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Other stories in "Music & theater"

• Music on the Mississippi
  In southeast Minnesota, an unusual medley of rural and small-town venues draws delighted audiences.
• Summer nights in Solon Springs
  In Wisconsin, big-name musicians find their way to a small-town park.

Summer on stage

In vacation towns, theaters offer a midsummer's-night diversion.

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 2010:

American Folklore Theatre in Fish Creek, Wis.  From June 16 to Aug. 28, it's staging Mark Twain's "Life on the Mississippi,'' "Cheeseheads, the Musical'' and "Bone Dance.'' 920-854-6117.

American Players Theater, Spring Green, Wis. In the Up-the-Hill Theatre, it will perform "As You Like It,'' "All's Well That Ends Well,'' "Another Part of the Forest,'' "The Circle'' and "Major Barbara,'' and in the Touchstone Theatre "Waiting for Godot,'' "The Syringa Tree'' and "Exits and Entrances,'' in repertory June 5 to Oct. 17. 608-588-2361.

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 2010 include Avett Brothers, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, John Hiatt and Great Big Sea. 888-244-8368.

For more, see Beloved Bayfield.

Commonweal Theatre, Lanesboro, Minn. It's presenting Ibsen's "John Gabriel Borkman,'' April 9-June 11; Steve Martin's "Picasso at the Lapin Agile,'' May 14-Sept. 25; "Enchanted April,'' June 18-Oct. 23; "The Turn of the Screw,'' Sept. 30-Nov. 6; and "Little Women,'' Nov. 12-Dec. 21. 800-657-7025.

For more about Lanesboro in summer, see Languid in Lanesboro.

Grand Marais Playhouse, Grand Marais, Minn. The theater in this North Shore town is putting on "Treasure Island'' June 24-July 4; Cole Porter's "You Never Know'' July 29-Aug. 8; and "Play On!'' Aug. 26-Sept. 5. 218-387-1284.

For more, see Artistic Grand Marais.

Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, Minn. From June 23 to Aug. 1, it's staging "Othello,'' and "The Comedy of Errors'' and the musical "The Daly News.'' 507-474-7900.

For more, see Afloat in Winona.

Long Lake Theater, Hubbard, Minn. This small theater in the lakes country near Park Rapids is staging "The Foreigner'' in June, "I Love, You're Perfect, Now Change'' in July and "The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Abridged)'' in August. 218-732-0099.

For more, see Summer in Park Rapids.

Heartland Festival, Platteville, Wis. This southwest Wisconsin college town doesn't have any lakes, but it's in the lovely Driftless Area and between excellent shopping in Mineral Point and Galena, Ill.

The University of Wisconsin-Platteville is staging "A Prom to Die For,'' "The Taffetas,'' "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee'' and "Beauty and the Beast.'' in repertory. 608-342-1298.

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 $8. The season runs June 25 through Sept. 12. 507-635-5420.

Minnesota Centennial Showboat, St. Paul. This floating theater, docked across from downtown at Harriet Island, will present "Triumph of Love" June 18-Aug. 28. 651-227-1100.

Paul Bunyan Playhouse in Bemidji, Minn. It's staging "Biloxi Blues'' June 9-19; "Picasso at the Lapin Agile'' June 23-July 3; "Bram Stoker's Dracula,'' July 7-17; "The Boys Next Door'' July 21-31; and "Gypsy'' Aug. 4-14. Call 218-751-7270.

For more, see Bemidji's behemoths.

Peninsula Players, Fish Creek, Wis. 920-868-3287.

St. Croix Festival Theatre, St. Croix Falls, Wis. It's staging "To Fool the Eye'' June 17-Aug. 15; "Red White and Tuna'' July 8-Aug. 27; "Proof'' July 31-Aug. 28; and "Is He Dead'' Sept. 30-Oct. 24. 715-483-3387.

For more about St. Croix Falls, see Trail mix.

Theatre l'Homme Dieu in Alexandria, Minn. It's putting on "Always . . . Patsy Cline,'' June 22-27; "Fishing Widows: The Reel Story'' or "Guys on Ice: The Ice Fishing Musical,'' July 6-11; "Leaving Iowa,'' July 13-18; "Big River,'' July 27-Aug. 1; and "Defending the Caveman,'' Aug. 3-8. Call 320-846-3150.

For more, see Alexandria's enigma.

Last updated on March 5, 2010