/lyricist Gary Apple. PAMKRIEGER got a new grandson, SamuelReuben! She also choreographed TheWizard of Oz for the Skylight, directedToy Camp for Cardinal Stritch, and directed/choreographed Legally Blonde, the Musicalfor UW-Madison. JAMES VALCQ continuesas co-Artistic Director of Third AvenuePlayhouse (TAP) in Sturgeon Bay, where hedirected productions of The Drawer Boy(featuring DOUG MANCHESKI), TheFantasticks and Yuletide Tales. He received aBroadway World nomination for his setdesign of Talley's Folly and won the ‘BestMusical’ award for Anatole, a collaborationwith LEE BECKER. Lee performed in PrivateLives at TAP, played the beloved prospectorYukon Cornelius in Rudolph the Red-NosedReindeer: The Musical at First Stage inMilwaukee, and completed a second draftof the forthcoming prequel to Belgians inHeaven with DOC HEIDE. Doc continuedto befuddle grad students at the CaliforniaSchool of Professional Psychology at AlliantInternational University in San Francisco,delivered grand rounds at the MedicalCollege of Wisconsin, and wrote upresearch on how Belgians in Heaven inspirespeople to be kinder and more tolerant.RANDY SCHMELLING got married. He’sbeen at The Ordway Center in St. Paul inThe Broadway Songbook: The First 100 Years

of Broadway, A Christmas Story: The Musical,and The Broadway Songbook of Rock and Roll.This summer he’ll be in The Ordway’sDamn Yankees and Pirates of Penzance. DANKLARER has been working on his Mastersdegree in Classical and Contemporary Textat the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.Their Renaissance project included a residencyat Shakespeare’s Globe and a NYC showcase.KATIE DAHL spent most of the winterwriting songs for and then recording a newalbum with DAVE ALLEY and ERIC LEWIS.She also toured Wisconsin and Illinois withCLAUDIA RUSSELL and BRUCE KAPLANwith a special appearance by JIMMY KAPLAN,and joined the Northern Sky board. CHASESTOEGER spent a lot of his winter withMilwaukee Chamber Theatre, appearing inThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare(abridged) [revised] and Jeeves Takes a Bow.MOLLY RHODE performed, choreographed,and directed for First Stage, but the high-light of Molly’s winter was joining NorthernSky’s year-round staff as Associate ArtisticDirector. In January and February shefacilitated workshops for this summer’stwo world premieres and can’t wait to seethe shows come to the stage in the park.Both Chase and Molly appeared with KatieDahl and RICH HIGDON in AFT’s Homefor the Holidays. CHAD LUBERGER and hiswife Angela welcomed a new daughter tothe world. CORRIE BEULAH KOVACSworked on writing a musical about thesecession of Winneconne from the USA,performed in a revue called Dream Role:Radioactive, started yoga teacher training,and is offering dance classes in Appleton.BILL THEISEN returned for his second yearas Director of Opera at the University ofIowa where he directed The Consul by Gian

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Carlo Menotti and The Rivals by KirkeMechem. He also returned to SkylightMusic Theatre in Milwaukee as guest direc-tor/choreographer for Once On This Island.JON HEGGE appeared in Cyrano at ParkSquare Theatre in St. Paul. He and darlingwife LAURIE FLANIGAN-HEGGE workedtogether in Garrison Keillor’s first stage play,Radio Man at the History Theatre in St. Paul,where Jon also appeared in Working BoysBand. Laurie is hard at work on Boxcar forNorthern Sky Theater and a musical adaptationof Sweet Land. Their circus girl, Celia, is tenyears old. PAUL HELM toured Japan forthree months with Disney and the TokyoPhilharmonic Orchestra, singing the rolesof Olaf (Frozen) and Pumbaa (The LionKing). Paul also worked with the FloridaStudio Theatre, Marquette University, andFirst Stage Children’s Theater. This summer,he plays Ernie in Guys on Ice at the FiresideDinner Theatre in Fort Atkinson. Living inthe Windy City, MICHAEL CHRISTMAN isin his second season creating scenery for theNBC-TV show Chicago Fire and is collabo-rating with Walkabout Theatre Company asa scenic and lighting designer. CRAIGMCLELLAND spent the winter doingukulele festivals and workshops out westwith the Sukey Jump Band as well as teachinganother uke class at The Clearing Folkschool. HOWARD and PATTYWILLIAMSON’S winter events included thewedding of a St. Louis granddaughter onthe beach in Destin, FL, in November andthe arrival of Everett Alleyne Artim, their11th great-grandchild in Ft. Worth inMarch. The count is now six “great” girlsand five “great” boys. EVA NIMMER appearedin several projects in the Milwaukee andMadison areas, including The Effect ofGamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds(Splinter Group), A Christmas Carol

