Heritage Players Community Theatre
Our mission is to enrich, educate and entertain our community by providing a superior theater experience.
Shrek: The Musical
Don't Hug Me
GTKY Part 2: "The Odd Couple" Cast & Crew
Enjoy part 2 of the "Getting to Know You" series! And don't forget to pick up your advance tickets for production…. we open in just one week!
What is your most memorable show and/or Character?
I have three: Sister Julia Childs in Nuncrackers; playing the Foreigner in The Foreigner; and being in the Barber Shop Quartet in Music Man
~ Dennis Howard (Felix Unger)
What is your favorite play or musical?
It is so hard to pick! I love Sound of Music and West Side Story as I grew up watching them with my mother.
~ Rachel Bigelow ( Stage Manager & Scenic Artist)
If you were a superhero for a day, who would it be and why?
Spider-Man. He's been my favorite superhero ever since I was a little kid.
~ Steve Clemens ( Vinnie )
When not in the middle of a production, what do you enjoy doing for fun?
What is this thing called not in the middle of a production?? When I get any spare time with my family, we love to watch movies together and we just bought our first camper, so I see lots of camping trips in our immediate future.
~ Laura Michels ( Lighting Designer)
That's like asking what my favorite movie or book is. It's impossible to answer for me. Depends on my mood. Do I want to laugh? Cry? Sing? Test my viewpoints? That will all depend on what I will want to watch.
~ Jon Bigelow (Oscar Madison)
Getting to Know: "The Odd Couple" Cast & Crew
I love Finian's Rainbow because I like to follow dreamers and have a fondness for leprechauns.
~ Jennifer Simonson (Gwendolyn Pigeon)
When you aren't in the middle of a show…. what's your "go to" hobby or activity?
Crafting, stained glass, sewing, or playing poker or board games while listening to jazz.
~ Meagan Guptill (Cecily Pigeon)
What is your most memorable show or character – that you have portrayed – with PCHP or another program?
"The right Reverend Mother, there isn't any other, the right Reverend Mother, Superior Nun." Reverend Mother, Nunsense.
~ Elisa Mill (Roy)
If you were a SuperHero for a day… who would it be and why?
I think I would create a new superhero who could duplicate themselves, be invisible at times, and clean a whole house in ten minutes. We will call her SuperMom.
~ Cassandra Olson (Asst. Stage Manager & Board President for Heritage Players)
What is your most memorable show or character – that you have portrayed ?
I was tricked into playing Mayor Shinn in The Music Man ("There aren't that many lines, Mike." Ha!) and it was just about the most fun I've ever had. I got to hang out with the great people in the cast and say things like "Aiding and abetting the swindling activities of that spellbinding cymbal salesman," and "It's clear as a buttonhook in the well water." Good times!
~ Mike Gainor (Speed)
Interested in being a Community Theater Volunteer?
If you answered YES, then we are excited to have you join us as a volunteer for the Pine City Heritage Players and invite you to help us learn more about you by completing this Volunteer Survey:
Tickets for "The Odd Couple" on sale today!
Join the Pine City Heritage Players next month and enjoy the Neil Simon classic, The Odd Couple. This comedy features Oscar Madison, a divorced man who is messy and gambles too much and his friend and soon to be roommate- uptight, neurotic, clean freak Felix Ungar. These two, plus their friends and neighbors combine for a cast of humorous interactions and characters.
Tickets for the production are now on sale locally at Cabin Coffees, Three Twenty Brewing Co. and the Pine City Area Chamber of Commerce. Advance purchase for each performance is available until Noon on the day of the performance. Save $3 per ticket with your advance purchase.
This show will be performed at the Pine City High School Fine Arts Auditorium, 1400 Main Street South. We we hope to see you March 19-21 at 7pm and March 22 at 2pm!
Casting Complete for "The Odd Couple"
Thank you to all that came out the first week in January to audition for this year's spring show. We are excited to share the comedic team that will be performing in March with this production. Please join us in welcoming….
