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Exit Strategy

You’re never too old. Never.

Bill Semans, playwright, actor, 71, born and raised in Minneapolis, attended Washburn High School and the University of Minnesota. His acting career began in 1955 at the Bloomington Civic Theatre and continued at Theatre in the Round, the Eastside Theatre, and others. He founded the Cricket Theatre in 1968 and produced nearly 100 plays and musicals in three locations – including the Ritz Theatre from 1971 through 1979, helping to make Northeast Minneapolis a cultural destination. In 1970, the Cricket Theatre’s production of The House of Leather played Off-Broadway. Throughout the 1970s, the Cricket was known for presenting challenging new American plays. After leaving the Cricket in 1980, Semans produced, wrote, and/or directed nine documentary films and wrote and directed the feature film Herman, USA. He has also written a novel, The Life of a Swedish Gentleman. He is working on a documentary film about the First Minnesota Volunteer Regiment in the Civil War.

Roy M. Close, playwright, 63, grew up in the Twin Cities and graduated from the University of Minnesota (where he studied playwriting under Charles Nolte). He joined the Books and Arts section of The Minneapolis Star in 1971 and spent the next decade covering theater, classical music, and dance for that publication. In 1981 he jumped to the Saint Paul Pioneer Press, where he was a critic and editor for another decade. After leaving the Pioneer Press in 1992, he resumed writing for the stage. He contributed sketches and songs to several Brave New Workshop shows, and wrote a musical about the newspaper business, Lies, Lies, Lies, that was staged at the Workshop in 1996. He has written more than a dozen short plays, including A Postcard from the Corn Palace, Zambezi Blue, and Your Call Is Very Important to Us. He is the author of Critical Conditions, a book about the state of arts criticism in Minnesota, and is an award-winning limerick writer. He is currently Director of Resource Development at Artspace Projects.

Charles Nolte, actor, 84, is a distinguished theater artist with a national reputation – an actor, playwright, director, and educator who taught at the University of Minnesota for three decades; the Charles Nolte Experimental Theatre at Rarig Center is named in his honor. As an actor, Nolte appeared in nine Broadway productions, including the title role in Billy Budd and The Caine Mutiny Courtmartial (both on Broadway and the national tour). He has written ten plays and directly more than 100 productions at theaters in the Twin Cities and elsewhere. He has enjoyed a long association with Theatre in the Round, which has produced seven of his plays over the years.

Shirley Jean Venard, actor, 72, has been performing all of her life, starting as a young child studying with a former Broadway actress, Ann Heritage Scott. During her career she has portrayed many of dramatic literature’s most magnificent women, winning the Twin Cities “Drama Critic’s Award” for her performances in Caryl Churchill’s Cloud 9, directed by Don Amendolia, and W. Somerset Maughm’s The Constant Wife, directed by Nicholas Kepros. (She should have won for Jeffery Hatcher's Three Viewings, directed by Kent Stephens, cuz that was a great lady, but---they didn't hold awards that year). While a resident acting company member at the Guthrie Theater, The History Plays, directed by Garland Wright was her favorite production. She attributes her prolific career to the outstanding playwrights and inspired directors who have entrusted her with their women, be they beautiful, troubled, lost or exalted. In 1973, she co-founded Lipservice, Inc., the first Talent Guild in the U.S. Her work in Local and National Unions has focused on strengthening the actor's profession, as has her teaching for the last 11 years in the University of Minnesota Department of Theatre/Dance.

Howard Dallin, director, 70, is a professional stage director, video producer, writer, and educator. He has directed stage productions at regional theaters both in his native Canada and in the United States, including the Manitoba Theater Centre, the Guthrie, and the Cincinnati Playhouse, where his celebrated adaptation of A Christmas Carol has been performed annually since 1991. He directed two national tours of Grandma Moses, An American Primitive, starring Cloris Leachman, which showcased at the Ordway Theater. He has taught at the Banff School of Fine Arts and the universities of Manitoba, Alberta, and Minnesota. When not dividing his time between the Twin Cities and Madeline Island, he presides over Gas Mountain Productions, his media production company.

Front (left to right): Bill Semans, Shirley Venard, Charles Nolte; Middle: Roy Close, Howard Dallin; Back: Dick Borgen, Gail Bakkom, James Bakkom, Christine Nelson

James Bakkom, set designer, 70, joined the Guthrie Theater in 1965 as assistant technical director and property builder; within a few years he became property master and resident artist. After leaving the Guthrie in 1974, he spent the next decade working as a freelance designer. In 1985, he joined Northwest Teleproductions, where for the next 12 years he oversaw the design and production of television projects for commercial clients and the Armed Forces Radio and Television Network. More recently he has served as production designer for several independent films, including Patrick Coyle’s Detective Fiction, which was presented at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. In 2005 he served as production designer (and appeared in!) Ali Selim’s high regarded feature film debut, Sweetland. Over the last 40 years he has also actively pursued his studio-based practice as a painter and sculptor.

Gail Englund Bakkom, costume designer, 67, was born in Pennsylvania, earned her BA at Augustana College (Rock Island, Illinois) in 1962, and moved to Minneapolis to attend graduate school in costume design at the University of Minnesota. When the Guthrie Theater opened, she apprenticed as a stitcher for two seasons and during the off-season worked as a costumer for the Center Opera Company. After taking time out to raise two children, she returned to costume work at Minnesota Dance Theatre. In 1978, she became Costume Shop Manager at the Minnesota Opera, where she remained until her retirement in 2006. During her tenure with the Minnesota Opera, she designed 30 productions, half for the main stage, and half for tours and educational productions.

Richard Borgen, lighting designer, 71, has been active in the Twin Cities theater community since his arrival here in 1961. He holds a BFA in theater design from the University of Kansas. He was the first technical production director and a lighting designer at the Guthrie Theater for its first five seasons. He was principal designer and technical director at Chimera Theatre for 14 years. In his long career he has designed lights for the Minnesota Opera, Minnesota Dance Theatre, Chimera Theatre, Theatre in the Round, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Northwest Teleproductions, the University of Minnesota, Normandale Community College, Mankato State University, and Dayton’s Auditorium. He has designed sets for Chimera Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Normandale Community College, and Troupe America. He was a founding member of Stage-Brite Inc., a Minneapolis-based manufacturer of dimming equipment.

Lynn Musgrave, sound designer, age 55+, has been active in the Twin Cities theater scene for nearly thirty years. Her directing and sound design credits include productions at Park Square, Starting Gate, Theatre in the Round, the Phipps, and History Theatre. As an actress, she’s appeared for Emigrant Theatre, Park Square, Mixed Blood, The Women’s Theatre Project, and TRP. This winter and spring, Lynn’s directing and sound design projects include Martha, Josie, and the Chinese Elvis at Theatre in the Round, The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window at Starting Gate, and A Long Day’s Journey into Night opening at TRP in late April. Lynn also designed sound for Artisphere’s Looking for Normal as well as the current production of Incorruptible at Old Log Theatre.

Christine Nelson, stage manager, 61, has been active in the Twin Cities theater since the 1980s. She stage managed 11 productions at the Guthrie Theater from 1983 to 1986, and recently returned to the new Guthrie to stage manage “The Falls” and Mixed Blood Theatre’s “Yellowman.” She has worked at Park Square Theatre, the Hennepin Theatre Trust, Jon Hassler Theater, and Mixed Blood, where she has stage managed more than 40 productions over the last two decades; she served as the theater’s Production Manager from 1994 to 2004.