Your Northern Sky News • SPRING 2016

What a chock full season we have planned, with six showsbetween the summer and fall, instead of our usual four.

The line-up, as always, includes a world premiere along withreturning shows from last year and fan favorites from seasonspast, and that’s no joke. Although, did you hear the one where …

Two doctors walk into a bar but the bartender didn'tknow what to do with a paradox. Our world premiere,Doctor! Doctor!, with book,lyrics, and music by MattZembrowski, is a charmingtribute to small-town life inDoor County, where residentsreluctantly but humorouslyadapt to change. Matt has hada 20-year dream of seeing amusical that he wrote producedon the Northern Sky stage.And he’s only 32! Matt was with us in 2009, performing inSunsets & S’mores, for which he also contributed some original

Did You Hear theOne About…? Jeffrey Herbst, Artistic Director

songs. Molly Rhodewill direct the production after shepherding it through a workshoplast summer. The cast will feature returning company members Doug Mancheski, Fred‘Doc’ Heide, Chase Stoeger, Eva Nimmer, Bill Theisen, Rhonda Rae Busch, KellyDoherty and new intern Rachael Zientek. Our remaining intern crew comprisesreturnees Michael Kocken, Maylea Bauers (also Props Charge), and Becca Sheehanalong with newcomer Elly Walsh-Rock. Our quartet of designers for the season willbe Lisa Schlenker (set), Karen Brown-Larimore (costumes), Dave Alley (lights), andNic Trapani (sound). Helping us, as always, to build things new and retrofit thingsold will be Stewart Dawson in the shop. Tim Lenihan returns as music director, andAlissa Rhode will assist him throughout the rehearsal period. Alissa will also musicdirect Lumberjacks, which she did for us last fall. In the pit, Tim will be joined againby Bruce Newbern and newcomer, Jay Kummer. Neen Rock returns as ProductionStage Manager and prop designer for the season. She will be aided again this year byLisa Mion, stage manager and Shawn Galligan, assistant.

A rack of barbecue ribs walks into a bar, andthe bartender says, “I’m sorry, but we don’tserve food here.” No Bones About It, by Paul Libmanand Dave Hudson, will return for two performancesa week this summer. This loose spoof on Romeo andJuliet, with warring barbecue families standing in forthe Montagues and Capulets, delighted audiences lastyear. The flashback scene is not to be missed! The castwill remain the same with the one exception ofMichael Kocken taking over the role of Young Larry,who is part of the aforementioned flashback. Co-director Pam Kriger will be back tohelp me “relight the grills” and get in good again with the gods of smoke.

A Hero, a Villain, and a Sidekick walk into abar. “What is this,” says the bartender, “somekind of joke? When Butter Churns to Gold, by RonBarnett, Peter Welkin and Randi Wolfe, was a departurefor us last year, being the first time we had ever presenteda melodrama on our stage. We had a great time playingthis show, and we hope that bringing it back for a singleperformance each week will give those who missed ita chance to catch it and those who loved the audienceinteraction a chance to participate anew. Our Villain(Doug), Heroine (Molly), Narrator (me) and trustySidekicks (Kelly and Chase) from last year will be

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Did You Hear the One About…?, continued from the front page

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returning, and Alex Campea will take over the role of the Hero. We can’t wait tohear the enthusiastic booing, hissing and ahhhing every Tuesday night.

A lumberjack walks into a bar.He seemed like a decent feller.Lumberjacks in Love, written by FredAlley with music by James Kaplan,returns after a 2015 fall run and five-year hiatus from our summer stage to

celebrate its 20th anniversary. It’s hard to believe that it’s been two decades sinceFred and James proposed the show and we hurriedly readied it for the 1996 season.The cast from the fall will return with the exception of Doc Heide stepping backinto the role of Muskrat, a role he originated in the world premiere production.It’s such a joy to perform this show, and it remains an all-time favorite for a lot ofNorthern Sky fans.

A man walks into a bar with a buck and says,“What can I get for a buck?” The bartender says,“We don’t serve deer here.” Guys & Does, by FredHeide, Lee Becker, and Paul Libman, is one of our best-received fall shows ever and returns this fall after last beingpresented at the DCA in 2010. Jim Maronek’s delightful setwill again be on display, as will Neen Rock’s inventivecostumes. Doug Mancheski, Lee Becker and Doc Heide

will all return from their original production.

