Summer on stage
In vacation towns, theaters offer a midsummer's-night diversion.
© Beth Gauper
In downtown Bemidji, the professional Paul Bunyan Playhouse uses the old Chief Theater.
In 1951, an entrepreneur had big plans for Bemidji.
He brought a troupe of New York actors to the northern Minnesota town, set up a theater at a resort on the shore of Lake Bemidji and started a glorious season of summer stock.
Four weeks later, he was broke, and the actors were stranded.
But Bemidji's citizens had become hooked on theater. They raised enough money to pay the actors' room and board while they performed the rest of the season's plays, and enough to pay for their tickets home. Then the town raised enough to pay for a season the next year, and the year after that.
Now, the Paul Bunyan Playhouse is Minnesota's oldest professional summer-stock company, still run by devoted volunteers.
Most recently, I saw "The Music Man'' there one golden summer evening, with Twin Cities actor/director Zach Curtis as the bombastic con man and a talented corps of local actors playing the townspeople of River City.
At summer theaters across the north woods, ambitious young actors and directors are gearing up for another summer of Shakespeare, Shaw and the high-energy musicals that vacationers love.
They're light-hearted plays for light-hearted days. In Alexandria, Minn., a day at the beach usually precedes an evening at Theatre L'Homme Dieu, on the shores of Lake Le Homme Dieu since 1961.
Spring Green, Wis., is home not only to the American Players Theater but to kitschy House on the Rock.
In Wisconsin's Door County, American Folklore Theatre performs under the stars in beautiful Peninsula State Park.
The Peninsula Players are nearby, in Fish Creek; the troupe put on its first plays in 1935 in the back yard of a Fish Creek motel and now is the nation's oldest professional resident summer theater.
Of the theaters below, only the American Folklore Theatre and American Players Theater perform in the open air; American Players Theater also has an indoor theater.
Here's the schedule for 2011:
American Folklore Theatre in Fish Creek, Wis. From June 15 to Aug. 27, it's staging "Bing, The Cherry Musical,'' "Guys and Does'' and "Lumberjacks in Love.''
For more, see Arts in Door County.
American Players Theater, Spring Green, Wis. In the Up-the-Hill Theatre, it will perform "The Taming of the Shrew,'' "Blithe Spirit,'' "The Critic,'' "Of Mice and Men'' and "The Tempest,'' and in the Touchstone Theatre "Crime and Punishment,'' "The Glass Menagerie'' and "The Cure at Troy: A Version of Sophocles' Philoctetes,'' in repertory June 4 to Oct. 16. 608-588-2361.
© Pete Olsen
In Spring Green, American Players Theatre's main stage is outdoors.
For more, see Drawn to Spring Green.
Big Top Chautauqua, Bayfield, Wis. It schedules musical revues, including "Riding the Wind,'' and concerts by nationally known performers most nights from June through Labor Day.
Acts in 2011 include John Prine, Arlo Guthrie, Beausoleil, Nanci Griffith and Rickie Lee Jones. 888-244-8368.
For more, see Beloved
Bayfield.
For more about Lanesboro, see The
belle of bluff country.
Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Minn. The theater in this North Shore town is putting on the thriller "Dead Certain'' June 23-July 4; "Shout! The Mod Musical'' and "Always, Patsy Cline'' in repertory July 14-Aug. 14; and "Love Letters'' Aug. 25-Sept. 4. 218-387-1284.
For more, see Artistic Grand
Marais.
Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, Minn. From June 22 to July 31, it's staging "King Henry IV, Part 1,'' "A Midsummer's Night Dream'' and the musical "The Fantasticks'' at the Performing Arts Center of Winona State University.
For more, see Afloat in Winona.
Long Lake Theater, Hubbard, Minn. This small theater is in the lakes country near Park Rapids. 218-732-0099.
For more, see Summer in Park Rapids.
Mantorville Theatre Company, Mantorville, Minn. In the stone 1918 Opera House of this tiny village near Rochester, this
company puts on old-fashioned melodramas with audience participation.
They're not sophisticated, but they're fun, and tickets are only $9. The season runs June 24 through Sept. 11. 507-635-5420.
Minnesota Centennial Showboat, St. Paul. This floating theater, docked across from downtown at Harriet Island, will present
"The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: The Melodrama of Sweeney Todd," June 17-Aug. 27. 651-227-1100.
Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minn. It's staging "Forever Plaid'' June 8-18; "A Midsummer Night's Dream'' June 22-July 2; "Lend Me a Tenor,'' July 6-16; Kevin Kling's "21A'' July 20-30; and "The Full Monty'' Aug. 3-13. Call 218-751-7270.
© Boyd Fellows
In Door County, the Peninsula Players perform on the shores of Green Bay.
For more, see Bemidji's
behemoths.
Peninsula Players, between Fish Creek and Egg Harbor, Wis. The company performs in a covered pavilion on the shores of Green Bay in Door County.
It's offering "Making God Laugh,'' June 14-July 3; "The Importance of Being Earnest,'' July 6-24; "A Few Good Men,'' July 27-Aug. 14; "The Fox on the Fairway,'' Aug. 17-Sept. 4; and "God of Carnage,'' Sept. 7-Oct. 16.
Tours are given at 2 p.m. many Sundays. Some performances are followed by talk-backs. Check for other special events. 920-868-3287.
For more, see Arts in Door County.
St. Croix Festival Theatre, St. Croix Falls, Wis. It's staging "Once Upon a Mattress'' June 16-Aug. 21; "The Lady With All the Answers'' July 7-24; "The Mystery of Irma Vep'' Oct. 6-30; and "Inspecting Carol'' Nov. 26-Dec. 23. 715-483-3387.
For more about St. Croix Falls, see Trail mix.
Theatre l'Homme Dieu in Alexandria, Minn. It's putting on "Triple Espresso,'' June 21-26; "Proof,'' July 5-10; "Guys on Ice: The Ice Fishing Musical,'' July 12-17; "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels,'' July 26-31; and "Power Balladz,'' Aug. 2-7. Tickets are $17.50-$25. Call 320-846-3150.
For more, see Alexandria's enigma.
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