Blog Archives
Theatre: Bringing The Voice Back
Stuttering was what my childhood was all about. My brain zoomed about like a pinball and my mouth struggled with all its might to keep up. Conversating became an impossibility. I often didn’t speak at all. This hushed lifestyle landed me in special education for a year or two. They couldn’t figure out what was causing my quiet demeanor. I forced myself to speak in order to earn my place in regular classes, but the stutter remained.
In the third grade, I was selected to read aloud from a story. One of the characters was an elderly woman. I put on a weathered voice and changed my body shape to match. There was no hint of a stutter. Intrigued by this phenomenon, the teacher suggested to the director of the school’s Christmas pageant that I be the leading lady. The stutter faded away while I was performing.
I caught the acting bug and started taking classes at Waukesha Civic Theatre. That led to other classes in the community. I had the time of my life and the effects were visible at school. I became a social butterfly. I dressed in elaborate outfits and stopped caring about what people thought. If I could speak in front of people, what was keeping me from bantering with people in real life?
Then middle school arrived. I challenge you to find one person who considers middle school their glory years. I personally was bullied, which led to my first bout of undiagnosed depression. I halted my acting. I didn’t want anybody to make fun of me for something I loved so deeply.
When I got to high school, I came back out of my shell. I put on the character of the clown. That’s what propelled me through the first three years of high school. The year that changed the trajectory of my life was that third year. I didn’t know I had Bipolar Disorder yet, but the signs were surfacing more than ever. I spent the first few months of that school year manic. I didn’t eat regularly and sometimes didn’t eat altogether. I spent my school days putting forth obscene amounts of energy trying to please and entertain everybody. There was this overwhelming mission to never let anybody feel the pain like the kind I was pushing down inside myself.
I soon ran myself down to the point of falling ill with pneumonia. This sent me into another deep depression. I laid in bed everyday playing solitaire on the computer, lonely and miserable. When I got back to school, I threw myself into the arts, and felt better. It was the only element of my life keeping me afloat. In addition to painting, I acted through the school’s Forensics team and Waukesha Civic Theatre’s A.C.T. Live!
Although the arts helped me during that year, I couldn’t keep the mania at bay. I was sent to a psychiatric hospital on May 25, 2011. This was the beginning of the most arduous summer of my life. As they experimented with the meds, I crashed into a deep and dark depression. It takes forever to get patients on the right medications. The brain chemistry of people with my condition is unique to each patient, so it takes time to find the right medicine regimen. The highlight of the summer of 2011 was working with Dynamite Comedy, which was comprised of kids that had met in A.C.T. Live! I wrote a skit for the sketch comedy show. Unfortunately, my anxiety kept me from performing with them. I still went to the show and they pulled me onstage. I felt welcomed. I also took an improv class at the end of that hellish summer. It felt rewarding to actually complete something.
Shortly after the showcase, I was put on Prozac and nothing else. My new doctor was considering changing my diagnosis to a mood disorder, which is less extreme than Bipolar Disorder. This medicine change sent me into psychosis. I spent the last week of summer break in the hospital. The school counselor suggested I refrain from coming back to school. She said that maybe I should take online classes. I refused. I didn’t want to be afraid of facing everybody.
Thank God I went back. Yes, the first few weeks were difficult. Then the school’s resident drama king came into my life – Ryan Albrechtson, who now runs Outskirts Theatre Co. One day after school, he pulled me into his car and told me to try out for the school play – The Hobbit. He was student directing and thought it would be beneficial for me. I was cast as Gollum. It wasn’t the limelight that made my senior year the best of my high school experience. It was being part of a group of kids who didn’t see me as being any crazier than them.
When I graduated high school, I didn’t know what to do with myself. After I realized I wasn’t ready for college, I dropped out and wrote my first novel – Hey, Joey Journal. It’s a story about a senior in high school simultaneously dealing with mental illness and high school theatre. The book was released in September 2015. I wrote the first few chapters in Waukesha Civic Theatre’s dressing room while performing Our Town.
Without my experience with mental illness and theatre, my book wouldn’t have happened.
