Hutchinson High School student Landon Butler attends rehearsal from home. Due to COVID-19, he and other local students have teamed up with the Hutchinson Theatre Association to produce radio shows.
Rehearsal looks a bit different these days for actors and directors communicating digitally.
In this digital age of binge watching shows available on all sorts of devices, the days of family sitting down together in front of the television may seem a thing of the past. And what about sitting around the radio? Many alive today might not even know that was once an American pastime.
But a group of Hutchinson students has taken advantage of these strange times. With COVID-19 prompting everyone to spend more time at home, might it be the time to revisit the entertainment of the past? Two local teams crafting radio shows think so.
“It’s a lot of fun working with the whole group,” said Hutchinson High School freshman Rowan Jordahl. “And I love overcoming this pandemic and still bringing joy to everyone.”
Though the productions are radio shows, they’re found online at the Hutchinson Theatre Association’s YouTube page, tinyurl.com/ycdy9gaw.
Jason Olson, a teacher and director at Hutchinson High School, said that when Gov. Tim Walz ordered schools close their doors and students started distance learning, it left a hole usually filled by the spring play, speech team and other performances.
“I mentioned to a few students that it’d be nice to do something during this time,” Olson said. “I kind of missed the kids and wanted to see them.”
Among the ideas circulated and adopted was one pitched by Olson: the creation of radio shows. Hutchinson Theatre Association stepped up to sponsor.
“Erika Durheim, who is the director for the spring play, she’s leading a group with me,” Olson said. “She has the comedy group so I am leading the suspense group.”
Each group has about seven students who are actors and about three students who take care of sound effects.
SUSPENSE
The suspense group plans to post a video once a week on Mondays for at least a month. The performances are based on a famous radio show from the 1940s: “Suspense.” The first episode posted was “Drive-in.”
“Think of it like the radio version of ‘The Twilight Zone,’” Olson said. “’Drive-in’ is the story of a waitress at a drive-in. She meets a man who seems nice, but as the story goes on it becomes clear he’s not a good individual and she has to find a way to escape him.”
Since each week has its own self-contained episode, the cast rotates with different students taking on lead roles. The groups meet digitally from home and rehearse a few times before recording the performance. Students then begin the editing process, which smooths out rough edges, enhances the production values and adds additional sound effects.
“We’re having fun,” Olson said. “It’s really nice to be able to see each other, to interact and make sure everyone is doing OK while at the same time providing some enjoyment that doesn’t cost anything.”
In “Drive-in,” Jordahl plays a police officer and tackled editing for the show. He estimates he spent about 10-12 hours editing over three days.
“One effect that came into play a lot is footsteps on gravel,” Jordahl said, “walking down the street or rain throughout the entirety of it. ... It came together better than I was expecting. It took quite a bit of time to edit, but in the end it was worth it.”
Hutchinson High School Junior Landon Butler plays the “man” in “Drive-in.”
“I’m not going to give anything away,” he said, “but he goes to the drive-in where our main character works, and he offers her a ride home. ... He was fun. Towards the end I have to do a blood-curdling scream. It was a lot of fun but a little awkward, because I was sitting in my bedroom and the rest of my family was like, ‘What’s going on?’”
Students hope they can bring a little joy to Hutchinson residents in a difficult time, and make a little for themselves in the process.
“I went from last year doing so many activities, I did all the theater productions so I saw all these people most every day,” Butler said. “And then all this craziness happened and I haven’t seen any of them. We do use social media, but this is an excuse for all of us to get together. We tend to be on the call an hour after rehearsal is done just talking.”
COMEDY
For director Durheim, the comedy group has been a nostalgia trip.
“I was not alive in the ’40s,” she said, “but I have memories of my grandfather.”
She fondly recalls driving with him to the cabin in the summer, and him using the cassette player in his car to share old radio shows with her.
“There has been a lot of fun education for this as a byproduct,” Durheim said. “You need to have a little history, a little appreciation for who came before you. Radio plays were ‘the thing’ for a really long time. And I get to help the kids understand.”
She decided to lead the student performers in an homage to classic radio stars and in an episodic situational comedy, with plans to release content on Wednesdays. The first short homage is an “Abbott and Costello” routine, “Lion Hunting.”
“It’s been really fun for me to work with these teenagers, most of whom had never heard of Abbott and Costello, and being able to expose them,” Durheim said. “And hearing them laugh at that for the first time was really fun.”