A man walks into a bar with a crocodile underhis arm... MAN: Do you serve politicians here?BARTENDER: Well, of course we do! MAN: Good,I'll have a beer and my friend will have a politician.Yes, every four years the race for the White House brings outAnd If Elected, by Fred Alley and Dave Peterson with additionalmaterial by me. While the hunting will be going on with Guys & Does at the DCA,we’ll be doing some skewering of our own at the Old Gibraltar Town Hall,rollicking through presidential campaigns past and doing our best to bringsome levity to all that is currently happening. There is certainly a joke or two inthat, right?

Did You Hear the One About…?, continued from page 2

We look forward to seeing you under the Northern Sky.

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In the fall of 2015,Northern Sky was ableto purchase a 17-acre

parcel at the corner ofCounty A & F, in Fish Creek, through agenerous donation.Northern Sky has partnered with the

renowned architectural firm Strang, Inc,out of Madison, Wisconsin, and iscurrently working to finalize plans fora new creative center to house rehearsals,workshops, a scenery and carpentry shop,box office operations and intimateperformances. Peninsula State Park will continue to be

our performance home for the summerseasons. The park is our brand, our heartand soul, and what happens there willhopefully always be our “Main Event!”The goal of this new chapter in Northern

Sky’s development is to safeguard ourf inancia l secur i ty and of fer newopportunities for mission-focused,strategic growth. This project, which willbe unveiled in more detail in 2017, willallow the organization to thrive and toexpand on our unique legacy. Our new creative center will house a

performing arts center, and a new theater

space designed to blend int imacy,profess ional ism and patron comfort.We’ll be able to do more new worksdevelopment, and easily host workshopsand public readings. Which translates intomore programming, plus the opportunityto host fundraising and special events atwill. And you’ll see more communityoutreach – the campus will be a center forcreative collaboration and fusion. Few organizations take more responsi-

bility for promoting and building the nextgeneration of theatergoing audience thanwe do. We’ve been told as much by reviewersthat see shows throughout Wisconsin andthe Midwest. Through our mission, ourpricing, our branding, our programmingand our outreach – we’re not aware of anyarts organization that fosters a moreinviting, cross-generational, family-friendly cultural experience. Consider theresponsibility we have for building thenext generation of theatergoers. Who willdo that if not us?Few theaters have an artistic legacy like

ours. Look at the tremendous artisticpedigree this organization has fostered.Not just fostered - dozens of our brilliantartists have gone on to lead (three Richard

Room Enough to Grow…Beneath the Northern Sky

Dave Maier, Managing Director

No Bones About It, 2015 - photo by Len Villano

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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 whom 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 Northern Sky that apatron sees. We need you to be afriendly face for our guestsand to be able to stand forabout an hour and a half –those are about the only toolsyou need. We’ll train you onany task we give 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!

Rogers awards!) and influence the artform across the region and beyond. Thisis a place where inspired, talented peoplewant to work. Look at the next generation of performers,

writers and artistic leadership we’regrooming and imagine what they're capableof if they have the right resources andsupport! Imagine the caliber of talent wewill continue to attract with these improvedresources…

“For musicals, there is New York Cityand Fish Creek, Wisconsin… I view FishCreek as equal to Manhattan when itcomes to nurturing musicals and the peo-ple who write them.” - Dave Hudson,Richard Rodgers award-winning writer

Where else can a person get what we canonly describe as the “Northern Sky Experience”– that extraordinary blend of relaxed and

festive fellowship celebrating sublime,honest human joy and purpose in such amagnificent, natural cathedral?We are at a pivotal chapter in our

development. We’ve come a long waysince Dave Peterson had his inspired visionfor that little ranger stage hidden away ina sleepy northern Wisconsin state park.The new creative center will make every-thing that we offer at the park cometogether more efficiently. We’ll be able todo more, do it better, and do it moreeconomically. For the first time, and for alltime, all of our scattered pre-productionresources will be unified and completelyfocused on bringing you more great theater. Most importantly, the park and creative

center will support, sustain andstrengthen each other, our mission, andthe future of the theater you love.