Jon Bigelow as Oscar Madison
Dennis Howard as Felix Unger
Elisa Mill as Roy
Jay Schueller as Murray
Mike Gainor as Speed
Steve Clemens as Vinnie
Jennifer Simonson as Gwendolyn Pigeon
Meagan Guptill as Cecily Pigeon
The cast will begin rehearsals at the end of this month in preparation for performances running March 19th – 22nd.
AUDITIONS SET FOR "THE ODD COUPLE"
The Pine City Heritage Players will host auditions for The Odd Couple on Monday, January 6 and Tuesday, January 7 from 6:00 – 8:00pm at the Pine City High School Auditorium (1400 Main St S, Pine City). Those interested in auditioning should enter through the main doors and check-in at the auditorium lobby.
The Odd Couple, a Neil Simon comedy, premiered on Broadway in 1965. The show was later adapted into a film in 1968. In 1985, the show was adapted by Simon into a new script, The Female Odd Couple. The plot for both productions follows the story of two mismatched roommates and how their new living arrangements affect their friendship.
The show will be directed by Nicholas Basta, a Pine City High School graduate and active member of the Heritage Players. "Nick has been involved in several recent productions with the Heritage Players – on stage, as sound technician, and as a stage manager. We look forward to seeing Nick take on the next step in his career as a director, " says Board President Cassandra Olson.
Basta is excited and eager to get started on the production and hopes that the upcoming show will draw in some new interest from actors. "Our production team is hoping for a diverse group of actors to audition for the show. By selecting this particular show, we will have the flexibility to choose which version of the script we go with based on the best combination of actors/actresses," says Basta.
Auditions will be held as an open call for actors across the region for ages 16+ for this production. The show will perform March 19 – 22, 2020.
Those interested in auditioning for this production should sign-up for an audition slot using this Sign-Up Form.
No advance preparation is required for the auditions, but the following links will provide you with some useful tools to prepare.
Print a copy of the AUDITION FORM and fill out ahead of time. Printed copies of the form will also be available for the evening of your audition.
We will provide examples of scenes from the show for cold readings. Links will updated on this page as soon as they become available.
Up Next: Songs of the Stage, September 21
The Pine City Heritage Players have announced the next "Songs of the Stage" event for Saturday, September 21st at 7:30 PM at the Pine City Country Club. "We are always looking to try new things and explore new ways to showcase the many talented members of our organization," says Cassandra Olson, Heritage Players President, "This event is in a new venue and we are excited for the changes we've planned."
One such change for the event will be a VIP ticket that will include a taco bar before the show and the opportunity to meet and visit with the performers and board members of the organization. The Heritage Players are planning for the VIP attendees to be the first to hear the 2020 Season Announcement. "We've never done a live announcement for our season, so we are hoping that our audience will get excited with us this year," shared Olson.
The "Songs of the Stage" performances are held 2-3 times per year as a fundraising event for the enrichment and senior scholarship program started in 2018 to honor former board member, Harvey Lindstrom. The September event will include songs including Crazier Than You from The Addams Family and Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid performed by one of this year's Senior Scholarship recipients, Allie Gosen. Gosen is a sophomore at Concordia – St. Paul where she is minoring in theater.
Other returning singers include Rachel Bigelow, Scott Tolzmann, Cassandra Olson, Jon Bigelow and Signe Reisted. The newest performers for PCHP include Ryan Skille, Briana Engh and Michaela Engh. The evening will be hosted by Elisa Mill as the emcee.
VIP tickets are on sale through Monday, September 16th and can be purchased from Cabin Coffee's and Three Twenty Brewing Company for just $20. A limited number of tickets will be available at the door for the performance only.
2019 Scholarship Awards
In 2018 the Heritage Players established a scholarship fund in memory of Harvey Lindstrom to provide enrichment opportunities for students in the region to explore their creativity in the performing arts. This year we expanded the scholarship program to provide funds for students interested in pursuing a degree in the performing arts.
