NEWS LETTER
"THE BACKSTAGE PASS"
AUDIENCES SHOUT "HALLELUJAH"​
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“I laughed through the entire show” was an often-heard comment as Players Workshop’s winter production of The Hallelujah Girls provided plenty of laughs and distractions from the winter blues during its 2-week run. Many thanks to the entire cast and crew for their hard work. Said one audience member, “It was awesome. Everyone was so funny and you could tell they were having fun too.”
The Hallelujah Girls is presented with permission of Dramatist’s Play Service, NY.
WORKSHOP CLOSES REGULAR SEASON WITH CLASSIC MYSTERY
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All Aboard! Buy your ticket and get on the train as Players Workshop closes its regular season with Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery Murder on the Orient Express, adapted for the stage by highly successful playwright Ken Ludwig.
Set in 1934 on the famed passenger train running from Istanbul to Paris, Murder on the Orient Express introduces a fascinating cast of characters and a host of clues through which famed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot must wade to find the murderer of repulsive businessman Samuel Ratchett.
PW veteran Jim Beres takes on the role of Poirot. The rest of the cast is as follows: Lee Franklin plays Monsieur Constantine Bouc, Poirot’s friend who secures
the detective’s berth on the crowded train; Kaitlynn Broeg plays governess Mary Debenham; Hayden Roberts is Hector MacQueen, Ratchett’s secretary; Tommy Caruso portrays train conductor Michel; Kathy Wolfskill plays Russian princess Natalya Dragomiroff; Kass Cox is missionary Greta Ohlsson; Jenn Mena plays American doctor Countess Elena Andrenyi; Michelle Huppenbauer is busybody American divorcee Helen Hubbard; Jim Brand is Col. James Arbuthnot, an old-fashioned military man; Estel Walker is the murder victim Samuel Ratchett; and Mateo Perez plays the head waiter.
Murder on the Orient Express is being directed by Steve Poling, assisted by Marlene Holsteen. Robbin Poling is the producer, Kent Lewis is the set designer, Anika Mortin is the stage manager, and Gretchen Lewis and Cyndy Fabel are the costumers.
The show will run at the Workshop, 1431 Grove St., on May 2-4 and 8-11, 2025; evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m., with 2:00 p.m. matinees on May 4 and 11.
Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc.
For more information, call the Workshop at 319-753-6623, go to www.playersworkshoptheater.com, or go to the Players Workshop Facebook page.
AUDITIONS SET FOR WORKSHOP’S YOUNG ACTORS PRODUCTION
Director Carol Hinkle announces open auditions for PW’s 2025 summer Young Actor Production! The show is entitled Bedtime Stories (As Told By Our Dad) (Who Messed Them Up) by Ed Monk, a charming re-telling of some classic bedtime fairy tales, by a dad who is just a bit “fuzzy on the details.”
Assisted by Christine Claeys and Anika Morton, director Hinkle is looking for 4 boys and 6 girls, plus 12 or more actors of either gender, so it is a good-sized cast.
Hinkle stated, “We encourage young actors who will finish 3rd grade this spring through those who will finish 8th grade this spring to try out. No experience necessary and no preparation required.”
Audition dates are as follows: Sunday, May 11, at 6:00 p.m. for third-fourth-fifth grade; Monday, May 12, at 6:00 p.m. for six-seventh-eighth grade; and, if your young actor can’t make it on the date for their grade, they may come on the other day. Auditions will be held at the Workshop, 1431 Grove St., Burlington, IA
Bedtime Stories (As Told By Our Dad) (Who Messed Them Up) will run at the Workshop on June 26, 27, 28, and 29, 2025.
For more information, contact Carol Hinkle at 319-850-1394 or email pwyoungactors@gmail.com. Information will also be on the Workshop’s Facebook page and at www.playersworkshoptheater.com.
If you do not wish to receive this newsletter, contact Mary Weinand (mary.weinand@yahoo.com or 319-750-4651) to have your name removed from the mailing list.
(Prefer an email version? Contact pw6623@gmail.com, to have the newsletter converted to electronic format.)
Bedtime Stories (As Told By Our Dad) (Who Messed Them Up is produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc (www.playscripts.com).
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ANOTHER PW ICON GONE
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The curtain came down for longtime PW member Mary Krohlow, who passed away on Jan. 28, 2025, at the age of 80.
Born in Wisconsin on May 1, 1944, Mary graduated from Wartburg College, remaining a lifelong fan. She started teaching at Burlington High School in
1966, where she was advisor for both the yearbook and newspaper.
Mary was a teacher, a retail buyer, a software developer, a published historian, and a local volunteer. Although Mary was involved with numerous civic organizations in Burlington throughout her life, she was a mainstay of the Workshop. As stated by longtime friend Merry Wiseman, “She put the “active” into active membership.”
According to the Workshop archives, Mary got very involved in PW in 1975 and remained so for over 50 years!
She was a director of multiple shows (21), the last being Heroes in 2019. She was known for directing plays like The Crucible and Our Town, because, as, Merry Wiseman said ” . . . she always remained a teacher at heart and in application. The plays she selected to direct were chosen to educate, to make people think.” She was a co-director, assistant director (8) and producer (6) of PW shows; however, the one thing she would not do was act!
She did programs, managed the box office, served on, and/or chaired, almost every committee (she was in charge of season ticket sales for years), was a long-time board member, and was known for hosting cast/crew parties for almost every play in which she was involved. She was the person most instrumental in establishing the PW library of plays, currently available at the Workshop, after having stored hundreds of those plays in her home for years.
