A River Runs Through It

Week 23: Appleton, WI

"My brain is the key that sets my mind free."
--Harry Houdini

The transition from Milwaukee to Appleton was a strange one--leaving a bustling city full of activity and arriving in small town America. Appleton is one of 14 cities known as the "Fox Cities" because they are all situated along or around the Fox River, which passes right through Appleton. The river has long been a part of one of the leading industries in this area, paper making. Appleton is situated near Lake Michigan and at the north end of Lake Winnebago. Green Bay is the nearest large city. The town was established in the early 19th century by a man named Amos Lawrence, who named the place after his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Appleton. The town is home to Lawrence University, which was one of the first coed colleges in America. And Appleton feels like a college town; in fact the main street is College Avenue. Some well known people came from Appleton, among them actor Willem Dafoe and Maury Laws, the man who composed songs for beloved holiday animation classics like "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman." However, the favorite son of Appleton is Harry Houdini, who grew up here and reportedly as a kid went up and down College Avenue in the middle of the night picking all the locks of all the businesses along the street. The local History Museum has a whole exhibit dedicated to Houdini and the town even hosted a magic convention at one time. What's interesting about Houdini is that in an effort to be more American in the eyes of the public, he claimed to have been born in Appleton. Actually, his given name was Weiss and he immigrated from Budapest and was the son of the first Rabbi in Appleton.
Another famous Appletonian was Edna Ferber--novelist, author of "Giant" and "Show Boat," member of the Algonquin Round Table--and also part of the close knit Jewish community here in this little Wisconsin city. So I guess you won't succeed in Appleton either if you don't have any Jews!

We are performing this week at the Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, a beautiful new complex built only six years ago through corporate and private funding.
The theatre serves the entire Fox River area and brings in top Broadway tours, like ours, as well as great music and dance programming and international theatre productions. This week I am staying across the street from the theatre, which is great, because I have been under the weather. I may be allergic to Wisconsin. I started feeling sick in Milwaukee--the onset of sudden seasonal allergies, which attacked my throat and voice box and has progressed to a painful bronchial cough. I began to lose my voice, which is scary for a performer and painful and nerve wracking to work through. The Appleton weather has not been helping--it can be warm and sunny for a couple hours then suddenly drop twenty degrees with a bone chilling damp. I am told this is due to the proximity to Lake Michigan. I have gotten treatment here in Appleton, but despite my best efforts to get well, and pushing through most of my shows this week, I finally had to sit out a performance to rest my ragged voice. This is very hard for me to do, and is only the second time in my career I have missed a show. Many people can do a day's work at their job while sick but we performers rely so much on our bodies to do our work that illness can sometimes make doing the job impossible. And no actor wants to disappoint a full house of over 2000 people. We are all human and sometimes we just need a break. Being sick really sucks.

Do you remember the movie "Fargo?" Remember the funny midwestern accent that Frances McDormand and the other actors executed so beautifully? Well, damned if people don't really speak like that out here. Oh yah, they doo, doen't ya knoe. It's a very distinct and very heavy accent. Something to log into the actor's mental library of sounds for a future part that might require it.

One of the other freak Wisconsin specialities is cheese curds.
These are the fresh curds from the making of cheddar cheese. Their flavor is mild with about the same firmness as cheese, but have a springy or rubbery texture. Fresh curds squeak against the teeth when bitten into, which some would say is their defining characteristic. Cheese curds are sometimes referred to as "Squeeky cheese." They are a popular snack and I have seen them in bags with bits of ham or little Vienna sausages. Are you saying yuck or yum?

I did get a very nice review here in Appleton. We tend not to look at reviews much--the nice things that are written can give one a lift, but if there are negatives, they can stick in your craw for weeks. That said, I will occasionally indulge my ego and Google myself to see what has been put into print about the show and my Sir Robin as we have made our way around the country. Below are the Appleton review and a very nice notice I found from a Florida publication. These both made me feel a little warm and fuzzy in my sniffly, sick state this week:

Beaman, Shakespearean trained and weaned, is always on task. His face and gestures are flawless. Though an actor who sings, he certainly carries the day.
--Post-Crescent

James Beaman (Sir Robin) is a particular joy to watch on stage. With his shock of ginger hair, he resembles nothing so much as a hyperactive leprechaun filled with the spirit of song. He’s got stage presence in spades and the hilarious send-up “You Won’t Succeed On Broadway” number was just an absolute joy both for the shockingly funny lyrics and the chance to watch Beaman kick up his heels.
--Neapolitan


My Appleton dresser is Janis. Janis used to work for an insurance firm and decided to have fun instead, so she became a stagehand. She has been a pleasure to work with this week and she has genuinely loved the show so much she and her husband are driving to Madison next week to see it from the audience. As for me, I am going to tough it out through the last few shows here, enjoy a quiet day off in Appleton, and then climb aboard the bus for Madison. A special shout out to my Mom: HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!! I LOVE YOU!!!