Collected Stories
by Donald Margulies
April 27 - 29 & May 4 - 6, 2023 @ 7pm
Dryden Theatre I CLC Brainerd Campus
A Brainerd Community Theatre production
Photography by Maren Martin
The Cast
Laura Busch (Ruth)
Laura has appeared in many BCT and CLC productions including The Unsinkable Molly Brown, The Glass Menagerie and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Laura toured for three years with John Houseman's The Acting Company (national tour), playing various lead and supporting roles. She earned her BFA in Drama from The Juilliard School.
Kryston Wiseley (Lisa)
Kryston is excited to return to the Dryden Theatre for the second time this season! She was most recently seen as a dancer in BCT’s 9-5: The Musical and Actor 3 in A Christmas Carol. Some of her favorite roles have been Mary Patrick in Sister Act: The Musical, Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods, and The French Revolution in Less Miserable(...yes, you read that right.) A classically trained singer, Wiseley has performed such works as Schumann’s “Frauenliebe und Leben,” Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, and Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas. When she is not on the stage, Wiseley can be found teaching Choir at Forestview Middle School or enjoying the summer
sun out on the lake!
The Production Staff
Corinne Johnson, Director and Costume Designer
Cory is a new Theatre faculty member here at Central Lakes College. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon and has also taught at St. Ambrose University, Luther College, Augustana College, the University of Oregon and the University of Minnesota. As an actress, she has most recently been seen as Virginia in Three Viewings, Linda in Death of a Salesman, Aunt Julia in Hedda Gabler, Virginia in W;t, and Stevie in The Goat, or Who’s Sylvia? Favorite directing experiences include: Brighton Beach Memoirs, A Streetcar Named Desire, Pippin, and the premiere of TUG: This Untoward Generation. In 2017 she was awarded the Kennedy Center American College Theatre’s Gold Medallion Award for excellence in Theatre education.
Joey Yow, Lighting Designer
Joey is the Director of the CLC Performing Arts Center. He worked for over a decade as a film and theatre teacher for middle and high school students, and has a passion for providing students with opportunities to explore their interests in the arts. Select previous lighting design credits include The Giver, Mamma Mia!, Peter and the Starcatcher, & Godspell.
Tim Leagjeld, Set Designer
Tim has been designing and constructing scenery for several venues in the Lakes Area for 35 years. Other than theatre, he enjoys spending time at his home on the Whitefish Chain with his fur-babies Rex, Norman and in loving memory of Mr. Sandy.
Donald Abbott, Sound/Projection Designer
This is Don’s first foray into sound design, but he is no stranger to the theatre having participated in comedy improvisation for over 30 years as a performer and founding member of Comedysportz Quad Cities. He has served as an actor in The Rocky Horror Show, Romeo and Juliet, Greater Tuna and Fiddler on the Roof. He has worked as a singing waiter, bartender, IT tech, Registered Nurse and currently as a Nursing Informaticist. Don sings in the Legacy Chorale here in Brainerd and, as this is his first year living in Central Minnesota, is excited to keep exploring the Great North!
Maren Frieman, Props Designer
Maren grew up in Baxter, Minnesota, and attended the University of Minnesota, Duluth, where she received a B.A. in Education Studies, a handful of minor studies, and a certificate in Theatrical Design and Production. At UMD, Maren found her background in illustration and sculpture served her study of costume, scenic, and prop design well. Most notably, Maren was the prop designer and co-scenic designer for Stage 2's Firebringer, a comedic musical that went on to be awarded for best scenic design and best props design in UMD's 2021–22 theatrical season.