Bipolar Disorder is a lifelong disease. There is no cure for it. As I write this, I am fresh out of another hospital stay, this time for depression. One of the things I had to look forward to when I was in the hospital was my weekly Adult Improv class taught by Doug Jarecki at Waukesha Civic Theatre. I was scared to go the day I was released for obvious reasons, but I’m so glad I went. Being given the chance to act and play with other silly adults was the brightest part of an otherwise taxing week.
My voice has come back because of acting multiple times in my life, and I feel incredibly grateful.
This is why we need to keep the arts alive. There is so much stigma surrounding mental health. Being involved in theatre has taught me that everybody has a little bit of crazy in them, but that’s what makes us so damn entertaining.
Colleen June Glatzel
Crafting The House Without A Christmas Tree: A Playwright’s Perspective
The reasons for wanting to adapt The House Without A Christmas Tree were numerous. Great story, complex characters, a father and daughter reconnecting….I could go on and on. The trick was in HOW to adapt it. Can you take what is there and expand it to a full play without losing the essence of the story? Well, I think you can and I think we did.
John and Kelli Cramer were a big part of this. They are the ones who introduced me to this story. It was one of their favorite holiday stories, and their affection for it was infectious. I read the book, I watched the TV movie, and I was hooked. I just loved it. But I did have some concerns.
First, there was not a lot of attention given to any character outside of Grandma, Dad, and Addie. The characters that were there simply did not have much to do. In order to become a Mainstage production, it needed some of these peripheral characters to become more prominent. The students in Addie’s class, for starters. I wanted to see a little more of the classroom world, and what kinds of characters there were, and seeing Addie in that world helps give us a fuller picture of her.
Luckily, we have an outstanding group of young and talented students in our A.C.T. (Academy at Civic Theatre) program. I had no doubt we had more than enough young talent to fill this classroom with some fun characters. And in the end, these students help shape our perception of Addie, and really do help to tell her story. And these are relationships and students we all experienced in our grade school years–the first crush, the destructive kid, the kid who always bragged about something, the know-it-all. There is something each of us can connect to in this colorful group of kids.
There was also not a lot for the teacher, Miss Thompson, to do. I wanted to find a way to see her grow throughout the play. A big key was adding the characters of the principal and his assistant. This provided the chance to tell a sweet, sometimes clumsy love story between the Eugene and Peggy, with Mrs. Kulwicki giving running commentary throughout.
The final major adjustment I made was that I wanted to lighten things up. The actual storyline between Addie and her father gets quite intense at times. I think the other characters in the play help to offset that drama and keep the story more balanced. I also think the culmination of all of these stories helps to make it a much bigger, more satisfying payoff at the end. There needed to be more hope, more optimism at the end, or else the struggle to get there doesn’t seem worth it. It would be like watching It’s A Wonderful Life, and having George Bailey be “sort of happy” to be alive at the end (spoiler alert-George Bailey lives and he’s THRILLED about it).
At the end of the day, I am a sucker for a sweet and heartfelt holiday show. And that’s what I think we have here. I think audience members will find themselves belly laughing in one scene, and getting choked up in the next scene. This show is nostalgic without being dated. The kind of show where parents can watch with their kids and not worry about questionable content. All of us involved in the show are very proud of that, and we sincerely hope you enjoy it.
Doug Jarecki
Playwright
MAD Corner/Director’s Note: The House Without A Christmas Tree
As Andy Williams said, “It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.” And in the words of Blues Traveler: “If it’s Hanukah, or Kwanzaa, Solstice Harvest, or December 25th, peace on earth to everyone, and abundance to everyone you’re with.”
I love this season, and I love WCT’s tradition of presenting an affordable family show for the community to enjoy. This season we present a story that is near and dear to my heart. I grew up watching after school specials (anyone else remember those?) and one of my favorites was The House Without Christmas Tree starring Jason Robards. There wasn’t a stage adaptation of the story available to produce, so we asked our own Doug Jarecki to tackle the project. He used the original story, the after school special screen play, and added a few things of his own to create a funny and heartwarming stage adaptation featuring seven adults and twenty children.