Room Enough to Grow…, continued

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In a way, I’ve beenworking on writing thisarticle for twenty years.To a young AFT fan

growing up in the 1990’s, thesurest sign of summer’s return was thearrival of the Folk Tales newsletter, thatannual love letter from our favoritesinging lumberjacks. Back in the daysbefore Facebook and round-the-clocknews updates in the palm of your hand,we waited for many long, cold months tofind out what adventures Fred, Doc, Jeffand Jimmy had in store for us.My family and I have been camping inthe wild woods of Peninsula State Parksince before I could walk. I know its trailsand shorelines better than I do my ownneighborhood. Yet I had not experiencedMusical Theater Under The Stars untilone cold August evening in 1995 whenmy brother Zach and I attended a chillingperformance of Bone Dance. I had noidea that show would lead to a life-longlove affair with live theater, and thiscompany.I had my first true taste of life under theNorthern Sky in 2009, when I was hiredas one of the company’s music directorsand was given the opportunity toperform in and co-write songs with DocHeide and Lee Becker, two icons of myformative years, for Sunsets and S’mores.I’d never been so simultaneously excitedand terrified!By that point, I had written - mostly inmy head - a dozen shows that I was surewould be the next Lumberjacks In Love.None of them were, of course. I’d even

written (on actual paper!) and submitteda couple of shows that didn’t quite hitthe mark. But the dream lived on.In 2012, I was waiting for a table at AlJohnson’s when I came across an articlein the Door County Pulse about Dr. JoanTraver, a soon-to-be retiring physicianfrom Sister Bay, one of the last of the old-fashioned country doctors who spent asmuch time in her office as she did on theroad visiting her patients on house calls.I became enchanted by the thought ofthis bygone profession and those bravesouls who dedicated their lives to lookingafter their patients. I imagined the storyof a fictitious physician who, after yearsof being called upon to deal with themost mundane of maladies, decides totake a vacation and enlists his nephewfrom Milwaukee (also a doctor, ofcourse) to look after his patients in hisabsence. Later that day, I found a copy ofa book about a real-life Door Countydoctor named Edward Farmer and poredover it in a matter of hours. The charminganecdotes struck a nerve and immediatelyset off some creative sparks.However, real life took over and Doc

Takes a Vacation (as it was then called)languished in silent slumber for over ayear. One day, while I was in rehearsalsfor a show in Milwaukee, it re-surfaced. Iwas only on stage in that show for 20minutes or so, which left me ample timeoffstage to write. So I dusted off “Doc”and completed a first draft by the timethat production closed. I gatheredtogether a number of my theater friendsand held a reading of the show. Extensivere-writes and a half dozen subsequent

Matt Zembrowski, Playwright

Doctor! Doctor!

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Doctor! Doctor!, continued

Friday, July 89:30 am - 12:00 pm or 1:00 pm - 3:30 pm

2016 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

readings followed, and before I knew it,the process of bringing the show to thePen Park stage was set in motion.Thanks to the invaluable help andguidance of Molly Rhode, a staged readingof What the Doctor Orderedwas presented byan incredible cast of Northern Skyperformers last summer. Let me tell you:having a roomful of exceedingly talentedpeople spend an entire week analyzingand critiquing something you’ve pouredyour heart and soul into is quite a hum-bling experience! But the encouragementand suggestions the Northern Sky teamgave me were simply extraordinary.Naturally, more work (and anothername change) followed, but at last, Doctor!Doctor! is headed to the place where it allbegan for me. I have to thank Jeff Herbstfor believing in me, and for green-lighting this dream come true. I mustalso thank my parents, and acknowledgethe unwavering emotional and artistic

support I’ve received from my soon-to-bewife Lori. (We’re getting married a monthafter Doctor! Doctor! opens!)One of my most prized possessions is aplaybill from the 1999 AFT season that FredAlley signed for me after a performance ofBelgians in Heaven. It now resides in aframe above my desk. Every time I gotstuck while writing “Doc” (which wasoften) I would look up at Fred’s pictureand ask him to lead me out of theproverbial woods. He came through forme every time. I dearly wish that Fredcould be there to see what he inspired,and though I am painfully aware that hewon’t be in the audience, I know hisspirit lives on in the eyes of every kidbundled up in a blanket on thosewooden benches experiencing the magicthat is Northern Sky Theater. Perhapstwenty years from now, one of them willbe writing their own SkyWords article.

