Hales, Stefonek to lead TLTC Production

by Michelle Bergstrom

Cliff Hales has a twinkle about him that hints he's been a cut-up forever.  Who could ever forget that portly body stomping about in floral undershorts as the king in 1997's Cinderella? 

That same short, sturdy frame is about to exhibit a new demeanor.  A musical side.  A dramatic one.  

Your eyes will rivet on this man.  

"He is Tevye," declared Mari Lynn Garbowicz, director of the Three Lakes Theater Company. "He is absolutely marvelous."  

Sure to be two of the Three Lakes Theater Company's most memorable performances, taxidermist Cliff Hales and music teacher Sue Stefonek work to create Tevye and Golde, the patriarch and matriarch from Fiddler on the Roof.  The pair stole the show in last year's Cinderella as the King and Queen.  (Photo by Lynn Bonack)

Sixteen years playing guitar and singing with a rock group in Reno, Nevada, have given Hales stage presence and a strong set of baritone pipes.  Self-employment as a taxidermist has given him artistic self-confidence.  Marriage to best friend Kim, and fathering three lively sons, have given him humor.  It all comes together in Tevye, the lead character Hales plays.  

He makes it seem so easy. As Tevye, patriarch of five marriageable daughters all living in a small Russian village during czarist times, Hales whirls the play through humor, poignancy, change, politics and love.  He can sing, make you laugh, soften the mood, be a tyrant.  

You'd swear he'd done this all his life.  "Never acted until I was the king in Cinderella," chuckled the man with the shiny black hair.  "I came to Three Lakes from Reno, a rather interesting place.  Believe me, there is nothing like this out there."  

He turned serious.  "I wanted to be a part of this play because it's so much fun being with all these gifted people.  Never did I guess I'd be Tevye.  It's very humbling to be included in this group.  God has blessed this area with tremendous talent.  I am so grateful to be a part of it."  

The audience will be grateful, too.  Sue Stefonek, memorable as the queen in Cinderella, plays Tevye's wife, Golde.  A very pretty woman with deep-set, dusky eyes, Stefonek sings a beautiful soprano.  A music teacher in the Crandon school system for 15 years, the Sugar Camp resident has other interesting occupations.  

"I'm a certified soil tester, and I raise a few goats," laughed this mother of three sons.  "Doesn't leave much time for anything else, but my husband Dale supports me because he knows how much these plays mean to me. 

"I never had a lead part in high school plays, although I was told I had a pretty voice.  I just never had the confidence.  Yet, once you do this, that level grows and grows.  It's fun to share talents with people from the community.  This is a gifted group!" 

Stefonek's portrayal of this peasant woman is solid, believable, a good balance for Tevye.  But when she sings, her Golde comes soaring to life.  You'll take her performance home, too.

Page last updated on 02/26/2008