Not only are we presenting this beautiful adaptation as our December Mainstage show, the holiday season at WCT is full of amazing entertainment options, including Joel Kopischke’s I Got Yule, Babe, The Wisconsin Philharmonic Chamber Concert featuring The Apollo Trio, our PIX Flix feature film It’s A Wonderful Life, and The Four Guyz In Dinner Jackets: Now In Technicolor!
If you’re looking for even more holiday season entertainment, don’t miss ‘Twas The Month Before Christmas at Next Act Theatre. This is another Doug Jarecki script, and we are both in it.
And remember, if you’re looking for a good gift to give this season, consider our Festive Flex Four For $64 ~ or a gift card ~ or one of Joel Kopischke’s CDs … wonderful gifts of theatre to share with anyone, or to treat yourself! Happy Holidays!
John Cramer
Managing Artistic Director
Director: The House Without A Christmas Tree
Spotlight On The Board Of Directors: The House Without A Christmas Tree
My Mom had a plaque that said: “All hearts come home for Christmas.” Now that plaque hangs in my home every December.
As the year comes to a close, my grown children will come home from Iowa, Indiana, and Oklahoma, and we will continue our tradition of enjoying the holiday offerings at Waukesha Civic Theatre.
I’m thrilled that our theatre is offering a brand-new play; I predict it will become an instant classic, heartwarming and funny in equal measure.
The House Without A Christmas Tree is adapted from a popular 1972 made-for-TV movie of the same name. The Jason Robards film was shown regularly on CBS for five years and inspired several sequels.
Civic’s own Doug Jarecki wrote the play. A professional actor, Doug has been a linchpin in the success of this theatre, creating an Education and Outreach program that is second to none. His enthusiasm is infectious, and he is a genuinely good human being. Oh, and he’s my homeschooled kids’ favorite teacher.
Enjoy!
Angela Penzkover
Past President, Board Of Directors
6 Plays. 30 Actors. 24 Hours. DON’T. MISS. OUT.
Trust me … you don’t want to miss this show!
What Is It?
During Combat Theatre participants create and perform six to eight new plays in 24 hours. Writers gather together on the Friday night before the performance at 7:30 pm and draw a location and a subject out of a hat, and the number of actors they need to write for, and then go away and write a ten to fifteen minute play overnight.
The writers return Saturday morning at 9:00 am with their completed scripts, along with all of the directors, writers, and tech staff, and the directors will then randomly draw which script they will direct, and randomly draw the actors that will perform the script. Then they block and memorize the show, find costumes and props they need, and have a 45 minute tech rehearsal to set light and sound cues.
There is a second rehearsal in the late afternoon with all of the shows running in the order they will perform, and then the performance that night. It is truly creating an evening of theatre in just 24 hours. Astounding!!!
When Is It?
And now we are bringing this incredible show to the WCT stage as a fundraiser for our theatre arts education program, the Academy at Civic Theatre. The show is this Saturday, August 26, at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $25, but the experience is priceless, and all proceeds go to an excellent cause. Don’t procrastinate … get your tickets now.
Why Do It?
I’ve had the pleasure of participating in Combat Theatre in downtown Milwaukee several times over the last few years, both as a director and as an actor, and it is truly one of the most amazing and unique theatrical experiences I’ve ever had. It is very challenging and rewarding. I am going to participate as a writer for the first time, and I’m TERRIFIED! I’m also EXHILARATED! I can’t wait, and I hope you can’t wait either.
Who Does This?!
Our “Combatants” include Maggie Arndt, Nick Bailey, Tara Cha, Tess Cinpinski, Elena Cramer, John Cramer, Mike Crowley, Alexa Farrell, Janice Ferguson, James Fletcher, Jennifer Fletcher, Tarolyn Fulkerson, Marisa Hernandez, Meghan Hopper, Matt Huebsch, Doug Jarecki, Jon Jones, Sophie Jones, Peter Kao, Stacy Kolafa, Amie Losi, Noah Maguire, Mina Miller, Andrea Moser, Karen Owecki, Chuck Padgett, Lee Piekarski, Cheryl Peterson, Beth Reichart, Sandra Renick, Amanda Satchell, Sharon Sohner, Veronica Somerfeld, Ashley Sprangers, Abigail Stein, Lauren Sutton, John Van Slyke, Kayla Tillisch, Hunter West, Adam Williams, and Karolyn Wokos.