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When I was eight, my familymoved from Stevens Point tothe outskirts of WisconsinRapids and settled in amodern home on the edgeof a great woods. A creek

ran deep into those woods, and soonI was gallivanting daily through its swampyenvirons like Tom Sawyer. We’d fish for bullheadsin the creek, and our Dad would take mybrother and me hunting for small game. ButI never really understood the urge to hunt. Iwas content to simply soak up the vital spiritof Nature.So it may come as a surprise that many

years later I suggested to my good friend LeeBecker that we write a musical comedyabout deer hunting. Lee agreed immediately.The result was the smash hit Guys & Does,back on stage this fall at the Door CommunityAuditorium.We were attracted to the theme because deer

hunting is such a fundamental part of Wisconsinculture. Like 94% of Americans, we weren’thunters ourselves, but wanted to understandall those folks driving around in orange outfitswith does on the roofs of their cars.It may sound like a cliché, but what we

found out really opened our eyes. The hunterswe interviewed treasured Nature as much aswe did. Their bookshelves overflowed withvolumes about deer. Some seemed less likehunters than Zen masters. They’d rise bystarlight, sit silent as statues hour upon hourin numbing cold, and only take a deer’s lifeif they had the perfect shot. Then they’d useevery edible part. In other words, theyembodied the ethic of hunting that unitesevery society since the dawn of humanity,

approaching it as a sacred act.Lee and I came to realize that these hunters

were also serving an ecological purpose. Deerare the most plentiful large animals in America,and many ecologists believe hunting is the bestmethod of deterring them from destroying thehabitat of countless other creatures.All this knowledge went into Guys & Does,

along with giant dollops of humor, lovablecharacters, and Paul Libman’s invigoratingscore. The result was a show that completelysold out its initial run in Ephraim in 2009,with 2500 people turned away for lack ofseats. People drove up from Indiana just tosee it. Two guys flew in from LA. The showthen drew even better when it moved to theDoor Community Auditorium in 2010. Ontour across the state, it again brought gianthouses and standing ovations. If you’re one of those who wonder how you

could make a hilarious musical out of deerhunting, we hope you’ll check it out this fall.As one patron said, “Talk about a buckwell-spent.”

“… a buck well spent.”Doc Heide, Co-founder of Northern Sky, Playwright, Artistic Advisor

Guys & Does, 2009 - photo by Len Villano

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Out of the WoodsWhat have Northern Sky companymembers past and present been up toduring the off-season? In no particularorder, DOUG MANCHESKI performedagain with STEVE KOEHLER and BOJOHNSON in Guys On Ice, playing tosold-out houses at the MilwaukeeRepertory Theatre. The production wasthe all-time leading ticket seller in thehistory of the Rep’s Stackner Cabaret.Doug also starred in the film Appleton,which opened the Wildwood Festival atAppleton’s PAC. MOLLY RHODEdirected The Flick for Forward TheaterCompany in Madison and Just a LittleCritter Musical at First Stage in Milwaukee,in which hubbie CHASE STOEGERappeared as the guitar-playing CritterDad. They both were in Fallen Angels atMilwaukee Chamber Theater. BILLTHEISEN finished his third year asDirector of Opera at the University ofIowa and has just recently completedthe rigors of the tenure process. He nowawaits the verdict from the Iowa Boardof Regents. Last fall he directed Sondheimon Sondheim and this spring broughttwo Puccini one-act operas, Suor Angelicaand Gianni Schicchi. JAMES VALCQ continuesas co-Artistic Director at Third AvenuePlayhouse, where he directed The AmishProject and his own creation IrvingBerlin’s I Love a Piano. His collaborationwith Fred Alley, The Spitfire Grill, premieredin London to unanimous acclaim,earning a spot on London’s “10 Best of2015” list. This summer James directsthe vintage musical Madame Sherry atTAP and looks forward to the workshop

of Boxcar at Northern Sky. His collaboratorLAURIE FLANIGAN-HEGGE, who’s writingbook and lyrics for that show, returnedto Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at theHistory Theatre in St. Paul over the holidays,and played Mrs. Frank in The Diary ofAnne Frank at Park Square Theatre. TheHistory Theatre announced Laurie’snew musical Sweet Land (co-bookwriter,lyricist) as part of their upcoming season,featuring her husband JON HEGGE inthe role of Frandsen. This past fall, Jonappeared in An Octoroon at Mixed BloodTheatre in Minneapolis. Their daughterCelia will be ringmaster at Circus Juventusin May. EMILIE COULSON has beenwriting grants for the literacy andpublishing nonprofit 826 and articlesabout food for magazines – and runningDaughter's Granola, her membership-based breakfast business. Meanwhile,KATIE DAHL has been busy touring(including a trip to California to playshows with Claudia Russell and BruceKaplan, and to see fellow playwrightEmilie Coulson get married) as well asbringing the newest Northern Sky familymember, Guthrie Carl Higdon, into theworld in late March. DOC HEIDE appearedwith CRAIG KONOWALSKI and AMYCHAFFEE in Northern Sky’s Home forthe Holidays in December, where theirpolitical Christmas carols brought downthe house (e.g., a parody of The LittleDrummer Boy with lyrics such as “Runthey told me, a Trump-a-pum-pum”).Craig reports, “the rest of the winter hasincluded a pleasant mix of singing,writing and dreaming in front of my