Homages to other famous names are in the works, including Bob Hope, George Burns and Bette Davis.
As for episodic content, the comedy team is tackling “The Great Gildersleeve.”
“It was a very popular radio show that ran for 15 years and then made the switch to television, but didn’t quite survive,” Durheim said. “Gildersleeve’s signature laugh and catch phrase were so popular that they actually used it in a ‘Bugs Bunny’ cartoon on a couple of different occasions.”
The first episode to be produced by the comedy group is “Income Tax Forms Arrive.”
“Normally, without COVID, you would have had to turn in your taxes (last Wednesday),” Durheim said. “And so we have this funny episode of this woman who is a very seductive widow. She lures three different guys to her house, including The Great Gildersleeve, to help her figure out her income tax forms. She invites them for tea, for dinner, but her ulterior motive is to have help with her income taxes.”
Not only is the content different than usual, but so are the techniques.
“I didn’t realize how different it would be doing it via Zoom when kids — and actors in general — are so used to using their body language to tell a joke,” Durheim said. “Now they need to put their physicality in their voice. It has been an interesting challenge, and one that I think, the more we do this, they’ll get much better at.”
“It’s challenging to use different aspects of acting that we’re not used to,” Butler said. “I can’t move my eyebrows around to show I’m angry. I have to do it with my voice.”
Bruce Lickfelt tees off Saturday for his first drive of 2020 at Crow River Golf Club. Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order reopening golf courses last week, and the tee times filled up quickly.
There was good news for Minnesota golf fans last Friday when Gov. Tim Walz issued an executive order allowing golf courses around the state to open for business. As soon as the governor made his announcement, the tee times at Crow River Golf Club immediately began to fill up.
“The phone was going crazy from 2 o’clock on,” Tom Parsons, the club’s general manager, said. “I sent out an email to membership, letting them know that I would start accepting calls again, this Saturday at 8 o’clock. It was constantly ringing.”
Saturday was the first official day Crow River opened, but it was for members only to keep the rush at a minimum. There is also a 10-minute tee time gap between golfers, just to stay on the cautious side. They will allow more people when they figure out how the process will work.
Hearing from the Minnesota Golf Association, the PGA of America and Minnesota PGA, Parsons said he expects most golf courses would open by Friday. Even though the order came a week earlier than anticipated, Crow River Golf Club was able to have enough personnel to work the clubhouse and prepare the course for the rush.
“We did ramp up our golf course maintenance crew last week,” Parsons said. “We started getting people out in earnest to get the golf course ready. … There's still a lot of unknowns that we're still learning as we go. This is a totally different way of doing business for us. But the nice thing is, business is open.”
Golf wasn’t the only thing Gov. Walz’ executive order changed. It also reopened bait shops for live bait, outdoor shooting ranges and marina services.
Although golf has returned to Minnesota, there are guidelines for course managers and golfers to follow: Tee times must be staggered and golfers must stay 6 feet away from each other. There will be a lot more golf carts used as there is no sharing carts except with household members. Carts must also be cleaned and sanitized regularly. Rakes, ball washers, water coolers and anything someone might touch must be removed. Cup sleeves must be raised so balls bounce off rather than dropping in, preventing people from having to touch the flag or cup.
Ted Beatty has been a member at Crow River since 1973. Since he retired, Beatty estimates he golfs about 120 times each summer.
“If I'm not fishing, I'm here,” he said.
Beatty fully expected that golf courses would reopen at some point, but not as quickly as they did. But that doesn't matter to him.
“I actually thought it'd probably be mid-May,” he said. “But the weather's cooperated and the governor's cooperated, so we're in good shape.”
Greg Murch golfs with Beatty and has been a member at Crow River for many years. Like Beatty, he is pleased that the greens will be open during this unprecedented time.
“Just to get outside again,” Murch said of why he’s happy. “We'll get to move around, seems like a pretty good deal.”
Bruce Lickfelt was another member of Beatty's and Murch's group who was out on the first day that the course was open. For Lickfelt, the course opening is meaningful because of what it might represent in the grand scheme of things.
“I think it's going to help a lot of people in Minnesota just get their spirits up,” he said. “Things will slowly open up.”
Parsons is in the same boat as Lickfelt. By having golf courses open, hopefully it can be a small dose of what life was like before the pandemic.
“All businesses are suffering,” Parsons said. “To have the opportunity to open back up, it means everything to us and our membership. Hopefully the community will come out and support it as well.”