(Children’s Theatre of Madison), and As WeWait, a world premiere show included inthe Young Playwrights Festival Showcase atMilwaukee Chamber Theatre. TIM MCNURLENcontinues to work in the Park Bank inMadison and perform in communitytheater productions and at senior centers inthat area. This June he’ll become a grandpafor the second time. AMY CHAFFEEteaches voice and speech at UCLA, coachingshows like The Odd Couple, Frankenstein andGrimm. She’s neck deep in creating the DavePeterson Celebration of Life for May 31 inMadison and June 28 in Door County.MARTHA ORTINAU started a new positionas Principal Gifts Officer at Loyola Academyin Wilmette, IL, her high school almamater. She’ll get married on Halloween thisyear with a masquerade ball-themed reception.CHRIS IRWIN is living in Los Angeles andflying airplanes. The feature film he producedlast summer in Door County, June FallingDown, will be released this year. Aftergraduating from Carnegie Mellon Universitywith a Master of Arts Management degree,DAN GORCHYNSKY became the Directorof Brand Strategy and User Experience atAgency 1903 in Pittsburgh. With his Pittsburghtriathlon count up to 4, he’s anxious to getback to take on Door County's one moretime. COLIN WELFORD spent the fall inEurope as Music Supervisor for a newproduction of Billy Elliot in Dutch. Morerecently he helped cast the summer seasonof the MUNY in St, Louis, worked on thepre-Broadway tryout of First Wives Club inChicago, and conducted a new productionof Billy Elliot there at the Drury Lane. Finally,GERALD PELRINE will be singing a set oforiginal songs at the Steel Bridge Song Fest,and on his 60th birthday (June 13) willperform his Tale of Stickeen as John Muir atFountain Lake, Muir’s boyhood home nearPortage, WI.

Out of the Woods, continued

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One of the things I lovethe most about writing anew show is how it allowsme to learn somethingnew. With Muskie Love Ihad to learn about fishing

in Northern Wisconsin. With Bing!we paida visit to the Seaquist family to learn someof the intricacies of taking care of orchards.Each show presents a new opportunity.So, when Paul Libman suggested a Romeo

and Juliet inspired musical centered aroundthe world of competitive barbecue, I wasboth happy for my taste buds and concernedfor my waistline when I pondered the kindof ‘research’ we would be doing.Had we been writing for a major

Broadway producer, I must confess that Iwould have tried to work a ‘researchingroad trip’ into the budget. From Memphisto Kansas City, from the Carolinas toCentral Texas, I think Paul and I could haveeasily spent half a year on the road doingsome very serious research. Of course, we

probably would have added a pound to ourbody weight for every song that we wrote,but by gosh, it would have been worth it.The nice thing is, barbecue is universal.

Chicago and Milwaukee have some greatplaces that specialize in barbecue fromdifferent regions. Heck, I have a little placeright around the corner from my house inForest Park, IL that specializes in ribs andsmoked sausage.Sadly (or perhaps fortunately from a

dietary standpoint), I’ve kept my so-calledresearch in check, but it has been a lot of funwriting this tale of two smokehouses. I’velearned phrases like ‘low and slow’, andread up on boiling pans, hard wood, naturallump charcoal, and more. I’ve absolutelymade the determination that I will never bea ribfest champion, though I would readilyvolunteer to be a judge.It has also been a lot of fun revisiting

Shakespeare. While Strings Attached wasslightly related to Comedy of Errors it had alot more in common with the Roman

Dave Hudson, Playwright

NO BONES ABOUT IT!

Set model for No Bones About It by Lisa Schlenker

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No Bones About It, continued

Friday, July 179:30-12:00 pm or 1:00 pm-3:30 pm

2015 Creative Kids theater workshopsessions take place on and around theNorthern Sky stage in Peninsula StatePark and are led by Northern SkyCompany Members.

For children ages 6-16. Register early!Limited number of children accepted.Fee is $25 per child or a maximum of$60 for 3 siblings or more.

