Opens Saturday, November 29, 2014

Festival Theatre is happy to announce that rehearsals are well underway for the holiday production of “Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates,” featuring an ambitious group of area youth on stage with the cast of six adults. This show, last produced here in 2006, opens Saturday, November 29th and runs through December 28th.

This holiday story about the tenacity of children is set in Holland in the early 19th century. A poor-but-industrious and honorable young man named Hans Brinker yearns to participate in December’s great ice-skating race on the Canal. He and his younger sister, Gretel, have little chance of winning on their handmade wooden skates, but with a little hope and hard work, Hans aims to purchase a set of steel skates that will aid him in chasing down the illustrious prize.  But Hans' and Gretel's father has fallen very ill, and Hans must first find a way to have his father seen and helped by the famous surgeon, Dr. Boekman.  

"Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates," is a story of love, ambition, community and chasing one's dreams while fighting to do what is honorable and noble.  A perfect show for the holiday season, this show will warm hearts of all ages, and remind audiences of the most precious gift of all, the love of family and friends.  

Professional Guest Artist Jerry Kurek has the lead role of Hans Brinker, under the direction of Ed Moersfelder. Joining Kurek in the cast are Kathryn Cesarz as Annie, Deanna Davis as Dame Brinker, Bob Fedderly as Raff Brinker, Sherry Pearce as Dame Van Gleck, and Paul Steffens as Dr. Boekman.

Twenty-two area youth are in the show, divided into two casts to accommodate the large number of performances. The youth, ranging in age from eight to fifteen, consists of Zoe Allen of Frederic, Ella Anderson, Kelsey Cooper, Sidrah Edwards, Megan Hankel, Lucy Herman, Abby Ruona and Claire Scharfenberg of St. Croix Falls, Nicholas Borne of New Richmond, Anneka Cress of Centuria, Britta Dueholm and Josh Stirrat of Luck, Jade Fehlen and Allie Nelson of Osceola, Brita Gallagher, Liam Gallagher and Elliana Naegelen of Dresser, Katie Herrick of Cushing, Andrew Lewis and Christopher Lewis of Grantsburg, and Catelyn Rice and Stephen Rice of Milltown.

Those attending opening night on Saturday, November 29th can plan to stay for the Afterglow Party, sponsored by Village Pizzeria and featuring music by the Frederic High School Bell Choir, directed by Pat Anderson. This is a great opportunity to have a glass of wine and mingle with the cast, director and designers after the show.

Single tickets for “Hans Brinker, or The Silver Skates” are $26 for adults, and $13.50 for our expanded youth category of ages 5 to 25. Click HERE to purchase online. School matinees are also available.  Ticket packages are sold as Flex Passes, and offer significant savings on six or ten seat bundles. Flex Passes can be used all at once by a group of family or friends, or over an entire season as a season pass. 2014 Flex Passes are still available and 2015 Flex Passes are now on sale.  

Lynne Rothrock and the Mood Swingers are returning for a concert on Saturday, November 8th at 7:30 p.m. Last year patrons loved Lynne's acting in the casts of “Crazy for You” and “The Foreigner.” She displayed her vocal versatility with two different cabaret concert formats last summer and fall. Now she's returning with her Mood Swingers band for school workshops and one swinging concert.

Rothrock has performed as a solo artist at a variety of venues around the United States, including Birdland in New York, Bluebird Café in Nashville, Davenports Cabaret in Chicago, and Bryant Lake Bowl and Hell’s Kitchen in Minneapolis. Her talent and musicality are lauded by many in the music industry. "Spending an evening with Lynne Rothrock is simply irresistible. . . the voice. . . the material. . .the sheer fun of it all. . .you owe it to yourself to catch this girl's act," stated David Boldt of KMRY radio in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A graduate of Luther College (B.A. Music/Theatre) and Western Michigan University (M.M. Vocal Performance), Lynne is a vocalist and entertainer plus an arts educator. Lynne has developed a niche for coaching solo performers to truly "act the song" and bring all the elements of performance into their vocal presentations. After doing workshops with the music and theatre departments at Luther College, St. Ambrose University, Morningside College, American College Theatre Festival - as well as working with countless high school aged singers at various competitions, Lynne is now making these workshops available to other schools or arts organizations, for soloists and ensembles. Her combination of training in vocal technique and theatre enables her to address issues from both areas and lead students to a combination of peak vocal production and truly artistic presentation. These workshops are flexible in format and the students have the opportunity to develop their own performance skills, learn from watching their peers perform, and leave with a set of tools with which to approach future work. "(Rothrock) has a true passion for singing that shows through in all of her work," says a past workshop participant at Duke University.

Last year Lynne spent a day with the middle and high school music students at Unity Schools in Balsam Lake. Kyle Hammers, vocal instructor at Unity, reports that her workshops were “awesome,” and the response from students was overwhelmingly positive. Says Hammers, “Last year the students had an absolute blast in the workshop and at Lynne’s concert. We are excited to have her here again.”

Lynne is coming in to workshop with the vocal jazz students at Unity on Friday, November 7th, culminating in more onstage experience at Festival for them and possibly for some band students as well, along with trumpet player Brad Anderson and Unity Band Director Scott Hensiak.

Lynne’s band, The Mood Swingers, is comprised of Iowa Blues & Rock and Roll Hall of Fame guitarist Ron DeWitte, keyboardist Gerard Estella of Queens, NY, bass player Dave Ollinger of Milwaukee, WI and drummer Greg Kanz of Cedar Rapids, IA.

Tickets are $21 in advance, $26 at the door, and this concert is Flex Pass eligible. Reservations are recommended and can be made online HERE , by calling the box office at 715-483-3387, or emailing festivaltheatreboxoffice@gmail.com. To redeem Flex Pass seats, the holder needs to call the box office to make reservations.