Volume XV
Curtain Call
Quarterly Newsletter of Theatre in the Woods, Ltd.
ALADDIN
June 25 26 27
by Deb Shipman
This year’s Theatre in the Woods seventh through twelfth grade.
youth production will be
“Aladdin”, a fast paced and funny showcasing their experience from
version of the "Arabian Nights"
story by William Glennon. The
cast includes: Aladdin and his
friends, a dancing monkey, the
princess, two genies and a village ter leaders is a goal of directors
of flamboyant and mysterious
characters.
Fools...Fools…Fools
by Carolyn Burnett
That's us at TITW! But put quota-
tions around the word:
"Fools” is the title of the Neil
Simon comedy that put Theatre in
the Woods on the cultural map of
Washburn County as our very
first production back in 1990.
"Fools" is the Neil Simon comedy
that ushered in our second decade
as the opening production in our
Auditions were held at the Quam
on May 12th and 13th. This year’s
cast will consist of area students in
Many talented youth auditioned,
past TiTW productions.
In addition to putting on a great
production, developing future thea-
Karen Collins and Deb Shipman.
They are encouraging students to
new home at the Erika Quam Me-
morial Theater in 1999.
Now, "Fools" is the Neil Simon
comedy scheduled to resurface as
we begin the celebration of the
completion of
two decades
and begin a
third. Yes,
2009-2010 will
be Theatre in
the Woods'
20th season!!!
June, 2009
develop their skills in all areas of
the production. From set design
to opening night, theater magic
happens with the hard work of
many. If you are interested in
spending a few hours sharing your
expertise with the students, please
contact Karen Collins at 635-6713
or Deb Shipman at 635-9500.
Evening rehearsals will be held
the last two weeks of June with
the play taking stage for three
7:00pm performances starting
Thursday, June 25th. “Aladdin” is
a show for all ages and we hope
you will join us for an evening of
Aladdin and his friends.
This "Fools" will differ from the
second, as the second differed
from the first. Directed again by
Carolyn Burnett, Patti Fox di-
rected "Fools" 2.
Auditions are on the calendar for
Wednesday and Thursday eve-
nings, August 26 and 27, begin-
ning at 6:30. The director's hope
is to bring back actors from both
preceding productions as well as
to cast some relatives of those
youngsters in the 1990 cast, and
introduce newcomers to the
TITW audience.
The production will run two
weekends in October, 8-11 and
17, 18. Scripts are available for
perusal. More information can
be obtained from Carolyn at
715-354-3803 or
shiitake@chibardun.net.
Vol. XV Curtain Call June, 2009

ERNEST in LOVE
APRIL 2, 3 & 4
LYRICS BY ANNE CROSWELL
MUSIC BY LEE POCKNESS

FRONT ROW: Laurie Bakkum (director), MB King, Don Bruce, Laura Bruce,
Emily Organ, Troy Benham, Tam Smith (accompanist), Paul Dolan
BACK ROW: Alex Peck, Cambria Groehler, Roger Sweeney, Sue Bigelow,
Aaron Engstrand, Marilyn Loder, Emily Muus, Rose Bauman, Del Bakkum

2
 Vol. XV
Curtain Call is the quarterly
newsletter of:
Theatre in the Woods, Limited
P.O. Box 156
Shell Lake, WI 54871
Phone (715)468-4387
Carolyn Burnett, President, 354-3803
Carolyn Seehafer, Vice President
Kathy Mitchell, Secretary
Patti Fox, Treasurer
Margaret Olsgard, Curtain Call Editor,
(715) 635-8171
Bob Olsgard, Curtain Call Tech Guru
Submission Guidelines:
Curtain Call is published in March,
June, September and December. Copy
deadline is on the 15th of the previous
month. Submit text as a simple, unfor-
matted e-mail or attached Word docu-
ment. Photos or other artwork should
be sent as an attached file, preferably
JPEG file format. Send to:
molsgard@centurytel.net
Check out our our website:
titw.org
Sign in and be a part of our online
TITW Community.
Shawn Tisdell, Webmaster.