I hope you can join us.
John Cramer
Managing Artistic Director
Cramer’s Corner: Spring Is In The Air!
As the days get longer and the temperature gets warmer, the smile that’s already on your face can just keep growing when you join us for our April offerings!
Our next ACAP PlayMakers show, Snow White And The Magnificent Seven, opens tomorrow and has seven performances through Sunday afternoon.
Our next PIX Flix movie of the season will be E.T. – The Extraterrestrial on April 10 at 6:30 pm. The cast of the movie includes Henry Thomas, Drew Barrymore, Dee Wallace, Peter Coyote, and more. All tickets are $5.00, and we have concessions available, including soda, water, beer, wine, cookies, beef sticks, and … wait for it … POPCORN!
If you would like to help us select the movies we present in our PIX Flix movie series next season, click here to complete our survey.
Our next A.C.T. production is Broadway Bound on Saturday, April 15, at 10:00 am.
We open our next Mainstage show, The Drowsy Chaperone, April 28 and continues through May 14. The show has three Pay What You Can performances on April 29 at 7:30 pm, May 7 at 7:30 pm, and May 13 at 2:00 pm.
Our current featured artist in the Waukesha State Bank Art Gallery in our lobby through April 9 is a group of students from Waukesha South High School. They were challenged to create art inspired by 33 Variations in only 33 days, and it is amazing! Our next artist will be Tom Buchs.
If you are looking for a theatre experience outside of Wisconsin, consider joining us for our NYC Theatre Adventure October 12-15, 2017, or for our trip to Chicago to see Hamilton January 3, 2018. Contact John Cramer by email or phone (262-547-4911 ext. 13) if you would like more information about either trip.
Our 60th Season is on sale now. Subscription packages for the Mainstage shows, and individual tickets for everything can be purchased now. Please join us for the second half of our current great season of entertainment!
Registration is open for our A.C.T. spring and summer sessions, including our summer ACT production The Lion King JR.
Just in case you missed it last month, our 61st season will include:
Sex Please We’re Sixty
(directed by Peter Kao)
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame
(an area premier directed by Mark E. Schuster!)
The House Without A Christmas Tree
(an original adaptation by our own Doug Jarecki directed by moi)
The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (abridged)
(directed by Dustin J. Martin)
Clue: The Musical
(directed by Ken Williams)
Wait Until Dark
(directed by Kelly Goeller)
Father Knows Best
(directed by Rhonda Schmidt)
Season Tickets will go on sale in May 2017.
Thank you to all of the generous donors that have supported us so far this season. If you would like to donate, you can choose from any number of ways you could help us not only maintain, but thrive, as Waukesha’s Cultural Cornerstone.
Please Consider Giving …
* A gift to our Operating Fund
* A gift to our Spotlight On The Future Capital Campaign
* A matching gift through local sponsoring business employers
* A gift that will last a lifetime through your Will or Estate Planning
* A gift by donation to CARS
* A gift by shopping through Amazon Smile
* A gift by purchasing something on our Amazon Wish List
* Choose WCT as your Thrivent Choice charitable organization
* Become a Sponsor of outstanding performances and educational programs
Happy Easter! I’ll see you at the Theatre!
John Cramer
Managing Artistic Director
jcramer@waukeshacivictheatre.org
262-547-4911 ext. 13
Cramer’s Corner: We Are Marching Along With Another Great Month Of Entertainment!
Everyone marches to the beat of a different drummer but, lucky for you, we have something for everyone at WCT during the month of March.
We open our next Mainstage show, 33 Variations, next week. This innovative and inspiring show focuses on a modern music scholar facing the end of her life as she studies the mysteries of Beethoven and the 33 variations of a simple melody he composed while facing the end of his. The show runs March 10-26 with two Pay What You Can performances on March 11 at 7:30 pm and March 25 at 2:00 pm. We will also have two talk backs with ALS specialists joining the cast and crew immediately after the performances on March 12 at 2:00 pm and March 19 at 2:00 pm. And we will be selling raffle tickets for several amazing items including the always popular Discount Liquor Basket.
