Tongue ‘n Cheek

Created by Fred Alley

Additional Music by Fred Alley & James Kaplan

Director: Jeff Herbst

Director & Arranger: Andrew Crowe

Stage Manager Shawn Galligan*

Costume Coordinator Dan Klarer

Lighting Designer James Balistreri

Sound Designer Ben Werner

Cast of Characters

Narrator: Anna Cline

George Sutter: Dan Klarer*

Naomi Sutter: Lachrisa Grandberry*

Doc Johnson: Isaiah Spetz

Lorna Thornson: Jamie Mercado

*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Musician: Andrew Crowe

Tongue ‘n Cheek is sponsored by:

Door County Medical Center, Tony & Judy Licata, The Cordon Family Foundation

A Note from the Author of Tongue ‘n Cheek

(The following is from the 1997 Playbill) Tongue ’n Cheek is a day in the life of Wisconsin’s laziest farmer and his long-suffering wife. I wove it together from old Wisconsin folk songs, proverbs, jokes, cures and hearsay. Our new production features two additional “old” folk songs that James Kaplan and I wrote. Tongue ’n Cheek is done at microphones like a radio show. That’s how we did all of our shows back in the old days. What’s called “acting from the neck up.” It’s not as much work for the actor or the audience. I prefer it. I’ve spent my life avoiding work, much like George Sutter, the hero of Tongue ’n Cheek.

Tongue ’n Cheek is a favorite of many long time AFT fans, myself included. It was a challenge to knit a bunch of old folk songs together into a sweater that didn’t have three arms and two necks. We mostly succeeded. Enjoy.

(The following is from the 1991 Playbill) Tongue ’n Cheek is a true story. If art has been forsaken in the pursuit of accuracy, it is only that art was unable to stand up to the demands of truth and deserved to be forsaken. If anyone says this show is inaccurate, they are a liar and fraud and liable to appear in a future show as a three-legged dog or half-wit mule.

– Fred Alley

Spotlight on Tongue ‘n Cheek during Raise the Curtain May 30, 2021 on The Jeff & Katie Show with James Kaplan

ANNA CLINE

Performer

Anna is delighted to be back at Northern Sky where she was last seen as in Dad’s Season Tickets. Other regional theater credits include Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Third Avenue Playhouse, and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Anna would like to thank her friends and family for their never-ending support, as well as everyone at Northern Sky for working so hard to bring some theater magic back to Door County. We made it!

LACHRISA GRANDBERRY

Performer

Lachrisa, a Milwaukee-born native, is an actress, singer, and writer who has made Chicago her home. Prior to the pandemic she was performing She the People at The Second City. She is the author of Eeny Meeny Miny NO! a new dramatic play in development, as well as the lyricist, co-writer and co-composer of Sunflowered, a new musical in development. She is ecstatic to be returning to the stage with one of her favorite theatrical families. Other theatre credits include work with The Milwaukee Rep, First Stage, Skylight Music Theater, Black Arts MKE, Forward Theater, Madison Children’s Theater and more. Her television credits include The Thing About Harry, and Chicago PD (guest artist). Lachrisa is an alumna of Wisconsin Lutheran College. She gives thanks to God, her family, friends, and Paonessa Talent Agency for the continued love and support.

DAN KLARER

Performer / Costume Coordinator

Dan has been seen on Door County stages since 2006 starting in Peninsula State Park at Northern Sky and is so grateful to return home. Dan is based in Chicago, but has worked across America and internationally in the UK where he received his master’s degree from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow. Recent theater credits include: First Folio, Artists’ Ensemble, Third Ave Playhouse, Door Shakespeare, Peninsula Players, Theatre at the Center, Children’s Theatre Madison, Go Fish Productions, Chicago Kids Company, and the Goodman Theatre.

JAMIE MERCADO

Performer

Jamie is so happy to be returning to the theater after such a crazy year and is especially excited to be back in Door County with Northern Sky! Although Jamie has appreciated the time to pursue other hobbies and spend time with loved ones, she is ready to be performing once again. She was last seen on the Northern Sky stage as Cordy Kosinski in Dad’s Season Tickets, as well as in the We Like It Where? and Windjammers casts. Other credits include: Newsies at Skylight Music Theatre, Matilda at First Stage, and Songs for a New World at All In Productions. Jamie would like to thank her family and friends for their unconditional support! On Instagram: @jamielynnmercado

ISAIAH SPETZ

Performer & Assistant Stage Manager

Isaiah is a bee-keeper, singer-songwriter, and actor originally from Door County and is celebrating a third season under the stars. Spetz now resides in New York City, a recent graduate from NYU Tisch’s New Studio on Broadway. You may have seen Spetz regionally and in Northern Sky’s Victory Farm or We Like it Where? Other recent credits include: Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens (NSB), Tell Me How This Ends (Playwrights Horizons Downtown), Cabaret (Tisch, NSB), and The Clouds (Tisch, NSB). Search locally for the Spetzes’ Mother Sun Honey and handmade crafts.