Unprecedented Stage Time

Theatre is more than an art form. It can be a hobby, a source of entertainment, or for a fortunate few, a career. For Anne Brown, a Minnesota State University Moorhead senior who will perform lead roles in five of the six Straw Hat Players (SHP) productions this summer, it’s her life. “I eat, breathe and sleep theatre,” Brown said. “It’s my passion, and being on stage is like my heaven.”

Growing up in Forest Lake, Minn., Brown participated in every opportunity she could find to be on stage, including school and community theatre. After high school, however, Brown turned in her stage shoes to pursue a degree in apparel design at University of Wisconsin-Stout. But while there, her heart longed for the theatre.

“I didn’t think I wanted to do theatre for the rest of my life. I thought it was a hobby. But during that semester without it, I felt like a chunk of my life was missing, and I knew I had to go back to the stage,” Brown said.

Brown enrolled in MSUM’s theatre program the spring of her freshman year. She didn’t know anyone in the program nor had she ever taken theatre classes. Fortunately the lack of classroom experience did not hold her back.

That spring, Craig Ellingson, director of theatre and her advisor, encouraged her to audition for MSUM’s summer theatre company, the Straw Hat Players (SHP). One month later, she signed a contract and joined the theatre company that changed her life

// BY BRITTANY DUNNIGAN

SHP is an intense 10-week theatre program comprised of approximately 50 actors, technicians and staff working 10 hours a day, seven days a week, to produce six full-length productions. This summer marks the SHP’s 50th anniversary.

Ellingson, a 17-year veteran of the SHP, said this 50th season will be memorable and celebratory, including alumni performances throughout the season and a celebration weekend July 19-20 with events for alumni and their families.

“The Straw Hat Players is by no means a relaxing way to spend a summer, but I can’t imagine anything I would rather do. It’s a lot of dancing and hard work, but mostly it’s a lot of fun. We literally do theatre all day, every day—painting sets, rehearsing, learning choreography, performing and running lines late at night,” Brown said. “It’s by far the best thing I have ever done as a theatre major.”

This is Brown’s third season with SHP. She’s landed lead roles in five of the six productions and is up to the challenge.

“Anne is a talented performer who has grown immensely in her craft these past few years. She’s become very versatile in her performance skills, including musical theatre, dramatic and comedic roles,” Ellingson said. “The roles you will see her portraying this summer are unique and will challenge her on many different levels–everything from a young leading lady to an old crone. She is one of a special group of actors to perform five lead roles in one summer.

It will be great fun for audiences to see her change from show to show.”

Brown graduates next spring and will begin her professional acting career in Minneapolis, hoping to perform at the Chanhassen Dinner Theatre.

“I went to ‘Beauty and the Beast’ at the Chanhassen for the first time when I was a young girl,” Brown said. “I remember how amazing it was and how I wanted to be on that stage, too.”

Some day Brown may achieve her dream of portraying Belle at the Chanhassen. Until then, the world is her stage.

This summer’s 50th anniversary SHP season features musicals, comedies, dramas, dancing and amazing talent. Get your tickets early at the MSUM box office, 218.477.2271 or online at mnstate.edu/strawhat. [AWM]

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