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Fond du Lac Community Theatre
presented the musical comedy
The
Apple Tree
on two consecutive weekends, October 19 - 21, and 26 - 28, 1989. Book, music and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and Jerry
Block, additional book material by Jerome Coopersmith.
|
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| Cast
(in order of appearance) |
| ACT
I - The Diary of Adam and Eve |
 |
CHARACTER: |
ACTOR: |
| "God" |
voice of Orin Mueller |
| "Adam" |
Alan Fuller |
| "Eve" |
Terri Fuller |
| "The
Snake" |
Helen Barfknecht |
| ACT
II - The Lady of the Tiger |
 |
"The
Tigerkeeper" |
Helen Barfknecht |
| "King
Arik" |
George Weigel |
| "Bar-Ba-Ra" |
Terri Fuller |
| "Young
Man" |
Paul Nelson |
| "Tiger" |
Carey Gardin |
| "Young
Woman" |
Katie Sabel |
| "Nadjira" |
Pat Teofilo-Moser |
| ACT
III - Passionella |
| "Narrator/Fairy
Godmother" |
Helen Barfknecht |
| "Ella" |
Terri Fuller |
| "Mr.
Fallible" |
George Weigel |
| "Passionella" |
Terri Fuller |
| "Newshawk
#1" |
Stefan Debbert |
| "Newshawk
# 2" |
Sarah Hannes |
| "Newshawk
# 3" |
Matt Carew |
| "Newshawk
# 4" |
Erin Fuller |
| "Flip,
The Prince Charming" |
Alan Fuller |
| "Director" |
Tom Otte |
| "Reporter" |
Kathy Montgomery |
| "Plastic
Lady" |
Mollie May |
| "George
L. Brown" |
Alan Fuller |
| Adult
Chorus (listed below in alphabetical order) |
| Dan Berns |
Barbara Blagoue |
Debi Debbert |
Teresa Emery |
| Kathy Hilbert |
Dawn Kimpel |
Kathy Montgomery |
Pat Teofilo-Moser |
| Orin Mueller |
Paul Nelson |
Tom Otte |
George Weigel |
| Tom Yockey |
| Teen
Chorus (listed below in
alphabetical order) |
| Kari Ann Brockman |
Kelly Kowalski |
Rachel Laurent |
| Millie May |
Katie Sabel |
Heidi Yockey |
| Special appearance by Carol
Keifenheim |
| Behind the
Scenes - Our Production
Crew |
| Director |
Dan Berns |
| Art Director |
Ginny Berns |
| Costumes |
Helen Barfknecht and Zoe Barfknecht |
| House |
Debi Debbert |
| Make-Up |
Renee Scherck |
| Make-Up Crew |
Carol Keifenheim, Gina Malson, Keith May, Susan Muldoon and Betty Trent |
| Music Director |
Alan Fuller |
| Orchestra |
Keyboard, Roger Palmer |
| Drums, Bob Milanowski |
| Properties |
Arllyce Candlish |
| Props Crew |
Mary Jo Ablard, Joanne Bird, Mary Konen and Claudia
Winland |
| Publicity |
Barb Krug |
| Publicity Art |
Dan Berns |
| Set Design and Construction |
Jan Stoegbauer and Cindy Entringer |
| Set Building Crew |
Kathy Hilbert, Debi Debbert, Kathy Hlavan, Cheryl
DuBrava, Mary Jo Ablard, Deb Zwicky and Lori Bargenquast |
| Stage Manager |
Deb Zwicky |
| Stage Crew |
Mary Jo Ablard, Cheryl DuBrava, Cindy Entringer, Jim
Herres, Barb Krug and Jan Stoegbauer |
| Technical Director |
John Silah |
| Fondy Tech Crew |
Josh Burman, Shelly Heidt, Pam Kramer, Lisa Weinshrott and Matthew Rodenkirch |
| Pyrotechnics |
Matthew Rodenkirch and John Silah |
"The Apple Tree"
was presented by special arrangement with Music Theater International, 545 Eighth Avenue, New
York, New York 10018.
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Reminisce by Matthew Rodenkirch
I do remember working on ‘Apple Tree,’ which I think was one of our (Matt and John Silah’s) first productions. And I remember we were learning pyrotechnics for that, because Dan wanted special effects for that, and we had to figure out how not to blow ourselves or anyone else up in the process.
I also remember spending the better part of one day – he had a scene at the end where they were supposed to be sitting around a television set, and they want this soft glow on the actors, and the only way to achieve it was to mount a couple of lights in there. And I spent a good couple of hours gutting a TV and mounting lights in there. So, I remember that. I remember we had a lot of good kids working with us at that time, who could really pull stuff off. |
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Baptism of Fire, a reminisce by John Silah
The first big show I worked on became my “baptism of fire.” It was “The Apple Tree,” directed by one of FdLCT's talented directors, Dan Berns. It was a demanding show. It required three followspots, including up and down the aisles, special lighting effects, and
even pyrotechnics.
I had never done technical work for any live theatre show before that one, and here I was with not just a play, but a big, flashy musical. I called on a friend, Matthew Rodenkirch, to help me with it. Matt volunteered and became my right-hand man for that, and
for many other shows as well.
Dan wanted three explosions in a row, at two different times in the show. His instructions were, “sparkle, sparkle, poof!” So I needed two different kinds of explosive powder. The “poof” wasn’t too difficult – we had “poof pots” to set
the powder off in. The sparkle powder proved to be more difficult. When we set it off in the poof pots, the explosion sparkled just fine. But the sparks kept burning. The stage crew found the glowing cinders during the “blackout” between scenes, burning into the wooden stage. They tried to put
them out by stamping on them with
their feet, but they started to burn into their shoes.
I checked with a theatrical resource I knew, and learned that you should have a “mortar” to use the sparkle powder. It was like a poof pot, but with a cylindrical tube. The tube forced the sparkle/explosion to shoot straight up into the air, nearly hitting the ceiling fifteen feet above our
heads! But the long rise and fall gave the sparkles time to burn themselves out. They created quite a spectacular effect, which we also used in subsequent shows.
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