 History |
1997 |
| May 22, 1997, was the starting date for the fifth Mahoney State Park melodrama season. A scheduling change made in order to accommodate earlier school openings resulted in a one week earlier season finale which reduced the sum of performances to a "mere" 120! Also, the dinner train shows and the fall season were both successful, so plans were made to continue both. Our casting of three male and three female actors at the park was continued as was the casting for the train show of three female and two male actors. The usual personnel changes were made to all casts, and Shannon Marple-Hespe and D. Chapelle both agreed to direct the train and fall shows, respectively. The plays selected for production at Mahoney were "Silence is Golden" by past actors Laura Holman and Brad Boesen, "Ranger's Danger" by John Burkhart and "Rustler's Revenge" by D. Chapelle. (Note: We had so much favorable response with "Rustlers of Red Rock" that we decided to produce a sequel - "Rustler's Revenge". We were fortunate to have two of the principal characters return, thus Quiet Harry, played superbly by Brad Boesen and Shame Bushwacker, played by equally brilliant William C. Cover, rode again!) Cast member Will Cover had to take a weekend off to attend his brother's wedding and Jeff Luby did a superb job standing in for him. The play chosen for the dinner train was "Three Tickets to Timberwolf", an original written expressly for the train by D. Chapelle. The fall season was lengthened to encompass both the added four weeks that were added last season, and the additional week that was cut off the summer season plus another week to make a total of 11 weeks for the run! As a result, the show had to be double cast for one role. This was very successful and caused no performance or production problems. The play chosen for the fall was "Nickelodeon Knaves" written by Mr. Chapelle expressly for four actors, which economics dictated we utilize. |
The Production Staff for the 1997 summer season |
| Producer/Director ......................John Burkhart |
| Music Director ............................Linda Laessle |
| Costume Design .............Donna Himmelberger |
| Set Design ................................. John Burkhart |
| Makeup Design ............... William M. Cover II |
| Technical Director......................Tom Curtright |
| Set Construction .......................Mark Matulka, Nick Robinson, Ron Smith |
| Villainous Olestra DeVille (Erin McLaine) has the drop on Douglas Anchorage (Brad Boesen), Minnie Pindrop (Kathryn Burton Hollorman), Percy Pindrop (William M. Cover II) and Philbert Hitchcock (Daniel Rasmussen), but super heroine Mary Pickchevy (Emily C. Williams) drops in to save the day. |
The Cast of "Silence is Golden" |
| Percy Pindrop.............................William M. Cover II |
| Douglas Anchorage................................Brad Boesen |
| Minnie Pindrop..............Kathryn Burton Hollorman |
| Olestra DeVille....................................Erin McLaine |
| Philbert Hitchcock........................Daniel Rasmussen |
| Mary Pickchevy............................Emily C. Williams |
| Ranger Roger Steelheart (William M. Cover II) Assists ranger Rick Steelheart (Daniel Rasmussen) fight villain Phinneas McFoulbreath (Brad Boesen) While heroines Ella, Della and Stella Charity (Kathryn Burton Hollorman, Emily C. Williams and Erin McLaine) look on. |
The cast of "Rangers Danger" |
| Phinneas McFoulbreath........................Brad Boesen |
| Roger Steelheart......................William M. Cover II |
| Rick Steelheart............................Daniel Rasmussen |
| Ella Charity...................Kathryn Burton Hollorman |
| Stella Charity.......................................Erin McLaine |
| Della Charity................................Emily C. Williams |
| Curtain call for "Rustler's Revenge" Left to right: Sheila Hussey (Kathryn Burton Hollorman), Quiet Harry (Brad Boesen), Felicity Friendly (Erin McLaine), Pa Friendly (Daniel Rasmussen), Mable Millstone (Emily C. Williams) and Black Bart Bushwacker (William M. Cover II). |
The cast of "Rustler's Revenge" |
| Black Bart Bushwacker............William M. Cover II |
| Pa Friendly....................................Daniel Rasmussen |
| Mable Millstone...........................Emily C. Williams |
| Quiet Harry.............................................Brad Boesen |
| Felicity Friendly....................................Erin McLaine |
| Shiela Hussey.................Kathryn Burton Hollorman |
The Fremont Dinner Train Melodrama |
| Left to right: Simon Neal (Jared Minary), Ma Lucious (Kate Eisenhour), Sela Fait (Director Shannon Marple-Hespe), Lucifer K. Bogus (Ed Dill) and Mary Lucious (Jenn Parker). |
The cast of "Three Tickets to Timberwolf" |
| Ma Lucious........................................Kate Eisenhour |
| Mary Lucious..........................................Jenn Parker |
| Simon Neal................,............................Jared Minary |
| Lucifer K. Bogus............................................Ed Dill |
| Sela Fait...............,................Shannon Marple-Hespe |
| Producer .............................................John Burkhart |
| Director.................................Shannon Marple-Hespe |
| Costume Design .....................Donna Himmelberger |
The Mahoney State Park Fall Melodrama |
| Villain Brimstone Lemmon (D. Chapelle) gets the point hero Guy Stalwart (Michael Bergstrom) to trying to make. |
The cast of "Nickelodian Knaves" |
| Violet Fields...........................Karen Freimund-Wills |
| Guy Stalwart................................Michael Bergstrom |
| Brimstone Lemmon.................................D. Chapelle |
| Jade Fields..............Kathryn Foster, Deborah Israel |
Production Staff |
| Producer..............................................John Burkhart |
| Director....................................................D. Chapelle |
| Costume Design......................Donna Himmelberger |
| Music Director......................................Linda Laessle |
| Set Design...........................................Kevin Colbert |
| Set Construction.............Mark Matulka, Steve Coffey, Bill Kiesling |
Click here to return to the main page