Lorri Jager, Production Manager
Lorri has been bopping in and out of BCT since Young Frankenstein (2018), supporting productions in various capacities. It’s been her honor to facilitate this project and show delightful new friends where all the stuff is. She hopes you enjoy this story and thanks you for supporting the arts
Shawna Sylvester, Stage Manager
Wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, bibliophile, musicophile, aesthete, knowledge gatherer, and a theatre lover who has worked for CLC over the years in various roles as Volunteer, House Manager, and as Stage Manager for many productions including Collected Stories. Thank you to the cast and crew for all of their help and support over these last few months. Many thanks to Cory Johnson for offering me the honor of stage managing for her productions at CLC.
Breton Monroe, Theatre Technician
Bret is the new Theatre Technician for Central Lakes College Performing Arts Center and a Brainerd Lakes Area resident. He loves being a father, husband, son, and brother, writing music, poetry, and plays, playing golf, producing all forms of entertainment. He is proud to be a part of the Performing Arts Center, CLC and its affiliates, and the Brainerd Community Theatre family.
The Production Running Crew
Crew left to right: Maren Friemann, Olivia Armstrong, Alyssa Neistadt, Tara Wollner, Rhonda Schmidt
Olivia Armstrong
Olivia is a freshman here at CLC. She has acted in various productions through Brainerd Community Theatre. This is her first time on a running crew, but she enjoys a new challenge! She would like to extend a sincere thank you for coming and hopes you enjoy the show!
Alyssa Neistadt
I'm a current CLC student perusing my Associates of Art degree. I'm in the Natural Resource Club on campus, I've been nominated for Sophomore Student of the Year, and my friend Mary and I placed 2nd in the CLC talent show for our rendition of He's Fine. This summer I'll be working with the Lakes Area Music Festival, a nonprofit that hosts free classical music concerts during Brainerd's summer months. Featured roles include Sweet Charity and Carmen with Stage North Theatre Company and Guys & Dolls and Hello Dolly with Brainerd High School.
Tara Wollner
I’m a student at CLC taking Pottery, Ornamental Trees and Shrubs, and Theater Production. I’m looking forward to taking Aquaponics in the fall. I work at Valeri Ann's Family Foods and bake cookies, my favorite flavors are snickerdoodles and white chocolate chip craisin cookies. I am handling props for Collective Stories and my previous theater experience includes Santa in the 50s - Sugar Plum Fairy 2012.
Rhonda Schmidt
Rhonda is enjoying the challenge of being part of the backstage crew for the first time. She hopes that you enjoy the show!
Special Thanks to:
Maren Martin, Stage North Theatre, Pequot Lakes Community Theatre,
CLC Administration, CLC Foundation, CLC Graphic Design Program:
Leon Dahlvang & Jeremy Goddard, Julie Berczyk, Todd Person, CLCPAC Volunteer Ushers
& Volunteer Food Service.
CLCPAC Staff
Joey Yow, Director
Lucy Peterson, Box Office Manager
Breton Monroe, Theatre Technician
Grant Funding
This activity is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota, through a grant from the Five Wings Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from
the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund
The Five Wings Arts Council
The Arts and Cultural
Heritage Fund
Collected Stories Acknowledgements:
Collected Stories...Originally produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club with funds provided by
the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust on April 30, 1997.
Commissioned and first produced by South Coast Repertory.
SPECIAL NOTE ON COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL
“Not So Far as the Forest (I)” by Edna St. Vincent Millay,
from Collected Poems, HarperCollins. Copyright © 1939, 1967 by
Edna St. Vincent Millay and Norma Millay Ellis. All Rights Reserved.
Reprinted by permission of Elizabeth Batnett, Literary Executor.
“Calmly We Walk Through This April's Day” by Delmore Schwartz, from
Selected Poems: Summer Knowledge. Copyright © 1959 by Delmore Schwartz.
Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Short quotations by Delmore Schwartz, from In Dreams Begin Responsibilities.
Copyright © 1961 by Delmore Schwartz.
Reprint by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Short excerpt by Delmore Schwartz, from Delmore Schwartz Poems.
Copyright © 1998 by New Directions Publishing Corp.
Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.
Reprinted by permission of New Directions Publishing Corp.