(715) 822-3222
Come visit us at our home,
The Erika Quam Memorial Theater
605 First St
Shell Lake, WI
RENT the QUAM!
Contact us about rental rates and
availability of our
facilities for your event.
Curtain Call June, 2009
Theatre in the Woods TITW Field Trip
Skews Statistics! “The Two Gentlemen
by Carolyn Burnett of Verona”
at the Guthrie Theater
The accepted number for the life by Carolyn Burnett
time of a community theatre is 5
years, or maybe even fewer.
Marge Kolbek, who intended to
TITW is moving into its TWEN-
attend the March 7th field trip but
TIETH season this fall.
wasn’t able to, sent the following
questions “So how was the play?
What do you remember as high
Did the 20th century staging work
points for your association with
for you? “ Some answers are pro-
TITW? As audience, on your list
vided by the following comments
of favorites? As an actor, what
solicited from the group of 15
role was the most challenging, the
people who made the trip to Min-
most fun? What backstage memo-
neapolis with TITW :
ries stand out for those who have
done that important work?
“What a wonderful day - experi-
encing the unique and expansive
Do you think you might win the
Guthrie! I loved the forever view
prize for the most productions
of the River and city. The high-
seen over the past twenty years?
light for me was enjoying the play
the most acting roles? the most
in the company of friends and
baking for concessions?
laughing out loud. Let's do "this"
again next year.”
Tell us your memories of Theatre
- Marie
in the Woods. Tell us what you
think TITW has contributed to the
community the past two decades.
Tell us what having a vibrant
community theatre means to you.
Tell us any and everything!
Send comments to the message
taker at 715 468 4387, or send to
the Curtain Call editor at
molsgard@centurytel.net. Then
watch for the September issue to
compare your thoughts with oth-
ers.
We want to hear from you!
“I was really impressed with how
(ed. note: Also see titw.org for this dis-
much Dowling (Guthrie artistic
director and director of this pro-
cussion thread on our website. Look for
duction) was able to augment one
“20 Years of TITW Stories” under the-
Discussions tab and share your stories.) (Continued on page 5)
3
 Vol. XV
Anatomy of a Production:
Part Two
Much Ado about Brunch
by Karen Kaufman & Carolyn Burnett
(for Part One, see the March is-
sue of Curtain Call)
It could have been the three kinds
of quiche. Or that “Much Ado
about Nothing” is the “awesomest
play in the world”. Perhaps the
reason lies in someone having
Middle English as her second lan-
guage. No matter what drew them
there, some fifteen hardy souls
gathered around a table in
the basement of the Quam
on Saturday morning, April
4 for a collective read of
Shakespeare’s comedy.
Auditions:
Amidst laughter at the rep-
artee of Beatrice and Bene-
dick, hisses at the evil na-
ture of Don John, and
groans at how easily
Shakespeare’s characters Actors Workshops:
can be fooled, directors
Karen Kaufman and Caro-
lyn Burnett pointed out a
few cuts to be made in the
script. When asked why, onstage:
the directors explained the
cuts were for clarification
when the meaning of the
line would be so obscure to a
modern audience as to distract
attention. As the morning pro-
gressed the readers easily under-
stood.
This collective reading encour-
aged some of those present to
Curtain Call June, 2009
hearted process and production.
It’s clear the production will not
reuse the fabulous Elizabethan
costumes from our“12th Night”,
but neither will the actors be in
contemporary 2010 clothing.
More than that the directors are
not saying, except that the mu-
check out copies of the play for
sic of the period chosen will
further reading on their own.
play a significant part.
Anyone else interested in ob-
taining a script, or wishing
As with “12th Night”, a series of
more information, should call
acting workshops will be held,
either Karen at 635 7641 or
beginning with one on Septem-
Carolyn at 354 3803.
ber 12. Led by Burnett and
Kaufman, this workshop will be
Next on the agenda for the di-
open to all interested actors and
rectors have been a couple of
directors and will focus on the
meetings to discuss script, set-
enhancement of basic acting
ting, and style. During a recent
skills. The second workshop,
trip to Chicago, the pair spent
tentatively scheduled for
October 24, is planned to
“Much Ado about Nothing” cover movement and the
By William Shakespeare use of the body to develop
characters, with the third
workshop, tentatively
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19 January 9, 2010, devoted
9 AM TO 11 AM to “Speaking Shake-
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23 speare”. Workshop two
6:30 PM TO 8:30 PM PM.. will be open to actors in
both the “Fools” cast and
the cast of “Much Ado”.
