Sue Hennessy is shown here with her cat Bo. Bo is a great help at home but not much help at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts (ACA) where Sue works to put on plays and other performances. Sue has been the Grand Marais Playhouse director since 2002 and she is in dire need of help with any and all duties associated with putting on future great performances like the ones that we have grown accustomed to throughout the years.
Act 1, Scene 1:
Grand Marais circa 1976
A 10-year-old girl takes to the stage as a wood nymph in the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” In one set she and the other wood nymphs prance around a tree. The fellow who plays the tree fancies himself the Clark Gable of all performing actors playing trees. His career as an actor ends in a woody performance, while the wood nymph finds herself firmly in love with all things connected to theater, not as an actress but as a set designer, set builder, dance choreography, director, light and sound technician, teacher, mentor, painter, grant writer. ….
Act 2, Scene 1:
The Guthrie Theater
Sue Hennessy tried to follow her parents’ advice and major in something stable. Something reasonable. Something that would place her on track to get a “real job.” She started off as a music major at the University of Minnesota but her heart and passion for the performing arts pushed her forward, and she transferred to Concordia College where she finished with an arts degree in theater. She worked in New York in various theater venues and was a master carpenter at the Guthrie Theater when she received a call from Dick Swanson in 1998.
Swanson first came to know Hennessy when he acted in Our Town performed in 1984, Hennessy’s senior year of high school. Swanson asked her if she could come and lend some technical assistance to setting up the newly-opened Arrowhead Center of the Arts (ACA). She agreed to come. The little wood nymph was home. It didn’t take long before she was asked to direct plays and in 2002 she was asked to take the reins as administrator and technical director of the Grand Marais Playhouse and to be the manager of the ACA for Cook County Schools. Her aging parents also were in need of help. She couldn’t say no.
Act 3, Scene 1:
Grand Marais March 18, 2014 at the Arrowhead Center for the Arts
Hennessy stood before a small gathering of people attending a public meeting she called to address the future of the Grand Marais Playhouse.
“Last year the theater faced a $19,000 deficit,” said Hennessy.
The deficit was covered by the sale of certificates of deposit, depleting the Playhouse’s reserve funds. Ticket sales fell $13,000 from 2012 and the organization received $9,000 less in grants than it had in 2012, said Hennessy.
Besides ticket sales the Playhouse is funded through grants. Hennessy applies for many grants throughout the year, but the playhouse doesn’t always get them.
“Our main source of funding is the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (ARAC) in Duluth. We can apply twice a year but I have to know the project ahead of the time. That’s not always easy. Last year we cancelled three plays because we couldn’t get the actors or people didn’t show up for practice. I always submit the kids’ play and I would think that would be a no-brainer for them (ARAC) but we don’t always get that grant, either,” she said.
In terms of ticket sales, the high water mark was 2007 when 5,287 tickets were sold. That count fell to 2,768 in 2013.
“That’s still a pretty good number for an area of our size,” said Hennessy. “But the question is, where do we go forward? Do we need to cut back on the amount of plays we offer?”
Act 4, Scene 1:
Survey takes the stage
According to a 2014 survey conducted by the Grand Marais Playhouse, 76 percent of the responders wanted more shows, but 60 percent said they weren’t interested in participating. “That just frustrates me,” Hennessy said.
Potential cutbacks aside, Hennessy said, “I will do the youth play as long as I am able. The high school play is another passion for me. We have to do summer plays at least in July and August. That’s where we make money. That’s when the people are here.”
In the survey many folks said they were too busy to go to all of the plays, but one young lady attending the March 18 meeting said, “I would go to all of the plays but I can’t afford the $20 ticket prices.”
Hennessy reminded her that on the first Sunday matinee of every playhouse production it is a “pay what you can day.” She also said that 83 percent of survey respondents said ticket prices were “just right.”
Hennessy said the survey showed that the number one way people found out about plays was through the Cook County News-Herald. Other strong advertisers included WTIP radio and Boreal Access and posters hung throughout town.
Facebook doesn’t seem to work well anymore, she said, but e-mails serve as a great reminder to Playhouse members. However, Hennessy added, “We have a stack of paperwork to go through that I don’t have time to do. I don’t have time to enter e-mail addresses. Sometimes the sets only get one coat of paint because I don’t have time to make them look as luxurious as they should. There are many areas we could improve if we had the people to help. The Guthrie has 500 people working on a show. If I can have three or four people, that would be just great,” she said.
Act 5:
In the future at the ACA
This is where the public enters. Hennessy needs help with production, set design, sound, lighting, office work, costumes, carpentry, musicians, etc.
She said more men need to show their acting chops. “We don’t have enough men to audition. Some plays we can’t do because we don’t have enough male actors. We have a lot of good young boys who act in plays, but once they hit junior high I usually lose them. I’m competing against football or basketball or whatever sport. It’s frustrating but it’s the reality,” she said.
Ralph Larsen, who helps build sets on most plays, calls Sue Hennessy one of the hardest working people he knows.
“Most people have no idea how much work Sue has to do to get a play ready,” said Larsen, adding, “She really needs more help.”
“Most of this stuff is easy to learn,” said Hennessy. “For the sound board or lights you just have to know how to read and hit a button. Even one hour a week in the office to go through the stack of paperwork and file would help. This might seem like a menial task but it is so important.”
Hennessy said, “I am a prophet for this organization. I do what I can. With time, effort and commitment, this job is worth it on so many levels. But I need more help.”
Leave a Reply