AFT Folktales Newsletter 2013

Go Jump in the Lake!Jeffrey Herbst, Artistic Director

Water, water everywhere at AFT as we launch our nauticallythemed summer season. All three summer shows, set

between 1876 and the present, have Lake Michigan and GreenBay in common.

Ahoy, Captain! Windjammers, by Robin Share and ClayZambo, makes its world premiere at AFT. This lovely show is setin 1876 on the Great Lakes, when sailing was the hallmark ofmaritime commerce. I have been working with the Academy ofNew Musical Theatre in Los Angeles for several years now andWindjammers is one of the results of that collaboration. The storycelebrates the courage of the brave-hearted jacktars who dared tomake maritime life their calling. There is romance, of course, withnewfound love between a captain and a woman with a secret. It’s

A newsletter from American Folklore Theatre • SPRING 2013

also a coming of age story about a boy, who navigates his way into young manhood.The cast includes Chad Luberger, Chase Stoeger, and Susie Duecker, all recreatingthe roles they played in last summer’s workshop. Joining them will be Doug Mancheskiand newcomers, Rhonda Rae Busch, Jennifer Shine, Nathan Fosbinder, and Eva Nimmer.Molly Rhode will direct and has already been working with set designer Lisa Schlenkerto figure out how we might theatrically represent a 19th century schooner on our AFTstage, keeping in mind that it has to go up and down with every performance. Dave Alleywill light it, and Karen Brown-Larimore, from Madison, will wear the costume designercloak for all three shows. Our pit will be partially chaired by AFT returnees, CraigMcClelland and Bergen Maurstad, along with first-timer Janet Anderson.

Rivet, Rosie! It seems to be the perfect year to bring back Loose Lips Sink Ships afterthe success last summer of the premiere of ourother WWII musical, Victory Farm. Loose Lips,with book and lyrics by Laurie Flanigan andJacinda Duffin and music by James Kaplan,premiered at AFT in 2001. It is the touching,funny story of how WWII affected the lives ofpeople in Sturgeon Bay with men going off tofight overseas and women staying behind to

pick up the work in the shipyards and contribute indispensably to the war effort. Loveand romance are lost and found, people’s lives are changed forever, and, as with any war,not everyone makes it home. Through it all the characters maintain their senses of humorand our trio of writers have given them some truly hilarious moments amidst the realitiesof war. The cast will be entirely new this time around with Jennifer Shine, Chase Stoeger,Lee Becker, Molly Rhode, and Chad Luberger taking on the roles of Ann, Eddie, Marty,Roxie and Jack. Returning intern Kiersten Frumkin will play the youngest sibling, Trudy,joined by new intern, Teddy Warren as Eric. Stewart Dawson will fit the original set byAndi Blady for the stage and Pam Kriger will once again take the helm as director. ColinWelford provides Musical Supervision as well as orchestration for this show, and JoshAlley returns as soundman extraordinaire.

Go, Pack!Muskie Love is back and thatmeans DNR Doug will be on the prowl.This delightful retelling of Shakespeare’sMuch Ado About Nothing was the firstmusical penned by Dave Hudson andPaul Libman. AFT presented the worldpremiere in 2004. Jim Maronek’s delightful set will be Ben, Bea, Roy, Sara, Claude andDNR Doug’s playground. Doug Mancheski and Lee Becker will re-create their originalroles with Molly Rhode and me joining them as Bea and Ben. Chase Stoeger and AFTreturnee Susie Duecker will play the young lovers. Pam Kriger returns as director. Daveand Paul are busy penning a new number that will have the Packer-loving Sarah fawning

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Go Jump in the Lake, continued from the front page

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over doe-eyed Aaron Rodgers. With good-humored digs at our “Illinipution” neighborsto the south, Muskie Love remains an AFT fan favorite.

