The Thrill is Still There

              Russ came into The BOX Theatre nearly breathless earlier this week and said to me so quietly I barely heard him......"I get SO excited at the beginning of the season."

Looking up into his bright eyes I whispered back...."So do I."

              In about six weeks, LAMB Arts Regional Theatre will be presenting the first production of our 33rd Season.  That's a lot of productions.   A lot of seasons.   But it goes without saying that despite the blood, sweat and tears that inevitably come with each season, those negatives are balanced with the joy, laughter, and creative collaborations that also occur.  We look forward to sharing our productions with all of Siouxland.   We love observing and participating in the growth of all our students and our fellow actors.   It sometimes amazes me that we can still feel that inevitable excitement that "it all is starting up again.....and we just can't wait!"

                  "If you love what you do, you'll never work a day in your life."-Confucius

                Well, we found "something that we love"---but we also end up "working at that something we love" every day of our lives.....so go figure!

               Melissa is busily getting students registered.  Jessica is working on advertisers for the playbill program for the season and getting sponsors for the shows.    Jade and Olay are hard at work organizing the prop shop and large furniture storage, cleaning the shop and painting around the theatre.   Russ is busy designing the PILLOWMAN set and doing all those things that need to happen at the beginning of the season.  Donny is working on recording music for rehearsals for PUTNAM COUNTY and THE MARVELOUS WONDERETTES.  Karen is pulling costumes for PILLOWMAN, ANNE FRANK & ME, MURDER AT CAFE NOIR and the Caravan.   I am getting the LAMB Caravan ready for their 2100 miles 10 day tour in September and working with Russ, Jessica, Melissa and Donny on getting all our class curriculums and materials ready to go. 

The theatre is buzzing and the excitement is mounting.   Wednesday, September 6 classes will begin.   September 12 the Caravan begins their tour.   September 14  PILLOWMAN opens our 33rd Season.   And we are off and running.

                Join us for what will be another adventure full of great memories.

Diana Guhin Wooley
CEO LAMB Arts Ltd
417 Market Street
Sioux City, IA 51103
 712-293-0930
Keep current with LAMB--:www.lambtheatre.com

Announcing the Creation of the Christopher J Gaul Excellence in Acting Scholarship

         It has only been a week since Christopher Gaul died.   It was an extra long week for anyone that loved and appreciated all that this wonderful man gave to our community.   We don't want to forget him.   We don't want that loving spirit, gentle wit or positive encouragement to simply fade away.

         Christopher has been a key player in the theatre world of Siouxland for decades.  He has been a cherished member of the LAMB family and so very important to us personally for forty years.   It was apparent at the tender age of 12 when I first met him that Christopher possessed that charismatic quality Siouxland audiences have grown accustomed to expect and love every time he touched the stage. Russ cast him when he was 16 in the Diary of Anne Frank and knew even then he was a talented actor.  Russ and I don’t remember a LAMB season where Christopher wasn’t onstage at least one time and many seasons, doing two or more shows.(And this year LAMB celebrates Year 33!!!)  Christopher showed compassion, encouragement, reliability, humor and love to fellow actors of all ages and was known to spend that extra moment to congratulate and encourage when needed. 

          

            It is because of his great love of the theatre, his deep respect for the craft of acting, his encouraging nature and our wish to honor his memory that LAMB Arts Regional Theatre will establish the Christopher J. Gaul Excellence in Acting Scholarship.   This will be an annual competition. Qualifying students will be seniors in high school who will be majoring in theatre with an emphasis in acting. The students must be from Iowa, South Dakota or Nebraska.   The award will be $1000 paid to the college / university the student will be attending.  Students throughout the tri-state region will be encouraged to compete and the competition will be open to the public. Judges in this competition will come from outside LAMB personnel and will be theatre professionals who recognize and can objectively evaluate those competing for this honor.

   

            With the creation of this scholarship, Christopher’s spirit and contribution to the arts in Siouxland will be celebrated every year.

           Anyone who would like to contribute…whatever the amount….to this ongoing scholarship program, may contact LAMB to be included in this living memorial to a great friend and actor. Donations are welcome now.  If Christopher had an impact on you in any way, either on the stage or as a friend, please consider making a donation to this scholarship program today.  

Diana Guhin Wooley
CEO LAMB Arts Ltd
417 Market Street
Sioux City, IA 51103
712-293-0930
Keep current with LAMB--:www.lambtheatre.com

Thoughts on Christopher Gaul

My heart skips beats...the clock ticks erratically and nothing seems the same.

Our hearts were wounded upon hearing of the death of Christopher Gaul.   A beautiful man inside and out.   A gentleman, if such a thing can exist in this day and age.   And a consummate actor....no, I should say chameleon who enchanted, invigorated, annoyed, perplexed, and always engaged his audience.   We will miss Christopher in so many ways….ways that we cannot even imagine as we grieve his death today.

I first met Christopher just before he was to enter junior high school…so he would have been about 12 years old.  I was an ambitious college student who wanted to think that I could actually make money in the summer teaching what I just was taught in theatre to younger kids as my ‘summer job’.   I had what was called “Diana’s School of Theatre and Music” which was conducted for two summers at Grace United Methodist Church in Morningside.   Christopher was one of the students that came into my life those summers.   I had written two musicals (one for each of the summers) and cast Christopher as a Wad of Bubble Gum.   That sounds insulting, but it wasn’t.  I was amazed at his ability to BECOME a wad of bubble gum.   There was no doubt in my mind what I was observing.   As it turned out, Christopher’s wad of gum genius would never be seen publicly as the role of the King (the show was titled THE LITTLE PRINCESS WHO COULDN’T SMILE) became available and I recast Christopher in that role.   Even then his talents were so evident.

Christopher has been a very important part of the LAMB family forever.   I will always remember his German Orchestral Conductor being interrogated by an American Captain (Michael Vinson)in TAKING SIDES.   Those scenes were terrifying and so real….As real as scenes later in DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (a show which I was fortunate to direct) where his Otto Frank dealt with the harsh realities of living in hiding with his beloved family (Debra Marqusee, Aubrey Sea, Emily Dorsett) and total strangers (Karen Sowienski, John Mangan, Luke Saunders).   Christopher was able to morph himself physically, vocally and more important..he was able to emotionally connect and completely embrace the essence of the character he was portraying.   In contrast to the dramatic, he was just as comfortable and fluid with the comic and displayed his spot on timing with the LAMB farce “team” of Karen Sowienski, Mary Madsen and Michael Skaff.   Farce couldn’t get any better.   Whether high drama or crazy farce to heartwarming comedy (LEAVING IOWA with Debra Marqusee, Matt Rixner, Angela Iversen, Melissa Hunt and Rick Myers) or musicals such as ANYTHING GOES (where I was fortunate to play opposite him) or SWEENEY TODD (where we all learned how low his singing voice could go as he enveloped the sinister Judge Turpin.), Christopher was a joy to be onstage with, to direct, to just be around.  

Our hearts go out to his beloved Cyle and to the rest of Christopher’s family.   His theatre family will feel this huge hole for a long time.   However, we can count ourselves lucky that we were able to witness first hand the genius of Christopher Gaul.   He was Sioux City’s Own and we all were the fortunate beneficiaries.

Diana Guhin Wooley
CEO LAMB Arts Ltd
417 Market Street
Sioux City, IA 51103
 712-293-0930
Keep current with LAMB--:www.lambtheatre.com