A prolific and published historian, Mary was chair of the PW Archives Committee from its inception in 2010 until her death, and, at the time of her death, as part of the 90th year anniversary of PW, was working on a complete history of the Workshop from its beginning in the early 1930’s.
On a very personal note, for many years Mary wrote and edited the Workshop’s newsletter, and, when she indicated she wanted to turn it over to someone else, she asked me if I would be interested. When I agreed, she gave me a multi-paged, single-spaced guideline that contained virtually everything needed to do the job successfully; I always got a quick email if she found a mistake, but she was always encouraging. Because of her vast knowledge of PW, whenever I needed clarification or needed a photo, I would shoot her an email, and I always had the material in less than 24 hours, making my job a lot easier. Her generosity of spirit was simply part of who she was.
At her Celebration of Life, held at the Workshop on March 8, some of the words heard to describe Mary were “kind,” “loyal,” “dedicated,” “perseverance,” “demanding and meticulous, but pleasant and warmhearted.”
Mary Krohlow was one of a kind, and Players Workshop is all the better for
having been a part of it; she is going to be missed so much.
SUPPORTING CAST 2024-2025 DONORS WELCOME
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Players Workshop invites you to join the Supporting Cast for 2024-2025 season.
This is a one-time financial donation to Players Workshop, which will run for the theatrical season, and contributes significantly to the financial stability of PW.
Donations may be made in one of the following categories:
Usher $25-$99
Stage Crew $100-$249
Supporting Actor $250-$499
Star $500-$999
Director $1000-$2499
Producer $2500+
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Director
Barbara Bonnett
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Star
Tim & Tonja Binder
BNSF Railway Foundation
(matching Kevin Liles’ donation)
Mary Fox
Kevin Liles
Lillian Rubin
Carole Theesfeld
Supporting Actor
Sandra Allgood
David Beckman
Carolyn Dorting
Bonnie Downes
Eva Ann Elmer
Jon Hart
Wayne & Colleen Heibner
Nathan & Stephanie Heubner
Marlene Holsteen
Judith Johnson
Russ Leuck
Chip & Dana Readinger
Tim Roberts
Fred & Martha Wetzel
Kimberly Wittkamp
Stage Crew
Barb & David Acord
Allan G. Allsup
Cindy & Darrell Bachtell
Connie Bowen
Joni Brainerd
Dan & Kathleen Cahill
Jim & Sandy Carter
Lois A. Close
Carol Copeland
Barbara Drodz (in memory of Jim Drodz)
Mary & Bill Fortin
Becky Foy
Roger & Lori Griswald
Dr. Amy Groeltz – Smile Shoppe
Robert Haines
Carole Halicki
Kaye Hanna & Tim Hutchins
Carol Janosik
Denise Johnson
Gerhardt & Carmen Lachnitt
Cynthia M. Leonard (in memory of Mark T. Leonard)
Tammy Lohmann
Mary Marsh
Ronald Marshall
Linda Messer
John & Lisa Pomberg
Milton & Laurie Paule
Carol J. Reed
Rheinschmidt’s Flooring America
John & Kathy Schneider
Teresa, Mark, & Pat Shaffer
Sara Sink
Pauline Spees & Jim Raudabaugh
Nancy StClair
Wayne & Nancy Tolander
Keith Turrill
Peggy & Earl Stott
Kathy Wolfskill
Renee Zaiser – Razzle Travel
Usher
Judy Bartachek
Russell Benischek
Chad & Sally Bird
Lynne Carter
Lois Close (in memory of Sandra Nolte)
Joyce & Paul Dennison
Jaquelyn Edwards
Sharon Eisenmayer
Mary Fickel
Lori Fry
Russ Fry
Susan Geren
Lyle & Janice Gibson
Barbara Hahn
Linda & Harry Hoenig
Katherine M. Hoth
Dean Hurliman
Char M. L. James
Dee & Wayne Johnson
Dorothy Leazer
Pat Mayle
Mary McManis
Lucinda Milder
Ryan Nagrocki
Kendra Robertson
Kathleen Schier
Keith Schultz, Sr.
Bev & Duane Sherbondy
Brett Shollenbarger
Jyll & Paul Sly
Laura Sly
Anita Stapleton
David Teater
Larry & Linda Turley
Henry Villareal
Christine Williamson
Kay Wilson
Eunice Winters
All those who join will have their names listed in each play program and newsletter, as well as on the PW website, for 2024-25. Thank you in advance for your support. You may join the Honorary Supporting Cast by filling out the form at the end of this newsletter or the form in your play program.
Also, Players Workshop thanks these additional patrons for their financial donations to Players Workshop: James Stuart, Ava Arnold.
You may join the Honorary Supporting Cast by filling out the form in your play program.
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PLAYERS WORKSHOP thanks these additional patrons for their financial donations to Players Workshop: Faith Krause, Marie Milfort, Sheena Abbott, Shirley Beck.
REMEMBERING MARY: Players Workshop thanks those who have made donations in memory of the late Mary Krohlow: Chriss Heyd & Doris Kulp,
Bonnie Downes, John Walker Rutenbeck, Lavon L. Worley, James L. Beres, Mary Fox, Brenda Dahl, Pam Farr, Kent Lewis, Ericka Breuer, Susan Beckman, Mary McManis, Laurie Noll, Colleen Heibner, Kathy Gerling, Marlene Holsteen, Ann Hass, Christine Heyd & Cassee Potenzone.
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