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fireplace.” Amy, who’s still teaching atUCLA, did vocal coaching for a moviecalled Heart, Baby and a new pilot forABC cal led Presence , a reboot ofMagnum P.I. with a Latina lead. Amyalso wrote a one-act play that’s performinga five-city tour this summer at venuesincluding Barcelona's Altafulla Festival,Edinburgh Fringe Festival, HollywoodFringe Festival and Dublin's SmockAlley (and soon Chicago). LEE BECKERi s doing ful l t ime dadding, somecorporate role-play gigs, an Ace Hardwarecommercial, a few Houston theaterauditions and working with Doc Heideon Hell’s Belgians, the prequel to Belgiansin Heaven. Famed slacker COLINWELFORD took a lead role in the musicdepartments for productions of Billy Elliotin Kansas, Long Island and the currentU.K/Ireland National Tour. He alsoplayed on and/or conducted productionsof Oklahoma, White Christmas, Bye-byeBirdie and West Side Story at The DruryLane and Paramount Theaters inChicago. He’s currently preparing to beMusic Director of the Chicago productionof Broadway smash-hit Hamilton.RHONDA RAE BUSCH played MillyBailey in A Wonderful Life at The Firesideduring the winter holidays, then spentFebruary and March in sunny Arizonadoing a production of Fiddler on the Roofat Arizona Broadway Theatre, where sheenjoyed many days hiking in the desertsand mountains. EVA NIMMER spentpart of her winter with Children’s Theaterof Madison in A Christmas Carol. At thestart of the new year, she relocated toChicago, where she took up a few oddjobs and fun classes. Shortly after that,

Out of the Woods, continued she was thrilled to visit her newestfamily member, her sweet nephew Jordan.After finishing his MA in Scotland, DANKLARER spent the holidays in Wisconsinreviving The Santaland Diaries at TAP.Now he’s back in Glasgow living andworking before returning for a nicesummer in the Door. PAM KRIGERchoreographed My Fair Lady at theSkylight in November and directedLittle Shop of Horrors at Cardinal StritchUniversity. She also spent 10 days inBoston (grandchild happiness) andNew York in October and saw the afore-mentioned Hamilton, which she reportsis “worth the money and all the hype.”Along with his BMI Workshop collaboratorGary Apple, PAUL LIBMAN completedthe first draft and held a successfulreading of Sold, a screwball musicalcomedy set in the high-stakes world ofthe New York auction scene. Paul is alsoworking with longtime collaboratorDAVE HUDSON on a new small-castNorthern Sky show scheduled for areading this summer. TIM MCNURLENcontinues to work at a community bankin Madison to pay the bills. He alsoappeared in Arsenic & Old Lace andBucky & Lena Get Hitched in StoughtonWI, and performs at numerous seniorfacilities through the Dane County areaas The Minstrel of Memories. PAMELASKOCIR (NIESPODZIANI) is busyenjoying her newly married life toMichael and decorating their newhome. This past year, she was seen asAnne Egerman in A Little Night Music,performed in the musical Chess, andhad the pleasure of working with AdamPascal (of Rent fame) in a workshop for

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the Chess production. KAREN BROWN-LARIMORE wintered in Madison andrecently designed the costumes forMadison Opera’s production of LittleWomen. CLAUDIA RUSSELL had herappendix out on her husband Bruce’sbirthday, November 23rd. (Claudiasays, “Whoo hoo! Do I know how togive a gift or what?”). They are startingto work on their 5th CD this year, andwill perform at Fishstock with RICHHIGDON and Katie Dahl on July 10th.Claudia is also lead vocalist on BetterAngels, a single just released by DocHeide’s new studio band Zen of Thieves.The song, recorded in part at DAVEALLEY’S Utopia Soundwurks studio inSister Bay, includes performances byKAREN MAL, TIM LENIHAN, HANSCHRISTIAN, and legendary Memphisorganist REVEREND CHARLESHODGES (who’s recorded with AlGreen, Bonnie Raitt, and others). ERICLEWIS produced the single. He’s thenew bandleader for Thacker Mountain