Plant it indoors! I’ve already heard from a number of people who saw Victory Farmlast summer in the park say how much they are lookingforward to seeing it again in the Door Community Auditorium.There are certain AFT shows that light a fuse and immediatelyare launched into the canon of favorites. Victory Farm certainlyrocketed into that category. In the fall of 2008, Katie Dahl andEmilie Coulson approached me about doing a reading of ashow that they had an initial draft of called Sweetie Pies. Thestory was based in Door County during WWII and centeredon the Mueller family orchard and a group of POWs fromGermany sent to take up the migrant work due to the shortageof labor caused by the war. The show gestated for a while withintermittent work and readings between then and 2011. The

title changed first to Cherryland, USA and then finally to Victory Farm. James Valcq joinedthe writing team as composer and from there the show went to a workshop in 2011 to itsspot in our 2012 line-up as another AFT world premiere. The show has tremendous heartand plenty of humor as the story of two worlds unfolds and barriers are broken. Wehave a terrific cast returning from the production last summer: Molly Rhode and DougMancheski will play Americans, Edna and Jack; Dan Klarer, Chad Luberger, and SteveKoehler will once again delight as the German trio, with the role of Dottie still to becast. Jon Hegge returns to direct the show. He will be working with Andrea Heilman asset designer and Dave Alley as lighting designer. Neen Rock will again be ProductionStage Manager and prop designer for the season.

It promises to be a wet (only figuratively, we hope) and wonderful season.

See you under the stars!

Go Jump in the Lake, continued from page 2

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“Must be a prettycushy gig in thewinter, eh?” I’vegiven up trying toconvince folks I’mnot the MaytagRepair Man of

the non-profit worldcome November. Truth is, during

the performance season, it’s all routineand reaction and putting out fires.Administratively speaking, winter is ourcreative season – full of planning (short-term and long), marketing, scheduling,designing, grant writing, fundraisinglobbying and “sharpening the saw” so tospeak. The off-season is the only time wehave to really connect with other artsprofessionals to learn and bring homethe latest, best practices for running theplace. And we also work to keep AFT andwhat we do in the public eye. You caughtme on my soapbox this month…Tina Quigley (Executive Director of

Mosaic Arts in Green Bay, WI) and I wererecently invited by Arts Wisconsin to givetest imony together in support ofincreased funding for the arts to the JointFinance Committee in reaction to theproposed 2013-2015 budget for the Stateof Wisconsin. Here are some excerpts…Wisconsin is home to 12,953 arts

related businesses that employ 49,526people with full - t ime jobs. Theseorganizations comprise a $535 millionannual industry, providing nearly $65million in local and state tax revenues.These businesses play an important rolein building and sustaining economicvitality in our communities. And yet, Wisconsin ranks 46th in the

nation in per-capita funding for the arts– behind Alabama and Mississippi.

Our neighbor to the west, Minnesota,ranked #1. The arts improve the quality of life in

our cities and towns. They enhancecommunity development, spur urbanrenewal, attract new businesses, andcreate an environment that attractsskilled and educated workers. In tougheconomic times, cities compete aggressivelyto attract and retain businesses. From anemployer’s perspective, a strong arts andcultural sector and a creative workforceare critical factors in attracting andkeeping businesses. Last year AFT was awarded the first-ever

Wisconsin Department of Tourism -Governor’s Award for Arts, Culture andHeritage. We clearly get the link betweenthe business of our art and tourism. Overhalf of AFT’s typical audience is fromoutside the state of Wisconsin. Door County is home to dozens of cul-

tural and arts education organizations. Asampling of just nine Door Countynon-profit arts companies, AFT included,represents 2012 revenue of just under $6Million – these are businesses that in turnsupport 487 Full Time Equivalent jobsand generate $1.5 Million in local andstate government revenue. Excluding thecost of event attendance, these businessesleverage a remarkable $4.7 Million inadditional collateral spending in thecounty by attendees and participants –spending that pumps vital revenue intolocal restaurants, hotels, retail stores andother businesses. We are also home toscores of entrepreneurs who make theirliving as artists, arts educators and artsadministrators. This small sample is fromjust one county out of the state’s seventy-two.

Dave Maier, Managing Director

continued on next page

Door County Arts Mean Business!

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AFT relies on, and is always looking for, fansready to step up and lend a hand! To make ashow go, we need volunteers to usher, sellmerchandise and concessions, assist with trafficflow in the parking lot, assist patrons to ourhandicapped seating area, and to drive the golfcart shuttle. All told, there are more than 80opportunities to volunteer at our shows eachweek – that means you have about 1000 chancesto volunteer over the course of the summer!