SEPTEMBER 12, Leaders of these work-
OCTOBER 24 shops will be announced at
JANUARY 9 a later date.
Auditions for “Much Ado
MARCH 26 26- -28 , APRIL 2 2--4 about Nothing” are sched-
uled from 9 AM to 11 AM
Saturday, September 19,
and from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM
about 12 hours discussing key
Wednesday, September 23, in
aspects of the production in ad-
the basement of the Quam.
dition to much in depth internet
research. Priorities include au-
Keep watch on coming issues of
dience accessibility, respect for
Curtain Call for continuing arti-
the Shakespearean tradition,
cles on the Anatomy of a Pro-
and commitment to a fun, light-
duction.
4
 Vol. XV
(FIELD TRIP, Continued from page 3)
of Shakespeare's earlier less
developed plays into an afternoon
of fun for the audience. Shake-
speare would have approved!”
-Roger
“Though we often talk about get-
ting over to the Guthrie more fre-
quently, the trips never seem to
materialize for want of planning.
The opportunity of the group trip
was just the impetus we needed.
Thanks for planning this and get-
ting us off dead center. We en-
joyed the whole experience im-
mensely. Great antidote for
March Cabin Fever in the North-
woods!”
-Gary and Diane Peterson
“I thoroughly enjoyed it. Major
visual stimulation and way acces-
sible entertainment after uncer-
tainty about dealing with Shake-
spearean language and heavy
doses of archaic puns. After
reading the totally goofy play and
scholars comments about it really
being about the friendship of
young men, the 1950s spin on it
may be close to what I imagine
the original rollicking audiences
expected of these comedies circa
1600: jokes and more jokes
imbedded in a back stabbing ro-
mantic adventure. Throw in the
Guthrie’s musical (doowap) con-
cepts and the emotional rol-
lercoaster of the woman playing
Julia (art that makes me cry gets
bonus points) and I start thinking
opera for masses (of course
legitimized by the word SHAKE-
SPEARE)”
-Sam
Curtain Call
“1) The new Guthrie is intimidat-
ing in its size and a bit cold, but I
love the "magic" graphics on the
walls and ceilings.
2) I've never seen Shakespeare so
bastardized, but I thoroughly en-
joyed the Guthrie's 2 Gents. It
was a bit schizo with the 50s stuff
+ many of Shakespeare's lines,
but somehow it worked as a piece
of real entertainment. I loved the
set, the music, and the danc-
ing. The cast looked like they
were having as good a time per-
forming as we were having
watching them.
3) I love a happy ending...”
-Carol
“I was pleasantly surprised be-
cause I'm not that into Shake-
speare. It was very entertain-
ing. I loved the costuming (of
course that's where my eye goes
first) and the actors did a great
job playing to the audience. The
"new" Guthrie is a beautiful
building, it sits right on the river
and the view is wonderful. I think
the only drawback, and not a
problem for me (smile), was the
seats are very close together and
not made for tall people. The
5
June, 2009
Quam has them beat in that de-
partment. I love the idea of see-
ing a play or doing anything with
my theatre family that is outside
of doing a production of our own
and jump at the chance. It is a
good way to get to know each
other better and to meet new peo-
ple who join us.”
-Megan
“My first reaction to the Guth-
rie was how easy it was to get
there and park, and then the
beautiful view from the
"bridge". This was not anything I
expected, (crowded, old, ..). The
production itself was slick with
the clever premise and use of tech
available. However, somehow,
and I don't even know how, but
somehow I expected the acting to
be better. Makes me think at the
acting level things aren't really
that different…”
-Chuck
So, a good time was had by all.
