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The group gathered Tuesday in the Performing Arts Center at Winona State University, where they will stage “Macbeth” and “As You Like It” starting June 29.
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Members of the Great River Shakespeare Festival Company greet each other for the first time at their initial 2007 season meeting Tuesday at the Performing Arts Center Main Stage on the WSU campus. The cast and crew is about one half returning members and one half new members. (Photo by Kate Weber/Winona Daily News) |
There were reunions and introductions. The company is a mix of about half first-timers and half veterans.
Three-year veteran Carla Noack of Lanesboro is back. She says she tells newcomers that Winona is a great home for the festival.
“The land, the atmosphere — it’s just right for creativity,” Noack said.
Among the familiar faces is Doug Scholz-Carlson, although this year he has a new role as director of “Macbeth.” It will be his second time directing the play.
“I’ve always wanted to have another shot at it,” Scholz-Carlson said.
He’s stepping in for producing director and festival co-founder Alec Wild who announced in September that he accepted the position as head of the Masters of Fine Arts Directing Program at Illinois State University and artistic director of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival. Wild will return for a teacher’s workshop July 10-14.
Scholz-Carlson, who has acted each year, will also play Amiens in “As You Like It.”
Producing director Paul Barnes talked to the company about several of the changes the festival has gone through, including the resignation last year of producing director and festival co-founder Mark Hauck. A year ago, Jeff Stevenson became interim general manager for the festival and now serves as general manager.
Barnes said that he had thought about resigning at one time but quickly changed his mind.
“Too many people have worked too hard for me to walk away and further jeopardize the festival,” Barnes said.
Plus, he said, the festival’s success is something he wants to build on, with ticket sales up 15 percent last year bringing attendance to all ticketed events to more than 3,000.
“We are creating something larger than ourselves,” Barnes said. “We are here because Shakespeare connects to the human soul in a way that most of us are not in our daily lives.”
The cast will read through the plays on Wednesday and talk about the text. Rehearsals will be divided into two four-hour sessions each day with each focusing on one of the plays.
IF YOU GO
The Great River Shakespeare Festival runs June 29 through July 29 at Winona State University. Visit www.grsf.org for more information.
Contact Käri Knutson at kknutson@winonadailynews.com or (507) 453-3523.
To : " I just hope that" wrote on May 16, 2007 1:45 PM: