BY LUCIA MAURO
These days, the closest actors get to being summoned by a dinner bell in the backwoods is when they’re cast in a production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. But at Peninsula Players, an Equity company nestled in a lush cedar forest in Fish Creek, Wisc. (Door County), the summer cast and crew live in newly renovated dorms and share meals together at times marked by the clanging of a cow bell.
"It’s like summer camp for adults," says executive producer Todd Schmidt. "When I first visited Peninsula Players in 1988, I thought it was so beautiful and idyllic. You’re working in God’s theatre against a spectacular sunset and one thousand feet of unspoiled shore line. Actors are used to working in concrete jungles. So Door County is like theatre heaven."
Peninsula Players has a vast and colorful history. Now entering its 69th season, which runs June 18 through Oct. 12, it began as a professional outdoor summer-stock theatre by the intrepid Fisher family on the lawn of the Bonnie Brook Cottage/Motel in 1935 with a production of Noel Coward’s Hay Fever. Two years later, the Fishers purchased a former 22-acre boys camp, which is the site of the present theatre–an open-sided structure that protects patrons and actors from the elements, yet does not obscure the woodsy environs.
Actors–including Harvey Korman, Sam Wanamaker and Rene Auberjonois–graced this rural 550-seat proscenium "theatre in a garden." Paging through Peninsula Players’s 65th anniversary program is like being swept into a stylish history of drawing-room dramas, romantic comedies, farces and chamber musicals. Seasons have run the gamut with Laura, Mister Roberts, The Zoo Story, Three Penny Opera, What the Butler Saw, The Skin of Our Teeth, Dancing at Lughnasa, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Marvin’s Room and Forever Plaid.
Variety is a hallmark of this resident company, which typically runs a show for two to three weeks–so that actors cast in more than one production rehearse for the next one during the day, while performing in the current show at night (for six nights a week, no matinees).
Peninsula Players has undergone many changes over the last several decades.
In 1960, the Fishers–operating at an ongoing loss–sold the theatre. The new owner, a New York attorney, invited actor-director Jim McKenzie to oversee operations as a producer. In 1962, the Peninsula Players Theatre Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization, was formed to operate the theatre. By 1978, the attorney sold the property to McKenzie. And it was during the 1970s that the theatre became better known due to the popularity of Door County (270 miles from Chicago) as a summer vacation spot.
In 1993, the theatre and housing complex were in great need of renovation. The structural repairs forced McKenzie to exhaust the theatre’s cash reserves. Still, new housing and production facilities were needed. In order to continue the rehab, McKenzie sold the property to the Peninsula Players Theatre Foundation but continued to oversee operations. Between 1993 and 1999, donors, benefactors and volunteers contributed to the building of new actor housing, public restrooms, expanded rehearsal and storage space, and a new computerized box office.
Today, former general manager Schmidt–recently named executive producer upon McKenzie’s death–envisions a large-scale upgrading over the next five years. Schmidt, a local director and theatre administrator, initially got involved with Peninsula Players as a public relations/marketing director in 1992 and was appointed general manager one year later.
His partner, Chicago actor Greg Vinkler (encouraged by long-time Peninsula Players ensemble member Bob Thompson), had been performing at Peninsula Players since 1988. Vinkler has served as the company’s artistic director since 1994. And both men (who continue to act and direct) are responsible for the artistic and business sides of the theatre.
Expansion plans include rebuilding the stage (originally constructed in 1937 with no fly space) and more housing facilities for the 40 artists and technicians who live on the property during the season. They may expand the theatre’s seats to about 625, but the bulk of the repairs are focused on the stage.
"We don’t want to change the experience," states Vinkler. "We want to maintain the intimacy of a theatre along the shores of Green Bay, while making it better."
Adds Schmidt, "We plan to improve the facilities. But it’s going to be the same funky north woods theatre. We don’t want to clean it up and make it Disneyland."
Peninsula Players has consistently attracted artists from Chicago and upgraded the theatre’s design and technical aspects. Most recently, Kate Buckley and Marc Robin were invited as guest directors. "Chicago is the market we know," says Schmidt. "It’s where we work and live."
The administrative team notes that respected actors–like Tom Mula, Carmen Roman and David New–return on a regular basis. A resident summer contract allows for flexibility so that an actor is not required to stay for the entire season. An actor may perform in, say, the first and/or third offering. Last year’s Union minimum was $580 a week; and there are non-Equity possibilities.
"One of our goals was to put out the best possible product," says Vinkler, "which meant getting the best people. We’ve tried to be a regional theatre for four months even though we know it’s a summer stock operation."
The five-show season typically consists of three comedies, a drama and either a musical, mystery or historical work. Scripts currently being considered for this season are Proof, The Odd Couple, A Man for All Seasons and "maybe an Agatha Christie." Peninsula Players is not restricted to chestnuts. It presented the world premiere of Shady Business and did the first production of Gurney’s Fourth Wall.
Design positions for 2003 have been filled, but audition dates will be posted on the Equity hotline and in PerformInk.
Schmidt and Vinkler continue to increase the housing so that cast and crew have more privacy. After all, the close living situation allows actors to bond but does prompt them to crave more quiet time (which the surrounding nature preserve provides).
"They must be good campers," advises Vinkler. And Schmidt interjects, "We always recommend a flashlight and bug spray."
But one of the greatest benefits is that theatre artists have the opportunity to partake in what Schmidt describes as "a communal art form in a communal living situation."
Peninsula Players, W4351 Peninsula Players Road, Fish Creek, WI 54212. Tel. 920/868-3287; www.peninsulaplayers.com.