This was not the first such field
trip for TITW, nor will it be the
last. Please send your sugges-
tions at any time for such another
adventure!
 Vol. XV
Wisconsin AACT Fest 2009
by Carolyn Burnett & Patti Fox
“Mix ten nuns, two super heroes,
four Irish accents, three men in
tights and a woman with a pair of
tongs and what do you get? Wis-
consin’s 2009 state AACTFest.”
So begins the Wisconsin Asso-
ciation of Community Theatre
current newsletter. Send in two
representatives from Theatre in
the Woods, and you get the fol-
lowing highlights of the work-
shops offered during the Febru-
ary 27-March 1 American Asso-
ciation of Community Theatre
biannual state festival, held at the
River Arts Center in Prairie du
Sac.
Patti Fox, current TITW treas-
urer and Carolyn Burnett, prez,
opted to attend the 8:00 AM
workshop on “The Art of the
Monologue”, looking for clues
on directing one person shows or
those heavy on the use of mono-
logue. Both came away im-
pressed with the young talent
from Sauk Prairie high school
and with ideas for augmenting
TITW’s own summer youth thea-
tre project.
At 10:00 o’clock the Fox Burnett
team split up. Patti took in the
“ETC: Lighting!” workshop led
by Spencer Lyons of Electronic
Theater Controls of Middleton.
This company manufactures and
sells through such dealerships as
Norcostco in Minneapolis a full
spectrum of theatre lighting tech-
nology. The company’s focus on
outreach training parallels
Curtain Call
TITW's in-house training offered
by Bob Olsgard. Patti saw po-
tential to bring that training (ours
and/or ETCs) to a combination
of theatre personnel in our re-
gion, including the high schools.
She, herself, is keen to get a bet-
ter handle on just what TITW
owns and uses, as well as to help
establish an annual maintenance
schedule for all our tech equip-
ment.
Burnett, always on the look out
for directorial insights, went to
the “Creating Ensemble” work-
shop led by Lauren Rose of UW
Baraboo. The phrase “opening
positions of leadership” struck
Burnett as just what TITW has
been pretty good at over the
years, but needs to continue to
be diligent about. This workshop
was a very active one, with the
group trying out several different
theatre “games” geared to creat-
ing an ensemble whole from a
group of previously unac-
quainted individuals. These
games can be used to cohere a
board of directors as well as a
cast of actors.
6
June, 2009
Following lunch and on into the
evening, hour long excerpts
from five different plays
(produced by five different
community theatres) were
shown and “adjudicated”. Fancy
word for constructive criticism.
On Sunday, awards for the best
of this and the best of that were
given out, with two plays se-
lected to go on to the regional
AACT Fest. Eventually, as
plays are selected at regional
festivals and then the national
festival, some community thea-
tre group is faced with the thrill
and challenge of taking a show
beyond “the road” over to a for-
eign country for the interna-
tional festival.
Burnett and Fox talked about
whether TITW should ever con-
template entering a play at the
Wisconsin level of AACT Festi-
vals. While they started out say-
ing, “We’re not about competi-
tion”, their minds were some-
what opened by the argument
that “it’s not about competition.
It’s about the growth factor
which comes with the opportu-
nity to play to different audi-
ences.” There’s no doubt TITW
would stand up well in compari-
son with the plays seen at
WACTFest 2009!
 Vol. XV
Another Successful
QUAM DAY
by Megan Connors
To those of you who were present
and those of you who missed it…
drum roll please…did we get rid
of stuff or what!! The biggest job
we have tackled in some time was
successfully completed with the
help of 10 volunteers. Those vol-
unteers were: John Cook, Caro-
lyn Burnett, Patti Fox, Carol See-
hafer, Shirley Hile, Eva Olsgard,
Troy Benham, Thorin Benham,
and Jean Speaker.
The storeroom (don’t even call it
the shed) was actually moved out
almost entirely onto the lawn. I
was a bit worried when it took
about two and a half hours to get
all the stuff out of the room,
knowing it all had to go some-
where in the next four or five
hours. But much discussion and
brute strength seemed to make it
disappear or be arranged nicely
back in the room. You can actu-
ally walk in there now versus
crawling over stuff. Hey let’s
face it; there were things we
Toss or Keep?