We have two auditions coming up this month. Barefoot In The Park auditions will be held on Monday, March 13, and Tuesday, March 14, starting at 6:30 pm both nights. Kelly Goeller is directing. And Miscast auditions will be held on March 27 starting at 6:30 pm. Meghan Hopper is directing.
Our next PIX Flix movie of the season will be Mr. Holland’s Opus on March 20 at 6:30 pm. The cast of the movie includes Richard Dreyfuss, Glenne Headley, Jay Thomas, Olympia Dukakis, William H. Macy, Alicia Witt, and more. All tickets are $5.00, and we have concessions available, including soda, water, beer, wine, cookies, beef sticks, and … wait for it … POPCORN!
Our spring fundraiser gala, Festival Of Fools, will be held at Westmoor Country Club on Saturday, April 1st. We are thrilled to announce that our King And Queen of the festival will be Joel and Rebecca Kleefisch, and our emcee will be Vince Vitrano. This will be an event you don’t want to miss, so get your tickets NOW!
Our current featured artist in the Waukesha State Bank Art Gallery in our lobby is a group of students from Waukesha South High School. They were challenged to create art inspired by 33 Variations in only 33 days, and it is amazing!
Our 60th Season is on sale now. Subscription packages for the Mainstage shows, and individual tickets for everything can be purchased now. Please join us for the second half of our current great season of entertainment!
Registration is open for our A.C.T. spring and summer sessions, including our summer ACT production Disney’s The Lion King JR.
Just in case you missed it last month, our 61st season will include:
Sex Please We’re Sixty (directed by Peter Kao)
The Hunchback Of Notre Dame (an area premier directed by Mark E. Schuster!)
The House Without A Christmas Tree (an original adaptation by our own Doug Jarecki directed by moi)
The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare (abridged) (directed by Dustin J. Martin)
Clue: The Musical (directed by Ken Williams)
Wait Until Dark (directed by Kelly Goeller)
Father Knows Best (directed by Rhonda Schmidt)
Amazing, right? Season Tickets will go on sale in May 2017.
Thank you to all of the generous donors that have supported us so far this season. If you would like to donate, you can choose from any number of ways you could help us not only maintain, but thrive, as Waukesha’s Cultural Cornerstone.
Please Consider Giving …
* A gift to our Operating Fund* A gift to our Spotlight On The Future Capital Campaign
* A matching gift through local sponsoring business employers
* A gift that will last a lifetime through your Will or Estate Planning
* A gift by donation to CARS
* A gift by shopping through Amazon Smile
* A gift by purchasing something on our Amazon Wish List
* Choose WCT as your Thrivent Choice charitable organization
* Become a Sponsor of outstanding performances and educational programs
On a personal note – my daughter, Elena Cramer, will be playing Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point March 3-5 and 9-11. My son, Jude Cramer, will be playing Gomez Addams in The Addams Family at Waukesha South High School March 9-11.
I’ll see you at the theatre!
John Cramer
Managing Artistic Director
jcramer@waukeshacivictheatre.org
I Want To Be A STAR…For A Day!
That’s right ladies, gentlemen, and children of all ages (and especially children between the ages of 6 and 19) … Waukesha Civic Theatre’s Star For A Day program is back! Mark your calendars, young theatre enthusiasts: the first of this special set of one-day-only classes is coming up on Wednesday, November 23, 2016!
Just what is Star For A Day? We’re glad you asked! It’s a program through WCT’s Academy at Civic Theatre for students between the ages of 6 and 19. On Wednesday, November 23, 2016, Monday, January 23, 2017, and Friday, June 9, 2017 students in the School District of Waukesha will be off school. What are those students going to do for the whole day? Why, come to the theatre, of course!
Star For A Day offers classes for students ages 6-8, 9-12, and 13-19 starting at 9:00 a.m. and culminating in a free performance that evening at 5:00 p.m.
Each group has a chance at three different classes: choreography class Dance Fever, interactive improvisation in Incredible Improv, and singing with movement in Musical Madness. The jam-packed day also has an hour of group rehearsal before the evening’s performance.
