| Meeder
Feature |
Fraser Feature |
Liddle
Feature |
Stoehr
Feature |
|
|
Meeder transported audiences to the
legendary land of Arthur with such songs as "How to Handle A
Woman," and "Camelot." Here he and the loveable Pellinore
contemplate the future of Camelot (Photo by Nancy Resch)
 
|
 ood things may come to those who wait—especially after
41 years.
This old adage rings true for Don Meeder of the Three
Lakes Theater Company, who will realize a childhood dream of playing King
Arthur in the group’s upcoming production of Camelot.
"When I was nine my uncle took me to see Camelot at
the Grand Nixon Theater in Pittsburgh, Penn. The grandeur of the costumes,
sets and music were mesmerizing," recalled Meeder with a nostalgic
smile, noting that he still had the 1959 program in his possession.
"That was the first of about 20 musicals that my
Uncle Tom treated me to over the next seven years, and it has remained a
favorite."
The enduring appeal of the Arthurian legends is not
limited to Meeder however. Camelot, the legendary sword Excalibur, and the
enduring image of a Round Table—where all men sit as equals—have
captivated poets, storytellers and historians for centuries. While several
versions of the story exist, one central theme emerges in most every
generation.
Meeder explained, "It’s a great mythical and
mystical tale that talks about a quest to do right. A line from the play
characterizes this: ‘We fumble and stumble, and at last we get there.’
In spite of our failings, we arrive. Maybe not in the manner or fashion
that we originally anticipated, but with God’s grace, we arrive."
|
Perhaps Meeder can relate so well to both King Arthur and
the story of Camelot because of experiences from his younger years.
"In my late 20s, I spent five years an idealistic
YMCA camp director for a small Y in Pennsylvania. During those years, a
wonderful group of staff and campers created a magical little world. Then
suddenly the camp was sold for a power project and its dam that never
materialized. A few years later the camp was leveled and every speck of
its existence removed. I’ve been back to the site in recent years, and
the only familiar items are the trees, hills, a stream and the memories
that you can almost touch," he recalled with a hint of longing in his
voice.
In much the same way the camp’s essence rubbed off on
him, Meeder feels the magic of Camelot will envelop audience
members, causing them to laugh and cry.
"There are some pretty intense emotional scenes that
take some working up to," indicted Meeder while glancing toward the
stage where Lisann Snedden and Gary Liddle worked to fine tune a key
dramatic scene in the show.
"The easiest part of my character is the playful
exchanges with Pelly—Arthur’s sidekick of sorts. Cliff Hales is a
natural at having fun," he continued.
Hales is not the only natural in the production.
According to creative director Mari Lynn Garbowicz, Meeder continues to
amaze her with his ability to capture the determined, yet uncertain
character he portrays.
"Don personifies the conflicts that face Arthur as
he matures into his role as king," she explained. "The audience
will laugh with him as he contemplates his wedding night and attempts to
‘handle’ the headstrong Jenny; they will sympathize with him as he
chooses between the peace of the kingdom he’s worked so hard to create
and the life of his dearly beloved wife. And finally, they will admire him
as he gives a young boy the charge of sharing the story of Camelot with
those he encounters."
It’s likely that Meeder’s love of the production as
well as his familiarity with the music, have helped him become the
legendary king.
"I think the album of the Broadway production was
the first I ever bought, and I literally wore it out singing along,"
said the 49-year-old father of three who works as a vocational
rehabilitation counselor for the state, assisting people with disabilities
in finding and maintaining employment.
While the musical has taken up much of Meeder’s spare
time in the past few months, he noted that it’s his ‘wonderful’ wife
Joan of twelve years and his ‘fantastic’ children who are the top
priority in his life. And just how are the members of his family handling
all of the time and effort that goes into Camelot?
He laughed and pondered the question for a moment.
"They are . . . doing well. It helps having my daughter Emily in it.
She’s really excited about her role as a butterfly."
Although Meeder is pleased about passing the love of
music and theater on to his children, he hopes that the Three Lakes
Theater Company’s production makes a difference in somebody’s life.