Creative Kids Day

playwright, Plautus. This time around, wehave really had a lot of fun embracing thesource material, and even the language(which you can hear in several lyrics). Ofcourse, we did need to adjust the plot a bit.There’s a reason it is called ‘musicalcomedy’, so without too much of a spoiler,I will just say that the ending of No BonesAbout It differs significantly from theoriginal Shakespeare.Speaking of Shakespeare, I find myself

wondering how popular barbecue mighthave been in his day. Not unlike NorthernSky, Shakespeare’s company performed in abig open air theater called The Globe. At TheGlobe, food was common. There werechestnut sellers and orange girls whocirculated among the crowd during theplays, much like the peanut and hot dogsellers at our baseball games. As I envisionThe Globe, I like to imagine the haze ofbarbecue smoke wafting over the stage asthe King’s Men performed. I’d think that

ribs would be a particular favorite at theHenry IV plays, and especially Merry Wivesof Windsor. Of all of Shakespeare’s characters,I would wager that Falstaff would be the onewho would like barbecue the most.For someone who signed his name many

different ways, I would guess Shakespearewould have had a lot of fun with the subjectof our play and the many spellings:barbecue, barbeque, bbq, barbq, barbque:I bet old Will would have had a lot of verbalfun with that word. What do you call thealternate waiting line for a pub? The Bar BQueue. Okay, maybe not.Combining Shakespeare, barbecue, and

working with my great friend Paul Libman,I have had an incredible amount of funputting No Bones About It together. I trulyhope audiences enjoy our dry-rubbed andsaucy adventure, and I can only begforgiveness if people feel the need to dotheir own research on this very tasty subjectafter seeing our show.

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Thank You to Our Sponsors!

A huge thank you to our sponsors of this year’s shows. Their support helps so much with the costs of putting a show on thestage at Northern Sky while still keeping our ticket prices affordable.

Season Sponor: The Cordon Family Foundation

No Bones About Itsponsored by

Coyote Roadhouse, Julie’s Park Café & Motel and Neighbor-to-Neighbor

When Butter Churns to Goldsponsored by

Main Street Market, On Deck Clothing Company and The White Gull Inn

Strings Attachedsponsored by

Parkwood Lodge and Wilson’s Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor

Lumberjacks in Lovesponsored by

The Cookery, Dave’s Tree Service and Oneida Nation

Tickets for all shows, including our fall season, are on sale now. Reserved seats sell for an additional $7 per seat. And of course,

there will always be 350 general admission tickets for sale at the park box office one hour prior to each performance.

Tickets on Sale Now!

Gift cards are available for any

occasion!

How to buy advance tickets: Visit our web site at www.NorthernSkyTheater.com

To order Northern Sky tickets on your smartphone or iPad, download our free mobile app today! Search “American Folklore” at Apple

App Store or Google Play Store, or scan the QR Code to the left.

Buy tickets at our office in the Green Gables Shops 1.5 miles north of Wilson’s Ice Cream. Office hours are 10am-4pm Monday thru Friday

and 10am-3pm Saturday, June thru October.

Order via the phone, 920-854-6117: Visa and MasterCard accepted.

Please review us on TripAdvisor.comfor those unfamilar with

the Northern Sky experience!

You can also follow us on:

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“You must pay themortgage!” “But, I can’tpay the mortgage!” “Youmust pay the mortgage!”“But, I can’t pay the mort-gage!” Modern mortgagemeltdown? No, just one

of the most classic plot set-ups from aby-gone era of scheming villains trying tomake themselves rich by ruining the innocent.Welcome to Melodrama! The most common definition of a

melodrama is a sensational dramatic piecewith exaggerated characters and excitingevents intended to appeal to the emotions.In the late 1800’s/early 1900’s, melodramaswere the TV of the era, serving up everythingfrom frivolous comedies to extremely darkyet socially relevant stories. But, this ain’tyour great-great-grandparents’ melodrama.Our musical melodrama, When Butter

Churns to Gold, came into being as a mere

seed of an idea about two years ago whenScott Guy, Executive Director of theAcademy for New Musical Theater in LosAngeles, and I were attending NorthernSky’s season of Muskie Love, Loose Lips SinkShips, and Windjammers, which I also had ahand in developing through this same LAbased musical writing workshop. After oneof the shows, Scott had a little brain stormbased on his knowledge of my previouswork at a melodrama theater, and an ideawas hatched. Scott pitched the idea to JeffHerbst and he liked it, he really liked it. So,Scott aligned the LA based team of RonBarnett as composer and Randi Wolfe aslyricist with me as book writer. Even thoughnone of us had written anything togetherbefore we quickly dove in and startedworking up the first 15 minutes of materialto share with Jeff. About a month later, Jeff came out to LA

to check out the various show pitches. Afterour presentation, he gave us a smile and a

