{"id":174,"date":"2020-12-11T18:32:55","date_gmt":"2020-12-11T18:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/?p=174"},"modified":"2020-12-11T13:32:55","modified_gmt":"2020-12-11T18:32:55","slug":"remember-it-takes-at-least-five-people-to-do-a-one-man-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/performingartslegacy.org\/kochbill\/remember-it-takes-at-least-five-people-to-do-a-one-man-show\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cRemember \u2013 It Takes At Least Five People To Do A One-Man Show!\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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St. Olaf College yearbook “Viking” 1956<\/p><\/div>\n

This was one of my college Theatre mentor\u2019s favorite sayings. Ralph Haugen<\/strong>, an incredible teacher and human being, about whom Uta Hagen<\/strong> said to me years later (never having met Ralph): \u201cYou must have had a really good Theatre teacher in college.\u201d \u201cWhy?\u201d<\/em> \u201cBecause you came to me with all the seeds\u2014all I have to do is water them.\u201d<\/em> Part of the excellent, hard-work, and fun training with my two primary mentors in Theatre Arts was their emphasis on ensemble work \u2014 not only among the cast, but among cast, crew, staff, audience!<\/p>\n

Ralph, to every new group of Theatre students at St. Olaf College: \u201cYour degree will read \u201cSpeech Major\u201d but we will know it means \u201cTheatre Major\u201d \u2014 and if you want your Theatre Degree, you\u2019re going to have to do every single job in Theatre at least once before you graduate.\u201d<\/em> And being a four-year college of 700 students in the late 1950s, we all did every job more than once!<\/p>\n

So I got basic experience as an actor, stage manager, set designer (and set builder, and tech director), costume designer (and costume construction, and wardrobe master), stage director, playwright, composer, lyricist, and added for my senior year \u2014 dancer and co-choreographer!<\/p>\n

Because of his ensemble approach, four of us in the \u201cTheatre Department\u201d asked if we could do a program of religious dance. Ralph responded \u201cThat\u2019s a great idea, but I would get fired if I approved such an event.\u201d<\/em> (1950s Lutheran College \u2014 no dancing except folk) \u201cHowever, I\u2019ll be at a convention in a few weeks, and \u2026 \u201d<\/i> he turned to me, \u201cBill, as Maintenance Person for the Theater, you have keys and I trust anything you might do in the Theater in my absence.\u201d<\/em> We put on the unsuccessfully-secret show in our small theater to an \u201cinvited\u201d SRO audience. Today, at St. Olaf, you can get a B.A. Degree in Theatre or<\/b><\/i> a B.A. Degree in Dance!<\/p>\n

A few favorite memories:<\/em><\/p>\n