"One of my wishes, and that’s the beauty of a
local theater group, is that perhaps some youngster in the audience will
be inspired just as I was 41 years ago when my uncle first took me to a
musical called Camelot," he concluded.
Family Health Center
Nurse Practitioner Richard Fraser played Merlyn in the TLTC's 2001
production of Camelot. In addition to spending time on stage and on
the golf course, Fraser indulges in woodworking. Fraser joined the group
for Fiddler on the Roof, mistakenly believing that he would not be
forced to dance. Little did he know . . . (Photo by Gary Gilbert)
|
Finding the Time
Cast Members Share Reasons for
Involvement
 ith the
curtain scheduled to open in less than 48 hours, the Three Lakes Theater
Company is busily working to put the finishing touches on their 2001 show Camelot.
While
the show materializes with the help of many community volunteers, perhaps
those who sacrifice most during the two months leading up to opening night
are the cast members.
Their
jobs are varied: attorneys, retired state troopers, bankers, taxidermists,
educators, and others. Why do they do it? How do they fit it into their
busy schedules of family and jobs? The answer is easier then one might
think.
|
|
Members of the community were no doubt shocked to see
Richard Fraser on stage four years ago in the TLTC’s production of
“Fiddler on the Roof.” In fact, Fraser still can’t believe it
himself.
“I
had the misfortune of sitting next to Mrs. Garbowicz at a school play and
I was advised that I was going to be a burly Russian in Fiddler. I
wasn’t given any choice in the matter,” explained the 40-year-old
father of two with a smirk on his face. “But I was assured that no
singing or dancing would be involved. Lo, there was. In spite of my
absolute lack of ability at both, I was allowed to continue.”
A
nurse practitioner for Family Health Center by day, and a woodworker and
cast member by night, Fraser feels that joining the TLTC has given him an
opportunity to meet and know members of the community that he may not have
otherwise known.
He
does admit that rehearsals have had one negative impact on his life.
“It’s harmed my golf game terribly,” he laughed.
Fraser
has only been a part of Three Lakes since 1996, when he and his wife
Linden and their children Christian and Kameron moved here from Orofino,
Idaho, a small town about the size of Three Lakes. Prior to that he and
his family had lived in Los Angeles, Calif.
Fraser
graduated from being a burly Russian in Fiddler
on the Roof to playing Scotsman Andrew MacLaren in Brigadoon.
The 2000 production of South Pacific saw him playing Commander William
Harbison of the U.S. Navy, a role which he enjoyed playing with sidekick
Gary Gilbert.
Camelot finds Fraser playing the wise old wizard Merlyn, who served as King
Arthur’s teacher before being spirited away by the woodland nymph Nimue.
“I
think Merlyn’s droll sense of humor matches my own,” explained Fraser
who will be spending much of his performance time peering out of a knot in
a tree.
Music has
been a part of his life from the moment he was born. His father worked as
a band director. Later mom and
dad would run a music store.
For
three-year TLTC veteran Gary Liddle, who works as a fulfillment manager at
Drs. Foster and Smith in Rhinelander, joining the group was just a natural
extension of something he’d been doing since high school.
“It’s
always been a hobby that takes me away from everyday life. It gives me
something to work on and goals to strive for in life,” explained Liddle
of his life-long relationship with the fine arts.
During
high school the forty-something-year-old baritone had lead roles in Anything Goes, Damn Yankees and Calamity Jane in Dodgeville, Wisc.
From there, his musical talents turned to forming and directing a
Barbershop Chorus during the 1980s. And
upon moving to Sugar Camp in 1988, he put together a quartet that
performed throughout the area.
He
joined the TLTC in 1999 after landing the lead role of Tommy Albright in Brigadoon. In South Pacific,
Liddle brought the dim-witted Seabee ‘Professor’ to life and kept
audiences laughing with his antics.
This
year Liddle takes on the formidable role of Lancelot, the French knight
who dreams of joining the Round Table. At first unaccepted by the court
because of excessive hubris, Lancelot eventually wins the respect of not
only all those living in Camelot, but also the love of the queen. A love
that he never acts upon because of his devotion to King Arthur.