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 PeninsulaState Park for a week andwant to volunteer atevery show during theirstay, and volunteerswho help at just oneor two shows. In otherwords, we’re looking for you!

What qualifications do we require? The mainrequirement is enthusiasm about AFT! As a showvolunteer, you’re almost always the first represen-tative of AFT that a patron sees. We need you tobe a friendly AFT face for our guests and to beable to stand for about an hour and a half –those are about the only tools you need, we’lltrain you on any task we give you.

If you’d like to volunteer or just to get more in-formation, we want to hear from you! Just tell us,“I want to volunteer at AFT!” in person at the AFToffice, over the phone at (920) 854-6117 x101, oremail Ann at [email protected].

Want to Share in the Applause?Become an AFT Volunteer!

My two sons, who are now pursuingfuture careers in science, no doubtbenefitted greatly by educationalexperiences filled with art and music andliterature. I’m sure most of your kids haveenjoyed much the same. While theydidn’t aspire to become actors or paintersor musicians, involvement in the artshelped shape them into well-roundedcommunity members with 21st centuryskills for the world and workforce.A broad arts education is essential to

the inspiration of new generations ofartists, as well as to the development ofnew generations of appreciative andcritical audiences. From a businessperspective alone, these criticalcomponents – early education andexposure to the arts, and new generationsof art ists and audiences - form aninterdependent loop that needs to benurtured and sustained and supported for

Arts Mean Business, continued this industry to prosper. Therefore, weshould all be concerned that our state isnear the bottom of the nation when itcomes to per-capita funding of the arts -that we are, in effect, beginning to starvethe goose, so to speak. The Wisconsin arts industry supports

jobs, generates government revenue, andhelps drive our vital tourism industry. Ipersonally hope that we put creativity towork for Wisconsin and support increasedgovernment investment in the arts andcultural sector to generate tax revenues,jobs, and a creativity-based economy. Ifyou feel the same, I’d encourage you tomake your opinion known to your variousrepresentatives. The door is always open, and I’m ever

eager to hear your feedback, youropinions and your suggestions. I lookforward to seeing you “under the stars”this coming summer!

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Forty years ago thissummer, I had the thrillof performing on thePeninsula State Parkstage for the first time.UW-Green Bay, where I

was a junior, had recentlylaunched a troupe called the HeritageEnsemble to bring history alive via folksongs. Having taught myself to playMom’s guitar listening to scratchy Peter,Paul & Mary records, I auditioned andsomehow landed a spot. So began thefinest summer I’d ever had.We stayed in a mansion on the Fish

Creek bluff, magnificent and a bit spooky.During the days, I sat in my gabled roomupstairs reading about the psychology ofconsciousness and exploring meditationmethods. But by night, we got to standunder the stars and sing in deliciousharmony about settling the Wisconsinwilderness. Nobody knows who wrotethose songs, but their earnest melodieswere completely irresistible. Just asimpressive was the Amphitheater–closeenough for campers to come on foot, yetfar enough into the woods that you feltlike a guest in Nature’s home. It hardlymattered that the other guests included amosquito or two. As Lee Becker put it, wedo Deep Woods Off-Broadway.After many summers of folk music

revues, we began exploring book musicalsin the early 1990’s with the birth of AFT.Nothing I’ve ever done has proved moresatisfying than dreaming up a show,collaborating with pals to write it, thenappearing in it under bright lights in ourpiney cathedral–in red long johns, no less.

On the rare occasion that I’ve been able tosit in the audience, I feel like I’m in aVonnegut novel transported into somemagical alternative reality where topnotchmusical comedy shimmers to life in themiddle of a forest.This summer will be the first in over

three decades where I won’t be onstage inthe Park. There just isn’t the right role inany of this year’s shows. But to celebratethe 40th anniversary year, I’ll be hosting aspecial concert at the Door CommunityAuditorium on Tuesday, July 23. Anall-star cast (e.g., Eric Lewis, Katie Dahl,Claudia Russell, Chris Irwin, SteveKoehler, Laurie Flanigan, Holly Feldman,Craig Konowalski, hopefully Karen Maland more) will sing lead vocals on songsI’ve written over the last couple of decades. Yes, I’ll surely miss seeing your happy

faces beaming up at us actors this summer.But perhaps the best thing about this turnof events is that I’ll get to be out theremore in the audience grinning myself.‘Cuz for me, AFT has always been likethose folk melodies we sang decades ago:completely irresistible. See you underthe stars.