Peter Welkin, Playwright

WHEN BUTTER CHURNS TO GOLD

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Set model for When Butter Churns to Gold by Lisa Schlenker

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big thumbs up. Taking the Herbst-meister’scue we pushed ahead to the next stage ofdefining the show’s story line and characters.Now we had to deliver on the promise withour opening number. In order for Melodrama to work, you

must have a heroine whose life is put intoperil by the onerous villain. And, of course,there must be a hero to save the heroineand overcome the dreadful villain. Add insome melodramatic music to build thetension and underscore the plot and we’reoff and running. My favorite parodies of classic melo-

dramatic stories have always been theDudley Do-Right cartoons that were part ofthe Rocky and Bullwinkle show. Thetongue-in-cheek humor always cracked meup, as well as the self-aware sensibility ofthe characters. I wanted to bring that playfulself-referential “with a wink and a nod”kind of fun to the story. And, I wanted it tobe rooted in at least some of the realities ofliving in this region just before Wisconsinbecame a state. Having been born and raised in Wisconsin,

I grew up doing chores on our neighbor’sfarm, going snowmobiling, hunting, andyes, making homemade butter. (I also hada pet raccoon named Bandit. Seriously!)One of my first paying acting jobs took meto the West Coast at the Great AmericanMelodrama and Vaudeville Theater inOceano, CA. I performed in classic and not-so-classic melodramas there for nearly fiveyears. It opened my eyes to how passionatean audience can get when they get involvedin a good story. Just beware the shows whenthe Hells Angels would stop in to boo orhiss. Talk about passionate! Good thing wehad bouncers handy! I shared as much of my experience as I

could there with Ron and Randi. We met on

an almost weekly basis as we worked ourway through numerous drafts of the showconferring with Jeff and Molly along theway. Northern Sky Theater invited us to doa table read of the show in July of 2014,which taught us a huge amount about theneed to musicalize more of the script. Italso made us aware of some of the technicallimitations (no control over lighting in theearly evening) and the lack of toilet facilitiesrequiring that there be no intermission.Keep editing!We got word in October that we had been

selected for production for summer 2015!Like…wow! So, we geared up to come toMilwaukee in January to meet the designersand workshop the show with the talentedNorthern Sky actors over the course of asub-zero week. These Angelenos cameprepared with thermals galore, but it wasstill awfully cold for our tastes. (Don’t hateus for being a little weather spoiled.) But, itwas incredibly helpful to see the shape ofthe show that was starting to come togetherand what parts still needed some attention. But now, we couldn’t be more excited to

see how the Northern Sky Theater audienceresponds to our orphaned Wisconsin farmgirl trying to save the family farm from thetreacherous villain, while our strappinghero tries to save her from ruin. We hopeyou have a blast booing and hissing, andcheering the hero! Thank you, NorthernSky, for this awesome opportunity!

Butter to Gold, continued

14

• Advanced tickets for both summer & fall seasons may be purchased online, over the phone, at our office, or by free phone app.• Box office opens at summer and fall venues 1 hour prior to each performance. • Will Call tickets can be picked up at Merchandise Stand one hour before the show.• Limited handicapped parking is available backstage – Please reserve in advance.

• Rain policy – Northern Sky never cancels a show until show time. If the show is less than half over when interrupted due to bad weather, we give out refund applications or rain checks. If the show is more than half over, we issue rain checks, good for any future summer show without expiration.

For additional info: 920.854.6117www.NorthernSkyTheater.com

SUN MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT

14

JUNE

16 17 18 19 20

22 2321

15

11 12 13

5 6 7 8 9 10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18

19

26 27 28

20 21 22 23 24 25

3 41 2

1

2 3 4 6 7 8

9 10 11 12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

5

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

SA - 8:00

SA - 8:00

SA - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

NB - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00SA - 8:000

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00 SA - 8:00

SA - 8:00

24 25 26 27BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

SA- 8:00 BTG - 8:00 NB - 8:00

BTG - 8:00 BTG - 8:00 NOSHOW

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NB - 8:000

NB - 8:00

NB - 8:00

SA - 8:00

SA - 8:00

SA - 8:00

NOSHOW

28 29 30NOSHOW

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

29 30 31BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 8:00 NB - 8:00NOSHOW