Liddle
admits that the role of Lancelot has been a challenge for him. “I’m
much more of an inward person, so I’ve had to really work at exuding
Lancelot’s arrogance and self-assuredness.”
Of
the characters he’s played so far, Tommy Albright seems to be his
favorite.
"Tommy
didn’t take what was given to him. He went with his heart and followed
it. He also wasn’t perfect, like Lancelot. Tommy’s character is my
favorite, but I may come to love Lancelot as much or more if I click with
Arthur and Gwenevere.”
It’s not
easy being Joe Stoehr.
Much
like Sylvester Stallone in an action movie, John Wayne in a western and
Leonard Nimoy in a science fiction show, Stoehr has found that once you
play a character that dies, you are typecast to do it over and over again.
His ‘death’ in Camelot will
mark his third death scene in as many years.
But
the 1988 Three Lakes High School graduate who works as a technician for
GASCO doesn’t seem to mind. In
fact, he’s thankful that his older sister Jayme convinced him to join
the TLTC in 1999. “They needed males for Brigadoon,” he explained, and
the rest is history.
But
singing and dancing on a stage does have its drawbacks.
Stoehr’s friends really give him a hard time.
“I get big time slack from them. It’s true, they do.
But generally they go to a performance and enjoy it.
Not many of them are musically inclined, however,” he laughs.
Like
many others involved with the TLTC, music has always been a part of his
life. “Actually, there’s a family story that my father could hear my
mother singing at (what’s now called) the Black Forest from his house
located near the school. He
was curious, so he walked over there, and that’s how they met.”
Stoehr’s
sister Jayme Hibbard echoes the role that music has played in their lives.
“We’ve always sung together. When we were growing up it was at
home, at weddings and at church. Today
I still sing at home with my kids, in the car with my kids at church and
at weddings. Our family also has a lot of fun singing karaoke at
Schneider’s in Sugar Camp.”
Both
brother and sister were heavily involved with the vocal music program at
Three Lakes.
“I
think music is a real important outlet for students.
Kids who are more involved in the arts and sports tend to be more
successful in life,” explained Hibbard, who raises a family of four and
subs as a paraprofessional for the School District of Three Lakes.
Younger brother Joe agreed recalling that
when he first joined the chorus in high school there were only 17
members—four of which were male. By
the time he was a senior, he had recruited all of his friends and the
group’s numbers had swelled to 70—half of which were male.
“I
think we need to throw the myth out the window that says an athlete
can’t be involved in the arts. If
they are your real friends, sure you’ll take some harassment, but if you
really enjoy singing, you should definitely be involved,” explained
the12-time athletic letter winner and current assistant softball coach for
the Three Lakes Bluejays.
Although
Hibbard had done two shows with the TLTC and Stoehr has done one, nothing
could quite prepare them for their roles in last year’s South
Pacific.
Hibbard played the winsome Liat, a Polynesian
girl who falls for the handsome Lt. Joseph Cable.
It didn’t sound like such a hard role until Hibbard found out who
was playing Cable. “It took a long time to get used to playing opposite
Joe,” she chortled. “We
had to practice not laughing in each other’s face and to take it
seriously. But we really did
end up enjoying it.”
As
one might guess, Stoehr’s friends had a field day with the casting. But
he took it all in stride. “We were able to drive together and rehearse
together all the time,” he noted.
In
the end, he’s astonished at what a town the size of Three Lakes has
managed to do over the last seven years. “It is time consuming and a lot
of work, but I’ve met a lot of good people and have had fun. There are
other things I could’ve have been during the last three years, but I’m
amazed that this small, little community puts together productions like
this. I’m hearing things all
the time. My dad even hears about the group in Rhinelander.”
Hibbard,
whose first production was Oklahoma,
agrees, noting that the TLTC has changed significantly.
“It’s a lot bigger and more professional today.
People know what they are doing.
The set and costuming has become more extravagant,” she
concluded. “Besides, it’s a fun experience and worth it to come and
see everybody else involved.”
|
|
Page last updated on 06/04/2008
For more information, contact our publicity
director. |
|
|
