Back to History Page Back to Main Page   Our History   Mahoney State Park 1997

May 22, 1997, was the starting date for the fifth Mahoney State Park melodrama season. A scheduling change made in order to accommodate earlier school openings resulted in a one week earlier season finale which reduced the sum of performances to a "mere" 120! Also, the dinner train shows and the fall season were both successful, so plans were made to continue both. Our casting of three male and three female actors at the park was continued as was the casting for the train show of three female and two male actors. The usual personnel changes were made to all casts, and Shannon Marple-Hespe and D. Chapelle both agreed to direct the train and fall shows, respectively. The plays selected for production at Mahoney were "Silence is Golden" by past actors Laura Holman and Brad Boesen, "Ranger's Danger" by John Burkhart and "Rustler's Revenge" by D. Chapelle. (Note: We had so much favorable response with "Rustlers of Red Rock" that we decided to produce a sequel - "Rustler's Revenge". We were fortunate to have two of the principal characters return, thus Quiet Harry, played superbly by Brad Boesen and Shame Bushwacker, played by equally brilliant William C. Cover, rode again!) Cast member Will Cover had to take a weekend off to attend his brother's wedding and Jeff Luby did a superb job standing in for him. The play chosen for the dinner train was "Three Tickets to Timberwolf", an original written expressly for the train by D. Chapelle. The fall season was lengthened to encompass both the added four weeks that were added last season, and the additional week that was cut off the summer season plus another week to make a total of 11 weeks for the run! As a result, the show had to be double cast for one role. This was very successful and caused no performance or production problems. The play chosen for the fall was "Nickelodeon Knaves" written by Mr. Chapelle expressly for four actors, which economics dictated we utilize. The Production Staff for the 1997 season:
Producer/Director .......John Burkhart
Music Director ...........Linda Laessle
Costumes .........Donna Himmelberger
Set Design .......... John Burkhart
Makeup Design .... William M. Cover II
Technical Director........Tom Curtright
Set Construction ..Mark Matulka, Nick Robinson, Ron Smith
Special Effects..............Paul Pearson   The Cast of "Silence is Golden"
Percy Pindrop.......William M. Cover II
Douglas Anchorage.........Brad Boesen
Minnie Pindrop...Kathryn Burton Hollorman
Olestra DeVille.........Erin McLaine
Philbert Hitchcock....Daniel Rasmussen
Mary Pickchevy.......Emily C. Williams   The cast of "Rangers Danger"
Phinneas McFoulbreath.......Brad Boesen
Roger Steelheart.........William M. Cover II
Rick Steelheart........Daniel Rasmussen
Ella Charity.....Kathryn Burton Hollorman
Stella Charity.....Erin McLaine
Della Charity......Emily C. Williams   The cast of "Rustler's Revenge"
Black Bart Bushwacker....William M. Cover II
Pa Friendly.........Daniel Rasmussen
Mable Millstone...Emily C. Williams
Quiet Harry......Brad Boesen
Felicity Friendly....Erin McLaine
Shiela Hussey.......Kathryn Burton Hollorman   The Fall Season Melodrama
  Staff:
Producer..........John Burkhart
Director .......D. Chapelle
Set Construction..Mark Matulka, Steve Coffey, Bill Kiesling   The cast of "Nickelodian Knaves"
Violet Fields........Karen Freimund-Wills
Guy Stalwart......Michael Bergstrom
Brimstone Lemmon.......D. Chapelle
Jade Fields...Kathryn Foster, Deborah Israel   Villainous Olestra DeVille (Erin McLaine) has the drop
on Douglas Anchorage (Brad Boesen), Minnie Pindrop (Kathryn Burton Hollorman),
Percy Pindrop (William M. Cover II) and Philbert Hitchcock (Daniel Rasmussen),
but super heroine Mary Pickchevy (Emily C. Williams) drops in to save the day.     Ranger Roger Steelheart (William M. Cover II) Assists ranger Rick Steelheart
(Daniel Rasmussen) fight villain Phinneas McFoulbreath (Brad Boesen)
While heroines Ella, Della and Stella Charity (Kathryn Burton Hollorman,
Emily C. Williams and Erin McLaine) look on.     Curtain call for "Rustler's Revenge" Left to right:
Sheila Hussey (Kathryn Burton Hollorman), Quiet Harry (Brad Boesen), Felicity Friendly (Erin McLaine),
Pa Friendly (Daniel Rasmussen), Mable Millstone (Emily C. Williams) and
Black Bart Bushwacker (William M. Cover II).     Villain Brimstone Lemmon (D. Chapelle) gets the point
hero Guy Stalwart (Michael Bergstrom) to trying to make.