Out of the Woods, continued Radio Hour in Oxford, MS (home ofWilliam Faulkner), an hour-long liveradio show featuring new musicians andauthors with readings, performances andinterviews. Eric has also started recordinga new CD that he hopes to have availablethis fall. LISA SCHLENKER reports thatshe’s been playing psychological pingpong in the scene design realm thisoff-season, moving from design of aminimal is t and highly dramaticproduction of Puccini’s tragic Tosca,through puppetry for Wizard of OZ, todesigning a playful environment forthe First Stage production of Just a LittleCritter Musical! with Molly Rhode atthe directing helm. Finally, STEWARTDAWSON tells us he spent the winterdoing exhausting research on hard-boiled eggs and finally finished hisbook, I'd Rather Live in a Museum than inLubbock. He inadvertently discovered that,no matter what method you use, hard-boiled eggs are ridiculously hard to peel.

Lumberjacks in Love, 2015 - photo by Len Villano

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Thank You to Our Sponsors!A huge thank you to our sponsors of this year’s shows. Their support ensures the future of Northern Sky while keeping our ticket prices affordable.

Season Sponor: The Cordon Family Foundation

Doctor! Docter!Sponsored byMinistry Door County Medical Center

No Bones About It!Sponsored by Coyote Roadhouse and Wilson’s Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor

When Butter Churns to GoldSponsored by Joe Jo’s Pizza and Gelato and Parkwood Lodge

Lumberjacks in LoveSponsored by Julie’s Park Café & Motel and Oneida Nation

Guys & DoesSponsored by

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

And If ElectedSponsored by Cookery Restaurant and Wine Bar

Tickets for all shows are now 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: To buy advance tickets visit our web site at www.NorthernSkyTheater.com

Or stop 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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Even though I grew upseeing a good deal oftheater, even though I’mfully aware of the positiveimpact it had on me, even

though I’ve worked in theatereducation and witnessed the powerful effectof theater on young people, I completelyunder-estimated how heavily the theaterwould shape my life as a parent.My daughter Silvia turned 4 this winter.

Her Grandma brought her out to theNorthern Sky amphitheater for the first timewhen she was 18 months old. The first songshe ever sang pieces of in her tiny squeakyvoice was “Something’s Not Finished Yet”from Muskie Love. All summer long, her mostrequested lullaby was “the motor boat song.”She still refers to Jeff Herbst as “the MuskieLove guy.” All that winter she asked me to sing

“Sweaty Pies” at bedtime. Try and makeSweaty Pies soothing! I challenge you! WhenSilvia had her first full-on terrible-twostantrum, the magical curative that finallycalmed her down was putting on the VictoryFarm soundtrack. At 2 and a half, when Silvia’s older cousin

asked her what she wanted to be when shegrew up, she answered confidently, andwithout hesitation, “Space Bear!” And Ifound myself singing “InterplanetaryEmissaries of Peace” at bedtime for nearly8 months.This winter’s lullaby has been “Good

Night, My Boy, Good Night” from StringsAttached (which we always switch to “mygirl.”) And Silvia’s newest parlor trick forfriends last Fall was to re-enact the spit-takescene between Slim and Dirty Bob in Lumberjacks.Northern Sky plays have become part of

her life’s timeline. These stories and songs

have seeped into my home-life in the off-season in a way that I never anticipated. AndI am thrilled to pieces about it. Because theseplays are a powerful learning tool for mydaughter. Every visit to the theater is anopportunity to learn empathy. PlaywrightLauren Gunderson, wrote in a blog thismonth:

Theater is like a gym for empathy. It’swhere we can go to build up the muscles ofcompassion, to practice listening and under-standing and engaging with people that arenot just like ourselves. We practice sittingdown, paying attention and learning fromother people’s actions. We practice caring.If you take a child to the theater, not only

will they practice empathy, they might alsolaugh uproariously, or come home singingabout science, or want to know more abouthistory, or tell you what happened at schooltoday, or spend all dinner discussing music,or learn how to handle conflict, or start be-coming future patrons of the arts.