Doc Heide, Co-founder of AFT, Playwright, Artistic Advisor

Taking a Break…

Songs of the Inland Seas, 2001

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Follow AFTers Out of the WoodsHere’s a sampling of what AFT folks have

been doing during the off-season, in noparticular order: MOLLY RHODE directedSound of Music at the Skylight Music Theatre,performed in The Clockmaker at Next ActTheatre, and in Pump Boys and Dinettes atSkylight. Her husband CHASE STOEGERgot great reviews for a set design he did forthe Sunset Playhouse, and appeared in JeevesIn Bloom at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre.Together they were thrilled to celebratedaughter Silvia’s first birthday in Decemberand watch her master the mechanics ofwalking. STEVE KOEHLER played CaptainVon Trapp in the aforementioned productionof Sound of Music and appeared in Sleepwalkingwith Morningstar Productions and in JimmyKaplan and Friends at Sunset Playhouse. Alsofeatured in JIMMY KAPLAN’s show wasKATIE DAHL, who spent the winter workingwith DAVE ALLEY on the Victory Farm castalbum before touring Minnesota, Iowa, andCalifornia. Katie’s co-author EMILIE COULSONsays she’s been “running writing programsat San Francisco public schools through 826Valencia and am especially excited aboutour ongoing partnership with AmericanConservatory Theater, through which wehelp high school students write and performtheir own work on ACT's stage. I also hostedKatie Dahl for a house concert in Januaryduring her CA tour!” Director PAM KRIGERwent to Boston for her son’s wedding andto China to visit family. Her most interestingproject was working with RenaissanceTheatreworks and Cardinal Stritch University toco-produce Irina’s Vow, which she describesas “an amazing play about a Polish-Catholicwoman who saved 12 Jews during theholocaust by hiding them in the basementof a German general’s house.” PAUL LIBMANand DAVE HUDSON are working on TheStation, a new show for AFT inspired by therise and fall of the American passenger train.Paul has also written a musical, currently

titled Pardon My French, with ChicagoanLauren Taslitz, which is scheduled for areading at Chicago Dramatists in May. WithMark Sutton-Smith, Dave wrote Off to Olympus,based on Greek myths, which premiered athis wife’s theatre company The Actors Garden.Performed by more than 150 children overthe summer, it was a joyful show and afitting tribute to Mark, the composer, whopassed away in March 2013 after a longbattle with cancer. CLAUDIA RUSSELL isfinishing her new CD, All Our Luck is Changing,to be released in late spring. She’ll be touringthe Midwest with husband Bruce Kaplan inJuly and October. She shared the stage withCHRIS IRWIN and DOC HEIDE in AFT’sHome for the Holidays at the Gibraltar TownHall in December. Chris is moving to LAwhere he’ll be a pilot. Doc was Fall Com-mencement Speaker at his alma mater UW-Green Bay (despite having his appendixremoved a few days before) and got hisarticle on charisma and the psychotherapistaccepted by the Journal of PsychotherapyIntegration. He and LEE BECKER continuedwork on their prequel to Belgians in Heaven,which will solve the mystery of whereMildred the Chicken came from. Lee playedSanta in Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer atFirst Stage Children’s Theatre and becamefather to darling son Wilbur in October.ERIC LEWIS has been touring with JasonPetty playing steel guitar, acoustic guitar, tictac bass and singing back ups in threedifferent shows, Hank and My Honky TonkHeroes, Country Royalty: A Tribute to HankWilliams and Patsy Cline, and The Swingin’Cowboys: The Music of the American West. AFTco-founder GERALD PELRINE writes:“Finding ‘computer recording’ a grim jestconcocted by Irish advertising executives,Gerald Pelrine returns to muttering andsarcasm as principal forms of artistic expression.From cacophony to calamity, all the way tocatastrophe at soundcloud.com/gerald-pelrine.”