We are pleased to announce this year's scholarship recipients: Alexandria Gosen & Emily Elliot. We wish to congratulation both of these young ladies and wish them the very best in their future.
Alexandria Gosen is entering her second year at Concordia University, St. Paul. She has been an active volunteer with the Heritage Players for many years and has enjoyed her time acting in shows with the group. Recent appearances include Into the Woods (2019) and Shrek: The Musical (2018).
Emily Elliot is a recent graduate of Pine City High School and will begin her college experience next month at The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. She has been actively involved in her church, volunteering for VBS programs, as well as volunteering with Heritage Players. Recent appearances include Once Upon a Mattress (2019) and Bye, Bye Birdie (2017).
Local art groups collaborate for Into the Woods… and From the Woods…
Tonight begins the 4 day adventure for "Into the Woods" produced by the Pine City Heritage Players under the artistic direction of Jay Schueller. The show is truly not one to be missed, but this summer production includes a new artistic collaboration as well. Those attending the performances this weekend will also enjoy a new art exhibit by Mike Gainor, "From the Woods".
In April, the Heritage Players approached the Pine Center for the Arts with interest in collaborating to put up an art show with a similar theme for our summer production. Pine City is home to three fantastic, hard working arts groups, and we thought this could be an easy way to showcase another group during our production.
Mike Gainor, 'Digital Mischief' artist, would be the featured artist for the July exhibit for the Art Center, so he was the obvious choice to simply expand his exhibit for a second location. Did he have any art that might fit?
Mike's response:
I didn't, not really. With the 'Digital Mischief' art I've been making since 2015, nearly everything starts with my own photographs. But I've always loved the weirdness and power of these folktales and the idea grabbed my imagination. A little research led to a digital treasure trove from the New York Public Library – high-quality scans of the original illustrations from the 1912 German edition of the Brothers Grimm, offered to the public free to download and clear of any copyright. And those illustrations by Phillip Grot Johan, Robert Anton Leinweber and Ludwig Beckmann were incredible, as you can see in the original versions of their work included here.
In the book "Steal Like an Artist," by Austin Kleon, there's a great quote by Mark Twain. Twain said: "It is better to take what does not belong to you than to let it lie around neglected."
So I started to experiment with these images, and the results are what you see. Sometimes it enhanced something inspiring about the original illustration. Sometimes it ended up heading in an very different direction.
It was, frankly, a joy working on these images. It was fascinating and thrilling to take these tools I'd learned to use and deploy them in a very different way to interpret, adapt and reimagine these strange and beautiful illustrations.
Folktales are about upsetting the natural order of things and then finding lessons in that disruption. They can be sweet, funny, moving and disturbing – often all at the same time. And they are endlessly compelling. We tell these stories over and over. We can analyze them and try to describe what they mean and why they are important. But there's still a mystery to them. We will never get to the bottom of that mystery, and that's exactly as it should be.
Tickets are still available to see "Into the Woods" this weekend. Advance tickets will be available until NOON on performance day at the Chamber Office, Cabin Coffee's or Three Twenty Brewing Co. Note: Cabin Coffee's & the Chamber Office are closed on Saturday and Sunday. Online ticket purchases are also available on our website.
Posted on July 8, 2019 July 18, 2019
Set Construction Volunteers Welcome
Set construction is officially under way for the summer production of Into the Woods. There are a variety of projects that the team will be working on during the coming week and interested volunteers are welcome to join us at anytime. The following dates have been scheduled:
Tuesday, July 9th from 9:00am – 5:00pm — construction projects and base coat painting
Thursday, July 11th from 9:00am – 5:00pm — construction projects, sound and lighting installation, and scenic painting (starting at noon)
Friday, July 12th from Noon – 7:30pm — construction projects, scenic painting, props and lobby projects
Saturday, July 13th from 9:00am – 4:00pm — all areas will have final projects with goal of completion by end of the day. We will plan for a Noon potluck, if you are planning to join us and want to sign-up for what you'll be bringing, use this Google Doc to do so!