Rural and Community Art Project Grant
Rural and Community Art Project Grant
The Last Train to Winnipeg - a melodrama about Vaudeville on the Iron Range.
Tara Makinen: Executive Director of Itasca Orchestra and Strings, musician; Amber Burns: choreographer, dancer, actor, middle school art teacher; Tammy Mattonen: visual artists, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Kayla Aubid: Native American craft artist, writer, employee at MacRostie Art Center; Kathy Neff: musician, Director, Fine Arts Academy at the University of Minnesota-Duluth; Ron Piercy: jeweler, gallery owner; Emily Swanson: arts administrator at Oldenburg Arts and Cultural Community.
Tammy Mattonen: visual artist, co-founder of Crescendo Youth Orchestra; Roxann Berglund: musician; David Dobbs: visual artist, Education Coordinator at MacRostie Art Center; Greg Mueller: sculptural artist; Leah Yellowbird: multi-medium visual artist.
ACHF Arts Access
At the conclusion of the workshop process NSW will own rights to a full-length play that they can perform without royalty fees at any time in the future. In addition, this play will provide the audience a glimpse into the history of entertainment on the Iron Range. Through the process of editing the script and working with Luverne Seifert to produce the play, actors and crew will have the valuable experience of his mentorship and direction to expand their knowledge of and expertise in comedy theater. The first outcome will be revisions to 'The Last Train to Winnipeg' script making it a full-length play. The audience will be given a paper survey to Northern Stage works will collect comments from participants, actors and production crew on their experience.
The workshop (script development) process and play production brought together writer, actors and in-house together with Luverne Siefert, head of BA Theatre Performance in the Department of the University of Minnesota to bring the vaudeville years in Virginia, Minnesota alive. Through this project, Siefert taught and coached new and seasoned members of Northern Stage Works Community Theatre (NSW), developing their knowledge and skills, while McReynolds' script sparked conversations and exploration of comedic theatre and the history of Virginia. This project was a valuable learning experience for the writer as well. McReynolds will be creating new melodrama scripts for NSW and collaborating with community members, actors and others to bring them to the stage in the future.
Other,local or private