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DAN KLARER performed in The SantalandDiaries at Third Avenue Playhouse, filmed asketch comedy show episode in MA, andworked for the Madison Ballet with AFTstage manager NEEN ROCK. This summerhe’ll be in Greater Tuna at TAP with RyanSchabach and then Victory Farm in the Fall.ALLIE BABICH is in her sophomore year oftraining at the U of Minnesota/GuthrieTheater BFA Actor Training Program. Sheperformed multiple characters in a productionof Much Ado About Nothing and this summerwill be in a melodrama called Sweet Revengeon the Minnesota Centennial Showboat.JON HEGGE appeared in wife LAURIEFLANIGAN’s new musical Tales Along theMinnesota Trail at the Minnesota Zoo. Lauriejoined the original Twin Cities cast of 20Days to Find a Wife for a staged reading inthe Ephraim Town Hall this past October.Their daughter Celia is now in the secondgrade and was just named Student of theMonth. Laurie is collaborating with JAMESVALCQ on a new musical about hoboescalled Boxcar commissioned by AFT. Jamescontinues as Managing Director at ThirdAvenue Playhouse, as well as designing thesets and lighting for all of TAP’s Stage DoorTheatre Company productions. In December,TAP’s StageKids premiered his new adapta-tion of the children's holiday classic TheBirds’ Christmas Carol. This summer he looksforward to directing The Glass Menagerie andThe 39 Steps for Stage Door. RANDYSCHMELING has been touring Wisconsinand Minnesota this spring in Power Balladz,which also performs monthly at ChanhassenDinner Theatre in Minneapolis. This summerhe’ll be in Urinetown at The Jungle Theatre.Meanwhile, SCOTT WAKEFIELD is onBroadway in Hands on a Hard Body. Inbetween throwing pots at Plum BottomPottery, CHAD LUBERGER appeared inAlmost, Maine last fall and this spring at TAP.Fellow clay specialist JOHN HANSEN ran

his pottery school Mudslingers outsideBoulder, Colorado. This winter DOUGMANCHESKI filmed a Western thrillercalled Appleton with a cast and crew fromLos Angeles, and appeared in Love Letters atTAP. BO JOHNSON directed The Bible: TheComplete Word of God Abridged, Three Days ofRain, and Out to Lunch: A Garden VarietyShow. He also produced and performed inWho Killed Santa and appeared in Next Act’sIt’s a Wonderful Life. Bo won this year’s BestLocal Stage Actor Award from ExpressMilwaukee. KAREN MAL adopted anewborn baby girl: Coralina Summer Mal.Set designer JIM MARONEK writes: “In aheroic effort to protect and preserve LibertyGrove’s rural roads, my wife, Carole, and Iattended far too many governmentalmeetings at ungodly hours of the day andnight and wrote on enough paper to consumethe trees we are trying to save. A HeritageRoads Program has emerged which is thelight at the end of the tunnel of canopy treesthat make Door County so special. OurNorthern Door Neighbors Association hugsnew members as well as old trees.” ANNBIRNSCHEIN performed with thePeninsula Symphonic Band’s ChristmasConcert on trumpet, and moved to SisterBay. STEWART DAWSON tells us, “mywinter was filled to the point of overflowingwith absolutely wondrous accomplishmentstoo numerous to list here. Getting out ofbed this morning was one of them.” Lastly,two members of the Alley Family had goodyears. AMBER ALLEY got married last fall,is now director of Mount Horeb HighSchool’s drama club, and will run a half-marathon in May. And CALLIE HILL(MILLER) is completing her second year atPrinceton Theological Seminary in NewJersey, where she lives with her husbandBrent. This summer she is looking forwardto participating in a chaplaincy internshipat a local hospital.

Follow AFTers, continued

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American FolkloreTheatre. If you are likeme, and you grew upsitting in our out-door amphitheaterin Peninsula State