Curtain Call
To the Dump
haven’t seen since we moved in.
It’s amazing!! At the same time
things were being gone through
to put in our rummage sale this
fall (watch for the date), yard
work was also done, as well as
straightening up the workshop
(don’t even refer to it as the ga-
rage).
So…if you are missing what is
being said behind the scenes, so
to speak, you really need to at-
tend one of our Quam Days…
they are so much fun and you
learn the inside jokes. You don’t
have to know anything about
theater, just show up and you will
be assigned a task, and enjoy a
few hours of fun with friends
new and old. Hey, you even get
a free lunch (well maybe not en-
tirely free - you are working, after
all)!
7
June, 2009
A big thank you to Jean Speaker
our master gardener for working
on the flower beds, as well as
Troy and Thorin Benham for
hauling away items no longer
needed.
The next Quam Day is set for Sat-
urday August 29 (9:00-3:00).
Come for an hour or all day. It’s
a great no pressure way to get to
know us and/or keep in touch
with each other outside of work-
ing on a production.
Bigger, Better, Brighter
by Bob Olsgard
Directors take note; thanks to the
intrepid souls who attended our
recent basic lighting workshops,
your lighting team just got bigger,
better and brighter.
If you weren’t there, you missed
out on the fun of positioning
lights high atop our new mega-
ladder, programming our new
easy to use controller and other
equally exhilarating thrills too
numerous to elucidate here.
For those of you who couldn’t
make our first two lighting work-
shops, fret not. We’ll be doing it
again in the future. Stay tuned to
Curtain Call for future lighting
news.
 Vol. XV Curtain Call June, 2009
IN THE WORKS…
TITW Picnic Pretty Good Party -
Christmas Show ’09
“It's A Wonderful Life: A Live
July 14 Anniversary Style!
Radio Play” by Joe Landry will Come join the fun at our by Shirley Hile
be directed by Roger Sweeney annual picnic on July 14 at
6:00 p.m. at the Quam. Here’s a heads up for you!
for the 2009 Christmas sea-
son. Production dates will
Bring a lawn chair, a dish to Many of you have attended our
be: Nov 27-28-29 and Dec 3-4-
pass, and anything you would Pretty Good Party in the past.
5-6. Auditions are scheduled
like to grill. The grills and Now it’s time to mark Saturday,
for Tues, Sept 29, 6:30pm -
beverages will be provided. September 19, 2009 on your cal-
8:00 (2-3 men and 2-3 women).
endars. This will be our very spe-
A short business meeting cial Pretty Good Party - Anni-
Watch for more information in
will follow. versary Style.
the September Curtain Call.
Join us for hors d’oeuvres and fun
Upcoming Events at Erika Quam Theater
as we celebrate TitW’s first 20
Call 468-4387 to Reserve years. Learn some of our history
June 9 TITW Monthly Meeting 7 p.m. from the founders of our organi-
June 25,26 & 27 Alladin onstage 7 p.m. zation and get a sneak peak at
July 14 TITW Annual Picnic & Meeting 6 p.m. what we have in store to start our
August 11 TITW Monthly Meeting 7 p.m. third decade!
August 26 & 27 Auditions for Fools 6:30 p.m.
September 8 TITW Monthly Meeting 7 p.m.
We couldn’t have done it without
September 12 Actor’s workshop 9-12 a.m.
September 19 Pretty Good Party-Anniversary Style TBA
you and we don’t want to cele-
September 19 Auditions: Much Ado About Nothing 9-11 a.m. brate without you. Did you mark
September 23 Auditions: Much Ado About Nothing 6:30-8:30p.m. your calendars yet?
September 29 Auditions: It’s A Wonderful Life 6:30-8 p.m.
October 8-11 & 17,18 Fools onstage TBA See you at the Quam!
March 26-28 & April 2-4 Much Ado About Nothing onstage TBA

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