Commodore Jon Beach and First Mate Laura Beach are ready to move forward with the 78th annual Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival.
Longtime Hutchinson Jaycee and Water Carnival volunteer Scott Hilgemann is the recipient of the Honorary Commodore Award presented by Commodore Jon Beach and First Mate Laura Beach for this year’s Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival. Hilgemann is pictured with his wife, Rikki.
When Jon Beach and his wife Laura stepped into their roles as the commodore and first mate for the 78th annual Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival, they thought the largest obstacle they would face by far would be the Main Street/State Highway 15 reconstruction project.
Little did they know that a microscopic-sized virus would invade the state and cause Gov. Tim Walz to close schools, businesses and issue extended stay-at-home orders.
Since late March, the virus has caused a litany of cancellations from Hutchinson’s Music in the Park summer concert series to the NTPA Power Pull Nationals at the McLeod County Fairgrounds. The good news is the Water Carnival is happening, so save the dates: Sunday, June 14, through Sunday, June 21.
“For Laura and I and the committee, we feel that Water Carnival is about a lot more than a specific set of events or locations,” Jon said. “We do feel it’s something we want to present to the community. The goal this year is to try to make it work and make it look as much like the event everyone expects and looks forward to every year.”
“I think the big thing is people need something to look forward to,” Laura added.
That said, they are preparing a two-prong approach to the longtime Hutchinson summer festival. Due to the timing of the coronavirus, many of the event plans were already in place.
“Right now, we’re trying to really preserve and protect all the events that affect the Royalty, Royal Family, and give us the most community impact,” Jon said. “What we’re mainly doing is planning for a lot of contingencies and alternate approaches to each event.”
Jon cited the Teddy Bear Band Concert on Friday of Water Carnival Week as something people look forward to every year.
“What we’re doing is, I contacted the manager of the Teddy Bear Band,” he said. “We’ve been collaborating with him on ways to still do this event. He’s willing to do everything from an online, live-stream concert to a live show.”
Another popular event is the Water Carnival Queen Pageant. The committee is planning the traditional pageant along with a virtual pageant.
“We may or may not have an audience,” Jon said.
One of the changes they were hoping to make for this year’s Water Carnival was to expand Kiddy Day with more activities, food options, plus wine and beer.
“We planned to change the name to Community Day and make it more for anyone in the community. It’s not just for kids,” Jon said. “It’s really heartbreaking for all of us on the committee. We were trying to reach such a large audience of people. There has been a huge amount of time invested, deposits on inflatables and things like that. We arranged for new events, new vendors, new things to offer that day. As this continues, it’s less likely we’ll be able to do what we envisioned.”
With all the potential changes, the question everyone is probably thinking is: Will there be fireworks? The answer is yes.
The Jaycees contract with Pyrotechnic Display Inc. for three years at a time. The current contract was signed by former Commodore Jacob Sanken and runs through the end of this year’s Water Carnival.
It’s Jon, Laura and the committee’s belief that the fireworks shows on Thursday and Sunday can be done safely with people following social distancing guidelines.
“If people have to watch the shows as an individual family or household unit, from their vehicle or ideally in (smaller groups than normal years), we think that is much better than offering no fireworks in 2020,” he said.
What about the Water Carnival medallion hunt?
“We are discussing options with Christy Christensen (Water Carnival medallion hunt founder),” Jon said. “We do still hope to do the hunt if we feel that all participants can follow health guidelines. A lot of people are making an effort to spend time outdoors, and we hope they can all be respectful of distances. If there is some type of stay-at-home order in place for June, we plan to postpone this aspect of the Water Carnival until 2021.”
Jon and Laura said much of the credit for this year’s Water Carnival and the contingency plans go to committee volunteers and Vice Commodore Ryan Elbert and his wife, Second Mate Samantha.
“It’s been inspiring and humbling and incredible,” Laura said. “Each day, no matter how difficult, we feel like we’re on the right path. ... People are getting more creative. Everyone is making the best of the situation. By the time Water Carnival is here, everyone will be used to virtual reality. It was definitely a foreign concept. It’s amazing what people are doing.”
Jon said they hope to finalize the Water Carnival plans next month.
“We want to balance meeting the expectations of the community with what can realistically be done under the health guidelines and budget in this economy,” he said. “We ask people to be understanding that we may have to make modifications and we’ll do as much as we can for the community.”
Adam Tanata earned a $75 cash award for his first-place winning design for the 78th annual Hutchinson Jaycee Water Carnival button.