Park, the name alone canconjure up a whole slew of emotions andcan even awaken your senses. You might beimmediately transported to a beautifulsummer evening: the feel of cedar beneathyour feet, the smell of a campfire, the creakof the wind through the pines, and theanticipation of witnessing a magicalperformance beneath a canopy of stars. It’sa powerful thing when just hearing thename American Folklore Theatre can bringyou swiftly back to your most cherishedchildhood memories.That’s why those for whom AFT is a

household name might be appalled by thefollowing statement, but the truth is, thename “American Folklore Theatre” can besomewhat, well, challenging. I know itmight be hard to imagine, so here are justa few of the things we’ve heard from thosediscerning visitors who have never beenwitness to the magic that is AFT: “AmericanFolklore Theatre? Isn’t that a wing at TheSmithsonian?” Or this, “Well, yes, I’ve seenthe signs for American Folklore Theatre,but I just thought you were a troupe ofbanjo pickers in the park.” Or even thisanalysis offered by Ron Peluso, ArtisticDirector, of what was then called The GreatAmerican History Theatre, "You might bethe only theatre with a worse name thanours." They've since changed theirs to TheHistory Theatre. Yes, by comparison, AFT just doesn’t

carry the prestige of names like TheLooking Glass Theatre or The Rialto. Don’tget me wrong, I mean, alphabeticallyspeaking, American Folklore Theatre isabout as good as you can get. Open justabout any Door County marketingpublication and there at the top of thepage, you’ll see AFT as the very first listing,by default. But simply being listed firstonly gets you so far.Perhaps at this point, a history lesson is

in order. In 1990, when Doc Heide, GeraldPelrine and Fred Alley, all long-timemembers of AFT’s predecessor, TheHeritage Ensemble, helped the organizationmove to a new level of professionalism, thegroup’s name was changed to AmericanFolklore Theatre to reflect their intent tobroaden its scope while still preserving itsroots in the traditions of populist culture. The founders expected that we would be

a more expansive version of the HeritageEnsemble. They loved the Ensemble-styleshows and the folklore that spoke of thepeople’s own stories and music. As Doc putit, “I never imagined we would be doing somany of the type of shows we do now —book musicals with composed scores inthe Broadway style. If we had set out tocreate a theatre company that wouldproduce more than 40 new musicals,entertaining over 40,000 patrons each year,well, I expect we would have failed miserably.”He also added, “I would point out thatwe’re not the only entity that has outgrownour appellation. I’m sure if AT&T had it todo over, they would probably leave“Telegraph” out of their name.”So, yes, our current name is deceiving.

You simply can’t believe how good it is

Holly Feldman, Manager of Marketing & Audience Development

Don’t Let That “Folklore” Fool You…

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until you actually go. That explains why, inall of our surveys, we find that ourstrongest marketing tool is word of mouth.Friends tell their friends, grandparents taketheir grandkids, generations of familiespass on the tradition of sharing time at ourperformances each year. Actually, whenyou think about it, that sounds a lot likethe very definition of folklore. Add to that our setting deep in a state

park, keeping our ticket prices low, andwelcoming kids and you’ve got somethingof a hidden treasure. Very few of our showsnow include traditional folk songs or lore.But for all of its downsides, there is some-thing sweet about our name. As Doc put it,“It might make us work a little harder totell our story. As long as we have “folklore”in it, we'll always sound a little old-fashioned, and in a sense we are. Who elsewould try to do something this crazy inthis day and age? Perform outdoors in alocation guaranteed to make us seemhumble? Charge so little that everybodycan come? In an era when the theatreaudience is steadily older, we draw old andyoung and everybody in between. In anera where theatre can barely survivewithout corporate underwriting, we are

Don’t Let That “Folklore” Fool You…, continued

beholden to the people.”As Artistic Director Jeff Herbst mused,

“It's somewhat ironic that, by virtue of thefact that all we do is completely originalmaterial, we may be the theatre companymost disqualified to use the word folkloreto describe us!”Doc went on, “Folklore is like hash.

Nobody writes it, it just accumulates. Andnobody composes folk songs. They gethanded down over generations and refinedby the personality of the next person torecall them. Only the strongest tunessurvive. Our shows aren’t exactly folklore,but we do tell stories that real people careabout. The “folk revival” is 50 years past,but we keep its light burning every nightunder the stars.”So until we get full board approval to

change our name to something like: “TheWorld’s Greatest Outdoor Theatre Company”,you can continue to call us AmericanFolklore Theatre. Just don’t think of it somuch as a “name” as a “state of mind.” Orat the very least, take the recommendationfrom Warren Gerds in his most recentreview of our 2012 World Premiere,Victory Farm, and “Don’t let that ‘folklore’fool you…”

Friday, July 199:30-12:00 pm or 1:00 pm-3:30 pm

2013 Creative Kids theatre workshop sessions takeplace on and around the AFT stage in PeninsulaState Park and are led by AFT Company Members.