Attending our plays, my daughter is learningand exercising valuable life skills. What ismost exciting to me is knowing that our experienceisn’t special. Thousands of families makeplay-going at Northern Sky part of theirsummer tradition. Thousands of children arecarrying these stories and songs with themthrough the year. And thousands of parentsare experiencing how these plays get woveninto the fabric of their family life. Sincebecoming a parent, my respect for what weare doing at Northern Sky has grown ten-fold. I didn’t truly understand the reach ofour impact before. It is a joy and an honor tocreate theater for the entire family. As I watchSilvia grow, I am living my life immersed inthe positive ripple effect of our plays. This hasmade me both a proud artist and a gratefulparent—a parent so happy to know that myfamily is just one of many that has madeNorthern Sky Theater a part of their journey.

Molly Rhode, Associate Artistic Director

The Power of Plays (and Playing!)

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• Advanced tickets for both summer & fall seasons may be purchased online, over the phone, or at our office.• 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.

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DD - 8:00

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

DD - 8:00

LIL - 6:00 DD - 8:00DD - 8:00 LIL - 6:00

DD - 8:00NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

NOSHOW

DD - 6:00NB - 8:30

DD - 6:00NB - 8:30

DD - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

BTG - 8:00

NOSHOW

DD - 8:00

DD - 8:00

DD - 8:00

27 28 29 30

31

DD - 8:00

DD - 8:00

DD - 8:00

DD - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 6:00NB - 8:30

DD - 8:00NOSHOW

DD - 6:00NB - 8:30

BTG - 8:00 DD - 8:00 LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

LIL - 8:00

JULY

AUG

Adult - $22 Student - $11 Child - $6 Reserved Seating - $7 additional

2016 Summer Schedule

World Premiere!Begins Wednesday, June 15 at 8:00 pm

Mondays at 6 pm; Wednesdays at 8 pmFridays at 8 pm

Celebrating its20th Anniversary!

Begins Thursday, June 16 at 6 pmThursdays at 6 pm; Saturdays at 8 pm

Begins Tuesday, June 21 at 8 pmTuesdays at 8 pm

LIL

BTG

DD

Begins Monday, June 20 at 8:30 pmMondays & Thursdays at 8:30 pm

NB

Your donation from May 1, 2016, through April 30, 2017, will be recognized in our 2017 playbill.

Name ________________________________________________________________________________________

Address ______________________________________________________________________________________

City ____________________________________________________ St ________ Zip ________________________

Phone _______________________________________ E-Mail __________________________________________

❑ 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.

BENEFACTOR CATERGORIES(For General Operating):❑ $25,000 & up - Belgian Angel❑ $10,000 to $24,999 - Victory Farmer❑ $5,000 to $9,999 - Spitfire Griller❑ $2,500 to $4,999 - Windjammer❑ $1,000 to $2,499 - Ice Fisher❑ $500 to $999 - Happy Lumberjack❑ $300 to $499 - Music Lover❑ $125 to $299 - Galactic Packer❑ $75 to $124 - Bone Dancer❑ $1 to $74 - Cheesehead

at Door Community AuditoriumSeptember 2 - October 15

at the Old Gibraltar Town HallSeptember 29 - October 16

2016 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

.N

orth

ern

Sky

Thea

ter i

s ded

icate

d to

mai

ntai

ning

sta

ndar

ds o

f arti

stic

exce

llenc

e; c

eleb

ratin

g an

d illu

min

atin

g th

e hu

man

con

ditio

n; re

achi

ng a

larg

eau

dien

ce o

f all

ages

, inc

ludi

ng fa

mili

es; a

nd

foste

ring

a hu

man

istic

wor

k en

viron

men

t with

ad

equa

te a

nd a

ppro

pria

te e

mot

iona

l, fin

ancia

l and

cre

ative

supp

ort f

or

all t

hose

ass

ocia

ted

with

us.

Mark Breseman

Katie Dahl

George Gorchynsky

Frederick J. Heide

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mary Seeberg

Cha

irpe

rson

Cynthia Stiehl

Vic

e-C

hair

pers

on

Thomas A. Moore

Trea

sure

r Michael J. McCoy

Carla Peterson

John Sawyer

Paula Wright-Keller

Northern Sky Theater, Inc.

PO Box 273

Fish Creek, WI 54212-0273