NB - 8:00 SA - 8:00 BTG - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

BTG - 6:00SA - 8:30

JULY

AUGUST

Adult - $20 Teen - $10 Child - $6Reserved Seating Available - $7 additional

2015 Summer Schedule

Where there’s smoke, there’s laughterBegins Monday, June 15 at 8:00 pm

Mondays at 8 pm; Wednesdays at 8:30 pmFridays at 8 pm

A tuneful tale of tangled twinsBegins Tuesday, June 16 at 8 pm

Tuesdays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 8:30 pm

A dash of dastardly deeds and dairy delights!

Begins Thursday, June 11 at 8 pmWednesdays at 6 pm; Thursdays at 8 pm;

Saturdays at 6 pm

SA

BTG

NB

Your donation from May 1, 2015, through April 30, 2016, will be recognized in our 2016 playbill.

Name ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________________ St ________ Zip ________________________

Phone _______________________________________ E-Mail __________________________________________

BENEFACTOR CATERGORIES(For General Operating):❑ $10,000 & up - Visionary❑ $5,000 to $9,999 - Benefactor❑ $2,500 to $4,999 - Producer❑ $1,000 to $2,499 - Director❑ $500 to $999 - Actor❑ $250 to $499 - Designer❑ $100 to $249 - Stage Manager❑ $50 to $99 - Donor❑ $1 to $49 - Friend

❑ My check for $ _______________________ payable to Northern Sky Theater is enclosed. ❑ Please charge $ _______________________ to my ❑ MasterCard ❑ Visa (Please provide info below)

____________________________________________ ____________ _________________________________

❑ My employer will match my gift Employer Name: _______________________________________ Paperwork: ❑ is enclosed ❑ will be sent

ACCOUNT NUMBER EXP DATE SIGNATURE

Please clip & mail to: Northern Sky Theater - PO Box 273, Fish Creek,WI 54212 Thank You!

With your help… We make amazing things happen!

The Northern Sky Endowment Fund, managed by the Door County Community Fund, helps to ensureNorthern Sky’s long-term financial health and stability.

❑ Please accept my gift of$ ________________ for the Endowment Fund.

❑ Please accept my gift of $ ________________ forthe Fred Alley New Musical Fund.

The Fred Alley New Musical Fund is the creative enginebehind all of Northern Sky’s new play development.

September 4 - October 17Tuesday – Friday 7:30PM Saturday 4:00PM & 8:00PM

Four burly lumberjacks live in a stateof manly bliss – until an encounterwith a plucky mail order bride interrupts life as they know it.

at Door Community AuditoriumAdult: $28 Teens (13 - 19): $18 Children (12 & under): $14

ALL SEATS RESERVED

2015 FALL SHOW SCHEDULE

Our Mission

The

miss

ion

of N

orth

ern

Sky

Thea

ter i

s to

crea

te, d

evel

op, a

nd p

rese

nt p

rofe

ssio

nal

mus

ical a

nd d

ram

atic

prod

uctio

ns w

hich

will

furth

er th

e kn

owle

dge

and

appr

ecia

tion

of th

e cu

lture

and

her

itage

of t

he U

nite

d St

ates

.Th

e Th

eate

r is d

edica

ted

to m

aint

aini

ng

stand

ards

of a

rtisti

c ex

celle

nce;

cel

ebra

ting

and

illum

inat

ing

the

hum

an c

ondi

tion;

reac

hing

a la

rge

audi

ence

of a

ll ag

es, i

nclu

ding

fam

ilies

; and

fo

sterin

g a

hum

anist

ic w

ork

envir

onm

ent w

ith

adeq

uate

and

app

ropr

iate

em

otio

nal,

finan

cial a

nd c

reat

ive su

ppor

t for

al

l tho

se a

ssoc

iate

d w

ith u

s.

Kenneth C. Boyd

Mark Breseman

Katie Dahl

George Gorchynsky

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mary Seeberg

Chairperson

Cynthia Stiehl

Vice-Chairperson

Thomas A. Moore

Treasurer Frederick J. Heide

Michael J. McCoy

Carla Peterson

Paula Wright-Keller

Northern Sky Theater, Inc.

PO Box 273

Fish Creek, WI 54212-0273