For children ages 5-16. Register early! Limitednumber of children accepted. Fee is $25 per childor a maximum of $60 for 3 siblings or more.

Creative Kids Day

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Thank You to Our Sponsors!A huge thank you to our sponsors for this year’s shows.

Their support helps so much with the costs of putting a show on thestage at AFT while still keeping our ticket prices affordable.

Windjammerssponsored by

The Cordon Family Foundation and Door County Maritime Museum

Loose Lips Sink Shipssponsored by

Peninsula Publishing & Distribution, True North Real Estateand Wilson's Restaurant & Ice Cream Parlor

Muskie Lovesponsored by

Baylake Bank and Julie’s Park Café & Motel

Victory Farmsponsored by

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

Tickets for all shows, including our fall season, are on sale now. Reserved seats sell for an additional $6 per seat. And of course, there willalways be 350 general admission tickets for sale at the box office at the

park 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.FolkloreTheatre.comTo order AFT tickets on your smartphone or iPad,

download our free mobile app today! Search “American Folklore” at AppleApp 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 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Order via the phone, 920-854-6117: Telephone sales hours 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday thru Saturday, June thru October. Visa and MasterCard accepted.

Please review us on TripAdvisor.com for thoseunfamilar with the AFT experience!

You can also follow AFT on:

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When Boyo, the younghero of Windjammers, isabout to sail out for thefirst time on a GreatLakes schooner, his

mother tries to persuadeher bookish son not to go. “You’re not,” sheexplains delicately, “you’re not that kindof boy.”I always laugh when I hear this line; I feel

for Boyo. When I tell people I’m writing amusical for AFT about nineteenth centuryGreat Lakes sailors, they give me the samequizzical look that Boyo’s ma gives him.“You’re not,” they want to say, “that kind ofwriter.”I suppose I’m not. For one thing, I am a

city gal from L.A., a Californian. (I confess.Before working on this show, I would havebeen hard-pressed to confidently locateWisconsin on a map. Never mind DoorCounty.) And, like Boyo, I don’t have sailingin my blood. I did take a Disney cruise once,but I don’t think that counts.To be successful on his voyage, Boyo arms

himself with sailing books and manuals; forme it has been maps of shipping routes anddiagrams of schooner rigging. But what weboth discover is that it isn’t about what weknow going in that defines our voyage. No,it is the wonderful people we meet, theroundabouts and detours, the stories andthe amazing places along the way. In short,it is all about the journey. And the journeyto bring Windjammers to the AFT 2013summer season has been an amazing one.The Windjammer journey began in 2008,

when Jeff Herbst reached out to the Academyfor New Musical Theatre (ANMT) in Los An-geles and encouraged bookwriters there todevelop ideas for future AFT productions. As

I recall, I put forth at least half a dozenpitches for AFT, but not one made the cut.In fact, it was Jeff who suggested somethingto do with nineteenth century Great Lakesshipping. Delving into that history led me first to

the folklorist Ivan Walton, who in the 1930sspent his summers tramping around theGreat Lakes collecting songs and storiesfrom the old sailors still living there. Ivanhad focused on the seamen of the sailingvessels, schooners mostly, who hauledfreight across the Great Lakes during thegolden age of sailing. These sailors’ liveswere raucous and exciting, but their storieswere often heartbreaking too. Thousands ofvessels and lives were lost in the lakes. Andmost of the old fellows who survived wereleft penniless and with little to show fortheir toil or the risks they had taken. So thefirst draft of Windjammers was sort of ahistory lesson with Ivan Walton as a narratorpaying tribute to these men, telling storiesand introducing a revue of sailing chanteysand folk songs.I should add that up to this point I was a

writer without a composer. ANMT partneredme with composer Clay Zambo – a memberof the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop inNew York, sister workshop to ANMT – Ithink because he was willing to work withexisting folk music. Sort of like an arrangedmarriage, I would email Clay the lyrics andtunes, and (happily and with great relief) hewould email me back beautiful arrangementswith rousing harmonies and choruses. Inthis way, Clay and I wrote the entire firstdraft of Windjammers without having evermet.With encouragement from ANMT and Jeff

