3 minute read
Dad's Season Tickets
A Note from the Author of Dad’s Season Tickets
by Matt Zembrowski
The reason that characters in a musical break into song is because the emotions those characters are feeling at any given moment become so intense that mere words will no longer suffice.
I’ve been a die-hard Packer fan for most of my life, but I didn’t actually go to my first game at Lambeau Field until I was almost 30. And despite having seen it on TV hundreds of times, I still had no idea what to expect when I walked into the light at the end of that tunnel. When the character of Rhonda gazes out on that “neverending sea of Green and Gold” for the first time in Act Two of Dad’s Season Tickets, her reaction is essentially what my reaction was, but accompanied by a three piece band.
So what is it about the Packers? Having read just about every book on the subject I could find, I still don’t have a satisfactory answer to that question. But when I walked into Lambeau Field for the first time, I could feel it. And the fact that they play in a stadium named after a coach and not a company speaks volumes about the history of this franchise.
When I set about writing a show involving Packer season tickets, I knew there was no way I would ever be able to put into mere words the intrinsic link between the Packers and the city of Green Bay in a way that would satisfy both theatergoers and football fans. So I decided the only way to approach this vast subject was to focus on a family. And while the members of the Kosinski family are inspired by - and in some cases named after - people near and dear to me, they could be any family in Wisconsin. For better or worse, we all know someone just like Ralph, or Frank, or Gabby. And some of you out there may feel just like Cordy, or Edgar. So I hope you’ll forgive the absurdity of watching a bunch of people sing about a football team, but it’s the only way I could express what the Packers mean to me, and (I’m guessing) to a lot of you out there.
Dad's Season Tickets
Book, Music & Lyrics by Matt Zembrowski
Directors & Choreographers Jeff Herbst & Molly Rhode
Assistant Director Bill Theisen
Music Director Alissa Rhode
Musical Arrangements Alissa Rhode
Stage Manager Heather Sopel*
Asst. Stage Manager Nina Stoneham
Scenic Designer Lisa Schlenker
Scenic Artists Carri Dahl & Adam Stoner
Lighting Designer David Alley
Sound Designer Ben Werner
Costume Designer Amy Horst
Props Designer Kathleen Rock
Cast of Characters
Frank Kosinski, patriarch of the Kosinski family....................... Ray Jivoff*
Rhonda Kafura, Frank’s eldest daughter........................... Kelly Doherty*
Gabby Nimwitz, Frank’s middle daughter................................Anna Cline
Cordy Kosinski, Frank’s youngest daughter......................Jamie Mercado
Ralph Kafura, Rhonda’s husband................................Doug Mancheski*
Edgar Nimwitz, Gabby’s husband.................................... Chase Stoeger
Announcer..........................................................................Lee Becker*
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Music tracks created and provided by Tanner-Monagle Studios Orchestrations by Alissa Rhode, Dennis Keith Johnson & Colin O’Day
"Dad’s Season Tickets" is sponsored by Door County Medical Center, Alpine Resort, The Cordon Family Foundation, Wulf Brothers in honor of Door County Maritime Museum
Funded in part by a grant from the Green Bay Packers Foundation