Schedule
6-8 Years
Dance Fever 9:00-10:50 a.m.
Musical Madness 11:15-1:05 p.m.
Incredible Improv 1:30-3:20 p.m.
9-12 Years
Musical Madness 9:00-10:50 a.m.
Incredible Improv 11:15-1:05 p.m.
Dance Fever 1:30-3:20 p.m.
13-19 Years
Incredible Improv 9:00-10:50 a.m.
Dance Fever 11:15-1:05 p.m.
Musical Madness 1:30-3:20 p.m.
All Students
Group Rehearsal 3:45-4:45 p.m.
Performance 5:00 p.m.
All classes take place at the Waukesha Civic Theatre. Students may sign up for one class for $25, or two classes for $50 – and then the third class is free! Register here!
Still not sold? You can get more information by contacting our Education and Outreach Administrator Doug Jarecki at (262) 547-4911 ext. 21 or at djarecki@waukeshacivictheatre.org. We also have information available on our website.
And don’t forget to mark your calendars for our great Star For A Day opportunities!
Lights! Camera! Action! & The ACAP PlayMakers
Well, we are right in the middle of our latest outreach offering – Lights! Camera! Action! with the ACAP PlayMakers. Only this time, there is a twist. The PlayMakers are playing the role of video editor/director. We’ve never offered something like this before, and so far the results have been outstanding!
Let me back up for a minute and give you a quick history here. Last year, Matt Huebsch and I taught Lights! Camera! Action! (LCA) for the ACAP PlayMakers. LCA is an on-camera acting class that has been a part of the A.C.T. program for years. The ACAP PlayMakers are a community partner that has performed at Civic for years. I guess it was only a matter of time before these two met!
The PlayMakers are an inclusive group of performers that feature performers with and without disabilities. It gives a voice to performers who might not otherwise get the opportunity. But even while being so inclusive, there were still some members who were not able to participate in a stage production. That’s where LCA came in. As you well know, acting on camera and acting on stage are two very different skill sets, and some of ACAP’s members were more suited to have their voice heard on camera instead of the stage.
Matt and I worked with the group for six weeks, writing and filming a series of scenes that showcased some of the hidden talents of the group. It was a fun and unique way to show what a great sense of humor these guys have. They love to perform, and it showed in every frame of the video.
This year, we decided to take it one step further and shift the focus. Instead of focusing on the acting, we put the PlayMakers in charge of the directing and editing. A beginner’s course for how to put a movie together. Matt and I filmed ourselves in a short scene together, filming multiple takes and multiple “moods” of each scene. We created a very loose template for the video, with a lot of options for our editors to choose from. Starting Week 1, we worked with the group to give them an understanding of the tools and concepts of video editing, sound and visual effects. As the weeks have gone on, members of the group have become more proficient in piecing their videos together.
Think of it as a choose-your-own-ending kind of book, except in video form. The PlayMakers work with the footage we provided and piece together scenes that are coherent and follow a logical path (Ok, full disclosure here – sometimes the videos are extraordinarily silly and don’t make much sense, but that’s part of the fun of learning how to do all this!).
To give you an example of how things have been going, there is a scene in which I appear at the door of a home. We filmed me doing several versions of this, and even filmed a dog in place of me. Lorraine, a longtime PlayMaker who has enjoyed poking gentle fun at me for years, wanted to find a way, through the magic of editing, to turn me into the dog. Did I say “wanted to”? I meant “insisted.” We worked together for an entire class, figuring out how we could make this happen. And by the end, sure enough, I was a dog! Thanks, Lorraine.
If this class were to just stand alone, it would be an enjoyable six weeks where we all got to learn something. However, the hope is that this can be a starting point for video to play a more prominent role in how the ACAP PlayMakers continue to help their members find their own voices, their own stories to tell. This is in no way going to replace the excellent stage work they do, it is going to add to it. Classes like this lay the groundwork for an idea that big. It all starts somewhere. And in our case, it started with my friend Lorraine turning me into a dog.
Doug Jarecki
Education & Outreach Administrator