Herbst, Windjammers gradually began to

WindjammersRobin Share, Playwright

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make the journey from a folk music revueto a true book musical. There are newcharacters now to tell the story of findingthe courage to face ones fears and open onesheart. Still, there was something we were

missing. “Come to Door County. Come toAFT and see for yourself,” Jeff Herbstsuggested. So in the summer of 2010, wedid. Like proverbial ships passing in thenight, Clay and I came and went at differenttimes, but each of us, on our own, fell inlove with the place. After all my research, what I had been

missing was seeing the lake lapping upagainst the shoreline, walking the deck ofthe Denis Sullivan (very like the deck of theschooner in Windjammers), and looking outover the water at night when the moon wasfull. I sat in the theatre after a performanceand texted Clay, “This place is magic.”Sitting in that theatre with the smell of pine,

and the dusk fadingto darkness, and themusic washing overyou, that is justmagic. There is noother word for it.Last summer we

returned to AFT toworkshop Windjammers. As writers, Clayand I both felt we had never been treatedmore respectfully and appreciatively. Thededication of the staff and actors, the amazingopportunities to develop characters andideas, the generosity of ideas and space fromdirector, Molly Rhode, and artistic directorJeff, and the inimitable stage manager NeenRock, all contributed to the development ofWindjammers into a show full of humor andheart.Soon Windjammers will come to life on

the stage of AFT in 2013. The journey mayhave been a long and winding one, butthat’s what makes the ending so satisfying.

Windjammers, continued

Clay Zambo

2013 Windjammer’s Workshop in Milwaukee.Clockwise from top: Colin Welford, Jeff Herbst, Clay Zambo, Molly Rhode, Robin Share, Susan Weidmeyer, Samantha Sostarich, Beth Mulkeron, Chris Feireisen, Chad Luberger.

Preliminary Windjammers set modelby designer Lisa Schlenker.

14

• Advanced tickets for both summer & fall seasons may be purchased online, the phone, at our office, or 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 – we request reservations be made for this.

• Rain policy – AFT 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.FolkloreTheatre.com

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Lake Michigan, 1876. A coming of age voyage of courage andadventure amid high waves, fresh air,

legend, and song.Begins Wednesday, June 12 at 8:30 pm

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

The Home Front - Sturgeon Bay Shipyards.A buoyant comedy celebrating the spirit of women during WWII.

Begins Wednesday, June 19 at 6 pmWednesdays at 6 pm; Thursdays at 8 pm;

Saturdays at 8:30 pm

A laugh-a-minute fishtale set on the shores of Green Bay

Begins Thursday, June 13 at 8 pmTuesdays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 6 pm

Adult - $19 Teen - $9 Child - $5.50Reserved Seating Available - $6 additional

2013 Summer Schedule

Your donation from May 1, 2013, through April 30, 2014, will be recognized in our 2014 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 American Folklore Theatre 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: AFT - PO Box 273, Fish Creek,WI 54212 Thank You!

With your help… We make amazing things happen!

The AFT Endowment Fund, managed by theDoor County Community Fund, helps to ensureAFT's long-term financial health and stability.

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

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

The Fred Alley New Musical Fund is the creativeengine behind all of AFT’s new play development.

August 30 - October 19Door County, 1944.

A tale of family, forgiveness, and the fruits of our labor.

“2012 Top Ten List” - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

at Door Community AuditoriumAdult - $27 Children (12 & under) - $13

ALL SEATS RESERVED

2013 FALL SHOW SCHEDULE

Our Mission

The

miss

ion

of A

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Folkl

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eleb

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man

con

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and

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appr

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mot

iona

l, fin

ancia

l and

cre

ative

supp

ort f

or

all t

hose

ass

ocia

ted

with

us.

Kenneth C. Boyd

Mark Breseman

Frederick J. Heide

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Mary Seeberg

Cha

irperson

Cynthia Stiehl

Vice-Cha

irperson

Thomas A. Moore

Treasurer

Barbara Gould

Secretary Carla Peterson

Tim Stone

Paula Wright-Keller

American

Folklore Th

eatre, In

c.PO

Box

273

Fish Creek, W

I 54

212-02

73