The show Macbeth has finished its run and along with the show, there were seven seniors bidding adieu to their Grand Marais Playhouse mentor Sue Hennessy. Who are these seniors and what are their plans for their futures? Is theater going to play a starring role?
First interviewed was Will Brandenburg who just finished his toughest challenge as an actor, playing Macbeth. Will said Macbeth, with its dark primal nature, was his favorite play even before it was being considered as a possibility. It’s a far cry from his first play, The Lion Witch & Wardrobe, where he played Mr. Tumnis! Hard to believe if you saw Macbeth, but one of the most difficult obstacles for Will to overcome was stage fright. He found that the more deeply he got into his character, the more comfortable on stage he became.
After the latest School District 166 and Grand Marais Playhouse collaboration— Macbeth—the Playhouse presented scholarship awards for “Commitment to Excellence in Theater Arts” to seven graduating seniors and to sophomore Jordyn Kirk, who will be going to school at Perpich Center for the Arts next year. (L-R) Jordyn Kirk, Sarah O’Phelan, Aliya Weisberg, Sarah Warren, Will Brandenburg, Katrina Axtell, Amber Todd, Yvonne Block.
Besides exposing him to the arts, he feels theater is equivalent to cooperation. Through theater, Will said he’s learned how to be a good citizen, respecting others and learning to work together towards a common goal. His future plan is to attend Macalester College in the Cities, with a major in theater as a first choice, but that is not set in concrete. As he said, “Theater is the gateway to all forms of the arts.”
“And there were shepherds abiding.” This was Sarah Warren’s line from her first show The Best Christmas Pageant Ever in fifth grade, still remembered after eight years and 17 plays! Of all these plays, her favorite role was Madam Arcoti in Blythe Spirit. She felt she really connected with her character and it was fun to “be in the head of a crazy lady!”
When plays required male actors and there was a shortage of them, Sarah met the challenge. In fact, the most difficult obstacles she’s had to overcome in her theater experiences were playing the parts of men, both in the vocal challenges and in physical mannerisms.
Sarah is moving on to Bethel University this fall, pursuing her dream of studying creative writing and sacred music.
Senior Katrina Axtell vividly remembers being the first person to cross the stage in the musical Music Man when she was only six years old, in Ketchikan, AK! Thus began her love of theater and upon her family’s return to Cook County, Katrina said, “If there was a play, I was in it, including the One Acts!” Another one who took on the challenge of playing a man, her favorite role was George Merry in Treasure Island. Although involving a lot of work, she loved the stage combat and plus, “Where else could I wear a moustache?”
From being self-conscious and tentative about trying new things within a character, Katrina has garnered confidence, as evidenced in her witch’s role in Macbeth, which involved a lot of improvisation. Katrina was emphatic in her declaration “I’ll never stop being involved in theater.”
She’ll be moving on to study physical therapy at Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa.
Amber Todd’s introduction to theater was as a dancer in Dr. Doolittle. Subsequently she played the role of Susan in The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. Her favorite roles were as one of the witches in Macbeth and the grave digger in Hamlet. Making time for theater was her biggest obstacle.
Amber hopes to be in productions in college but doesn’t plan on pursuing theater as a major, opting for a major in art instead at Hamline University in St. Paul. Aliya Weisberg said she “instantly loved” the theater from her first role in Alice in Wonderland. Even as a child she had made movies and put on shows. Theater allowed her to “play pretend as long as I wanted!”
Aliya’s theater experiences have made her a lifelong arts advocate. Besides acting, she loves to work with pastels, and of course her passion—cooking! “It’s a blast!”
Aliya will be attending Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Mendota Heights, MN, becoming a chef and getting her hotel and restaurant management degree. She hopes to travel to Italy some day because “the Italians know how to eat!”
Yvonne Block came from her many tireless backstage roles to try an onstage role as one of the witches in Macbeth. Yvonne worked as one of the Grand Marais Playhouse interns learning all the ins and outs of theater technical production “becoming—as referred to by my friends—a Tech Ninja!” She has obtained her GED and hopes to study theater tech in the future.
Sarah O’Phelan’s Playhouse career culminated last year with her spending her senior year at Perpich Center for Arts in Golden Valley, MN with an emphasis in theater and visual arts. She surprised the Macbeth cast, “all friends,” by showing up for their last performance. In turn, she was surprised by the awards given to the seniors by Sue.
Jordyn Kirk who, as a sophomore, is a 10-year veteran of plays, will be making her journey down to the Perpich Center for the Arts next year to complete her junior and senior years. She will be missed, but we wish her well.
I was amazed at the dedication and commitment of all these students and their parents. Some of them live 50 minutes from town “on a good day,” as Will Brandenburg said!
All ends of the county are represented. Remember, some of these students started performing in plays beginning in first grade. That’s quite a span of time, from being parentdependent for rides until driving themselves!
Themes I heard expressed over and over throughout my interviews were how they learned respect, cooperation, self-confidence, self-discipline, and teamwork and how their work together created family. All the students spoke from the heart, talking of the friendships they had made, the skills they learned, and the respect in which they held their leader, Sue Hennessy, and the inspiration they found from her.
In recognition of these dedicated seniors, the Grand Marais Playhouse awarded each a $100 scholarship.
If there are any students reading this who have never tried theater or perhaps have thought about it but never dared, Aliya Weisberg gave this final challenge, “It’s a great theater! Give it a shot!” Playhouse Board Member Shelby Anderson provides this behind the scenes look at Grand Marais Playhouse activities.
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